Machu Picchu : thescruffypirate.org

Machu Picchu

Well, I'm back! And have been for over a week. Let me tell you, having to get back to work after having the time of my life for 2 weeks was pretty rough. Just ask the wifey, I was "this" close to dropping at least one of my clients on Wednesday. So, sorry it has taken me so long to catch up with emails and get back on TSP. But I've been in sort of denial about my return.

So, where did I go again? Ahh! Yes. Peru!

I don't really know where to start.

I guess I'll start in the middle with The Hike. That was the whole point after all!

We arrived in Cusco on a Tuesday and the hike began on Friday. The hike was 4 days long for a total of 22 miles. Which isn't a huge distance normally speaking, but the Incans built the trail straight up and down the Andean mountain sides.

[And let me tell you, these mountain sides were spectacular, unlike anything else I've seen. Very, very steep.]

For example, the second day had only 5 miles of hiking but 4,000 feet of elevation gain followed by 2,000 feet down. If you round liberally, that's practically a mile literally up and then a half a mile down.

The name of the hike is "The Inca Trail" and it goes to the ruins of Machu Picchu. The name sort of implies that it is the only trail to Machu Picchu, which isn't the case. The Incans built a whole network of trails all over the area, Peru, and the Andes. So, this happens to be one route through the mountains to Machu Picchu that for some reason or another has become very popular over the years. So popular that they limit the amount of people allowed on it to 500 a day.

Another interesting thing about the hike is that you aren't allowed to do it by yourself, you have to take a guide and porters. According to the statistics, the non-tourist hikers out number the tourist hikers 4 to 1. And since it is roughly a 4 day hike, if you do the math that means that about 25 tourists start the hike each day year round. Not too many. Most of the people we saw on the trail were porters.

Now, I've been on quite a few hikes before, but there were two things in particular that made this one quite different (aside from the obvious being in Peru, in the Andes, surrounded by people who don't speak English, walking on 100s of years old paths).

And the first was the guide and porters. It was their job to make sure we had a good time, were fed, were comfortable and made it to our destinations on time. The first day when we pulled into the scheduled lunch spot, we were asked if we wanted our toilet set up and then were directed to our 'dining' tent to have soup, rice and freshly grilled chicken. So, we dined in the shade of our tent while the porters all lounged around in the sun. When we pulled into camp in the evenings there were large bowls of warm water waiting next to our tents for us to rinse off our faces and soak our feet. We were woken in the mornings with offerings of hot tea.

I knew the porters would be carrying our stuff, but it never occurred to me how much they would be waiting on us. At first it was really uncomfortable for me to just sit there while other people did so much for us. But then I learned that during the summer the porters are farmers and tend the fields, so portering and doting on tourists allows them to work and support their families year round. And they did seem like they were having a pretty good time.

So, I got used to being waiting on, and me, the wifey and my parents really got into getting to know our porters and interact with them. Hopefully, we were the best damn tourists they'd ever worked for!

The second thing that was quite different than other backpacking trips was the fact that one of the porters carried a personal bathroom for us. They have public toilets along the way but apparently they are really dirty and not up to par for tourists. So they bring a little tent that looks almost like a telephone booth with room for 2 buckets. One bucket for "liquids" and one bucket for "solids". Don't worry, I asked what you do if you have a liquidy-solid, and that still goes in the solids bucket (this knowledge came in handy for a couple of us!). Then every morning the liquids bucket is emptied but the solids bucket is packed up. Poor Padre (that was the name of the poor porter that carried our shit for 4 days)!

Because the solids bucket didn't have water in it (you sprinkled some powder on it after you were done to contain the smell) it was really easy to see what people before you had done. So, it was quite amusing keeping track of the whole family's poops!

At the end of the fourth day, we finally arrived at Machu Picchu, and it really was just as incredible as we'd hoped. We arrived late in the day when the sun was setting, which left wonderful shadows and colors and most everyone else was already gone. We felt like we had the whole place to ourselves for 20 minutes (before we too had to get on a bus).

Don't worry, we returned the next day to get a thorough tour of the place, but nothing will compare to that first evening. I think if you just take a bus to Machu Picchu like most people do, you miss out on a lot of the magic. We walked for 4 days over trails that the Incas used. We knew first hand how rugged the mountains were. We'd seen the sizes of the settlements leading up to it. Who knows though, some of these positive feelings might also stem from the feeling of accomplishment at having arrived there, when a month ago I wasn't sure I'd be able to do the hike. Either way, I wouldn't recommend to anyone else to do it any other way. If you're going to do Machu Picchu, walk there.

Speaking of injuries and worry, going into the hike I had no idea what to expect. Practically every other major hike I'd gone on in the last 2 years had ended with me being in too much pain to do the hike I set out to do. But apparently, the wifey and the parents really saved me. I think between doing the nerve gliding, the butt training (the last PT I saw concluded that my glutes were lazy and not firing properly), and my Rubz (which is basically the greatest thing ever, I think everyone should get a Rubz), I figured out something that allowed me to hike and be active and do what I want. That isn't to say I was healed, I had to be be careful, go at my own pace, stretch and rest a lot. But the most pain I felt was at a 2 or maybe a 3 on a scale from 1 to 10.

Woo! Hoo! Indeed!

As for the rest of the trip, there is so much I could say. We had many adventures besides just the hike, but I think I'll stop here. I'll spare you some of the details. :)

All in all, looking back on it, this is one of my most favorite trips I've been on. The combination of getting to use my Spanish, revisiting a Latin American city that reminded me of my time in Costa Rica, Keri getting to come along for once, being with my parents, seeing a new spectacular place, getting through it mostly pain free, getting to Machu Picchu, etc. Well, it was a winning combination.

4 June 2011 08:01am UTC • 176 views • 1 comment

Tagged with peru, costarica, machupicchu, keri, parents, hiking, injury

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