Perspectivas: Beyond Borders: September 2010

I have just arrived in Lima and finally settled down to write about my last week or travel, which largely consisted of the 5-day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. The journey consisted of such a large range of everything. It proved to be a rollercoaster of emotions, personality types, weather, you-name-it. I’ll do my best to recount the day-by-day experience and adventures, but first I think it might be helpful to have a list of characters as our 16-person team (excluding the two guides, Cesar and Raul, and the horsemen and cooks who left at various intervals) was full of interesting and memorable people.

Michael – fellow volunteer from Arequipa (the only one I knew prior to starting the trek). United Kingdom.

Mo – roughly 34-year-old chef with a great sense of humor currently traveling with his girlfriend Anna. Australian.

Anna – a vibrant and spunky young woman that served as a great guide regarding interesting and fun facts about Peru. Australian.

Fay – very chill and amiable, on vacation for a few weeks and considers herself to not at all be an “outdoors person.” U.K.

Ed – the 25-year old geography major and environmentalist on a short vacation. U.K.

Sandra – a young Argentinean woman from Buenos Aires

Marco – young and generous guy who loved sharing beer and wine with all members of the group. Married to Tanya. Portugal.

Jugo – friend of Marco and Tanya. Also amiable guy who shared food and beverages with rest of the group. Portugal.

Tanya – young and amiable woman who spoke English, Spanish, and Portuguese incredibly well. Married to Marco. Portugal.

Orr – the youngest member of the group just out of the military with a great sense of adventure. Israel.

Christof – a lively and high-spirited German full of lighthearted jokes for all members of the group. Germany.

Nils – blond hair and blue eyed German who shared Christof’s sense of humor. Germany.

James “Tupperware” “Bond” Gordon Horn – given a number of nicknames by Germans for past adventures they had shared together. Germany.

Other German – I never got this guy’s name as he was the quietest of the group of Germans. Germany.

Felipe – the extremely chill guy from southern Brazil who only spoke Portuguese but got along well with everyone despite language barriers. Brazil.

The Brazilian Girl – her south Brazilian accent was too intense for me to understand much of what saying most of the time (and this included her introduction and name…). Brazil.

Day 1: The Beginning

Around 4:30am, the bus arrived at our hostel. Michael and I joined a few of the others that had been picked up previously. After a few more stops, we were on our way to a town (about 3 hours away by car), where we would begin our journey. Upon arrival, we sat down for a quick breakfast in a small locally owned restaurant. As is standard in Peru, the breakfast included tea and bread with some jam and butter available. I had the opportunity to sit down with Marco, Jugo, and Tanya (the three Portuguese travelers) who offered me some cake to add to my breakfast, and I had the opportunity to chat in Spanish with them as I didn’t realize until later in the trip that they all spoke fluent English. We set off on our journey around 9am in the morning. The sun was partly occluded by clouds (these clouds would soon produce a lot of rain…) but general spirits among the group were high. It was, after all, the very beginning of a long 5-day journey and low spirits now would make the climb even more difficult. After a little more than 3 hours of walking through the countryside along what was mostly a dirt road, we arrived at the top of a viewpoint for a nice lunch (including soup, rice, and a great beef and vegetable dish). Sadly, the rain and fog had set in during this time and the “viewpoint” was not exactly as memorable as one might have wished for. For some reason unknown to me, I opted to not buy a poncho to throw on over my bag and only noticed during this time that everyone else (excluding Michael) had ponchos for themselves and often an additional one just to cover their belongings. Most of my extra clothes (one shirt, scarf, hat, and jacket) had been placed inside of plastic bags so I knew they’d still be relatively dry upon arrival at our campsite. After lunch, we set out on another 3-hourish journey to our campsite for the night. We continued along this road and the rain continued as well. It was quite easy to bond with the other British men and women over “what terribly weather we were having” since they are so accustomed to such great rainstorms. Much of the first day was spent getting to know the other group members. The group stopped at various intervals throughout the day, and people would often change walking partners or spend some time just walking alone in the rain. Since our group consisted of roughly half Spanish/Portuguese speakers and the other half native English speakers, I tried to spend time switching between using English and Spanish. Some conversations proved to be more difficult than others because I was, at the time, unaware of the differences in Argentinean Spanish (e.g. the double “ll” is pronounced as “sh” instead of “ya”) or of the fact that the Brazilians were, in fact, speaking the same language as the people from Portugal (while I knew they both spoke Portuguese, I could, for some reason, clearly understand the Portuguese people when they talked but not the Brazilians. As Marco would later explain to me, it appears that Portuguese speakers can generally understand almost everything said in Spanish and they would respond in Portuguese as the native Spanish speakers could generally understand what they were saying but would respond in Spanish accordingly. I believe I have quite a ways to go in my Spanish speaking ability before I jump on a plane to Brazil…). The end of the day came to a conclusion when we arrived at our campsite in the early evening. As Michael can attest to, it is difficult to explain our excitement upon seeing the tin-roofed structure under which all of our tents were to be set up. Originally, we thought that we’d be setting up tents on high ground and just hoping that we didn’t wake up in a puddle of water. The temperature had dropped close to freezing, and everyone made the best attempts to get dry by either hanging up wet clothes, putting on warm dry ones, holding on to the metal cup of hot tea, or some combination of all of these. (We would find out in the morning that the condensation formed on the underside of the tin structure actually made all of our clothes and jackets even more wet over the course of the night…) After another nice hot meal, everyone retired for the night since our journey over Salkantay would begin tomorrow at 5:30am.

Lunchtime

Michael strikes a pose before the journey begins! Campsite Night #1

Day 2: The Salkantay Challenge!

After a relatively undisturbed night of sleep (going to the outhouse in the middle of the night required a serious time investment considering that I had to put my clothes and boots back on to reach the bathroom), most of us were up and seated at the table by 6am for a wonderful breakfast of pancakes with chocolate syrup served with hot tea on the side. After some packing and measured decisions about how many layers of clothing to wear, we set off just after 7am for our 11-hour day of hiking. As our guide explained prior to our departure, the climb up to the Salkantay pass (4600 meters) would involve three stages: the first a relatively small incline through light snow, the second being the hardest of the three and involving a rapid change in elevation over a short distance, and the third existing somewhere in between the first two stages in terms of difficulty (though the details of this stage were never really explained or experience). The precipitation had not let up during the night and the rain had only stopped at one stage to allow for some snow. As we began our climb, the cold light rain continued, and we advanced through the rocky/snowy terrain for just under 2 hours in our effort to complete the first stage. After a quick water break and regrouping (well…about half the group had arrived after 15 minutes but not everyone was there), we started on the second stage of climbing. The next three hours proved to be a serious test of will. The wind picked up and became a lot more severe as we rose in elevation. I decided that my iPod and “Training” playlist (which includes a few inspiring Rocky songs) would be the best source of motivation for the climb. While my jacket boasts of its waterproof layer, the functional issues of a wet iPod became more apparent as I continued the climb, and I am not entirely convinced in the quality of my jacket anymore. Nevertheless, chocolate bars, peanuts, and dried fruit helped make the climb much more manageable. Low temperatures and feelings of no-end-in-sight had Michael and I pausing at various times to discuss emotional highs and lows of our trip so far. When one paused to stop and look around, the beauty of the landscape was almost overwhelming and one might get lost in such grandeur were it not for the near-frostbitten hands and rapidly changing winds that reminded one of the need to continue climbing, reach the pass, and eventually descend to the other side. After a little more than 2 hours since the start of stage 2, I caught up with Michael (who had been leading the pack) and Ed, and together we all made our way to the highest point of our journey (we never figured out where stage 2 ended and stage 3 started…). I’d like to say that the view at the top of the pass was magnificent, but strong winds, a large amount of fog, and tiny ice particles kept us from seeing anything but the ground ahead of us. After only five minutes at the top, we began our descent. We all knew that lunch was waiting at the bottom so we chose not to hesitate during this part of the journey. On the other side of the mountain, we not only found a warm meal but also a brilliant and shining sun in the sky along with a surprising lack of any serious amount of precipitation. A nice hot meal of soup and pasta after roughly 6 hours of climbing was exactly what everyone needed to recover from physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Though it would be another three hours before we arrived at our campsite for the evening, the rest of the day was spent walking downhill and pausing for great views of the waterfalls and rivers along the path. Entering the grounds of our campsite in the early evening, we all commented on the fact that many wouldn’t believe that we had encountered such a range of weather all within the same day. The beautiful green lawn and fading sunlight stood in stark contrast to the dark and snowy climate from earlier in the day. Nevertheless, we relaxed for a few hours while dinner was prepared and, after another great hot meal, we all retired to the second floor porch, which would serve as our big group bed for the evening. Having dropped to 2900 meters, the night proved to be much warmer and passed quickly with no complications.

A quick picture near the bottom of the hill. Was much warmer down there At the top, we made it and my poncho is being blown away by the intensity of the wind.

Michael and Fay during our descent

Day 3: The Selva (and its oh-so-wonderful population of insects!)

Did I mention that I hate insects? Well, I guess not all insects, but definitely a large majority of the ones we encountered on the third day. After a quick breakfast, we set out on our trek just after 8am. The sun was shining brightly overhead, and, after about 15-20 minutes of walking, most of the group had stopped to remove all the extra layers of clothing. I continued on my gym shorts and a short-sleeve dry-fit t-shirt. Though I was aware of the impending threat of mosquitoes, my Off bug spray didn’t do much to deter them from biting almost every part of exposed skin on my legs and arms. Having passed over the Salkantay mountain, we were now on our direct route to Machu Picchu, the great lost Incan city. Having completed the second day, spirits were much higher considering that every subsequent day did not involve as many hours of walking and did NOT include the constant presence of rain. In fact, this day only involved walking until roughly 1pm. We paused around 11am and spent almost an hour lounging around in a clear open space. The Germans, all members of the same lacrosse team, had all brought their sticks and decided to toss the ball around for a while and taught a few people how to properly throw and catch a lacrosse ball. After the extended break, we continued our downhill journey along the river banks and through more forest. I did not encounter any wild animals along the trail as much of this very touristy trail was populated with small towns and plenty of places to buy water and snacks. As we neared our final destination of the day, we encountered a riverbank full of millions of sandflies that opted to follow us for the next thirty minutes until we arrived in a small town, destined to be our site of an extended lunch. After frustrating attempts to swat the bugs and run away from them, I gave up and just decided that getting bitten was inevitable. Following lunch, we boarded two buses for a short (or well, relatively) one-hour trip to the campsite. Less than 20 minutes after departure, we had the inconvenient experience of a flat tire, but our guide and cook were able to fix the problem in under 15 minutes, and we arrived at camp only shortly after the others. Since it was only the early afternoon, the entire group opted to grab a bus to the hot springs located only 20 minutes away. Though it proved to be an extremely touristy place, the natural hot springs was a much needed point of relaxation after three days of hiking. Everyone had a few beers, and we returned to the campsite for an extended 3 hour dinner (only made complete by the presence of the owner’s pet monkey who kept jumping across the table from person to person). For Michael and I, the biggest concern of the evening was figuring out how to get inside our tent without attracting all the bugs in via the use of light. Though we felt relatively safe when falling asleep (since we couldn’t see any bugs), the morning light brought evidence of the ridiculous number of bites we had each received during the night. Insects 1. Humans 0.

Departure from Campsite #2 Break in the field

Day 4: Are We There Yet?

Well, this day proved to be more of a mental challenge than anything else. We knew that the day’s end involved a hot shower in one of the hostels of Aguas Calientes, the town located at the bottom of Machu Picchu, but getting to this final destination involved a 3+ hour walk along a not-so-spectacular road to the hydroelectric plant as well as another 3+ hour walk along the train tracks that would take us from one side of the Machu Picchu mountain to the other (where we would find Aguas Calientes and where we would begin our cimb the following morning). At this point, my iPod was finally dry from its rain exposure on the second day and, to my surprise, still had enough battery left to get me through the second half of the day’s journey. Various intervals of rain and a general lack of motivation left me with little energy to stop and take pictures along the way. The day seemed to drag out longer than all the others despite the fact that we were not covering an incredible amount of distance. At this point, my mental stamina was drained, and I was quite ready to jump on the next train riding into town. That said, a few chocolate bars and Keane/The Fray/Red Hot Chili Peppers proved capable of helping me advance to my final destination. We all arrived in Aguas Calientes in the late afternoon, and we were quite overjoyed to find some wonderful accommodations waiting for us (a clean and comfortable bed and hot shower). After our final group meal at a local restaurant, we retired to our respective rooms around 8pm since the next day involved a wake-up call at 3am.

On our way to HydroElectric Plant Train tracks to Aguas Calientes

Water Break.
Almost to Aguas Calientes

Day 5: The Magnificent Machu Picchu

Another traveler I met said to me that if a picture of Machu Picchu might conjure up a 1000 words, then being there would surely provide one with more than a million descriptions. I would imagine that it might be most appropriate to spend a significant amount of time describing all the sites and sounds of Machu Picchu, but I think that, at least for me, the place carries with it this history of feeling. Having trekked for 4 days, gotten up at 3:30am, ran up a hill for the best part of an hour to get in line, and waited along with hundreds of others to enter, just the feeling of being inside the city proves to be difficult for me to describe in words. For me, the day included a 2.5 hour tour (I opted for explanation in Spanish from our guide Cesar since he had a closer family connection to Incan/Quechuan history than the random English speaking guide that was chosen to lead the non-Spanish speakers) of part of the city, a group climb up to the top of Waynapichu (a mountain that overlooks the city itself and is relatively popular due to its limited admission of 400 people a day), and a solo journey (only because I lost the rest of the group on my descent from Waynapichu) up to the top of Machu Picchu mountain (farther away but higher up than Waynapichu). The solo climb during midday (between 12:30pm and 2pm) of Machu Picchu was indeed the most challenging of the entire 5-day trek. It was the last climb on the adventure, and the climb is less technically challenging than Waynapichu but more physically demanding as it requires longer to get to the top. Nevertheless, the arrival at the top of Machu Picchu mountain was personally moving. Unlike Waynapichu, Machu Picchu is not frequently visited, and only 3 people were sitting at the top viewpoint looking down on Machu Picchu city. After 10 minutes, I found myself up there alone. As I scanned the horizon all around me, I was surrounded by the most marvelous view of the Andes as they were: snow capped mountains, rustic river valleys, green luscious forest, and cloudy blue skies. My ten minutes alone on the top of this mountain were transcendental. Every step along the 80km trek came to have so much more meaning when I finally arrived and stopped to reflect from this point. It was an experience I hope to never forget.