Peru/Brazil/Argentina Day 5: Inca Trail... go!

May 7, 2012
Peru Day 5: Inca Trail... go!

And so begins our epic tromp (or, is it "trapse"? Maybe "schlep") up the epic Inca Trail!

Ugh... too early!

Cusco at sunrise

We started with an early-to-rise time of 4:45am (uggghhhhhh!!!!!) Crazy. The bus picked us up at exactly the scheduled time, 5:15am (uugghhh!!!!!!!!!!). We picked up some other peeps and then headed on a bus for 1.5 hours to a breakfast place in a little town somewhere near Urubamba or Ollantaytambo. My stomach was a little nervous I think for the hike (or something) so I didn't go too crazy on the all-you-can-eat reasonably healthy breakfast, we're gonna have plenty of great food on the hike in any case. I bought an "emergency Gatorade" :) And also they had walking sticks which I was waiting for, I was definitely keen to get one of those. It was basically a long fat dowel stick but with a cool Peru-y handle. Nice. It was something much less like insane-o'-clock by the time we got to breakfast so I took some time to quickly meet and say Yo to all the awesome people hiking with us.

After 45 min or so it started to get a bit bumpy, but no worries. We got to the area just outside the checkpoint and got our sunblock on (high altitude = strong UV rays) and all the last things we needed all packed up. There was the last "real" bathroom for a while so we all made good use out of it! We got our packs all ready to roll and off we went towards the first checkpoint.

Get 'yer packs on, let's roll!

Everyone a little nervous for the hike, but excited

Our awesome hiking group at the start of the Inca Trail!

Let's DO THIS THING!!!!

As we were waiting in line at the passport check, of course the 2 people behind me were Canadian and noticed my multitude of Canadian flags. And where were they from? Waterloo... of course! :) That was funny. And... OF WE GO!!!!!!!!!! We took a quick group photo at the starting gate and boom, off we went and straight up a dusty, steepish hill. And it begins...

Lots of weird stuff happened just in the first 10 minutes. There were lots of donkeys wandering around. Christy said they were called "Burros" but I thought that was hilarious and started calling them "Churros" instead. Also some dudes walked by us carrying tall wooden doors with them?! We figured maybe they were walking it to someone's house in one of the nearby villages? Funny, and strange. We actually did see a few people on small motorbike things in the first 20 min or so of the hike, I think maybe just the people who lived in the little huts along the start of the path (which were very small farms and seemed there mostly to sell water and snacks to the unprepared, or just hungry, tourists... i.e. us!).

Our guide, Edwin. And a burro. (I was calling them "Churros")

We hiked up a ways and there were some beautiful mountains. Our guide, Edwin, stopped several times to explain plant life and demonstrated a parasite that is squished to create a red dye used in foods and cosmetics.. I think it's the "Starbucks dye!" Starbucks just last month had received some negative press for using "bugs" to colour their Strawberry Frappucinos. I am pretty sure this is the same insect, and it is apparently used everywhere. It was cool to see that. Edwin (nickname "Chory") and Jimmy (nickname "Cucho") were our fearless guide and assistant guide, and they were really cool and welcoming right off the bat. Edwin has these really cool sleeve things, I thought at first they were tattoos but they are arm protectors! An alternative to a long-sleeved shirt! So cool. I gotta get some of these :)

Edwin talking about the trail, and asking people their reasons for hiking it. Also, man those are the coolest sun protecting arm bands ever,

Glorious ravine and mountains already

How far we've walked so far...

Edwin was amazing and was very good at explaining things right off the bat. He also said just the right thing at the beginning of the day to set a very nice mood - he made us very comfortable by saying "This is not a race" and telling us we had come all this way to enjoy it and we should feel very comfortable to go at our own pace, stop, take photos, drink lots of water, and other great advice. He said "There's a train that goes all the way to Machu Pichu from Cusco in 2 hours... but you guys chose to do this tough and strenuous hike. Why take the longer road?" It was a great question and we had some different answers ("To prove I could do it", "To experience the beautiful nature", and some funnier ones like "Wait, there's a train?!!!") It seemed like a fun and motivated group right from the start, lots of people joking around, laughing, having fun and taking care of each other already. Awesome times. And we are definitely in good, capable hands... Edwin has done the hike approx once per week for 5 YEARS!!! Insane. We walked onwards past some little farms with chickens walking around. Edwin also mentioned that we should not call these "Incan Ruins", they are not ruins as they were demolished by the Spanish. Rather, they should be referred to as "Inca Sites". Interesting and good point to note.

After a bit we arrived at a bigger ridge, quite steep and a little taste of what to expect tomorrow I think. It was tougher, definitely, but doable. Defffinitely had some more water and a snack at the top of it though! We walked for a bit longer and got to a cliff area with a view of another bigger Incan Site. Edwin asked us to compare this site to the one we had seen previously, and commented on the history and discovery of the site as well as giving us some futher history of the area. Learning!! Very awesome.

Lens flare!

A quick break on a cliff to look out at an Inca Site.

Edwin showing us the the parasite/bug that is used to make red-coloured dye

a weird bird/duck thing

Awesome walkways

Moo!

Kev looking very hikey

Me and Grrriits!

I love it

Lunch: wow!! We arrived at our lunch stop already quite tired and hungry and ready for a break. The tents were already all set up on our arrival... epic. There was even water ready to wash your hands with! The porters were waiting around for us, and were clapping for all of us as we arrived. It was funny, we should have been clapping for them! The food was truly fantastic, so gourmet. I have never had food this good at my own house, let alone while camping! We got some sugary juice to start which was great and exactly what we needed. We had a Caribbean salad and this amazing Asparagus soup, The soup was nice and salty, very good for us given the 4 previous hours of sweating. These guys are so well organized. And then, the main course! Rice, awesome veggies, fish in great sauce, onions and tomatoes. Even garlic bread!!! So good!!!!! After lunch we all hit up the bathrooms (while they exist, it's good to take care of briz-nass) and they are the squatter toilets. Some of the girls looked super grossed out and I had my handy Purell container in my pocket. I have a feeling I'm gonna be making good use out of that during the trip! After that "adventure", it was back to our hiking.

Lunchtime... mmmm

Eating like royalty. Sweaty, sweaty royalty.

Fun times

We walked down to the water again and saw a cow along the side, that was surprising! The glorious sweeping views continued and we were just soaking it in. I chatted with one of the girls named Stephanie and as we were chatting my Nalgene straw ran out! I thought it must have been just caught up on something so I checked in my bag and yep... empty!!! I'd drank 2.5 Litres already and it wasn't even the end of the day. Plus all that juice and soup and stuff at lunch! I must be burning it off hard here on this trip. They said at least 1.5L of water per day was recommended, but looks like I am drinking way more than that.

The view in the later afternoon as the hike continued

We continued onwards and upwards (quite literally, though the grade is pretty reasonable today), past some gorgeous views of the mountains. We soon after arrived at the campsite!! The porters had amazingly set up our tents and everything for us, the kitchen tent, etc. It was spectacular. They were so nice and so organized too. Dinner was, as we guessed it would be, FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!! The Chef came in at one point with a chef hat on an with a pan on fire, as it turned out he was making bananas flambee, but with Pisco!! It was really amazing. After dinner and a quick bathroom break, we all headed to bed early-ish, at 9:30pm... that's enough hiking and adventuring for today. They'll be plenty of time for more of that tomorrow.

Dinner time... time for this epic asparagus soup!

And then the CHEF... yes... CHEF... made us Bananas Flambee with Pisco.

What an awesome day!!!!

Peru/Brazil/Argentina Day 4: Videos

A quick 360 view of the amazing scenery at the Pisac Inca site in Pisac, Peru.

Peru/Brazil/Argentina Day 4: Pisac site and market

May 6, 2012
Peru Day 4: Pisac site and market

5:30am... up and "at them"!!! Ugh... :)

Actually, it was TOTALLY fine. We are practicing, getting ready for the early-to-bed, early-to-rise vibe we're gonna be rockin' on the Inca Trail so this was good. Going to bed at 9:30pm the night before means you can get up at absurd early morning times and it actually works! Fancy that. :)

We got brekkie in the hostel again which roccccked and then headed to the front door area waiting for a cab. A cab pulled up... and kinda signaled to us... and the guy at the front desk of the hostel was chatting on some walkie-talkie, so we figured it was ours. We had next to no Spanish so we tried to ask if he was "our" cab (the one the hostel had arranged for us) and it wasn't really working out :) Bah, I really should have learned more Spanish before this trip. Oh well, we shrugged it off and took off on an epic day! (As it turns out, this was NOT actually the cab we were supposed to take, but our driver, Jorge, was super awesome and very helpful anyway!).

On the way out of Cusco

Taxi!

Excited for the day

Along the way Jorge noticed we were taking a bazillion photos out the window so he stopped a few times for us to get out and take better pictures of the GORGEOUS Sacred Valley. There was some light mist on the ground and hillsides and it was just glorious. (Note: these photos I took in RAW as well, so once I'm done posting the entire trip blog, I'll edit these ones in Lightroom and re-post a few of the best ones).

Misty Sacred Valley

Cool terraces on the way to Pisac

Sacred Valley

Awesome clouds

Cool little villages and lots of open spaces

After an hour or so we arrived at the Pisac ruins. There were some very beautiful terraces there as well as some thatched roof homes that were built up to look like they would have looked in the past. It was very cool. We took a nice long walk for a few hours, eventually splitting off and wandering our own directions. Frank and the others found some cool cave thing, and Jess and I wandered around a different hill. At one point I sat down for a little reflection time and that was a nice quiet moment, chilling out and looking across the way at some farmers who were carrying huge bales of hay on their backs. What an awesome place to hang out.

At Pisac ruins

Awesome day for a hike!

More pics of the Pisac site

Having fun!

Sunny grass tips

Frank walking on some ledgy thing

I watched as these guys across the hill carried these huge bales of hay

Awesome place to hike!

After our nice long hikes, we all met up and walked down the terraces to meet our driver. He then took us to the Pisac market and dropped us off there. I was planning to buy a cool shoulder bag as well as maybe some gifts, and just as we walked in I saw a really cool Yellow bag, and I figured... that's probably the one I am gonna end up getting! Pretttty sure I'm gonna want that one still after seeing 1000 other ones :) (I did actually end up getting something very similar to that one).

A soft dog at the Pisac market

Chicha Morada!!!!!! Purple Corn!!!

We wandered the market, happening upon some cute and funny animals as well as some interesting trinkets, woven rugs, bags, socks, etc. Not too much struck my interest except for the bag, which I was super psyched about. After looking at lots I ended up getting a really cool yellow/orange one. I also got some Alpaca wool socks for Mom, they are crazy coloured and she will like them!!

After looking at clothing and souvenirs for a while, Kev and I went off to the fruit market section. I got a think called a Peppino, which looked a bit like a small melon. I also got some Passionfruit (she called them "Grenadilla", same as South Africa!) - this is not actually the Maracuya, which is the fruit I'm still searching for :) Kev and I went into a nice looking shop to get out of the sun for a bit, and I got a Maracuya juice there which ROCKED.

Pisac market (the fruit section)

Lots of interesting people in cool clothes here

Those mangos looked epic. I bought some passion fruits (grenadillas)

Loved this print but there was no easy way to get it home

Juice and the fruit I bought

Awesome bag I got

Socks for Mom!

We wandered some more and found a shop that made large woven rugs. The guy working there was a fascinating fellow, he had a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and then took off to drive a Motorcycle through Canada and the U.S.A. Then, as he so elegantly put it, he said, "F-it! I'm moving to Peru!" and that was that. :) I think he said he was originally from Peru (or perhaps Ecuador). The guy was very interesting and incredibly world-traveled, it was cool to meet someone like that randomly at a market in Peru! He gave us a bunch of advice about place to see in Brazil and Argentina too and was very knowledgeable. It seemed like he had a million stories and crazy things he'd experienced, I just sortof wanted to sit down on a chair and listen for a while! And well, we sortof did that. He sold hot-off-the-presses empanadas at the back of the shop (presumably, given his knowledge of Economics, he probably suspected he'd often have some cheap customers who were just there to look at the artwork and chill out and chat with him so he may as well offer another easy-to-access service as well!) They were right out of the wood-fired oven and just amazing.

This guy was making rugs with this loom

Kev and I found Frank, Jess and Christy and headed back to another place in the market for MORE empanadas and also some Chica Morada (I LOVE that stuff!!!)

Empenadas, mmm

Cute cat at the market

My new buddy

Massive corn with huge kernels

Sweet shoulder bags, Jess and Christy both got one

Awesome cat

We continued walking the market together and got a choclo, a GIANT corn-on-the-cob with massive kernels, it was insane. Then we booked a cab back home via 2 more Inca sites. We walked a little bit and saw some other smaller cool ruins. Then we headed back to Cusco, it was nice and quick from the last site. Kev and I went back to our room and started chatting about what we were going to pack for tomorrow (the start of our Inca Trail trip!!)... and then I realized that my friend Alicia was arriving TODAY!! I chilled out for a bit writing the journal and stuff, and not 2 minutes later, who is it at the door but Alicia with Kev! Amazing.

Facetime with Jutan Clan at the hostel

After a quick Facetime with Jutan Clan, we headed off back to that amazing Los Toldos Chicken place so we could have it again and also show it off to Alicia cause wow that place rocked. It was super surprising to see Alicia and so nice, and also just great to have her meet up with us for a bazillion reasons, once of which is that she basically speaks Spanish like a local! She is basically fluent which is insanely awesome and has already made our lives so much easier :) Very impressive work on your Spanish prep, Alicia!

Dinner was friggin' epiiiic. I got Chicha Morada AGAIN, my new favourite drink. The salad bar at Los Toldos Chicken was fantastic again and we tried everything. After dinner we did some wandering and went back to that cake place we went to on the first night. Frank got the "Lengua de Suegra" which is a really funny and weird name for a dessert, it means "Mother-in-Law's Tongue", so there must be some hilarious cultural reference I am missing there. It's sweet though! So you would think if they are making a joke about Mother-in-Law's, that it would be a sour dessert instead! Anyway, it rocked, and Alicia bought us an alfajore cookie to share the next morning on the way to our hike. Very thoughtful... and man that cookie was TASTY. That rocked.

Back we went to the hostel and I did a FULL and ENTIRE re-pack of my backpack. My mantra for the evening? "Minimize, Minimize, Minimize!" We had intentionally brought the expandable duffel bags for this exact situation - so we could easily dump as much stuff as possible into the duffel and leave it at the hostel during our hike.

Grenadilla!!!!

Packing for the Inca Trail: 1 word... MINIMIZE!!!!

I really reaaaaaaaaaaally narrowed down what I needed. I took only 1 pair of pants! Just brought only what was absolutely required since I'd be schlepping all of this stuff up and down the Inca Trail for 4 days. I had read somewhere that people didn't recommend a Camelback/Nalgene water bladder for such a long hike but I love the convenience of it. So I put my Nalgene bladder into the bag as well and filled it up with 2.5 L water. With the water and my sleeping bag, I figure it's about 15 lbs or so (it turned out to be more like 22 lbs, still good). I was very proud of myself for actually planning to take only what I really needed, ok... plus some extra camera stuff like a zoom lens. The hostel was so organized and awesome, and said we could just leave everything there at the hostel that we didn't want to take on the trek.

After all that packing I was pretty tired, so I just sent off a couple of emails and then headed to sleep early. Another awesome day!

Monsters University trailer: ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So cool to see Mike and Sulley again and as their slimmer, younger selves!! Love the slightly brightened skin (and fur) tones from the first movie, the same kind of absurd practical jokes and humour already... OMG I love it. Also awesome to see some of the other amazing crazy monsters we loved from Monsters Inc., like that long arm silly red guy, SO funny on re-watching the trailer (for the 5th time) he gives Sulley a low-five with his dangly ridiculous arms for pranking Mike. Oh MAN so amazing.

This movie is gonna be GOLD!

Oh man, and how they started the teaser trailer with the SAME ROUGH SHOT at the epic teaser trailer for Monsters 1, which was quite certainly the funniest and best teaser ever for a Pixar film. Zoom in on the closet, scary monster walks out... what a GREAT twist though. This totally ROCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well done friends, well done :)