Part 2: In which we Salkantay Trek

I'm sorry. I've been really really busy. I work hard on the documentary and I also started teaching English. I have a million stories to tell but I still haven't finished my January travels. So pretend you're reading this 2 months ago. 

This takes place starting January 18ish. 

Cusco’s a cool city but it’s really a tourist town. When you walk down the streets around the main plaza you’re accosted by people trying to sell you artwork, umbrellas, trips to Machu Picchu, little kids dressed in traditional dress waving keychains, jewelry and trinkets in front of you saying, “Por favor, señorita!” It is also known as a party city with a very strong nightlife culture. We tried to go out one night with our Spaniard friend (his name we will never know) we met at our hostel but we had all been on overnight buses the night before and by 1:30 were more than ready for bed.

Carl update: Carl showed up at the VIP House the day after we arrived. We said hi and he started telling us about his latest mishaps: broken phone charger, lost debit card, trouble booking a tour to Machu Picchu; can we help him with any of these things? Not really. He also mentioned he had tried to check in much earlier in the morning (a bit after we checked in) but there were no rooms. We felt a little bit guilty about taking his room. But not that guilty. The lady at the desk booked him in an open bed in the 10-bed dorm room. Then we checked in for another night. “I’ll put you in the same room as Carl,” the lady said with a wink. Yesssss.

We saw him sporadically throughout the day and each time he was on a mission to remedy some crazy new problem he had. He was very focused. Then when we were attempting to party that night we ran into him at a discoteca and shouted HI above the noise. We saw him dancing with a number of different girls. Good for you, Carl!

The next morning Carl’s stuff was scattered all over the dorm room. He joined us for breakfast and we chatted. When we left the hostel we bid him farewell, never expecting to see him again.

Sarah’s sister Ellie and her roommate Ashley met us in Cusco that day. We switched to a very fancy-expensive hotel (ok, when I say “fancy-expensive” I’m using the words in relation to the other places we stayed. It was $28 a night each for a double room with a private bathroom that had toilet paper, towels, and a shower with hot water. Fancy-expensive.)

We went to the tour agency and paid for our trip and then I spent a good many hours running around Cusco trying to purchase my last minute camping supplies. That night we had our orientation with our tour guide. Our tour guide’s name was Jimmy Jhon. Yes, like the sandwich. At first we didn’t believe him either. But he showed us his legal documents and yup, that’s his name. He explained the trek to us: 5 days and 4 nights through the mountains, through the rainforest, to Machu Picchu. The first night is the highest campsite, the second day we summit and is the hardest, the fourth day we have the option of going to the hot springs, the fifth day we climb Machu Picchu at 5 am. We were a little bit intimidated.

The following morning we woke up at 4:30 and headed down to the lobby to leave for our trek. This is when I noticed my debit card was nowhere to be seen. Losing things as always. (This made the next 3 months of my life rather difficult). Once I finished panicking, we piled into a minibus with Jimmy Jhon, our chef, our horseman, and our helper and headed out to the start of the trail.

Our Guides

1.     Jimmy Jhon: Our trusty guide. He’s young, about my age, but has been a tour guide for about 7 years already. He knows the trail like the back of his hand and is at home in the mountains of Peru. Sometimes a buddy and sometimes a teacher, I would recommend a tour led by this dude. He also speaks Quechua, the native language of the area. He has run the entire trail before.

2.     Timoteo AKA Mr. Delicious: Our chef. He is always smiling. He is also an amazing chef who made us 3 course meals and somehow magically made a birthday cake for breakfast at 13,000 feet above sea level over an open fire on a few hours notice.

3.     Fortunato: Our helper. He’s about 19 years old and never quite knew how to interact with us crazy gringas. One day Sarah walked in on him in the bathroom. After that things were always hilarious between them.

4.     Mario: Our horseman. We didn’t have too much interaction with him. But he led our trusty horses through the perilous trails with no problem. Both he and Fortunato only wore sandals while we struggled through in our hiking boots and walking poles.

No, you’re not reading this wrong. We had 4 guides and there were only 4 of us. We were pretty well taken care of.

Day 1:

I guess we can call Day 1 a warmup. After they dropped us off at the start of the trail we walked all day but we were in no rush. I was lucky because I had been living in La Paz for a month so was already acclimated to the altitude. The others had to struggle along at first as their lungs tried to extract much too low levels of oxygen from the mountain air. The views were beautiful- green mountains, occasional waterfalls… By the end of the day we had climbed up higher and were able to see snow capped mountains too. These are my favorite. We were also very lucky because we were the only tourists on the trail during our trip. This was due to the fact that we did not choose the Inca Trail (Thank you Ellie!) where you are always surrounded by other groups and the fact that we went in January, low season in Peru.

The first night was the highest altitude campsite of the trip, Salkantaypampa, at 4100 meters above sea level, with an amazing view of Salkantay Mountain. We were exhausted when we got there. We found our tents already set up in a small shelter (after Jimmy Jhon tricked us into thinking the campsite was full and we would have to sleep outside… we were so young and gullible at the beginning…) After a delicious dinner Mr. Delicious walked out of the kitchen with a huge smile and a tray full of flaming rum bananas. These are exactly what they sound like. Bananas floating in bowls of rum, on fire. They were strong. I tried sipping them at first but then did it like a shot.

When we exited the shelter to walk to our tents I looked up at the sky. The clouds had all cleared and I saw the most incredible view of the sky. I have always loved the stars and from that altitude, far from civilization, I was in awe. Jimmy Jhon came out and started pointing out constellations. The night sky is different in the southern hemisphere and they also find constellations in the shadows, not only by connecting the stars. This might have been my favorite moment of the trek.

Day 2:
The hardest day, the day of the summit, 12 hours of trekking, also Ashley’s birthday. We woke up nervous around 5 am, evidenced by the nervous high altitude poops. During breakfast Mr. Delicious appeared with the cake. I think it was made with applesauce and was absolutely delicious. We sang Happy Birthday and then had to head out for our long day. In the morning we had to summit. There was a flat area for a while, then some heading upwards, then switchbacks. We were advised to keep going, not to stop, to remind our bodies that we were okay despite the low oxygen levels. Miley Cyrus helped me through (“We can’t stop, we won’t stop”).

Jimmy Jhon named our group the (sexy) Condoritas. This annoyed us. We insisted on being called just “Condoritas.” Feminism and stuff. Anyway, we kept “seeing condors” as an excuse to take a break and look at the scenery. Whether or not we actually saw any condors is up for debate. I like condors though.

Once we made it to the summit (I just made this sound a whole lot easier than it was, but this post is long enough already) we had a ceremony where Jimmy Jhon talked about the chakana, the Andean Cross, which is the portal to the different worlds. These worlds are represented by different animals: the snake, the puma, and the condor. It’s all very interesting and you can really feel the energy from the mountains.

Then we started our descent. We walked for a long time before lunch. You know me, that’s never a good thing for me. By the time we finally stopped for lunch my limbs were trembling so much I couldn’t even pop a squat. I was delirious. Then after we ate I think the protein rush made me giggle for about 15 minutes.

Later that day, we descended into the rainforest. In one day the scenery changed from snow capped peaks to lush green jungle. It was unbelievable. But I definitely like climbing up better than the descent. It was a long day.

Finally we arrived at the campsite (about 2 hours earlier than Jimmy Jhon had estimated- we were still a bit gullible at that point). We bought a couple beers (yes, there was a little store selling beer there) to celebrate Ashley’s birthday. But we were all exhausted and went to sleep pretty early.

Day 3

Day 3 started off super rainy. Then it slowed down to a drizzle. Since we were at a lower altitude it was much hotter. A complete change in climate. We didn’t have too many hours to hike. We walked through the rainforest to our lunch-spot where we played soccer (Me, Sarah, and Ashley versus Jimmy Jhon) until lunch was ready. Another one of those super surreal moments: playing soccer in the mountains of Peru.

After lunch we went to the most beautiful hot springs. I was expecting a muddy pit but it was clean and lovely. There was a rainbow and I tried to use the force to bring me my camera but ended up having to slow motion walk to get it and take the picture from the dry land. Luke Skywalker I am not.

That night we camped on a coffee plantation. Coffee. It was amazing. The owner showed us the different types of coffee bean, how he roasts it, grinds it up… then he made us the freshest most delicious coffee I have ever tasted. I can’t even begin to describe how good it smelled.

A Note About Food

The food was incredible. Lunch and dinner were 3 course meals, complete with an appetizer, soup, protein, vegetables, some fried stuff (always fried stuff), and there was always more than we could possibly eat. They also gave us snacks every day and at certain points in the trail we would stop at a snack spot. Snack spots are my favorite kind of spot.

Day 4

Day 4 was our last real day of trekking before Machu Picchu. We walked through acres of coffee plantations before climbing up into the jungle. It was thicker than before, with weird plants, huge leaves, banana trees. Again, a completely new climate. We saw our first Inca ruins as well as our first view of Machu Picchu at a distance. There were also bugs. Lots of bugs. I had red bites on my arms and legs for weeks. We climbed up for a while, then climbed down into the valley where there was a fast moving river.  We crossed a precarious looking bridge over the river and started on our way to Aguas Calientes, the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu where we would stay that night. Suddenly, Jimmy Jhon stopped. The trail ahead had collapsed. He disappeared into the brush looking for a way through. Then he came back, the only time we saw him looking nervous the entire trip. “We have to go back across the bridge and then I’m going to have to carry you across the river,” is what we think he said. We all were very much opposed to this idea but went back across the bridge not entirely sure we would survive the next 30 minutes of our lives. There we waited as Jimmy Jhon had disappeared again. Finally he was waving to us from the brush- he had found a way through! So we crossed the bridge for a third time, strapped our poles to our backpacks, and climbed hands and knees over the collapsed trail. All of us made it to the other side, safe but covered in mud and sweat.

About an hour later we were pretty much out of the wilderness. We had made it to a sort of drop-off point where tourists are dropped off before taking the train to Aguas Calientes, the only way to get to Machu Picchu if you don’t walk.

We hadn’t showered in 4 days, we were covered in mud, and we looked like hell. The tourists all kinda looked at us funny, judging us for our walking poles. After another delicious lunch we bid farewell to Fortunato and Mr. Delicious (Mario had actually headed home earlier in the trip) and walked down the railroad tracks to Aguas Calientes. We were running late so Jimmy Jhon kept on yelling at us to go faster. This was not my favorite part of the trip.

It was fun to guess where the other tourists were from. There was one guy with shiny dress shoes. We guessed he was from Brazil. And we liked his shoes.

Then we made it to Aguas Calientes. It’s a town. It has some hostels and restaurants, touristy artisan markets and stuff as well as some upscale hotels and restaurants for the rich people who want to go see Machu Picchu. Jimmy Jhon also seemed to know everyone in the town. Not the most charming of places but we had a nice meal and got to sleep in beds. To be completely honest I missed my sleeping bag and tent. And the stars.

At this point I kinda felt like the trip was over. We were back in a city, away from the wilderness, and I felt like I wasn’t going to be seeing too much more that would blow my mind the way Salkantay Mountain had.

Day 5 – Machu Picchu

The thing about Machu Picchu is that it’s best to get there for sunrise. Then you get that famous view of the ruins.

In order to reach Machu Picchu there are 2 ways you can go. You can take a bus up the switchbacks or you can climb the hundreds of steps straight up the side of the mountain. There had been a collapse on the road, though, so the buses weren’t leaving until 7:30 am. This was too late for us. We would be climbing.

We woke up at 4 am. It was still dark. We walked to the base of the steps where they hadn’t even opened the gate yet. We joined the queue of tourists waiting. Then they opened the gate and everyone rushed forward. Now it was almost a race. Everyone wanted to make it to the top before everyone else. Nobody wanted to miss the sunrise. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to climb thousands of steps at 4 am. It’s not easy. It was humid and we were soaked in sweat. We had been walking for 4 days, we hadn’t slept enough, and we hadn’t eaten breakfast. But eventually we made it to the top.

Machu Picchu didn’t open until 6 am so we waited a little bit. Anticipation. Sleepiness. Then it was 6:00. Since we came with our own personal guide (thanks, Jimmy Jhon,) we were one of the first groups to enter. I didn’t know what to expect. Then we turned the corner and saw it. Machu Picchu.

Everyone’s seen pictures of Machu Picchu. Everyone has heard stories, legends. But nothing compares to actually seeing it. “Welcome to my house,” said Jimmy Jhon.

I wasn’t expecting to be amazing. But I was breathless, at a loss for words. The sun, the mist, the ruins, the mountains… it was more incredible than I could have possibly imagined. Word of advice: GO. See it for yourself.

Jimmy Jhon led us on a tour of the ruins, which was also incredibly beautiful and interesting- the architecture, the temples, the stories. It was a lot to take in. He was also very wary of other tourists. Nobody else was allowed to listen to our tour. He glared at them.

After the tour we bid farewell to Jimmy Jhon. After 5 days of hiking we were unsure of what to do once our guide was gone. But we thanked him for an incredible journey.

Surprise Carl Update: There he was! Outside the Machu Picchu

It was still pretty early and we still had the rest of the day at Machu Picchu! We had paid the extra bit to be able to climb Wayna Picchu, that mountain that rises above Machu Picchu. You’ve all seen the pictures. It is a very steep and precarious path of steps and rocks leading up to the top, an even more precarious perch of rocks. This might have been the most difficult part of the entire hike. Or I was just exhausted from 5 days of hike and not much sleep. Either way, it was tough.

Surprise Carl Update: I was about to climb down after reaching the top of Wayna Picchu (and taking lots of pictures) when Carl’s red sunburnt face appeared over the edge of the rock. I said hi and, nice person that I am, offered to take a photo of him. This turned into a 20 minute ordeal of him posing (you should have seen his poses. They were pretty epic) and looking at the photo, and asking me to take more. Eventually I gave up and climbed down.

The climb down was even harder than the climb up. We went back down to Aguas Calientes where we attempted to have a nice pizza for lunch but ended up in a huge (almost physical) fight with the waitress. Then we took a fancy train where a weird dancing guy in a costume made us all very uncomfortable. Finally we made it back to Cusco where we attempted to have a nice pizza for dinner but somehow ended up with a pizza that had every kind of meat on it.

The next morning Ellie and Ashley left and Sarah and I hung out in Cusco, went to the reportedly “best” museum there (the Inca museum) where the English translations were so funny I giggled the entire time. That night we boarded our not-so-comfortable bus to La Paz, ready for our next and final part of this two week adventure: Salar de Uyuni!