The trip goes south

As a result of a series of setbacks and random events, we did not trek the Ausangate Circuit. We instead made our way south toward Bolivia and Lake Titicaca. After long bus rides, we arrived in Puno, Peru where we stayed the night and got our first glimpse of the grand lake of Qechua, Aymara, and Inca mythology. It wasn´t as blue as people say, but maybe it was just that particular viewpoint. After decent sleep and a shower, we made our way to the bus terminals. There we found a million people trying to get to Copacabana, Bolivia, which is where we were headed. We found out that there is a 15 day festival occurring in Copacabana and that most buses were full. There are several ways of getting there, though... so we tried our luck with the "combis", which are minivans acting as mini buses. We were stampeded by both child and grandmother alike and, as a result, could not get a seat. We went back to the bus terminal to see how long it would take before we could get a seat on the bus. On our way, we were asked by several cab drivers if we wanted a ride to the border. The price was significantly higher than the bus, but it wasn´t high at all by U.S. standards and we could leave right away. We thought for a while about it and then decided to take the taxi. Our taxi filled up with three other guys besides the driver and we headed off. It was only about three hours before we got to the border town of Yunguyo, where we were instructed by police to pull over and get a permit to cross the border. We all got out of the car and headed toward the official building. We all went together, but once we got there the other guys in the car split up and we did not know who to follow... so we followed the driver who went into the bathroom. We waited outside for a while and, when we did not see him we made our way back to the car. But the car was no longer there and our backpacks, which were in the trunk, were gone with it. We ran in circles around the plaza looking for the car or any of the guys we had rode with to no avail. We talked to the police officer in the plaza who instructed us to quickly catch a cab to the border. He said there was a long line and we could probably catch them there before they crossed if we hurried. We were afraid they might still come back to the plaza, so I waited there while kevin went to look for them at the border. Two hours and several cigarettes later, kevin came back without our backpacks and I told him that I had looked and looked and they did not return for us. We just got jacked... royally.
We still have our passports, our money, and our ATM cards. I had my camelback backpack with me, which had in it my iPod, two guidebooks, my reading book, a pencil, and some paper. That´s all we have now aside from the clothes on our backs. Shocked and angry, we made our way across the border and took a taxi into Copacabana where we got a place to stay for the night. Unfortunately, we were not in a very festive mood and the crazy festival went on loudly into the night and kept us awake. After about three hours of sleep, we made our way into the labrynthe of street stalls selling everything from underwear and jeans to miniature houses and confetti. There are a million people here, literally, and the town just can´t physically hold this many. It is horrendous to walk through the streets, but fortunately we don´t have to carry our big packs through the streets! haha... joking. It´s not funny yet. I hope I can laugh at it later, but I just can´t yet. I lost so many things that were either very important to me or were very useful. Either way, they were things I didn´t want to part with... and SO many things. This is a great lesson in letting go of material attachments. I hate this lesson, though! So this also means that I will not be able to post any more pictures since I am now without a camera. Sorry. I really want to post a picture of this crazy madhouse of a town!
We found out today that the trek we had planned on Isla del Sol is still possible since there are hostels on the island. We can´t do it the same way, of course, but we can still do it. We will probably spend three days on the island and then make our way to La Paz. I don´t want this to completely ruin the trip, but it will unless I can keep going and have a good time.
Lesson learned... the hard way.

machu picchu

the guidebook said that it would take two hours to hike up to machu picchu. the locals said it would take 1 hr 40 min. amazingly, it only took us 1 hr 15 min to reach the top. i think we were both so excited to see the sunrise that we didn´t let the fast climb tire us too much. also, it was early morning so it wasn´t too hot yet. my first thought coming up over the hill to see machu picchu up close for the first time was that it was much bigger than i had imagined. the pictures make it look a lot smaller than it is and i realized why... the place to take the famous picture (like the one above) is so high above the ¨city¨area that it looks much smaller. when you´re actually in the ¨city¨area, though, you can easily get lost. we spent hours there looking at every part of it, getting lost in it. it´s so absolutely astounding to think about the work that went into building it. more than anything else that amazes me is that the supreme inca simply had to order it done and it was done. i´m sure many lives were sacrificed for it to be built, but it was built nonetheless and was built magnificently. the stone architecture is so clean, so precise. my favorite part was the rock garden. even though all the stones were uncut, it was nice to see what they had to work with... where they started before creating each individual piece of stone to fit wherever it needed to fit. it was truly one of the most stunning things i´ve ever seen... and to think i didn´t want to go because it was too touristy. for some reason, all the pictures i´ve seen of it didn´t take away from the shock of seeing it up close. the only thing that bothered me was that at least two-thirds of the people there had taken the train from cusco and taken the bus up the hill. it bothered me a little that i had struggled and toiled for a week to get there and others had simply walked up to it. oh well... it felt good to see it after so much work. it made it that much more special and the journey to get there was equally amazing.

well, that was the first trek in full... tomorrow we´ll be embarking on another trekking adventure and i may not be able to write again for up to 10 days. we will be doing a complete circuit around ausangate, which is the highest mountain in the cusco region. the trek should take one week, but getting there and getting away will be somewhat of a challenge and for sure it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find a computer. after the trek, we will be heading to puno, peru and then straight over to copacabana, bolivia. from here we will start the isla del sol trek on lake titicaca. that should be an easy trek, but definitely very beautiful. i´m very excited about the upcoming treks and i hope to post about them soon! thanks for reading about my exciting summer adventures!!!

llactapata to aguas calientes

this was the last day before we reached machu picchu. we climbed down from llactapata to the river aobamba then over to the river urubamba. there we found a train station and ate our first good, homecooked meal in a week... and it was only $1!!! from there we followed the train tracks for 11km to aguas calientes. there were several points on the tracks where streams ran under from the hills on the left to the river on the right. at one such point, i was not paying attention and slipped through the tracks. i leaned back so that the track before caught me, but ended up scraping up my shins on the one in front of me (as pictured above a couple days later). it hurt pretty bad and i ended up crying like a baby, which was embarrassing... but it hurt!!! hahahaha. i kept trekking the last 4 km to aguas calientes and opted for a bed instead of the campsite. we ate two dinners in aguas calientes and then went to sleep early since we had to wake up very early the next day to catch the sunrise at machu picchu.

la playa to llactapata

this was my least favorite day of the trek, except for the very end. it was cool to see the inca ruins and our campsite at the end was great, but everything in between pretty much sucked for me. it was a very steep ascent that never quite seemed to end and it was incredibly hot. i was literally soaked in my own sweat and covered in dirt. i was so tired, hot, and dirty that i had a really hard time enjoying the trek. finally, when we reached the 10,000 ft pass, we entered a shady area and began to descend. we knew we were getting close to our campsite when we started to hear voices through the trees. then the closer we got the more it sounded like a soccer game was underway. sure enough, when we got there we saw a bunch of local guys playing soccer on the one little area of flat ground on the whole mountain. they looked bummed since our camp would end up ruining their game, so we told them to continue while we watched. then we noticed how beautiful the view was from that spot. you could see two snow-capped peaks, plenty of jagged green mountains, and then we saw it for the first time in the distance: machu picchu. in the second picture above, at the center, is machu picchu from our campsite. it´s hard to see in the picture, but in person it was quite clear and astounding. in the morning we woke up to it and watched the sun rise over the mountains behind it. it was a spectacular site! the only drawback of this campsite was the ridiculous number of gnats gnawing at every available piece of flesh they could reach. i tucked my pants into my socks and pulled my hood tight around my head, but still i was attacked. kevin and i both are covered in horrible bug bites, as were all the people we saw thereafter anywhere in the vicinity of machu picchu.

colcapampa to la playa

this was my favorite day of the whole trek. the route was mostly downhill with some short climbs. the trail was a blast! there were waterfalls and we were next to the santa teresa river the whole day. at times the trail was only about a foot and a half wide and was on the edge of a sheer cliff overlooking the river. i can only imagine some clumsy trekkers falling off the cliff! so scary, but very exciting! there was a dog that followed us almost the whole day. i had to include a picture of him since he was such a big part of our day. at times he followed us and other times he led us. it seemed like he was there to make sure we were okay. hahaha. i wanted to take him home and name him sam, but i can´t imagine how sad he would be to leave the andes for los angeles. less than an hour before we reached la playa, we ran into a local mother and daughter also walking to la playa. they walked with us the rest of the way and then the daughter hung out with us at our campsite until nightfall. she was so beautiful i couldn´t believe it. the campsite was on an enormous soccer field and was full of tour groups and local kids playing soccer and camping. it was a great little town in the andes. there was also a road out of there, so most of the trekkers on tours drove out the next morning. the next day we were quite alone on the trail, which was pretty nice... mostly because there was almost no horse poo on the trail. :)

huayracpunko to colcapampa

this was the day we left the snow-capped mountains for green, steep, jagged mountains, rain, and a plethora of insects. the day started out foggy and was mostly downhill on a fun little trail. it began to rain about halfway through the day, but we still had a good time. the mud was a little bothersome, but our boots are incredible... i honestly think that goretex is the single most incredible invention of this century! mud slides right off the boots right after contact. walking through puddles does not phase the boots... our feet were dry at the end of the day except for our own sweat. by the time we crossed the pictured bridge and climbed up the last hill to our destination, we were soaked with rain and sweat (except for our feet, of course). the campsite was on the property of a family farm. they sold beer and crackers so we bought some and politely asked if we could camp inside an open, empty building on their property as opposed to the wet grass. we were so happy that they allowed us to camp there. our things had the chance to dry and we were able to cook on dry ground. it was awesome until a big tour group of italians came and took it over as their kitchen and dining room. we were left with very little space and had to fall asleep to their loud voices. i´m glad i brought earplugs. when we got there and were unloading our things, the family had taken an interest in the pictures in my guidebook. so in the morning i cut out the pictures and gave them to the children as a show of gratitude for letting us stay under their roof (even though it was later occupied by others). we woke up to a beautiful sunrise. no more rain. :)

soraypampa to huayracpunko

this was the day we climbed the high pass, which was well over 15,000 feet. the first picture is of me in the shadow of mount salcantay, where we were headed. this was shortly after climbing siete culebras, or ¨seven serpents¨, which is an extremely steep zigzag path up the side of a mountain. it was probably the single most difficult feat of the entire trek. it took us about an hour to get to the top and it covered a horizontal distance of no more than 15 meters (which should give an idea of the vertical distance). before we reached the pass there was a beautiful pond and many streams that were partially frozen over. it was a scene that is not easily forgotten. at the pass there were several apachetas, or rock piles, which are offerings to the apus, or mountain gods. it was windy and cloudy at the pass, which is visible in the picture here of salcantay. it felt absolutely wonderful to finally reach the pass... a feeling one feels only after accomplishing something monumental. just being there was a reward well worth the difficulty of the day´s climbing. the descent was not too steep but was incredibly rocky, which greatly increased the probability of twisting an ankle. fortunately, neither of us broke or hurt anything even though our legs were tired from climbing the pass. by the time we reached our campsite, my legs were shaking with fatigue and were so happy to rest for the night. we camped near a beautiful little stream in a wide open vallley with views of several snow-capped peaks all around. a peaceful end to a hard day´s work.

rest day at soraypampa

we hadn´t planned on taking a rest day so soon, but the night before our stove broke and couldn´t be fixed. we used an arierros´ stove the night before to cook our dinner, but we didn´t want to climb to higher altitudes with a broken stove. i have to admit for myself that i was already a bit tired and could use a day of lounging and stretching after the first full day of trekking. early in the day kevin fixed the stove and we went about cooking and lounging around in what was, in retrospect, our most beautiful campsite. the first picture is the view of salcantay, the mountain we were planning to pass the next day. the second picture is a local house in the shadow of humantay.

cruz pata to soraypampa

the first day of the trek was really nice. the ascent wasn´t too difficult and helped us to gradually acclimatize. our packs were heavy, so it was difficult to some degree. it was also extremely hot so we ended up wearing only t-shirts most of the day. all day long we come nearer and nearer to mount humantay. by the time we got to our campsite in the evening we were practically at the base of humantay, which is the beautiful snow-capped mountain pictured above.
we were surprised to realize that we were the only solo trekkers on the trail, meaning that all the other trekkers had guides to show them the way and pack animals to carry their packs. it made us feel tough to be the only people there on our own. even the locals were impressed that we were doing it by ourselves... but it was only the first day so we were not yet sure how things would go.

mollepata to cruz pata

the first day of the trek didn´t yet involve any trekking. we took a bus from cusco to mollepata, where we met two amazing 12-yr-old boys who were more helpful than we could have hoped. they organized a ride up to cruz pata, where we intended to camp and from where we would begin our trek the next day. mollepata is quite an empty town with no more than three cars and many more caballos. one car owner wanted to charge far too much to drive us to cruz pata while the other was nowhere to be found. finally, the boys (jesus and david) found another vehicle owner who was willing to drive us for a fair price. joyfully, the boys came with us all the way to our campsite to make sure that we were happy.
once there, we were astounded by the beauty around us. it was very green nearby, the snow-capped peaks glistened in the distance, and when night fell the stars came out in abundance. i was so excited to see the southern cross again, which is a constellation only visible in or near the southern hemisphere. i had seen it very low in the sky in thailand, but here it was bright and relatively high in the sky. so beautiful.