Salkantay trek and Machu Pichu

Salkantay trek

I decided to go on a 4 day trek to reach Machu Picchu. Not the famous Inca Trail, as thats booked out months in advance, but the Salkantay trek. This trek takes you close to Mt Salkantay (peak of over 6000m), over a pass of 4600m before decending into the jungle and river valleys, and of course ending up in Aguas Caliente for a morning hike up to Peru`s most famous ruins.

It was a great walk, covering very different terrain... from snow capped peaks strewn with large boulders (presumeably from previous glaciers), to lush river valleys. We had horses to carry some of our stuff and the camping gear, two guides and a cook to look after our food (not bad), but facilities were basic - a distinct lack of toilets along the way, and tents that weren`t all that waterproof... luckily it didnt rain for long! Luckily too, it was a great group of people from all around the world - enthusiastic and friendly. Our guide told us the trek is about twice the length of the inca trail, and passes a higher peak... I`d still love to do the inca trail sometime, but can heartily recommend this one as an alternative. Did I mention we visited beatiful hotsprings, the bus almost backed off the side of the road/cliff trying to make room for traffic coming the other way, we rode in a basket suspended by wire across a river, and we all thoroughly enjoyed a hot shower at the end of the trek!

Machu Picchu

Since we`d walked almost everywhere else, we got up at the crazy hour of 4 to start to hike up to the ruins, which opened with the first busloads at 6am. At that hour it was a bit mysterious, with low clouds drifting across, obscuring the ruins in parts. We had a guided tour taking in the main temples, and were then let loose. Its pretty amazing the extent of the ruins and their condition... and there`s surely more hiding under some of the tree cover. Pity most of the things found here are in a Yale University museum in the US. But gotta love the llamas roaming round and apparently admiring the view!

Having climbed several steps and mountains over the last few days we figured whats one more, and headed up Waynu Picchu, the mountain overlooking Machu Picchu that only 400 people a day are allowed to climb. The view was great - the clouds cleared so that they just drifted across, and we could see down to the valley where we had walked around the previous day. From here I took a mysterious path with steps hugging the rockface and ladders in parts down to some caves and temples, which was nice and peaceful with only a few visitors... mind you the hike back up all the steps was a real killer!

Back to the main ruins, I wandered round exploring, tuning into tour guides to pick up more info along the way. Theres still a lot of theories about the place and its use, so its hardly surprising that to the untrained eye you just see house after house or more accurately walls, doorways and windows! Still, get to the top area, sit down and you cant help but admire the picture postcard view of the city and surrounding mountains.

Back down the mountain, and we caught my first Peruvian train to Ollyantambo and then bus back to Cusco.

Cusco and the Sacred Valley

I arrived in Cusco to find it full of Gringos, and also full of markets, restaurants, travel agents and photo/internet shops... yes tourism is big here. Yet its actually quite a pleasant place, with a lovely central square, cathedral, some streets lined with incan stone work and heaps of good cafes (with book exchanges - yay!). Its also a perfect base for exploring the nearby ruins, and taking a trek to Machu Pichu.

The city was originally the Incan Capital, and its main temple was reported to have gold plated walls and gardens of Golden plants and animals. But the spanish arrived, and set about wiping out traces of the locals... cathedrals built over palaces, churches built over temples, stone walls converted to bases for colonial houses. Still theres no mistaking the superior stonework that has withstood earthquakes while colonial buildings have collapsed and had to be rebuilt.

I went on a days tour of the sacred valley to check out some of the incan ruins. There are some quite impressive complexes with stone terraces for growing crops, storehouses, houses and temples. Quite often they are perched on mountain sides, with the lower towns being converted into spanish towns. I found the terraces quite intriquing, and the temples rather bare... there is only stonework remaining and no intricate carved decorations (unlike central american ruins) or painting evident. Its thought they were well decorated with textiles but none remain of course. So its really admiring the stonework that fits together snuggly like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

I also took a local bus out to see some ruins within walking distance of Cusco, and spent a day leisurely walking and visiting the 5 or so ruins on the way back. Of these, one was for a water spring, another thought to be a guardhouse on the road, another a sacred cave in a hillside dedicated to the moon, a temple of unusual shaped rocks, and finally a fort with a very impressive zig zagging wall. The incans had the sense to bury/hide some of these to protect them from the spanish!

Cusco

Just a quick note to let people know I`m in Cusco, and will be heading off tomorrow on the Salkantay trek to Machu Pichu. So I´ll tell you about Cusco, Sacred valley, nearby ruins and about my trek when I get back (5 days)

Iquitos

Iquitos is apparently the largest city in the world not accessible by road, as its surrounded by rivers, and most notably the Amazon. Its was set up by the Spanish so it has some grand river front buildings, and it enjoyed the rubber boom, and even has a metal building by Eiffel of Eiffel tower fame! Nowdays its a hot, noisy city with mototaxis everywhere, and its own relaxed vibe.

Leila, who I met in Lagunas and on our jungle tour is from Iquitos, and kindly offered to let me stay with her, her husband Hans, and their Swiss neighbours (Claudia and Freddy), at her family home. So I was treated to an insiders view of the city, and a welcoming and friendly place to stay. While Leila was busy catching up with Family, Hans was excellent tour guide, renting a boat for us to go and visit Belen, a poor ¨floating¨suburb of Iquitos. The river was low so most of the houses were grounded, with some boats left on disturbing angles... But it was still certainly an eyeopener to see how the poeple live on the river... river used for washing, transport, rubbish, toilet...

Check out the bbq grubs along with the sausages and nuts... I wasnt game to try. There were also turtle eggs for sale.

From Iquitos I was sad to say goodbye to my Swiss friends, as I flew to Lima and then Cusco.