Challenge of the Ancient Empires

We´ve now been away for more than two months. It feels a lot longer... When you think back of things that happened just a week ago it feels like more than a month! Time has started to sort of flow together now, I keep forgetting the day and the dates and how much time we´ve been travelling! We are also at times getting slighty homesick, we miss you guys back home! The past week was spent conquering the untamed mountains of Salkantay and exploring the ancient treasures of the Incas. Because you have to book months in advance for a spot on the famous Inca Trail and we like our plans to be flexible, we did not get on this trek. The alternative, though, was also incredible. While it does not feature the ruins of the Inca Trail, the landscape is simply amazing and because the trail is a bit harder and longer, we had the mountains for ourselves! Our group consisted of me, Lloyd, Ben (England), Maxi (Buenos Aires), Mike and Kate (married couple from Israel) and our guide Niko. There were also another group who travelled with us: Sanna, Emma, Nicola (Sweden), Nicolas (Germany) and their guide (Willy).

DAY 1:

As we booked the cheapest tour we could find, there were quite a few suprises in store for us! Firstly we understood from the agency that we would go on a tour bus, so at about 5h we were bundled into an absolutely jam-packed local bus! Luckily we had seats, but it was still pretty uncomfortable. The bus dropped us off into the little town of Mollapata, where we had a light breakfast. From there it was off to the mountains. The first day was not particulary hard for me, Lloyd and Ben (we´ve been trekking around quite a bit and came from Bolivia) but the others struggled with the altitude. It was quite a long day though and most of it was going up to the base of Salkantay, a very impressive mountain towering above us at 6271m!

me, Ben and Lloyd

Salkantay

The last part was rainy and cold. But luckily we have a cook who makes sure that the tents are set up by the time we get to the campsite. We spent most of the night eating and getting to know each other, before we tucked in for a cold night.

DAY 2:

The second day was physically the hardest. It was 4 hours up (to 4600m) and then a long 5 hours downhill. The morning Maxi was ready to give up and go back but Willy and Ben convinced him to go on. He hired a horse to go up.

Maxi and Maximus (his horse) struggling up the hill with the help of Niko

We reckoned going down would be easier, but it seems our luck finally ran out and we experienced the full effect of the Amazonian rainy season. It absolutely poured down after lunch, turning the road into a river of ankle deep mud. Lloyd, Ben and I made good time and finally arrived at the little village of Challaway at about 17h, wet and muddy and exhausted. I also got a nice wet sleeping bag as a suprise. It seems the cook was under the impression he could put our bag (keeping our stuff dry) to better use. Luckily the locals have a hut with a fire in to dry their clothes and was kind enough to share it with us.

most of the way looked like this!

The others really struggled and finally pitched up after 12h of really hard walking. Every body was tired and the long walk had taken its toll on our feet. Only Lloyd was blister free. I had a really big raw blister on my left heel and Ben lost his big toe nails (shoes were too small).

DAY 3: Although the second day was the hardest walking wise, the third was the worst. Stiff muscles and blistered feet made the day quite uncomfortable. The scenery though, was unbelievable. We descended into the incredible jungle and were surrounded by hummingbirds, butterflies and beautiful orchids. There were waterfalls everywhere and all the while the mountains towered above us. We had to cross several swollen rivers and patches of deep mud, and I managed to fall into one of the rivers getting my boots and feet soaked. Wet feet and blisters don´t go that well together and by the end of the day my feet looked 80 years old!

a bridge over troubled water

another "natural" bridge

After 5 hours of walking we stopped for a long lunch. The sun came out and we could finally dry some of our things. I also went for a little dip in the mighty Urubamba river.

it´s good to be clean!

At 15h we got on a local truck for an exhilatering ride to Saint Teresa, our day´s final destination. That evening we went down to a steamy hot water spring to soak away the dust and pain of the past couple of days. It was VERY nice and hot, but ended with a struggle back through the dark, rain and mud. In the hurry to get to the truck taking us back to Saint Teresa, Lloyd lost his glasses. He had to walk back the next morning at 5h30 to go look for them! Luckily he found them! Somewhere along the way or during the night we were also savagely attacked by unknown insects, leaving our feet, ankles and legs looking like a battlefield (somehow Lloyd was mostly spared, must be his musk...).

DAY 4:

The next morning was very relaxed. It was only a short walk (4h) to a big hydro-electric plant where we caught the train to Aguas Calientes. The walk did include some exciting bits. We first had to cross the river in a rickety little manual cable car and then we hitched a ride on a local garbage truck to save us some walking. We also found some crazy looking insects on the way!

me, Ben, Lloyd and all our gear packed into the cable car

hmmm, fancy some lunch?

The train ride was relaxing and went through very impressive jungle terrain. We arrived in Aguas Calientes (Warm Waters) at about 17h. This town is VERY touristy and is the base for trips to Machu Picchu. We spent the afternoon relaxing in more hot springs. Pleasant, but not nearly as good as the previous night. We slept in a hostel that night and it was great sleeping in a bed again and being out of the rain!

DAY 5: The next morning we got up at 3h40. It was a very steep climb up to Machu Picchu (1500 stairs!) but Lloyd and I raced to the top, arriving there just in time for sunrise, but the rain arrived to spoil it again. We spent the next 2h getting a tour of the Machu Picchu site from Niko, but the rain, mist and cold made it pretty miserable. After the tour we spent about 2h sitting on a table under a roof waiting for the rain to stop which didn´t happen. The mist did clear and it heated up a bit and we headed back to explore the ruins on our own. Despite of the rain it was incredible! It really is a must-see site and easy to see why it is one of the 21 finalists for the new 7 wonders of the world!

Machu Picchu

hanging out with Machu Picchu locals

the Inca water systems facinate me

After the ruins we headed back to town to get some coffee and lunch. Our train left at 16h20 and we finally arrived back in Cuzco at 20h. I had one of the most memorable (hot) showers of my life at our hostel, before we all went out to a nice restaurant for a last dinner together.

the whole group (except for Kate and Mike, who left early)

It was an unforgetable experience!

We took it easy for a day, had lunch with Ben, Holly, Maxi and Nicolas and afterwards got an interesting 1 hour massage for cheap (not enough on the shoulders, too much attention to the sensitive bits ;)).

Saturday Maxi, Lloyd and I went for a tour of the Sacred Valley with stops at Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero. Although Chinchero, an old church built on top of old Inca ruins, was nothing to write home about, the other two were absolutely unbelievable!

Pisac is divided into four neighbourhoods and we visited Intihuatana, the most important of them. This was apparently a place for Inca astronomers and the center piece is the impressive Temple of the Sun. The stone work is really impressive. It seems that there are two important styles of Inca architecture, imperial and rustic. Rustic architecture was used for ordinary buildings and features rough stone work but still has the impressive almost seamless fits. Imperial stones are much more precise, are polished and sometimes features impressive carvings. The buildings are all built in trapezoidal shapes and have alcoves in them to make them seismically resistant. Even after two huge earthquakes leaving colonial architecture in ruins the Inca buildings have almost no damage!

more Inca watery goodness...

one of the Pisac neigbourhoods

From there, after a short lunch, it was off to Ollantaytambo. This was easily the most impressive ruins of the day´s stops. It features stones of hundreds of tons (apparently dragged up the mountain from 7 kilometers away by hundreds of Incas) and are intricately carved and smoothed. From there it was back to Cusco.

the Ollantaytambo terraces

Lloyd with some of the smaller Ollantaytambo stones

found this little guy hiding...

Tonight we leave for Arequipa to trek the world´s second deepest canyon and do some river rafting.

Neil

The Floating Islands of the Uros

After crossing over into Peru we stopped in Puno. Puno is another small city on the banks of the HUGE Lago Titicaca. Puno is the base for one of the most popular travel destinations on the lake. The floating islands of the Uros tribes.

Lloyd, me and Holly booked a tour to go visit these communities. Almost everything they do are based on totora reeds. With these reeds they started building their floating islands a long time ago, probably to escape from the dominating Incas or other violent tribes. The islands, although nowadays very commercial, are a wonder to see. Families build them by using the reeds and then layer more reeds on top of this. As the reeds rot they replace it by more reeds (about 10 times a year). An island lasts about 16 years before the colony moves to a new island.

Holly and Lloyd

the first island

the second island

They also build boats out of the reeds and used to travel many miles on these. We did a short trip on one of these boats to another island. Pretty cool! Once the boats start to decompose they lift them onto the island and plant potatoes in them! You can also eat the reeds, it tastes a bit like cucumber, but with a bit of an aftertaste.

what´s up doc?

one of the grander double-hull boats

There are about 3000 Uros still alive today, but only a handful still live on the 47 islands. They live mostly off birds and fish (they have trout farms on the islands) and of course the money their crafts bring in from the hundreds of tourists!

a friendly local

the fish dance, saying thanks for coming

After that we went to Isla Taquila, another beautiful island. We spent some time exploring the area and then had a nice lunch (trout again!), before the LONG way back on the boat.

beautiful Isla Taquila

That night we took a night bus to Cusco (did not get a lot of sleep). We are now relaxing in Cusco after spending the morning being harassed by hundreds of people all insisting we should book tours with them and eat at their restaurants! We hid in travel offices and restaurants... Hey, wait a minute! Anyway, we looked everywhere for a place on the famous Inca Trail, but to no avail. New regulations allow only 500 people a day (including porters and guides). The earliest possible date available is 19th of April, way to late! We did book space on an alternative route, although not on the old Inca roads and past all the ruins, it is a great and slighty tougher route (5 days, 4 nights) and we still end at Machu Picchu. I will post the photos of the trek when we get back on Thursday. Neil

Copacabana and Lago Titicaca

OK, it´s been quite a few days since I last wrote. Here´s what we´ve been up to.

We spent our last few days in La Paz resting and eating like crazy. We discovered this awesome restaurant that serves some of the most incredible desserts possible! They specialize in milkshakes and cake but do have some TASTY burgers...

hmmm, that IS a tasty burger

this how milkshakes should look!

On Tuesday we caught the bus to Copacabana. This tranquil, incredibly beautiful little town sits on the shores of the amazing Lago Titicaca. Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3812m, is an average depth of 107m and at its deepest 281m. Because of the high altitude the air is crystal clear and you can see miles and miles over the deep blue waters. The whole area looks like how I imagined parts of Greece and the mediterranean sea.

We spent the first day wandering around the town and climbing the mirrador (lookout point) for some breathtaking (literally - very steep climb) views. That night we sampled some of the famous local trout dishes, absolutely delicious! We went to bed early and I had enough time to finish Snow Falling on Cedars and start on Forrest Gump (I finished that yesterday and now I´m reading A long way down from Nick Hornby).

coming up to pray

The morning we had a great breakfast at the hotel (pancakes, eggs, bread, yoghurt and cornflakes, peaches and I had three cups of coffee). From there we had to hurry down to the docks to catch a boat to the Isla del Sol. On the way we met another South African! Although living in the States for a long time Darren still has his South African roots and we had an awesome time with him and his fiancé, Esther. We partnered up with them and Holly, a friend we made in Sucré. It is amazing how we keep running into people we´ve met all over the place!

a really small island

The boat dropped us off at the north of the island. From there we spent the day trekking across to the south where we had to catch the boat back. The first part was guided (Spanish) and included a mildly interesting museum showing some of the Inca artifacts scavenged from the lake. We went to a sacred Inca rock that looked a lot like a normal rock but is apparently the birth place of the highest Inca god, Viracocha and his sister-wife, Mama Occlo. We ended the tour at an old Inca temple which is still mostly intact.

the local donkey showing off

From here it was a three hour trek all across the island to the south side. Darren, Lloyd and me spent most of the time deeply discussing the wonder that is South African cuisine and worked up a fine appetite by the time we reached the boat!

Back in town we got ourselves cleaned up a bit and then we went out for dinner with Darren and Esther. Me and Lloyd had trout again and we got a bottle of Bolivia´s finest red wine (very good). I was a bit more adventurous this time around and ordered the Trucha Diabla (translated on the menu as trout shedevil) and it lived up to its name! MUY CALIENTE (very hot)!

After 24 days in Bolivia we are finally in Peru. This was the easiest border crossing by far and took less than 20 minutes. Our first stop is Puno. This small city is also on Lago Titicaca, but lacks the beauty and charm of Copacabana. We do go on a very cool tour tomorrow of the famous floating islands of the Uros tribes. I will write later and tell you all about it!

Cheers,

Neil

The Death Road

After our ordeal at Huayna Potosi we decided that going down should be easier than going up.

We took on the infamous Death Road, also known as the most dangerous road in the world. On a mountainbike. It is called this because of the number of deaths (estimated 200 - 300 a year). Once you see the road you understand why there are so many! The path is very narrow and steep, dropping off MANY meters, often very muddy and gravelly with poor visibilty! This with two way traffic! Luckily a lot has changed recently. A new road is almost completed and already open. This leaves the old road purely as a playground for crazy bikers (like us). The trip is divided into two mayor parts. The first part starts at 4700m and involves a two hour ride on a tarred road in (mostly) good condition. This part is quick and very cold. After this you get to the three hour Death Road part.

a view from the start

the group

In all honesty, the road is a bit over hyped. We experienced it more as an incredibly beautiful scenic trip with periods of adrenaline, than a heart-thumping , near-death experience. The great thing about the trip is that you start high and work your way to town of Coroico at 1500m. The scenery changes from the cold relatively bleak altiplano to hot dense rainforests with stunning views the whole way. There are also hundreds of beautiful waterfalls (you pass right under a few big ones). You still have to be extremely careful, as any mistake can certainly kill you. The weather also didn´t play along, it rained the WHOLE way. And when I say rain, I mean the hard, constant, water curtain of tropical rain. This turned the trip into a mud bath and we were so dirty by the end, only our mothers would have been able to recognize us (maybe).

the start of the death road (great conditions)

wheee!

Finally after having mud in our eyes for a few hours we stopped in a little town at the bottom of the hill and from there it was on to Coroico with our bus for a nice hot shower, clean clothes and a buffet lunch in the EXTREMELY nice 3-star Hotel Esmerelda.

i think we´re losing him...

Coroico is a beautiful village (a weekend hangout for the richer middleclass from La Paz) with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and forest. We would have loved to stay here a few days, but our time in Bolivia is getting very short.

Coroico in all its splendour

the view from Hotel Esmerelda

another glorious sunset

All in all the trip was amazing! For the very reasonable price of $38. This includes all gear, the bike, great breakfast and lunch and transport (and a free t-shirt and CD with pictures and videos of the trip). We had a few days rest to recover from all the recent action. Tomorrow we have to move on again to Copacabana, a town on the shores of Lago Titicaca, and the Isla del Sol. Neil