So I’ve been home for a few weeks now and seem to be fully recovered. It’s been a strange transition going from traveling so much to being home and jobless (ick). But I’ve been making the best of it by going for walks and visiting with friends. We’ve had a brief hiccup in our moving to London plans, but everything is back on track. We were originally slated to head out end of October, but there was a problem with the initial job offer and Scott had to take another position which took time to decide on. NOW, however, we are in the process of getting our visas and plan on arriving after the holidays! Joyous news, actually. As excited as I was to see Christmas in London-town, it’s going to be fantastic to see family before heading out into the world for a couple years.
It also gives us a chance to do some things we wouldn’t have had time to do normally and see our peoples more! So far we’re doing a night tour of alcatraz and going down south for a Disneyland/Magic Mountain adventure. We also might head out to FL to see the Harry Potter World place and Miami, which would be totally awesome. SO, that’s the update from here for now, back to catching up on So America. I believe we’re on Day 3 of the Inca Trail.
Inca Trail Day 3 – Happy Jenni(?)
Elevation Change Overview:
- Chaquicocha (3,450 meters, 11,318 feet)
- Puyupatamarca (3,600 meters, 11, 811 feet)
- Winaywayna (2,644 meters, 8, 674 feet)
Approximate Elevation Change: 1,106 meters (3,628 feet)
Distance: 10 kilometers
Time: 6 hours
(Thanks again, T, for the math info!)
Waking up this morning to tea and hot water is lovely, but I realize as I leave my tent to use the bathroom that my legs don’t work right. I”m finding it next to impossible to move and going up and down stairs is torturous. Seriously, I”m taking them sideways and one at a time where I would normally be clomping along one foot in front of the other like a regular human being. At this point I’m taking 4 Ibprofins in the morning and they’re not really helping, so pretty much nothing is helping. Breakfast is served amid more mosquitoes and we finish our packing up. I’m a bit slower at this than normal, and we all ready our gear for rain which takes some time, so we’re the last to head out. This is actually a good thing because I know I’m just going to have to move aside to let people pass me anyway. The up side of today is that it’s only a half day hike with the promise of a waterfall at the end of it as well as an evening of relaxation. So we begin….
Uphill, of course, and fairly steeply. I’ve moved completely past any kind of competitive feelings at this point and am just taking them at my own pace, which happens to be extremely slowly. It’s a pretty walk and there’s lots of fog and ruins peeking out mysteriously. I discover along the trail that the company purchased Scott’s Machu Picchu ticket in advance and Dylan recommends I use my kindle’s internet option to let him know so he doesn’t purchase a second superfluous ticket. So here I am, in the middle of the Peruvian mountain jungle, holding my kindle up to the satelite gods in hopes of receiving some slight signal that I might tell my husband the good news. Believe it or not, I got a freakin’ signal and I was able to send out the brief email (We have machu picchu ticket for you, do not purchase. Meet at entrance by snack bar 
).
Finally we get to a place where we can see Puyupatamarca, the final ruins before reaching camp and it’s magnificent. Truly, just incredible. Peruvian mountains surrounding a deep canyon with a river and these ruins clinging precariously, but doggedly, to the side of another mountain as if there to watch over the valley (which, in fact, may have been its purpose). After resting here for a bit and taking photos we begin the hike down to the campsite, which of course, includes steps so steep I’m pretty much climbing down with hands and feet. Not to mention the fact that many of the stones are loose, Dylan almost took a tumble ahead of me while trying to hold onto one of these tricksy rocks. Seriously, you remember the staircase that Frodo, Sam and Gollum have to climb up at the end(ish) of Return of the King? I went up and down that staircase like, 4 times during this trip.
Anyway, right before our campsite we came upon some llamas that are kept by the state to keep the shrubbery down (and, presumably, the tourists happy). We, of course, petted them and took photos as proof of our nature sighting (athough not too much since they’re VERY dirty and I was also afraid of being spit on ) and finally made it up to our camp. This camp has SHOWERS! But they are very cold, so we decide to do a “quick” hike down to a waterfall that V has advertised is by a set of ruins worth seeing, and bathe there. I’m pretty excited about this idea because I can feel clean and rinse my smelly clothes at the same time! This is how I picture the waterfall/ruins “quick” 15 minute hike: We walk along a path that is straight and does not in any way contain stairs, till we arrive at a beautiful waterfall surrounded by trees. After our swim we continue along said easy pathway to spectacular ruins where we take pictures and dry off along the way.
BWAHAHAHAHA! How I ever managed to deceive myself so fully is beyond me. The reality is that we’re climbing through the campsite, which, of course, is tiered, and then along a gentle downward sloping path until we get to Winaywayna. These ruins are, by far, the most beautiful we’ve seen, and we’re completely alone. There are pictures, I will let them speak for themselves. We are told by V, who was nice enough to accompany us this far and give us some more historical information before heading off to take his shower and break, that the waterfall is “just over in there”; over there being down the 5 tiers of steps of the ruins and then more downhill path and far away to the waterfall. You cant even see the waterfall from where we are, although we can see the area where it should be. We get down 4 flights of stairs (looooong flights) and I see that we STILL have more stairs to go before we even hit the path and I give up. “Later, guys” I say to D & T and begin trudging up the stairs I just descended, taking photos along the way to hide the fact that I’m pausing for breath every few minutes.
When I finally get back to camp (unhappy at having been double crossed by my imagination) I sit down and watch an approaching storm. Honestly, this was probably the most meditative portion of the whole trip. Our campsite was perfectly situated to overlook the mountains and valley, which were absolutely gorgeous, and watching a thunder storm come through the mountains from a distance of 10 or 20 miles was perfectly picturesque and tranquil. After about 20 minutes of sitting and watching, T comes up the path, having also been defeated by the waterfall trek, to announce that only D had the wherewithal to advance. At this point the porters were nice enough to give us some hot water for washing, so we had in tent sponge baths (slightly disappointing after hoping for a waterfall bath, but at least it was a bath of sorts) and hung around watching the storm until D got back. He had a wonderful experience at the waterfall, and was dry when he returned and we all went into our tents to hang out while the storm came upon us. It was lovely to just lay back and read while the rain came down and we stayed that way for a full 3 or 4 hours before dinner.
Dinner happened, and then we had a pow wow with our porters, said thanks to them and gave them their tips, then said goodnight for the last time. The next morning would be a 4am morning and we had to be ready to go fairly quickly so the porters would be able to get on a 4:30 train back to Oyatatambo. And that’s it for day 3…. probably the least angry day of them all, although i won’t even talk about the bathrooms until tomorrow….
