Hmmmmm, well, where to begin. Cuzco is a fantastic town. Not at all the kind of place I expected. I thought that as it was the gateway to Machu Picchu it would be a tourist hell hole and very expensive. It is nothing like that at all. The old architecture still reigns supreme and the pace is laid back like the people. Cheap food, cheap accommodation, what more could the budget traveller ask for?
Nadia and I found a great place to stay for 15 Soles a night (about US$5) and discovered breakfast heaven at Victor Victorias just down the road. We spent most of our time wandering the streets, checking our the alpaca knitwear and just soaking the place in. I found a new favourite sandwich filling just off the Plaza de Armas in the form of avocado, cheese, spring onions and salt. Delish and cheap! We also discovered that Cuzco is the home of cheap massages so we did indulge in one of those each before and after the 4 day Lares Trek. It was only aboutUS$8 for an hours full body massage!
On one of our days while we were killing time and getting ourselves acclimated to the altitude we decided it would be fun to go and check out some of the close by ruins on horseback. Now Nadia and I are both big fans of horse riding but this trip was a disaster. Nadias horse simply refused to be reined in and do as it was told while my horse had such a bad case of flatulence that it pretty much propelled itself up the hills. Unfortunately for Nadia she was behind my horse the whole way! At least we can laugh in hindsight but it really wasn´t much fun at the time as our guide was a 9 year old kid with a surly attitude and no english so we got no info out of him about our surroundings either.
Finally the big day arrived and we were ready to leave for our hike through the Lares Valley. The company that we booked with was called Llama Path http://www.llamapath.com/lares.htm and they were fantastic. We were doing a 4 day 3 night trek and they arranged an informal meeting for the night before we departed so that everyone could meet the guides and ask any questions that they may have still had about the trip. When we got on the bus at the crack of dawn to drive out to the start point of our trek everyone pretty much slept all the way there but once we arrived and breakfast was served everyone started to chat and liven up. We had a group of 2 english (who were on their honeymoon!), 1 Canadian, 6 Americans, Nadia and I, plus our two guides, a chef, various horsemen and porters. It was way more than I had expected and when the breakfast of porridge, pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit, bread and jam, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, Coca tea and juice came out I was stunned. We had met people along the way on our trip so far and they had told us that the food they ate on their treks was the best they had eaten on their entire holiday...well Nadia and I had thought - Jesus, what kind of rubbish food have you guys been eating then. It is however true. Every meal that we ate on the trek was fantastic. Big breakfasts, 3 courses for lunch and dinner and plenty of hot drinks to go with it all. I am surprised that we made it up the bloody mountain at all! One night we even got treated to banannas soaked in rum and lit up for us with much ceremony at the table. It was a surreal way to camp that is for sure.
Our 2 guides, Santiago and Joshin (pronounced Yoshi - and he always wore green!) were wonderful. They made sure there was always one guide at the front and one at the back of the group and they never hurried anyone along. We had a few people who had only flown in the day before the trek and the guides made sure that they were coping with the altitude and offered natural remedies for altitude sickness and breathing difficulties as well as showing us all how to chew the coca leaves. I have to say that even thought the coca leaves did help me, I would rather not have them ever again. They taste like crap and they cut up my mouth something awful but we had to give it a go. When in Rome and all that right?
You will have to look on facebook for all the photos but I can tell you now that the scenery was amazing. Every so often you would just have to stop and look around and soak it all in. We were really lucky with the weather too as it only rained for a little bit on one of our lunch stops and even that was cool as it turned into hail about the size of the styrofoam out of a bean bag. Our group was reasonably fast and as a result we were able to reach the thermal pools at Lares a day early and camp there overnight. Getting into those hot pools after days of trekking and no showers was heavenly. We soaked for a while then had another fabulous dinner and a couple of hot toddies a la Santiago and then crashed out happily.
One our last day we got on a bus to Ollantaytambo after lunch and another quick hot pool soak. In Ollantaytambo we had dinner and played cards and generally just chilled out before boarding our train to Aguas Calientes. Given that we arrived there at our accommodation around 10.45pm we decided not to head out to the local Discotech depite the urgings of our guides. I think the general consensus was that we had done all of this with the prize of Machu Picchu in mind and to ruin it by being too tired or hungover would be something you would never forgive yourself.
At about 5am the next morning we were woken by the ever cheerful Joshin knocking on doors and proclaiming - wake up tea, wake up tea, hahaha, no tea! This is because on the whole trek you would get woken each morning and a cup of hot coca tea would be left at the door of your tent! We all hustled downstairs for breakfast as we knew that to be among the first people at Machu Picchu we would have to be on the first few buses leaving Aguas Calientes and they started at 6am so you had to queue earlier to beat the crowds.
We were lucky and got up to Machu Picchu in time to get tickets to climb the Huayna Picchu which is the mountain beside Machu Picchu and they only let 400 people a day climb it. I do not really know how to describe it but it was awesome. There were still a few clouds drifting around when we started climbing at just after 7am and it gave a eerie feel to it all. Climbing up these huge ancient stone steps and peering over the edges at Machu Picchu or further below to Aguas Calientes was amazing. Once we reached the top the view back over Machu Picchu was breathtaking. The climb back down was great fun too as it is just so ridiculously steep. We wandered around the site for a while with Santiago giving us all the history and background info that makes the place so awe inspiring and then it was back on a bus to Aguas Calientes for a bite to eat before our train to Ollantaytambo and our bus back to Cuzco.
I have to say that after looking forward to it for so long and then having such a great time doing it, it was a bit of a let down for it all to be over. Our group had all gotten along really well though so we arranged to meet up for dinner after we had all had a little bit of chill out time and we even persuaded Santiago to come along even though her had another trek starting the very next mortning. It was great fun and we went on to an Irish pub for a few drinks before all saying goodbye and wishing each other happy travels.
Nadia and I spent the following day sleeping in, getting much needed laundry done, having a massage and booking our bus to Puno so we could visit Lake Titicaca.
