Well this is it, the BIG day has arrived and we are all up bright eyed and bushy tailed for breakfast at 6am. We're told it's a long gradual ascent to the pass but the tricky bit is going to be the down hill, which in places is very steep and slippery. We are also having to prepare for changeable weather. Right now the sun is shining but the weather is often cold and damp at the pass. Our extra clothing is going to be carried for us on the horse together with extra water so that we keep our back packs as light as possible.
Adios amigos x
Friday, 5 October 2012
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Jacuzzi
What better way to ease the aching muscles than to spend 45 mins sat in the jacuzzi. Now we have time for a quick shower before a pisco sour cocktail making demonstration. It's all go on this holiday!
The view from our balcony
This is Mt Salkantay this morning the weather is perfect. Just about to set off to a glacial lake at 13452 ft beneath the snowy face of Humantay mountain.
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Day 1 trek
Well we were up at 3:30am and on the road by 4 am. Thankfully we didn't encounter any protesting lorry drivers. The four hour drive, 2 hrs on tarmac, 1.5 hrs on a rough road and then 30 mins on a mountain track wasn't too bad. Breakfast left a lot to be desired. 3:30 was too early to eat at the hotel and a dry roll and grotty cereal bar at a 'restaurant' was awful. Thankfully I had a tracker bar in my rucksack.
We started our trek at 8:45. It started off up, up, up and was quite tough but we all coped well. We stopped half way for an enjoyable lunch apart from being accosted by hundreds of mosquitoes. After lunch we walked for another 90 minutes when our lodge came into view. It is superb and we have all just spent the last half hour in the outdoor jacuzzi watching the sun turn Mt Salkantay pink. The long day was worth it. Now it's shower time before meeting up with our guide at 6:30 for a briefing re tomorrow.
The photo shows the data for today.
We started our trek at 8:45. It started off up, up, up and was quite tough but we all coped well. We stopped half way for an enjoyable lunch apart from being accosted by hundreds of mosquitoes. After lunch we walked for another 90 minutes when our lodge came into view. It is superb and we have all just spent the last half hour in the outdoor jacuzzi watching the sun turn Mt Salkantay pink. The long day was worth it. Now it's shower time before meeting up with our guide at 6:30 for a briefing re tomorrow.
The photo shows the data for today.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
The bad news
We have just had a briefing with Leo our guide for the next week and instead of starting out tomorrow at 7am, we will be starting at 4am!!! It would appear that tomorrow is a big protest day and we have to get an hour and a half away from Cusco before all main routes are blocked by lorry drivers protesting at the price of petrol.
The photo shows our trekking itinerary. He explained that we would have a horse with us all the way in case of fatigue or problems with altitude. Let's hope we are all OK.
Anyway, enough is enough for now as its time to sort out our bags, go out for dinner and have an early night. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, 4 hours driving followed by 4/5 hours walking. Can't wait to get to the lodge and soak the day away in the jacuzzi.
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The photo shows our trekking itinerary. He explained that we would have a horse with us all the way in case of fatigue or problems with altitude. Let's hope we are all OK.
Anyway, enough is enough for now as its time to sort out our bags, go out for dinner and have an early night. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, 4 hours driving followed by 4/5 hours walking. Can't wait to get to the lodge and soak the day away in the jacuzzi.
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Sacsaywaman
How lucky are we to wake up to another glorious day. A leisurely start today at 9am and then off to Sacsaywaman an ancient Inca fortress. It is very hot so thankfully we haven't walked too far. The size of the stones and the engineering skills required to fit them together is incredible.
You can see the natural 'slide' in the rock formation but after seeing our guide descend somewhat faster than we'd like to, we opted instead for a photo shoot only. Rajni was adventurous though and did succumb to a much smaller, slower slide. Thankfully he survived uninjured.
Next we were picked up for a short drive, and a goody bag, so that we could begin our walk to Tambomachay to see the finely worked ceremonial water fountains. From their we continued to Puka Pukara (the Red Fort) and marvelled at the skill of the Incas so many years ago. Such a shame that the Spaniards came along and destroyed all the wonderful sites.
Our driver then met us and took us to our picnic site which was once again set up with a tent to shelter from the sun and of course the rocket toilet tent. Lunch was prepared by young Flora and was superb. We really couldn't ask for more.
After lunch we visited one more site before stopping at a textile factory where I bought a beautiful baby alpaca cardigan and Rajni drove a very hard bargain to acquire two cloths for Chia. (Sorry to Satish's family for the name spellings).
We have now returned to our hotel and have 2 hours to relax before our guide arrives to brief us for the start of our trek tomorrow.
You can see the natural 'slide' in the rock formation but after seeing our guide descend somewhat faster than we'd like to, we opted instead for a photo shoot only. Rajni was adventurous though and did succumb to a much smaller, slower slide. Thankfully he survived uninjured.
Next we were picked up for a short drive, and a goody bag, so that we could begin our walk to Tambomachay to see the finely worked ceremonial water fountains. From their we continued to Puka Pukara (the Red Fort) and marvelled at the skill of the Incas so many years ago. Such a shame that the Spaniards came along and destroyed all the wonderful sites.
Our driver then met us and took us to our picnic site which was once again set up with a tent to shelter from the sun and of course the rocket toilet tent. Lunch was prepared by young Flora and was superb. We really couldn't ask for more.
After lunch we visited one more site before stopping at a textile factory where I bought a beautiful baby alpaca cardigan and Rajni drove a very hard bargain to acquire two cloths for Chia. (Sorry to Satish's family for the name spellings).
We have now returned to our hotel and have 2 hours to relax before our guide arrives to brief us for the start of our trek tomorrow.
Monday, 1 October 2012
Urubamba to Cuzco via Pisaq
Today the sun is shining and after a good breakfast we said goodbye to Urubamba and continued along the valley to Pisaq, enjoying splendid scenery along the way.
On arrival in Pisaq we took a road to high above the town where we started our trek. The terracing as shown in the photos was amazing. The buildings shown were mainly ceremonial and for use by the nobility.
Our leader Zak has a sister who has a restaurant in Pisac which is where we stopped for a lovely lunch of pumpkin soup, vegetarian lasagne and carrot cake. A good reward for a tough morning.
After lunch we carried on to Cusco and had a quick tour of the market which was very busy. It was pretty well all women on the stalls and it appeared that they took their young children to work with them. There were lots of tiny tots of maybe 2 or 3 playing happily, racing up and down the aisles. What a contrast to the UK where we wouldn't let the children out of our sight.
This evening we had to look after ourselves as this was the first night that dinner wasn't included. We ventured out and had pizza in a lovely restaurant which was very busy. Thank goodness Zak our guide had made a reservation for us.
Goodnight all.
On arrival in Pisaq we took a road to high above the town where we started our trek. The terracing as shown in the photos was amazing. The buildings shown were mainly ceremonial and for use by the nobility.
Our leader Zak has a sister who has a restaurant in Pisac which is where we stopped for a lovely lunch of pumpkin soup, vegetarian lasagne and carrot cake. A good reward for a tough morning.
After lunch we carried on to Cusco and had a quick tour of the market which was very busy. It was pretty well all women on the stalls and it appeared that they took their young children to work with them. There were lots of tiny tots of maybe 2 or 3 playing happily, racing up and down the aisles. What a contrast to the UK where we wouldn't let the children out of our sight.
This evening we had to look after ourselves as this was the first night that dinner wasn't included. We ventured out and had pizza in a lovely restaurant which was very busy. Thank goodness Zak our guide had made a reservation for us.
Goodnight all.
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