Salkantay Trek

Hey, I´m sitting in La Paz and know I should write this so here´s a recount of my trek to Machu Picchu. It was alot of fun and I met some amazing people and felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Enjoy.
Day 1:
4:00 am - I woke up after a restless sleep, all stoked to go and realized it was raining. That dampened the mood a little, the thought of walking in the rain and mud didn´t really appeal to me. My voucher said that I would be picked up at 4:30am so I diligently sat by the entrance to th LOKI and waited. At 4:50 a taxi came for me and the 4 others from the same hostel that were headed off on the same adventure. We got on a bus and left Cusco just before 6am. 2 hrs later we ate breakfast in a tiny mountain town where the trek begins. Over breakie I met my group and guide. There were 7 people in my group: Pattie, David, Ben/Marie (Canada represent!!), Kate/Andrew and me. Our guide was Ali. He´s been a guide for 4 years and knows his stuff. Anyways, as we headed out it started to rain again. Then it stopped. Then it got really hot. Then it rained. The first morning we walked on a road and took a few ´shortcuts´ (aka paths straight up the mountain). By 1pm everyone was famished (and wet cause it was raining again) so it was a nice treat to have hot soup and spagetthi served in a cook tent. The cooks were wonderful. The afternoon was all on the road and not difficult, just long. At 6pm when we got to camp (the tents were already set up nicely) I was tuckered out and glad to be able to crash in my own sleepingbag. Then we had dinner at 8pm and were rudely awoken at 10pm by the loudest most annoying Swiss man in the world. I was not amused. After he calmed down and stopped swearing at his tent I slept wonderfully.

Day 2:
5:00 am - It´s such a treat to be woken up with hot tea in bed, it was a little early though. And I felt like dying, my tummy was killing me...it didn´t seem like a good day to go hike for 10 hrs. But I did it. I persevered. Today was the big day. 4 hrs in the morning of hard uphill climbing and then 6 hrs of knee-killing downhillage. We left camp by 7, destined for our highest point and the best view of Salkantay. Giants Head Mountain is a short climb, I´d guess 1/4 of the mornings effort. I turned on my Ipod, put my head down and went for it. It was hard but when I got to the peak it was a great feeling of accomplishment. I was also the first from my group to get there:P. We took some classy pictures and then began our descent. The first part of the downhill, up until lunchtime, was good. After lunch it became apparent that the uphill had taken a toll on my legs and I was a little sore. Coming down over rocks and streams required alot of concentration in order to not stumble. We descended some 3000 feet in 6 hours, going from high mountains to the beginning of the Peruvian jungle. Camp seemed forever away and we finally reached it just as the sun was setting. I don´t think I´ve ever been so tired in my entire life. One of the most interesting things about this trek was the hygenic facilities. Nobody digs holes and there aren´t outhouses, you gotta go you gotta go. At camp the 2nd night there was a little outhouse that washed everything away right into the creek. Yummy. For dessert tonight we had a Peruvian treat, sort of like hot jello made out of maiz that smelled like melted candle wax. It was tasty though. Then I slept hard.

Day 3:
6:00 am -Today wasn´t too long of a hiking day, which was good because my knees would not have handled any more than what we did. The bugs and the sun were out in full force but I stayed covered up and didn´t burn or scratch at all. Everyone else was wearing short sleeves and many people burned and got eaten alive. We walked downhill agian today over creeks, waterfalls, rocks and through the mud. I can´t imagine what the trek would be like in the middle of rainy season, it´d probably be impossible. When we got to ´La Playa´(which in no way resembled a beach and there was no beach nearby, although in the rainy season it becomes a lake) and enjoyed being lunch to mozzies as well as lunch of our own, more delicous food from our cooks. Then by some strange mircale, we hopped on a bus that took us to the hot springs at Santa Teresa. We soaked for 2 hrs then bused back up to our camp for a gourmet meal on a nice rainy night. My left knee was messed up so Ali rubbed some warm alcohol with coca leaves on it and bandaged the coca to it for the night. In the morning it was just fine. Coca is good for everything apparently, it´s magic.

Day 4:
7:00am - I woke up and everything was damp and things were starting to get really stinky. The highlight of the day was first thing in the morning when we used a cable car to get across a raging river. It wasn´t until I was safely on the other side for 10 minutes that one of the ropes broke...not the cable though so nobody was hurt. I can´t imagine how terrifying it would be either way. We walked along a dirt road for 3 hrs, being passed by truckloads of other Salkantay Trekers...once again our group felt pretty good about ourselves not wimping out by riding in a truck. We ate lunch and then continued to hike (with my full backpack now) along the train tracks to Aguas Calienta. This is the tourist town that all Machu Picchu visitors have to come through. A hostel with a warm bed and a nice shower, some fish for dinner and a nice early night to prepare for sunrise at Machu Picchu.

Day 5:
4:00 am - Up, dressed, bread for breakfast and out the door. We hurried up the never ending stairs in order to see the sunrise at Machu Picchu. When we got there it was misty and all we saw was ...mist. Then it cleared up and was beautiful. I didn´t have any energy left to climb Huyana Picchu but I hear the view was spectacular. We wandered around, had a tour and went to the ´perfect picture´spot. It´s really impressive and after treking for 5 days I felt like I deserved to be there. I don´t think that if I´d taken a train and a bus it would have been quite the same experience. At about noon we headed back down to the village, had some pizza and hopped on a train back to Cusco.

Like I said, it was an amazing trip and I´m really glad that I did it. If you haven´t seen any pictures yet write to my mom (hi_ho_cherrio@hotmail.com) and maybe she´ll be able to forward them to you...or Steve (thebeave_78@hotmail.com). I´m gonna go check out the town with my Brit friends now. Peace.