Camping and random things

Camping on the trek was interesting. Me and David bought sleeping bags which you can zip together to make one big sleeping bag, which we thought would be good for keeping warm, well that's the theory. So on the first night we crawled into the tent, got the separate bags out and zipped them together, got our thermals on and clambered into them for a wee sleep.  We did soon nod off, only to awake with both me and David squashed into one little bit of the tent on David's side , we were on a slope and had slid down. We struggled back to the middle and settled down again, but well it wasn't happening, we couldn't get comfy,so at three in the morning with a head torch clamped to our foreheads we unzipped the bags and went our separate ways. 😞

A short while later we were awake again this time we had both slid to the bottom of the tent, so commando crawled back up to the top. I found the knack was to cling on to the air mattress which didn't move and you stayed in the right position. Camping is so relaxing! 

A random tree which is growing in Macchu Picchu. 

This stone work is supposed to resemble a condor, I must admit I don't really see it. 

This little old lady is carrying alfalfa to the market where she will sell it as feed for llamas and alpacas. She was really laden down but moved so fast. 

The Inca Trail and Macchu Picchu

The days leading up to the Inca Trail I was seriously concerned about whether I would manage or not, I had struggled climbing up a hill on one of the island visits and had struggled to climb up the hill to the home stay. David and I were lucky in that we did not struggle with altitude sickness but I was getting a lot of blood in my nose, not nose bleeds but when I blew my nose, blood would come out. This we put down to high pressure due to altitude. I had visions of me dropping me out, which I didn't want to do.

The night before we went we were given a pre trek talk of what to take and what to expect. This actually cheered me up a bit, as the emphasis was going  at your own pace. I was advised to hire two walking sticks but we had already brought some with us as I knew I would need them, David was advised to get one,which we did. We also hired mattresses to try and help us be a bit more comfortable in our tent. It is a long time since we have been camping. We were given a duffle bag each in which we were to pack only the bits needed for the days we would be on the trek, the sleeping bags also had to fit into this, we were allowed 6kg of weight each. We managed to keep our weight down mainly because the sleeping bags we bought are light, weight wise. The porters carry the duffle bags while we took day bags with snacks, sun cream, rain jackets etc. The porters are allowed to carry 30kg each, it used to up to 60 kg they carried but after a couple of deaths new regulations were brought in, thank goodness. When you see the load that they carry as they run past you , you wonder how they managed before. The weight they are carrying is weighed along the route to make sure no one is carrying too much.

We woke up bright and early for our trek and piled onto the minibus which would be taking us to the starting point. There were four from our group and 8 more from two other groups, making 12 in all.

At the starting point with the rest of the group,still smiling. A beautiful sunny day, a good way to
start, Max our guide for the trek had told us it was a flat start, mmmm not sure what his definition of
flat is! Max the guide is the same one we had been with the day before.

At one of the viewpoints we had just climbed a really steep bit to get here, which was by a river and 

through woods so it was beautiful. Just beside us are horses roaming about. 

Not sure of this pink t-shirt makes me look cuddly, shall we say,then again so does my black t- shirt and my white one. Mmmm should maybe rethink this. I was planning to lose weight on this holiday but the Peruvians eat so much, and being part of a tour group you tend to eat with the others. Even on the trek you eat a lot. You start with a lovely breakfast, stop at a viewpoint for a snack, then after 

another walk you have dinner, then when you reach the campsite for the evening you get snacks and then you have tea. With the porters and chefs carrying all the equipment for this and putting the effort into making a lovely meal you do feel obliged to eat it. In saying that, all the food on the trek was amazing, too good not to eat. 

The second day, the dreaded Dead Woman's Path. Basically you walk upstairs for miles, me and David definitely did this at our own pace, he could have done it a lot quicker but kept me company. This in itself was lovely because although we kept bumping into people, at times we were the only 

ones around. On the trek along with Max, we had two other guides Caesar and Elias (apologies if 

spelt wrong) both these guides were wonderful but Caesar in particular kept an eye on us, making sure we were alright in a subtle way as we toddled along. As we took our time we had the chance to enjoy the views and to see more wildlife, the birds on the trek are lovely with even the humble Andean sparrow looking beautiful. Saw lots of butterflies and humming birds too. 

At the summit of Dead Woman's Path, as you can see it is a lot colder, I actually zipped on the legs of my trousers here and put on rain jacket and then we needed ponchos as it started to rain very heavily and we even got a little bit of hail.

At this point the rest of our group had already started to descend down the other side. All of our guides were at the top along with a guide from another group, all of who became interested as David started to look for a geocache which was hidden close by. David wanted to head up a little bit , which went over a summit to the side but Max said it wasn't safe, then the other group's guide said it was okay and the next thing I knew I was alone at the top looking after the bags as they all disappeared from view. Then the mist closed in and I started to worry , thinking I would never see them again, and what should I do to get help. About 10 minutes later they reappeared all excited because they had found it, and we could start the trek again, which was basically climb down stairs for miles. 

The third day on the trek is beautiful,  a lot of up and down, as Max says undulating, the scenery is 

constantly changing you start with mountainside and you end up on the edge of the rainforest. On the way you see lots of Inca ruins.

When you reach this Incan ruin you have to climb lots of steps, I think that was the Incan defence system, tire the enemy out before they get here.

Heading through an Incan tunnel on the route. 

Lunch on this day was amazing, our last lunch together, the chef did a buffet with lots of choices and even baked and decorated a cake. Impressive when you think he had done a cooked breakfast, taken down his equipment and carried it up the hill to then make lunch. 

At the end of day three we suddenly turned a corner and walked out onto these Incan terraces, which was absolutely beautiful and the views were amazing. You might just see a rainbow in the photo, this was a full rainbow, which then became a double rainbow.

As we walked into this campsite we could see the tents up and ready for us, one was pitched very close to the edge of a very big drop, so we called it the death tent and wondered who it was. Yeh , you guessed it was ours.

The view from our tent

The bit of land in front of our tent. I am not very elegant crawling in and out of tents, hard to believe I know, and have a tendency to trip over the guy ropes! When it became dark we saw fireflies in the tree beside our tent.

In the evening we got the chance to thank our porters and have a wee dance! During the trip we also were introduced to the porters who told us a little bit about themselves, all were farmers when they weren't being porters.

Up really early on the last morning as we had to queue at the last checkpoint to get into the final section of the trek. There were 500 campers in the last campsite all wanting to get through that same point. We managed to be about the third or fourth group in the line, which was very good. 

We then had a brisk walk along the path, heading to Macchu Picchu, on the way we had to climb up very steep stairs called Gringo's Killers. They are so steep it is easier to use your hands to clamber up.

It was a very misty morning which gave the first view of Macchu Pcchu a magical, mystical feel as it disappeared and reappeared into view. 

The best news of all was that the whole group did it. 

With Caesar and Elias. Caesar is the one in the hat. We would like to thank all of our leaders, the porters and the chefs, we couldn't have done it without them

Macchu Picchu.

The one sad thing about doing the trek is that you are too tired to explore Macchu Picchu fully when you get there! We were given a guided tour by Max, who once more showed his passion for Incan history.

They are talking about closing Macchu Picchu in 6 years time due to the damage being done to it by tourists. They are planning to put in cable cars so people will see it from above. So if you want to do the trek, start planning now. 

Sacred Valley

The day before we started the trek we headed for the Sacred Valley, and the town of Ollantaytambo both of which were very interesting especially if you enjoy hearing about the history of places. On the journey we stopped off at a small cafe where we bought a nice ham and cheese pastry thing, sort of a cross between a sausage roll and a Cornish pasty. At the back of the cafe there was a very impressive guinea pig hutch, guinea pig in Peru is cuy after the sound they make, cats are called miauu , I see a theme starting here.

Yuri our guide eyeing up dinner. Actually joking apart one evening guinea pig was ordered by a 

couple of girls on the tour who were having it for one of their birthdays. It comes out looking like it is squashed flat, like a cartoon road kill which is then deep fried. 

The guinea pig hutch, at least they live well! 

On this trip we met a new guide called Max who is very well informed about Incan history. He led us on some very interesting walks, one of which was supposed to be training for the Inca trail. This first walk was lovely and led us through some Incan ruins and terraces.

If you look closely you will see some holes in the mountainside , these are tombs which have all been  raided for their silver and gold. All of the people buried in the mountainside were buried lying down. Others, particularly the wealthier ones were buried in the foetal position as they thought they would be reborn. 

Heading off on the walk through an Incan gate, still refreshed. 

Getting hot and bothered now, my top is off. In the background you can see the terraces where the incas grew their crops. Different crops were grown depending on the position on the mountain, the higher up the cooler the temperature etc. 

Heading through an Incan tunnel, the Incas only used stone as tools so this passageway was basically hacked away by stone on stone. 

In the evening we headed off for a walk in Ollantaytambo which I must admit was very daunting, the Incas like their steps, and that is all I could see stretching before me, it didn't help that I had a very sore stomach and was worried about having a gippy tummy for the trek. I plodded on though and it was worth my while, with excellent views and with Max sharing his knowledge of the history of the place. Below you can see a warehouse where the Food was stored

The Incans strongly believed in Mother Earth and part of this was water,there are fountains in all their buildings, which was vital for life. 

Planeterra

The company we are travelling with are called G Adventures and they support projects in local communities. We visited two of these in the same day, the first one was the setting up of a weaving project, which helped women to develop the skills they already have and help them to market them better.

G Adventures helped this community rebuild its town after a landslide and built a building in which the women could do weaving on a larger scale. The men in the town are employed in the dry season by G adventures to be porters on the inca trail. The rest of the year the men work their own farms. All the time we were in the town we saw no men.

We were given a talk on the patterns that the women use in their weaving and then we were given the chance to work on the looms. The hat I am wearing shows that I am married, you can take the hat off and wear it upside down so no White is showing that means you are single and looking for a man! 

David feeding the alpacas and llamas who showed their thanks by spitting at him. I had food for them too but was too slow feeding them as I was taking this photo, which one took umbrage at and decided to break out, he was quickly rounded up and shoved in his pen. 

A group of the women on the project , there were groups all over the place doing certain jobs, spinning, dyeing wool, knitting and weaving.

The lady who led our tour, had an unusual name which sounded a bit like Heidi, so that will do! She gave me the chance to spin some wool, reminded me of my friend Ann, she would have done it no problem. We were shown the differences between wool, with baby alpaca being by far the softest. 

We were shown how they wash and dye the wool using all natural products.

One of the ladies doing weaving while sat on the ground, as you can see all the women wear the same. After this we got the chance to buy some of their goods, David got himself a lovely Peruvian hat, a nice shade of green with alpacas on. He looks a bit like a gnome in it, all he needs is a fishing rod. Nice and cosy though will be good for the trek. 

We also went to a restaurant set up by G Adventures, they sent chefs in to train up local people who now run the restaurant by themselves . The food was very good as was the service, the bread in particular was lovely. There was far too much food though. We were served a dish which had quinoa (I think that is how you spell it) in it which resembled the texture of haggis.

Floating islands and Lake Titicaca

Wifi signal in Peru , is what they say about the women over here, changeable and unpredictable! It is like in olden days when you would dangle dangerously from high points to try and get a signal, or you have it one minute but then it disappears in an instant. It seems to come on in the middle of the night and you suddenly hear the ongoing of email alerts, usually Dorothy Perkins or matalan trying to tempt me with some offer. Strangely, David who sleeps through anything, is awaken by this and gets a tad annoyed shall we say!

We paid a visit to the floating islands of Uros, to get there we had to go from our hotel by bicycle tuktuk to the local port. We had a race with the other people in our team. Felt a bit sorry for the lad who got us, the others are all slim and didn't pack much, whereas me and David, need I say more! 

Anyway our cyclist did a fantastic job but at one point did get off the bike and just push, I think we came third, seems so long ago now. It was great fun though as there was a lot of overtaking and cutting off corners etc, all of us squealing like kids.  The boat ride to the islands was lovely although elegant as ever I fell getting into the boat but people were impressed that I didn't drop anything I was carrying. We had to jump from boat to boat to get to ours, well that was just an accident waiting to happen wasn't it. 

The houses on the floating islands which are made entirely of reeds. There were 7 families living on the islands we visited, all brothers and sisters can you imagine that, no escaping from each other. Each island also had to vote who would be president of their island, so the brothers and sisters had to vote for each other! 

This is the president and one of his brothers showing us how they made the island, he opened a flap in the island and put his hand in and it was straight to the water, so the reeds are not very deep. Every time a boat went past, the island would ripple and bob with the movement. Anyway the president took a shine to me and David, it must be because of our regal air! He invited us to his house ,which is one room and then gave us outfits to put on. I look really chubby in mine but in fairness I do have my hoody on and they gave me three layers of skirts to put on on top of my trousers. David as always looks very fetching in his outfit, especially the hat. This is us posing with the president and his wife. 

We then went to another island which was beautiful but had a very steep path leading up to the village square. On the island couples live together for a couple of years to see if they will get on before they get married. The only rule is if they have children in that time they have to get married.once married they can not get divorced. 

After this we were back on the boat and travelled to a home stay on a nearby peninsula. The day before we went to the local market to buy gifts for the family we were staying with, fruit veg, pasta, rice etc. On reaching the peninsula we had to walk for what seemed like miles uphill to a meeting point all laden down with our rucksacks and groceries, I struggled. We then met the man of the family we were staying with and  we had a game of football at very high altitude. The boys in the group loved it and really got into it, three of them ruined their trainers, including David, as they were playing on uneven concrete and it was a very hard ball! The girls didn't play from the start but we piled on just to make it harder for the other team to score, it worked and we won. The locals then did a dance for us, we were then given more costumes to wear and we had to copy what they did, was a laugh. David was happy as Larry , as he had a tassel to twirl.  After the dance we headed to the farms we were staying in, in the pitch black. Well, oh my lord, we started and went higher and higher, boy did I struggle, and we could see other members of our groups leaving us as they headed off to the farms they were staying at. I asked the man we were with where his house was and he pointed to a tiny speck of light at the top of the hill. Bless him though, he did keep stopping to give me a rest and eventually him and David were carrying everything and I had the torch. It took us about half an hour to climb up while other members of the group were in their farm in a couple of minutes. 

This is me with the daughter of the family called Garcia and their dog Rambo. In the morning we had several jobs to do. We helped to make the fried bread for breakfast, fed the pigs, but David managed to pour pig swill on the wee boy in the family, who was 4 years old. The poor boy had to dry his shoes out in the sun, we then had to separate the chaff from the wheat. We were then taken further up the hill to see the view which was beautiful. The family also had sheep,a cow, chickens and a donkey

 We had a lovely time on the home stay,which we had been nervous about as the family had very little English. The little boy found David's facial hair hilarious. It was so peaceful and calm on the hill, a hard life in some ways but everyone seemed happy and at peace. 

Chivay.

We travelled to a lovely little town called Chivay which is in Colca Canyon. It is very traditional with many of the people wandering around doing their daily business in traditional clothing.  In the evening we went to a restaurant were there were people doing traditional dancing, I was picked for the first dance, but David was picked for a dance were he got to dress up he had a ball. He wore a lovely twirly skirt which he made the most of, he confused his lady partner though as he started to do the highland fling. At the last dance our whole group got up which was great fun.

Coming out of Chivay and on the road to Puno we went past an area called the stone forest, which had amazing rock formations. There is also a geocache there so once more the tour bus went off road to get close to it. We all got out and most of us headed off to find it and we did, so David happy once more. 

David on the long bus trip, initially we were excited by the llamas and alpacas we kept seeing but then , well you know what it is like,they soon became, oh there is another one! 

Bagpuss and hootsmin enjoying the view at Casa. 

Oh can I say thanks to Johan, it should have been coca leaves not cocoa leaves, in my last blog. 

Lots to catch up on.

We had a long bus journey to Arequipa, an over night bus trip, which was very interesting. To go on any bus journey over here you have to show your passport as they have had a lot of hold ups in the past. So we showed our passport, had to go through security checks, which involved getting a metal detector waved over us and we were videoed getting on the bus. They then came on the bus and videoed us sat in our seats before we set off. Not sure if it made us feel safer or not! We were then told to close the curtains for security reasons. The journey involved a lot of long and windy roads, David had a secret peek and realised there was a huge drop on the roadside, so maybe the closed curtains were to stop people screaming. 

We arrived not having slept much although we were provided with a lovely blanket and pillow and headed for a traditional breakfast which resembled a Cornish pasty. David washed his down with a bottle of Scottish Cola, which he posed very proudly with. 

This used to be a boys school but is now full of little shops. Here we are with the group. 

Yuri, our  leader took us to the local market which was full of very interesting things. We went to the fruit stall and tried lots of food, some nice and some not! David liked it all, he comes in handy, he ate what I didn't have. We also went to a veg stall, they have over 3000 types of potato here and over 2000 types of corn.

We went to the fish market where they sold shark, one was lying under the table. One of the stalls was selling mummified llama foetuses which were on display. They burn them along with other things such as herbs and spices in a ceremony, if the smoke is white the gods are happy , if the smoke is black they have to do the whole thing all over again. 

At the market we were advised to buy cocoa leaves which you are supposed to chew to stop altitude 

sickness. We all bought some and the next day as a group we tried it out. Yuck, yuck, yuck, started of not to bad but oh my lord, made me gag, so I haven't done it again. Guess what David thought it was alright, is there nothing he doesn't like! On the long journey to Colca canyon we stopped at a little shack where they sold a mixed herbal tea which again is supposed to stop or ease altitude sickness tried that. Not too bad, we gave some to bagpuss and hootsmin. 

On the table in front of them are cocoa leaf sweets , that's what I am sticking too, far nicer. Now we have lots of cocoa leaves but apparently they are good presents for the porters on the trek.