Live the dream: Peru - The Andes Mountains

Peru – The Andes Mountains

The first thing that you notice about arriving in Cuzco is the altitude. It affects how you feel. Weak.... Climb the hotel stairs and you're puffing. We were given a drink from the hotel staff straight away. It is tea made with cocoa leaves. Not bad!

After a day of rest, Jessica, Katie and I set off on a tour of the Sacred Valley leaving Alan in bed with a cold he had caught in Lima.

The tour guide took us to markets, ancient Inca ruins, and a silver making workshop with a shop full of lovely silver jewellery.

The whole day was tiring because although the guide had lots of interesting information to tell us, she alternated between Spanish and English; so I would switch off and switch on. Inca means 'King' and the story between the Spanish invaders, the Inca nobles and the other Peruvian tribes was complicated. This guide told us a simple version. Our other guide on the Salcantay trek told us more about the relationships and downfall of the 300 year old Inca Empire.

Apparently the Spanish explorers came across an Inca ship in the Pacific Ocean loaded with gold and silver treasures, which they took. They came to Peru looking for more. The cemeteries were raided because the mummified nobles were buried with treasures to take to the spiritual world. The cemeteries were holes dug into the sides of hills surrounding the walled towns.

The Inca king Atahualpa however, had a good relationship with some of the Spanish and he learnt to speak the language and even played chess. The king’s half - brother Huascar in Ecuador wanted to acquire more territory in Peru so he gained the support of Spanish military and gun powder was used in the battle to take over the Peruvian territory.

All buildings were blown up except Machu Picchu. The Inca people destroyed the seven trails that led to the site and it was hidden. There were originally 30 million people living in Peru before the Spanish invasion. 80% died. The Inca king was captured and his people gathered a ransom of gold and silver treasure items. The king was killed anyway by a Spaniard and the treasure for the ransom disappeared. This treasure is now part of a legend about Atahualpa’s gold.

We set off on our adventure in the Andes Mountains, however my stomach didn't feel great from a meal the night before in Cuzco. I ignored it and we started walking up hills and along steep sided mountains.

After lunch I got worse and I got left behind as the others walked faster. Alan stayed with me and when we were within sight of camp, the guide found out I was in a bad way. I started vomiting. I finished that first day of trekking on horseback then I collapsed in my tent for the night.

Spot Alan trekking in the wilderness.

I couldn't eat breakfast and it had been raining on the tin roof over our tents like a fireman's hose. We set off in waterproof ponchos and I tried to keep up. The scenery was stunning. The mountains surrounding us looked like pictures of Mount Everest.

Just above us the grass was dusted with fresh snow and cows clung to the steep, grassy slopes like goats. I asked how could a cow save itself if it couldn't balance on the slope? The answer was the condors would get it because it would be dead.

We arrived at the switchback and I was getting slower than Alan who was struggling to breathe with the high altitude and his head cold.

The guide, Henrik, offered the horse which had been saved for emergencies. Our duffle bags, tents, cooking gear and food had been loaded onto the mules and the team of Peruvian men had caught up to us. Alan refused to get on the horse so I thought, why not! It was wonderful watching the horse pick its way carefully through the rocks and climb the steep path. I got off at the top and asked the man to take the horse to Alan. He didn't. Bit of a language problem there! I watched the others climb slowly up.

We are with two sisters from America called Katie and Caraline. They were great friends to have on our trek.

At the pass we stood at 4600 metres. We were very close to the top of Mount Salcantay and we watched a number of avalanches while we were in the area. Some sounded like distant canons and others sounded like an approaching jet aeroplane. Some looked like an explosion of snow; others looked like a snow waterfall.

I walked for the rest of the day mostly downhill. It was difficult for everyone because you really had to be surefooted on rocks that rolled under your feet, bogs that tried to take your shoes off and very steep paths with flowing water. Along the way, we saw Chinchillas bounding amongst the boulders just below the snow line.

The cloud forest had many waterfalls to look at, however we were still walking after twelve hours and it was getting dark. We used torches on the difficult path and made it to camp just before it got pitch back. I was able to eat some soup. The others had a feast because the two cooks were really good at whipping up a three course meal for lunch and dinner. Everyone was exhausted.

Next morning our routine began with packing our gear, the others eating breakfast, brushing teeth, putting plastic bags over our socks and our sore feet into wet, muddy shoes. I was too weak to walk what was predicted to be a very difficult days trek, so I set off on horseback following the river beside the road.

I got to see a beautiful black bird with a gold patch on its back, a dead coral snake and an avocado tree. I also saw the track the others had to follow by looking across the river to the other side, but then I saw a massive waterfall and no way across. I did wonder how they would get across.

I arrived at our lunch spot and slept on a narrow concrete bench seat. Three hours later the others arrived. While they ate lunch I managed to eat some soup and I heard their story. There was no path across the waterfall. They had climbed up the cliff grabbing plants growing on the slope and Henrik said, “We'll cross here.” The group stood to one side and unanimously thought, "No way!" Henrik started throwing rocks into the water then he suggested everyone should leap onto the middle rock, then leap again to the other side. Alan said he was wondering what to say to me if one of my daughters didn't make it. Henrik did offer to stand in the water and lend a hand.

Katie (from America) said the waterfall wasn't the worst part. The landslide was more challenging. One wrong step and you'd be gone. It was a very fresh landslide and really difficult to find your balance on moving scree.

Our tired group finished the day at Santa Teresa Thermal springs. We soaked in a lovely pool of 35degrees and relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. The two sisters are great friends. Caraline was living in Ecuador doing community work for Peace Corps and Katie was going to follow her husband to live in Australia - Alice Springs of all places!

We enjoyed having our first wash at the springs as warm water gushed out beside the River Urubamba. It tumbled and splashed over large rocks that we couldn't see, with great speed and power. It looked deadly.

The next day, our group elected not to walk 25 kilometres straight up a mountain, down a mountain, just 13km along a railway track to the town of Aguas Callentes. We walked in torrential rain beside another river with extreme rapids.

This town was really interesting. The railway line goes right through the middle and there are restaurants and markets, and the gushing river, all nestled in a narrow valley. Alan and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary with the group in a great restaurant. I had a little bit of appetite back.

The next morning we caught the bus up the mountain side to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu was awesome! We were surrounded by tourists from all over the world and Henrik gave us a quick tour. A Belgium couple joined in because we had camped with them one night and coincidently bumped into them on many occasions. They were lovely people.

The ruins were from at least the sixteenth century and they were so extensive.

We followed pathways to many rooms with different purposes. Three thousand people once occupied the place and it had catered for many visitors such as tribal representatives. The Incas has defeated each tribe in Peru and united them under their rule, and confiscated their tribal totems. We could see the niches for each totem in a three walled structure made from stones that had been fitted together like jigsaw pieces with earthquake proof tongue and grove joins. The foundations of the walls were designed to allow movement as they included smaller stones packed in sand.

There was a G shaped building that was thought to be used for astronomy. The position of the summer solstice could be calculated by lining up a rock with the Sun Gate. Another window looked directly east.

The nobles also had a garden with samples of important tropical plants. Religious ceremonies were held at Machu Picchu and at the top of a steep hill called Huayna Picchu. Katie and Caraline walked up there. They said it was really scary but the top gave a great view.

The alpaca says "Hello!"

We walked to the Sun Gate and also had a great view.

The red bumps are bromeliads.

It took two hours by train and another two hours by car to return to Cuzco. From there we woke up very early and caught our first of many planes on our way home. We thought we'd had our last adventure and the girls and I were relaxing in the airport in Santiago, Chile when Alan alerted us to a cancellation. That meant spending the night in a hotel, waking up at 4.00am and checking in again! We also had a rescheduled flight from New Zealand so another night and 4.00am wake up was required for checking in. Our journey on the home run included Cuzco to Lima to Santiago to Auckland to Melbourne. What an insane final trip. I certainly couldn’t count the hours.

Altogether we have travelled on seventeen aeroplanes and explored five countries: France, Morocco, Portugal, Brazil and Peru. We also visited the airports of Hong Kong in China, Madrid in Spain, Santiago in Chile and Auckland in New Zealand. Soon enough we will be in a routine at home and this trip will be a memory. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog! It is only a fraction of the stories, experiences and photos. There is a lot more to tell but you’ll have to ask!