The Inca Trail - rain, ruins, lamas and more rain

Bear with us as we’ll add pictures later. We have really slow connections right now So we’ve recently completed one of the legs of the trip we were looking forward to the most. It was great! We hiked for 4 days from km82 to Machu Picchu about 50km in total which isn’t a ton but when you take into account that the hardest day has you climbing about 1400 meters in elevation to a total of 4200 meters you respect it a bit more. Especially when you work a desk job and live at sea level as we do. (info at http://www.sastravelperu.com/english/inkatrail.html) The first day started in Cuzco where we got on what I’ll call a monster bus (I wish I had a picture). The cab for the driver looked like a tractor trailer cab and the back was separate and looked like a bus that’s on steroids. The monster bus took us from Cuzco to km 82 where we start the hike.

On the way it took us through fields, farms and over numerous obstacles. The hike was beautiful and the trial had plenty of gradual ups and downs. We saw some ruins (getting bored of ruins by now) and more importantly for me we got so see a magnificent white cap mountain poking out from the valley. Day 2 is the hellish day. We got up early (groan) and then started our very first step on the trail with an uphill step and it didn’t really change until after we topped out over dead woman’s pass (the name is a different story). It proceeded to rain for most of the afternoon as we hiked our not so little butts off. As we reached the top the rain clouds parted and we could see the magnificent valley below.... yeah right! That would have been nice but it just continued to pour! There was a friendly family of lamas at the top which Ewa befriended in order to take their pictures.

Day 3 was a lot of up hill and a lot of downhill to the only shower you get during the trek. We passed a ton of ruins during this part of the hike which was cool but we all just wanted to see Machu Picchu at this point. The shower was great and we all appreciated that we didn’t stink as bad anymore (only so much clothing you want to carry over those hills). Day 4 starts at 4AM and we were on the trail by 5AM hiking towards the "spectacular" sun gate only to arrive there in a dense fog and all out downpour. Yeah! Our guide Habi then took us around the ruins and explained their significance to his "ancestors". Much of our group left to go enjoy the hot springs as visibility was still poor but Ewa and I stuck around and walked up to the top of the ruins. Shortly after we got to the top, the clouds parted and we had a fantastic view of what we had hiked all that way for. Over 6000 steps up and down and we did indeed get a great view of the ruins of Machu Picchu!

Cusco

Cusco - little city, unbelievable history... Flying there was awesome as we could see the Andes for quite a while before landing. At the airport we were welcomed by the host from our hostel . ¨Mr. and Mrs. Ewa Sidwa¨the nice sign said. We were then escorted in a group van to our place. Since it was about 8AM or so, and our room was not ready yet, the senorita has sitted us on a nice balcony overlooking the city of Cuzco and treated us to a large, hot pot of coco tea. ¨For altitude sickness¨we were instructed. While altitude sickness was definitely a good reason, the hot drink this early in the morning (6AM flight) in a snippy refreshing mountain air, felt like a utmost luxury. After taking in the scenery, sipping on the tea, we were situated in a nice ¨matrimonial¨room with a very nice wooden sculpted trim on all. cannot complain :) The town was very cool to explore (both figuratively and literally). After catching a few breaths (not so easy at over 3000m elevation) and walking a bit around town we signed up with a local travel agency for a half-day city tour. We certainly got our moneys worth... The very knowledgeable tour guide took our group to all interesting town sites - especially focusing on Inca´s culture - different styles of building, different purposes and how the empire has ended. Later she also taught us about the local alpaca economy and how to distinguish the different fibers... We now know how to feel the ¨synthetic rip off¨ :) The following day we signed up with the same agency foir a day long Sacred Valley Tour. We visited most known Inca and pre-Inca sites in the area and learned a bit more of their fascinating history and culture. Cuzco has also been a great continuation in exploration of Peruvian cuisine. Although we still are not sure if it was the food, the water or the altitude that was filling our stomachs, like balloons... (later, at the Inca Trail Hike, we heard and smelled that most travellers had teh same issues :) Here are some Cusco area pictures:

(the last picture is us sharing the water from one of the few Inca´s eternal youth fountains, or so the Spaniards believed, - so far it works for us! )

The Adventure Begins...in Lima, Peru

After spending several weeks moving out and booking our plane tickets we finally took off on Monday Night. We flew from NYC to Lima, Peru where we spent a few days checking out the town and its many museums. We visited the Museu Larco which has too many pieces of pottery to actually look at. However some of them are funnier than others. Here are a few examples…. (censored but for those over 21 http://museolarco.perucultural.org.pe/igal_er.shtml) We also checked out the center of town including the Governmental Palace and the magnificent cathedral. While we were there, we actually got caught up in a protest of who knows what. Our guide the next day told us that this political party protests something almost every week. We didn’t know that and the trucks and riot gear wouldn’t have told you that it was peaceful. Besides interesting face decorations, riots, we found french fries delivery quite interesting... The virgin is crowned with a lama instead of fames - the sames in Spanish - just a "creative" interpretation... In Lima we loved the local cebiche - nice spicier take on what we know a serviche, and salsipapas - super popular fast food cobnsisting of a mound of french friesd covered with sliced hot-dogs, fried egg, and whtver else was around...

The Plan

Here is the current plan. While we have dates, some of them are flexible and some are not. If anyone would like to join us for any portion of it, just let us know...we´d love the company.

1. Lima, Peru from 11/21/06 to 11/24/06
2. Hiking the Inca Trail in Cuzco, Peru from 11/24/06 to 12/2/06
3. Visiting Lake Titicaca and its islands from 12/2/06 to 12/6/06
4. More of Lake Titicaca from the Bolivian side at Copacabana from 12/6/06 to 12/8/06
5. Seeing the rainforest and pampas Rurrenabaque, Bolivia from 12/8/06 to 12/15/06
6. La Paz, Bolivia from 12/15/06 to 12/17/06
7. Oruro, Bolivia from 12/17/06 to 12/18/06
8. Taking a jeep tour around the Solar de Uyni salt flats from 12/18/06 to 12/22/06
9. Seeing the worlds highest city and the old silver mines at Potosi, Bolivia from 12/23/06 to 12/23/06
10. Spending the last days before Christmas in Bolivia´s ¨most picturesque city¨ Sucre from 12/23/06 to 12/25/06
11. Stop over in Buenos Aires, Argentina before heading to
12. Iguasu Falls, Argentina (and Brazil) from 12/27/06 to 12/30/06
13. Then back to celebrate the New Year with some Tango lessons in Buenos Aires from 12/30/06 to 1/5/07
14. We´re off to the Morea Glacier near El Calefate, Argentina on 1/5/07
15. We´ll head to Puerto Natales, Chile on 1/8/07 from where we´ll ´see the granite cliffs of Torres Del Paine and then head south to the penguin collinies in Punta Areanis, Chile
16. We fly to Santiago, Chile on 1/11/07 where we´ll drink some great red wine
17. Then we head to Easter Island, Chile on 1/16/07
18. I know this part is going to be hard but we´ll get through our day´s in Tahiti (1/21/07 to 1/26/07)
19. Then after crossing the international date line we´ll spend a few days in Bankok, Thailand from 1/27/07 to 1/30/07
20. Before heading to the ancient capital of Thailand at Sukhothai on 1/31/07
21. and then Chiang Mai, Thailand for the Flower Festival (clearly Ewa´s pick) from 2/1/07 to 2/6/07
22. We then spend a day in Chiang Rai, Thailand before crossing over to Laos at the Chaing Khong-Huay Xai boarder crossing on 2/8/07
23. Then we´re off to Luang Nam Tha, Laos for the day before pushing into the northern highlands near the Chinese boarder town of
24. Muang Sing, Laos for some time with the natives and possible trekking from 2/11/07 to 2/15/07
25. Then down the river to Nong Khiaw, Laos for a few days before going further down the river to
26. Luang Prabang, Laos from 2/19/07 to 2/22/07
27. From there we go see some funny looking rocks (hugh ¨jars¨made of granite) in Phonsvan, Laos
28. Then a few days of rock climbing or some other fun activities at Vang Vieng, Laos
29. Then to the current capital of Vientiane, Laos for a few days of witnessing the ¨modern city¨ of Laos
30. On March 1 we head to Hanoi, Vietnam for a few days there before heading to the magnificent
31. Halong Bay, Vietnam to explore the 3000 islands by boat and possibly get in some diving
32. Then a day in Hue, Vietnam to see the Imperial Tombs
33. Then we´re back on the Reunification Express (train which connects Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City) to head to Hoi An, Vietnam to see the Mi Son ruins.
34. Ahhhh... then we head to Nha Trang, Vietnam to do some more diving in one of Vietnam´s best diving towns (3/13/07 to 3/16/07)
35. Then into the mountains around Dalat, Vietnam for 2 days
36. Then back to the coastal town of Mui Ne where we will see the largest reclining budda on earth. Why you ask... cause it´s there.
37. Then we get to Ho Chi Minh City where we´re going to see the city and some of the historical sites from the Vietnam War
38. On March 24 we´ll board a bus and then a boat which will take us up the Mekong River to Phnom Phen, Cambodia where we´ll spend a few days visting the city and the killing fields outside of town
39. Then on the 29th we´ll head up the river to Siem Reap, home of the famous Ankor Wat
40. One of the most picturesque boat trips is supposedly from Siem Reap to the town of Battambang (gotta love the name) in Cambodia.
41. On April 4th we´ll head to Sisophon, Cambodia to see the Banteay Chhmar Temple
42. Then we cross the boarder back into Thailand at the boarder towns of Poipet, Cambodia / Aranya Prathet, Thailand on 4/6/07
43. Back to Bangkok for a day or two before catching the train down to Surat Thani, the jumping off point for the island of
44. Ko Pha-Ngan, Thailand where we´ll spend a few days on the beach and diving before heading south to the island of
45. Ko Samui, Thailand where we´ll relax a little more and then fly to
46. Varanasi, India on April 13th - this is the home of many temples along the Gangese river
47. Then we head north to Dehli, India on 4/17/07
48. Before heading to the Taj Mahal near Agra, India on 4/21/07
49. Then we go to Fatehpur Sikri, India for a day
50. And to Jaipur, India for a day
51. Then to Amber, India for a day or two before we head further south to
52. Bombay / Mumbai where we will spend the rest of our time until we board a flight home on May 4th and arrive back at JFK at about 9:30 PM on that day.

To those of you from work...I´m going to be sick on my Birthday (May 3rd) and will see you on Monday May 7th!!!