In the Footsteps of the Incas: From Mountains to Jungle to Ancient Ruins About This Page:

[rlb38]

Just catching this TR now. I'm hooked.

[DouglasE]

When Craig and I were planning this trip, we explored a whole variety of options. At first, we were going to go on a fully guided tour the entire time with an organization like G.A.P. Adventures or Intrepid Travel. While investigating various companies on tripadvisor.com I discovered travelers raving about a company called Llama Path. It turned out that Llama Path among many different services provides Adventure Treks. The advantage for us with the Adventure Trek is that this is solely a guided hike and the rest of our trip we could tailor to meet our needs. Craig and I wanted to do a hike with the destination of Machu Picchu. Llama Path has several hikes of different levels of difficulty that do just that. Long story short – very long – we end up joining a group that has already been organized.

Why did we choose Llama Path? First, they specialize in small groups. We wanted a small group because it is easier to maneuver with smaller groups and guides can provide information about what we see easier. Llama Path is a big believer in conserving the environment. They have a clean-up policy that must be respected by all of their employees – ‘take out what you take in’. They use clean burning fuel to cook the meals on their treks. They ensure local water is kept clean by avoiding using pollutants in streams or springs. They limit deforestation - do not make open fires and discourage others from doing so. They avoid activities which threaten wildlife or which may be potentially damaging to the natural environment. They also care about how they treat their employees. Traditionally, porters on the hikes in the Andes are taken advantage of and treated poorly. Often you get reports about how poorly clothed porters are. They employ local staff and pay them fair, legal wages. They ensure that their treatment of staff abides by legal requirements and use locally-owned transportation and accommodations.

Basically, Llama Path was started by an English woman who came to Peru and fell in love. She and her husband are based in Cusco, Peru. They began in 2004 providing tourists an unforgettable service using native knowledge and local people.

Craig and I are taking the Salkantay 5 day Adventure Trek. It is more difficult than the traditional Inca Trail that most people take. Another difference from the Inca Trail is that our hike will not only have porters carrying our clothes, etc. but will utilize horses for much of the way. Additionally, we will be hiking through a greater diversity of environments on our way to our ultimate destination – Machu Picchu.

Our Salkantay Adventure Trek included the following:

• Professional, bilingual Tour Guide and assistant guide
• Return transportation
• Entrance fee to Machu Picchu
• 1 Bus ticket up to Machu Picchu.
• 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 afternoon snacks and 3 dinners (breakfast on day 1 and dinner and lunch in Aguas Calientes town are not included)
• Dining tent with tables and chairs
• Cook
• 4 man tent is provided for 2 people only.
• Sleeping mattresses
• Horsemen and horses (they carry all the equipment and up to 8 kilos of personal belongings per person)
  
• 1 night accommodation in Aguas Calientes
• Extra oxygen
• First Aid kit
• Vegetarian/special diet options available
• Spare blanket per tent!

As we entered the Llama Path offices, the folks working there must have recognized us because they just ushered us directly into our meeting. Our lead guide, Marco, was conducting the meeting and was just about to describe what Day 2 would entail. He told Craig and me that he would fill us in after the meeting was complete what expectations of Day 1 would be like. Everyone was enjoying a beverage at the meeting. I thought that was quite thoughtful and did not anticipate that. A bigger surprise was how big the group was. Llama Path will conduct a Trek with as little as two people. Our group was 15 members. Their maximum is 16. My initial impression of Marco was very positive. He was quite funny and made numerous jokes during his presentation. He provided so much information that I really couldn’t grasp it all. It was a lot to take in. I especially got rather confused when he started talking about suggested tips for the staff. Along with Marco, our lead guide we would have Eddison, our assistant guide, our chef and assistant chef, and a number of porters to help carry all the gear. I gave up trying to figure that out and decided that someone would fill me in once we got underway. Thank goodness they gave us a hand out that provided the most important information needed. Another surprising aspect about my group was that they were very keen on leaping into the unknown. At one point, Marco polled the group to see if this group would be interested in climbing Huayna Picchu, the towering peak that overlooks Machu Picchu. Immediately everyone raised their hands. Only Craig and I did not raise our hands. Marco asked us about why we did not raise our hands. I responded that I have not even spent half a day hiking yet. I do not know how I will feel once I get to Machu Picchu. I don’t want to commit myself to something that I might not be able to complete. I told them I would have a better idea after my first day of hiking. We did not have to have a definitive answer at this point so everyone was satisfied with what I had to say. Another option that Marco presented was making a hike from Aguas Calientes in the early morning to get to Machu Picchu for the sun rise instead of taking a bus. Everyone was enthusiastically on board for that option. It was very interesting when it came time to discuss equipment. Craig and I had from the outset made arrangements with Llama Path to rent sleeping bags and for each of us to have a walking stick. Since we had reconfirmed our arrangements at the Llama Path offices the night before, we were probably the only ones that were going to receive walking sticks. Marco asked the others if they wanted them too. One person asked if he recommended them and Marco responded that he uses two on his hikes. After that, everyone wanted two walking sticks per person. I knew that Craig and I were fine with just one each. Marco described how many miles we would be hiking on each day and what the terrain would be like. While the rest of the group made their arrangements to get nicer mattresses, sleeping bags and walking sticks, Marco filled Craig and I in on what we missed at the beginning. Armed with our red Llama Path duffel bag we were sent on our way. It was about 7:30pm.

When we arrived at our hotel, we had to sort out all of our belongings. We needed to pack our duffel bag for things we would be taking on our hike that the porters/horses would be carrying. We needed to pack a day bag/backpack that would store things that we would need access to like our water bottle. We needed to put the rest in our main piece of luggage that the hotel would store for us while we were away on our five day hike. As I am sorting and packing I am also eating. I made myself a quick sandwich from our shopping trip. I gobbled down the sandwich and other snacks while swilling my leftover wine and peach nectar. We tried to do all of this sorting and packing as quickly as possible. Our wake up time was in the four o’clock hour since we had to meet our group at Plaza Regocijo at 5:30 am. At that time we would load up onto a bus to take us to the beginning of our Adventure Trek. I am no good if I have not had a full eight hours sleep. To be honest, I was a little surprised by this arrangement because the Llama Path web site described the first day as being picked up by bus at our hotel. For Craig and me, it is not a big deal because our hotel is very close to the Plaza. I think it is about a five minute walk.

Once again I had trouble sleeping. Craig hardly got any sleep also, but I think we were awake at different times. I think it had to do with the excitement of our upcoming adventure and the pressure that we had to make sure we met everyone at 5:30 am. By the time we got to bed it was a little after 9 pm.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

My travel alarm clock goes off and I am up and ready to get my gear into shape. I had taken a shower the night before because I didn’t want to worry about that. Craig takes a shower after I finish shaving and doing some last minute primping. Heaven forbid if my hair should look ca-ca on a trek through the mountains. We gather our stuff and head to reception to drop off our stuff in storage. It is pitch black. The sun has not risen. We slowly make our way to reception. Once there we discover there is no light on. I try to open the door to reception only to find it locked. I turn to Craig with a panicked look on my face. He looks at the front door and discovers a chain and pad lock locking us in to the hotel.

“Oh my God! What are we going to do!?!” I whisper excitedly. In hushed tones we panic and start the stream of obscenities. We try to come up with a possible game plan. Our group would be leaving without us if we were not on that bus. How were we going to meet them? What will we do with our stuff? As we are trying to figure out what to do, a hotel staff member opens the door to reception. It turns out he was sleeping in the reception room and our urgent whispers must have woken him up. Sorry to wake you up buddy but we gotta go! He tells me that we can store our bags back in the hotel room we were using. I am quicker than Craig so I take both our bags and take them back to our room. We sort things out with the man at reception and he unlocks the padlock and off we exit a little after 5 am. Most of this is conducted with my itty bitty Spanish skills.

After all of that drama, we end up being the first to arrive at Plaza Regocijo.

NEXT: Craig discovers how his yoga classes prove to come in handy on this trip; the ups and downs of hiking.

[Sandra Bostwick]

Originally Posted by DouglasE

Sandra Bostwick - I am glad you are getting a kick out of my trip report.

Another thing is that most often you need to provide the restaurant your order for cuy a day in advance because of the way in which they prepare it.


.

I really do enjoy these reports. I love how people's personalities come out in them. (BTW, please call me Sandy! That's what my friends cal me!)

But I must ask...exactly WHY would one need to order hamster a day in advance? Or maybe I DON"T want to know? I'll let you decide!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by DouglasE

chezp - Obviously, you must be enjoying the report because you are in Florida reading this. If it were me I'd wait until I was home. Do you sleep? Just wait ...some major drama is going to happen after I'm through with reporting this day.

Yes sometimes I do sleep, but one of the plus sides (that's how I've learnt to look at it anyway) about my chronic fatigue is that we take more downtime in the room, which gives me the opportunity to log on to the boards and catch up with things.

[chezp]

More wonderful updates - it sounds like you had some amazing experiences.

[Colexis Mom]

Yikes, glad you were able to get out of the hotel! Can't wait to hear about the adventure!

[PrincessSharon]

I'm so enjoying your TR, Douglas! And you're having a few adventures outside of the planned adventures. I have to admit I laughed a little when Craig didn't know why you were suddenly angry! After spending some time in NYC, I'm a little ashamed to say that I'm really good at ignoring people. Glad you were able to get everything settled and get out of the hotel. Keep up the fascinating updates!

[Jillybean]

Geez! This is starting to read like an adventure novel! Love the story about the misread wine price (at least you were eventually able to drink every last drop ). Also glad that your hair didn't look like ca-ca on your hiking departure date.

And I don't blame you one bit for holding off commitment on a scary hiking adventure when you hadn't even hiked the first step yet!

Great reading!

Jill

[pamcarey]

Great updates! Thank goodness you were able to get out of the hotel!! Yikes! Looking forward to hearing all about your Adventure Trek.

[DouglasE]

Sandy - I try to be consistent for everyone and refer to people by their screen names. It is especially helpful for Passporters who are new to the boards. It can get kind of confusing when switching from real names to screen names. You and I are rather easy since our screen names are based on our real names, others not so much.

chezp - A former landlord of mine has chronic fatigue syndrome and quite a sever case of it. So much so he no longer works. I am quite familiar with the issue. He takes mid-day naps for several hours every day. I bet now that you know what the heck is going on that you are managing much better than you did before you got your diagnosis. Now you get to enjoy even more of all the amenities those DVC properties and get more out of it all.

Colexis Mom - I was so incredibly scared about being able to get out of that hotel!!

Princess Sharon - Sharon, I am good at ignoring the crazies of NYC and Philly. That is no problem for me. It's the in your face hawkers of stuff that was non-stop in Cusco that was the issue. We were constantly being bombarded even when walking briskly through the streets. I did an excellent job of ignoring it all and Craig followed my lead. But when you are stuck sitting on a park bench, like a target, it is a different matter. Plus, I kid you not that it was a constant barrage all day long.

Jillybean - So glad that you are enjoying hearing about my little adventure. I'm enjoying hearing about your Disney trip on my end. One little correction - I didn't finish off the bottle of wine. I just had more of it while packing. This seems to be a trend because I recall having wine while packing up my things in Paris. I highly recommend drinking wine while packing it makes it so much less of a chore. Also, if you can have some great music playing at the same time, even better. Anyway, there is more to the wine bottle that will be reported later in the trip report.

pamcarey - Thank you! Yikes! does say so much in that situation, doesn't it?

[DouglasE]

This whole Adventure Trek thing can be summed up very easily. It is one giant squiggle that goes up and down, up and down. Seriously, it’s probably the first time in a long time that I really wanted to go straight. The entire five days is spent going on one giant incredibly squiggly line.

Gradually, our fellow hikers meet us in the dark at Plaza Regocijo. I’m telling you Craig and I should really have been hired by some spy agency because this seems an awfully lot like a clandestine meeting. Once everyone is gathered we all board a bus with nice plush, comfy seats. Craig and I plunk ourselves near the front of the bus. All of our gear gets stored at the back of the bus. As we wind our way through Cusco, we gradually pick up members of our Llama Path crew. And when I say wind, let me tell you I mean wind because we turn left, we turn right, up a hill, down a hill. Eventually, the bus gets filled and we are on our way to some place. What place? I don’t know. The bus, when it leaves the environs of Cusco, hits a dirt road and goes into the valley of the Urubamba River. From this valley the bus starts its ascent into higher and higher and higher ground. We travel up a mountain in a clockwise manner then we turn and climb even further going in the opposite direction. We keep on this pattern of up and up back and forth. The scenery outside my window is incredible and wonderful. I would have loved to have taken a camera and filmed the whole thing. In fact, all of Peru is beautiful and I wish I could have done that from start to finish. Considering I didn’t get my full eight hours sleep I eventually doze off on the bus. In retrospect, this was a wise thing to do considering that I would need the energy. We ride the bus for a little over two hours.

Eventually, we stop and we are told to enter this little place with a sign that says, ‘Café Restaurante “La Casona”. We pass a little store and emerge into an open courtyard. In the courtyard we found long wood picnic tables. Craig and I are among the first to enter and plunk ourselves down. The trekkers on this morning basically divide themselves into little cliques of people that they know. Since no one knows us they go off to other tables. Eventually, two women, Gemma and Jade sit at the same table. Oddly enough they chose to sit not opposite us but further down. I guess to give more people the opportunity to have a place to eat. Fairly soon after sitting down we are handed menus which describe a three tiered breakfast much like at the Niños Hotel. In case you haven’t picked up one of the themes of this trip, let me point it out. A major theme on this trip is “money is tight”. Consequently, Craig and I pick the least expensive breakfast option which doesn’t provide much at all. We basically have mate de coca and bread with marmalade and some orange juice. It is a beautiful sunshine-y day. Gradually, I am waking up as is everyone else. I was kind to these strangers and did not take any pictures as we were waiting for the bus in Plaza Regocijo. I knew that no one looks good at 5 am in the dark and would not appreciate a camera flash in their face. It is now a little after 7:30am and I no longer have any pity and start taking pictures during breakfast. When the servers start bringing other people their eggs I am rather jealous because I would definitely like more food. Not necessarily eggs, per se, but I am always hungry and the bread and tea just did not cut it. We were told by Marco that we would need to buy some things at the store at this restaurant stop to prepare for our hike. While everyone is finishing up with their meal Craig goes in to make our purchases and gets us each a bottled water, a bag of coca leaves and a rock. Obviously, the bottled water is self explanatory, but the coca leaves and rock I will have to get to later.



Breakfast at Cafe Resaurante La Casona






Trekkers get their gear in order for the Trek. In the picture on the left I have my back to you wearing what looks like is all black. Craig is in the lower right hand corner wearing orange and a hat. On the picture on the right I'm now facing you, but am all the way in the back.





Once everyone is done with breakfast we gather on a nearby street. While there we prepare all of our belongings. We were given plastic bags in our duffle bags. What we did was we wrapped all of our clothing and other gear in the plastic bags. This way in case it rains our belongings have a greater chance of remaining dry. Also in the duffle bag were two rain ponchos. I took one poncho and transferred it into my day back pack. Everyone is out on this little street all prepping their stuff. Additionally, all of the Llama Path crew is out with their gear and the camping supplies. The Llama Path has earned a nickname. They are the Red Army. Llama Path supplies their staff with appropriate clothing all in red and all the gear is kept in red duffle bags and whatnot. As they travel through the mountains it looks like a big red, caterpillar. After some time a truck arrives and the Red Army starts to load up the truck with the kitchen, the tents, the sleeping bags, the walking sticks, the trekkers’ duffle bags, everything we need. Here comes the surprise. We now are told all of us are getting on the back of this open truck. Whaaa-aat!?! We all cram in to the truck. It is a very tight fit. All of the porters, the horsemen, the chef, the guides and us trekkers with equipment all are crammed into the back of this truck. The truck starts up and we are underway to the beginning of our hike.

Getting ourselves and gear onto the truck





The Red Army on our truck heading deeper into the Andes






Once again we take a long, squiggly line to get to our destination. I am able to have one hand on the side of the truck. Craig, unfortunately, is smack dab in the middle of everyone and is not able to hold on to a thing. He said that he is glad his core is well developed from his yoga classes because the truck is tossing its passengers to and fro as we journey up dirt roads into the mountains. On my side of the truck are Gemma and Jade. Their faces keep on getting whacked by branches along the side of the road. Everyone learns quickly and shouts out if there are any chance to get hit in the face as we approach trees and bushes. Well into the trip Craig decides his core has gotten enough of a workout and tells people they need to move because he needs to grab hold of the side of the truck.

It takes us a couple of hours and we reach our destination. All of the trekkers and guides get out at Mollepata. Wow Moment! Mollepata is 2900 meters above sea level. From this vantage point we can see the mountains Humantay and Salkantay. It is utterly beautiful up here. Each walking stick has a number. We are each responsible for keeping the specific walking stick(s) we select. Everyone adjusts the length of the stick so it matches their body. Eddison passes out a little bag that contains our snack for the day. It has an apple and a pack of mint Oreo cookies. Marco makes sure we gather together and take a group shot at Mollepata. After taking about 10 pictures with everyone’s camera, Marco leads our way hiking through the Andes. This is it! I’m actually starting this five day hike! Day One is 16.5 kilometers which will take 8.5 hours to complete.

This is the truck we were all on at our destination Mollepata





This hiking stuff seems to be quite easy. The path is fairly clear and wide. It seems pretty level to me. This is going to be a lot of fun. I follow closely behind Marco. We march, march, march. Eventually, Marco makes a turn off the much wider path to a much smaller path that is on an incline. Oooooh! Here we go. It’s not going to be easy as I thought. I’m going to have to pay attention now. The route is still rather easy but smaller and more of an incline. Hours go by. We make our way to a big, open grassy area. Here Marco tells us to sit down and relax this is our first break. It is here where we have our little snack pack that Eddison gave us. Eddison was at the back of the pack making sure that everyone is accounted for and doesn’t get lost.

The group shot in front of Mount Humantay (4120 m/13500ft) at Mollepata





Part of our group enjoying our break. We raise our apples in triumph of part one of our day!




The break lasts a good bit of time, especially for me since I was at the front. The break doesn’t really start until the last person arrives. So I had a nice leisurely rest. After about 45 minutes we are all up again and start our way through the wilderness of Peru. I am having the time of my life.

Scenes from hiking on Day One


Occasionally we would encounter a variety of animals. This one decided she wanted to have a bit of a rest in the middle of my trail.



We reach a camp that the Llama Path crew has constructed and have a lunch inside a long tent. As we approached the lunch tent there was a wash bowl with water for each one of us and soap to wash ourselves. Believe me; this was much needed because this hiking is dirty business.

More scenes from my hike





One moment Craig is washing his hands. I turn around to look at my surroundings and I hear a loud noise. I turn back around and Craig has collapsed. Several of us rush over to attend to him.

Craig washes his hands before having lunch. Notice the towels clipped to the tent above each of our bowls. They think of everything! Who knew disaster would hit in a matter of moments after taking this picture?




NEXT: Craig has his health concerns; I have mine.

[Queen of Everything]

Great update! When you got on the truck did you think "I wonder where they are going to bury our bodies?" You are very brave to go on this hike. Great scenery though. Sorry to read about Craig. The air gets pretty thin in the mountains as you know.

Amy

[Mickey Mama]

I am finally caught back up! The pictures are beautiful! I hope Craig is alright! It's not serious I hope!

[Grammy Grumpy]

I am now all up to date and all I can say is OMG, what a trip!!! I can't imagine what it felt like to be locked inside the hotel with no obvious way to get out and start the next part of the adventure. Thanks goodness for making a bit of noise and awakening the hotel person.

Okay, I'm ready for more!!!

[pamcarey]

Omigosh, I hope Craig is alright! Other than that, the first part of your trek sounds really cool so far.