Tipon: Our Last and Least Favorite Ruins

Today we went to Tipon.  We had heard a good deal about how Tipon was really nice and someone even said that it is like Machu Picchu without the people.  We were somewhat disappointed when it really wasn't much more than a few terraces with a miniature canal on half of the terraces and a small fountain near the center of everything.  There are a few pre-Incan buildings that don't have the really nice stonework that the Inca structures have.  I think we might not have been so disappointed if we hadn't already been to so many very impressive ruins, including Machu Picchu.

We got a guide for the ruins but she spoke too fast for me to understand much of her Spanish.  The tour went on for a while this way and eventually we cut it short because Dad and I weren't learning anything.
- Brook

Charitable Chow

In digging around for an organization where we could volunteer, we've come across a few restaurants that support NGO efforts.  The timing of these finds is great, as we have returned to our favorite restaurants several times and are ready for new ones.

We read about a pay-as-you-can restaurant in Cusco but after searching for it we concluded that it must be out of business.  Maybe this restaurant was not unlike the one in Salt Lake City where the women said they were closed because they didn't have money to pay for their gas.  In both cases, we were disappointed that we couldn't support these socially responsible endeavors.  However, this second apparent failure has us skeptical about the viability of the gift economy where patrons are asked to give fairly in exchange for their meal, serving everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

We had lunch at Aldea Yanapay today.  This playful restaurant funds an after school care program, similar to Los Niños.  Many of the children who attend this program are from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Aldea Yanapay is about showing the kids attention and affection while providing opportunities that may not be available to them at their regular school, such as arts and crafts.  Some of the kids are not taught hygiene at home, so there is also an emphasis on promoting better habits.

- Eydie

Cusco Cares

Yesterday we moved to Los Niños Hotel.  Making hotel plans on the fly is becoming more and more challenging in June, the start of high season here.  Los Niños has two locations and we had been to both in our efforts to find decent, affordable, post-homestay accommodations.  We noticed a sign advertising a tour of their child aid project but at the time we didn't understand the connection with the hotel.  Now as we settle in and learn more about Los Niños, we are pleased to have stumbled upon it. All of the proceeds from the two hotels and the cafes go to support the Niños Foundation.  There aren't any opportunities to do volunteer work with Los Niños but at least the money that we would be spending for food and lodging anyway is supporting a good cause.  So as we continue to look for a sound organization where we can contribute in a meaningful way, we can at least feel good about providing support to this NGO.

Brook: This evening we did a tour of our hotel’s “child aid” project.  The tour was really long and in really fast Spanish that was hard to understand but overall the organization is very interesting.

Niños, the project, was founded by a woman named Jolanda van den Berg from Holland, who is trying to help the street children in and around Cusco.  She is now helping to feed 600 kids ages six to twelve in Cusco.  Jolanda runs two Niños hotels that help fund the project, one of which we are staying in. The children helped by the project are fed two meals a day, either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner.  They eat in a replica of the restaurants at the hotels.  These kids are also helped with schoolwork and taught good hygiene and manners in public spaces and at home.  The public schools in Peru are only half day so these kids get extra school in the rest of their time.  Jolanda has also built a miniature movie theater for them, the only one in Cusco.  They have developed a point system where if they get enough points from reading books, using good table manners or doing very well in school, the kids can use them to get popcorn during a movie and things like that.  The organization does not accept any volunteers.  They prefer to employ local people.
- Brook

Machu Picchu At Last!

We woke up early to see Machu Picchu without too many people and felt well rewarded.  This place is magnificent.  The archeological site is interesting, the stonework impressive, but it is the setting that is absolutely spectacular!  Steep cliffs all around, gorgeous rock spires jutting up from the jungle valley floor to gaze at, almost totally encircled by the meander in the Urubamba River far below, it is drop dead gorgeous.  We came here with high expectations and we’re far from disappointed.

We’ve had a tenuous week of weather.  Fortunately, today we had blue sky peeking through the forest clouds that have haunted us throughout our 5-day Salkantay Trek getting to this point.

Huayna Picchu is the mountain behind Machu Picchu that one sees in all the typical postcard shots.  We loved hiking up its very steep trail to the top, which afforded us great aerial views of Machu Picchu from a different perspective.  Though lots of people were up there it didn’t take away too much from the experience.

In late afternoon, we took the train from Aquas Calientes to Ollantaytambo.  The mountain views straight up through the windows in the roof make this our best train trip ever.  Half way through the trip the train stewards gave us a fashion show featuring expensive alpaca garments for sale.  This was very odd but quite entertaining.

First Sighting of Machu Picchu

Today, Mom and I hiked to Llactapata.  Llactapata was originally seen by Hiram Bingham at the same time that he found Machu Picchu.  It is a couple of fairly disappointing ruins with an amazing view of Machu Picchu.  The walk itself is very steep and slippery on the way down, so Dad wasn't able to do it with his sprained ankle, which is sad because he was really pushing to guarantee that Llactapata was included in our itinerary.

When we left camp it wasn't quite raining but the weather was not very nice.  Guido was fairly confident that it would clear up enough to see Machu Picchu from the top and he was right.  The trail up was very nice, one of the nicest we've seen on this trek.  It was my job to take pictures because Dad wasn't there.  I tried to take a lot of pictures but I think that, had he been there, Dad would have done a better job.  As we were going up we could see rain slowly coming towards us across the valley. The rain hit us just before we reached the top but when we got to Llactapata, just on the other side of the ridge, we could see Machu Picchu and it was sunny with a mostly blue sky.

The trail down was as steep or steeper than I expected with lots of mud.  It took a lot of concentration and we were all very glad when we got to the bottom of the almost flat river valley.  Hydroelectrica, the so-called town where there is a train to Aguas Calientes, is a very small village with a very big electrical station.  There, we met back up with Dad for lunch.  After lunch we said goodbye to Icidro, our cook, and got on the train.  The train was really tippy but had windows on the top with great views out of them. It seems like Aguas Calientes (the closest town to Machu Picchu) is a really ugly town in a really beautiful place.

- Brook

Trouble on the Trail

It rained on and off all during the night.  When we woke up, various things that were around the edges of the tent were wet, along with Brook's sleeping bag.  The hiking trail was very slippery and muddy from the rain.  Unlike trails in our country, there are no drainage bars constructed here, so it doesn't take much rain for the trail to become a mud flat, a rocky stream, or an erosion nightmare.

About an hour into our supposed four hour walk, I stepped on a rock and turned my ankle badly.  It really hurt and didn't want to bear any weight for a few minutes.  I walked a short distance, leaning on Eydie's shoulder, to catch up to Guido to borrow his poles and see if he had an ace bandage we could wrap the ankle with.  When I took off my shoe and sock we were all shocked to see how much the ankle had swollen.  It immediately became clear that I should not continue walking any further than necessary.  I knew that icing and elevating my ankle as soon as possible would impact my recovery time considerably, but that wouldn't be possible for at least a few hours given where we were.

Ironically we had said goodbye to our horsemen and emergency horse after breakfast.  They were taking the road to our next campsite to drop our stuff and head back toward the pass for another group in a couple of days.  There wasn't any cell phone coverage and we had no way of contacting the horsemen.  Guido didn't have an ace bandage in his first aid kit and our first aid kit was in our bags on the horses.  Fortunately we had ibuprofen with us and this helped tremendously.  We decided to turn back and try to get a ride on the road that we had left at the beginning of today's walk.  Guido went ahead and quickly came across a group of trekkers that were better prepared.  We got an ace bandage and an emergency riding horse from them so we decided to continue on the trail as planned.  Eydie wrapped my ankle (Guido offered no help) and I got on the horse to ride it the remaining 3-4 hours.  It turned out that this decision to ride ahead rather than walk back to the road would later come at a price.

The folks we borrowed the horse from were a large group of American clients trekking from one fancy lodge to another, not camping.  We learned about this company, Mountain Lodges, from a woman in a restaurant in Cusco before we had settled on our outfitter.  Their trip is six times more expensive than ours.  The American clients didn't speak with us and their Peruvian trip leader treated us like we were dirtbags scrounging off of his far superior company, rather than fellow trekkers needing a helping hand. When his group stopped for lunch and we were to continue on with their emergency horse, the Mountain Guides trip leader told us in an unpleasant tone that we had to pay for the use of the horse. We said, "sure, we're thankful for the help, our trekking company will pay," and Guido quickly agreed. The only problem was that they were charging 100 US dollars, about five times what it would normally cost.

Guido should have had our own horses with us.  That demonstrated poor judgment on the part of whoever took this calculated risk to save the money that would have been paid to our horsemen.  We may never know whether it was Guido's decision or the company's policy.  Now Guido was going to have to pay these guys who were taking advantage of our unfortunate circumstances; Guido who would have to go to our booking company, perhaps with his tail between his legs, to ask for reimbursement.  To make matters worse, Guido had to promise payment upon our arrival in the town below, and the Mountain Guides trip leader later sent men running ahead to catch us and remind us that they were very serious about receiving their payment.

Riding the horse for 3-4 hours was not easy on my swollen ankle, as the downhills were so steep that it required virtually standing up in stirrups that were set up for only my toes to get a good purchase.  But all was well once we arrived at our campsite just short of 3:00, nearly two hours later than we had told our cook Icidro to expect us.  Finally now I was able to ice and elevate my ankle as I had been wanting to do since the injury this morning.  We then proceeded with lunch, tea time and dinner all concentrated into about four hours!  We're enjoying popcorn and card playing at tea time each day.  Today I did so with my foot up on the table.

I know I won't be joining the others on the Llactapata hike tomorrow.  I just hope I'll heal quickly enough to climb up and down Wayna Picchu the day after tomorrow.

- John

Latin America Uncovered

We had a four-hour walk down a beautiful steep valley this morning, quickly moving below tree line and into cloud forest.  Our lunch spot is also our campsite for the night, right in the middle of a village. There are two other trekking groups here with us.  It's not as nice as last night's campsite.  With a few hours free, the guides, cooks and horsemen had a lively soccer game.  Brook got in on the action for a short time.

We learned from Guido that the group we paid for this trek, Uncover Latin America, contracts its mountain trips out to another company named Tucano Reps.  Apparently this is done by very many of the tourist agencies operating in Peru, but never advertised.  This middleman situation is what created the strange duffel and sleeping pad issue for us the day before our trip.  In Cusco we had tried to work directly with the outfitter that would be taking us, to be sure we knew exactly what level of service we would be getting for our money.  We failed at this, having been misled by the Trip Advisor reviewers of Uncover Latin America.  Oh well.

Salkantay Pass

Today was the first day of our Salkantay trek.  We were picked up from our hotel in Cusco at 4:00 in the morning and driven two hours to a small town named Mollepata, where we had breakfast.  It was the most rustic restaurant that we have been to in Peru.  The quality of food was what you would expect at this kind of place but the prices were inflated because it was the only spot for tourists passing through.

After breakfast we continued on a rough winding dirt road for almost two more hours to the trailhead. Here we met our crew:  Guido our guide, Icidro the cook, two horsemen, each named Ruben, three horses to carry all the camping, cooking and dining gear, plus an emergency horse to ride should one of us experience trouble.  It is our first time doing a horse supported trek.  It makes for pretty luxurious camping.  The horses and support crew go ahead of us to begin preparing a hot lunch in a cooking and dining tent that they set up on the side of the trail. Guido sticks with us, hiking and conversing, mostly in English and some in Spanish.

We stopped for lunch just short of the 4600 meter (15,092 feet) pass.  Lunch was really good.  It was tarwi, a dish that is made from the beans from lupine plants.  It was much better than the tarwi we had at our home stay in Cusco.  And it wasn't because we were hungry from hiking.  We are going to eat well this trip. During lunch, we had a significant hail storm, enough to leave the ground white.  The hail stopped just in time for us to resume hiking so we were feeling fortunate.

We got up to the pass faster than expected.  It wasn't as hard as we anticipated.  None of us had any issues with altitude, climbing up to 4600 meters.  Although it was cloudy we got frequent glimpses of the glaciers and mountain peaks through the windows in the clouds.

At the top of the pass, there are piles of stone offerings to the Apu Salkantay as well as coca leaves, considered a sacred plant.  Guido explained that Apus, high mountains, are traditionally considered spiritual beings with the power to deliver the critical resource of water to fields and towns, thus the power to determine the prosperity and even the destiny of the townspeople.  The summit offerings are given by the townspeople as a way of honoring the spirits and expressing gratitude.

When we arrived at camp our tent was already set up and after dinner we were given hot bladder bags to warm our sleeping bags.  We went to bed early since we had gotten up at 3 am.  It wasn't as cold as we were advised it would be.  Not sure we needed to buy soft shell jackets for John and Eydie. 

Baffled by Bags

Last night I had a surprising and stressful exchange with Chris, our contact at Uncover Peru, the higher end agency that we selected for tomorrow’s Salkantay trek.  Via email I asked if duffle bags would be provided for loading our gear onto the horses, knowing that this is how all the outfitters operate.  Chris responded that we would have to rent the duffels from them at a high price, just like their sleeping bags, or we could find cheap duffels in town to buy.  I made clear that I found this disappointing since every other outfitter we had spoken with provided duffels at no cost.  Well, this seemingly negligible email comment of mine really pushed this guy’s buttons.

Chris immediately phoned me at our hotel and, in a professional tone, very strongly suggested that we find another outfitter, that we were not the kind of clients he enjoys working with.  He went on for quite a while about how his company has an excellent reputation, provides an excellent service for a fair price, etc.  I waited for him to blow off steam and refrained from revealing my true thoughts about how he was handling the situation.  Instead I apologized and assured him that duffels are not worth spoiling the trip over, that we prefer to stick with our plans, and that we were not going to cause him more trouble.  He seemed to barely be listening to me.

This morning Chris called me again.  Instead of apologizing for flying off the handle last night, he again urged us to reconsider doing the trek with another agency, saying he could transfer our deposit to whichever other agency we would like.  I could hardly believe this was happening.  What an unprofessional jerk.  Too bad we don’t know of another agency that could take us on the trek tomorrow, or I would have gladly agreed.

So today we bought some cheap plastic bags with zippers and rented our sleeping bags from an inexpensive shop nearby.  Tonight our assigned guide for the trek, Guido, met us at our hotel to review the trek itinerary and answer any questions we had.  Guess what he brought with him?  Complimentary duffel bags and sleeping bags!  We got a good laugh out of this.  After all the fuss we had gotten into with Chris, it turns out he didn’t even know the situation with their on the ground operators!

- John

Festivals and Fireworks

Last night as we were walking through the Plaza de Armas after dinner, we saw that people were gathered around a giant structure made out of bamboo.  We had seen a group of Peruvians building the structures earlier in the day.  They had lots of wheels and funny shapes that were full of sparklers. When set off, wheels would spin and the whole thing would come alive, a giant fountain of sparks. Every once in a while, frisbee like disks would fly into the air like spinning fireworks.  It was fantastic! I’ve never seen anything like it before.
- Brook

This wasn’t the first time that we came out of dinner to fireworks in the plaza.

After a great dinner on the plaza (John had alpaca) on Thursday night, we saw fireworks for what we understand to be the anniversary of the local college.  What a sight to behold, fireworks over the cathedral!

The center of Cusco is splendid with its Inca stonework, green plaza with flowers, narrow cobblestone streets, stairs up the hills, and good food.

Parades and festivals abound, especially on the weekends.  During the week, you often see adults and children practicing dances in the plaza.  Then on the weekend, they return in costume.

Negotiating the Streets

Cusco is full of cobblestone roads with narrow sidewalks where you have to walk strategically.  Often there is only room for one person and then the sidewalk tapers to become so narrow that you either have to walk sideways or walk in the street.

Walking around this city requires focus, as the drivers aren't particularly respectful of pedestrians so you have to be paying attention when you are on the street.  John enjoys asserting his rights as a pedestrian by walking into the crosswalk and forcing the drivers to respond appropriately.  And then there are the intersections with the useless transit police or crossing guards: more often than not, they are preoccupied with what's going on around them, or with the conversation that they are having with each other or on the phone.

And for a few more Cusco sours…

- While we were walking to dinner from our hotel we passed a man in a suit openly peeing on the sidewalk.

- It is rare to have a taxi driver that is friendly or that even talks to us.

- The combis (public 15 passenger vans) are so packed that you have to stand hunched over in the heat.

Set on Salkantay

We finally decided on an outfitter for our five day Salkantay trek.  We start on Tuesday. The trek ends with a guided tour of Machu Picchu.  Only 200 people per day can climb Huayna Picchu, the peak that rises above Machu Picchu.  We wanted to leave on Monday but there weren’t any slots available for Friday’s Huayna Picchu climb.  So after weeks of casually interviewing some of the hundreds of outfitters around town and carefully examining the various routes, we ended up with Uncover Latin America almost by default, as they were only ones on our short list that can take us on Tuesday and get us Huayna Picchu tickets.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as people on TripAdvisor have been very happy with their Uncover Latin America trips.  Another bonus: it looks like we will have a private trip for the cost of a group one.