We did a three day hike in the Andes Mountain Range known as The Lares Trek then to Machu Picchu. It started by driving down a single lane two way traffic road for two hours from Ollantaytambo. It's amazing to see buses hanging off of the side of straight cliffs or cars to pass. It's about a 30 km/hour drive. After the sketchy drive, we started our hike at the Lares Hot Springs after picking up toys and bread for the children we were going to run into on our hike. Apparently the kids are so destitute that they need trekkers to bring them treats.
Day 1 - Sheer Rain
Have you ever walked 12 km with a 900 m elevation? Probably. Ever done it in pissing rain on sheer rock while wearing a purple rain jacket, orange fleece, black mitts, and a bright blue rain poncho? I have. Day one was a short 5 hour hike in the rain. I seriously mean rain. It sleeted sideways the entire time. It was awful.
Once we got to camp for dinner our guides had set up the dinner tent and our tents for the night. Everything was wet. We slept at 3800 m above sea level. It was princess camping - we had cooks, porters and a guide with us. Also the alpacas carried everything for us. I've never seen so many alpacas and llamas as on this day. It's like herds upon herds.
Dinner menu: avocado, rice, vegetables and tea.
Day 2 - Snow From Hell (and a chocolate bribe)
We woke up to about 15 cm of snow. Wet, cold snow. Our leader changed the route to go to slightly less altitude trek when we woke up at 05:45 am. They did wake us up with fresh hot tea and hot water to wash our faces. It was just early and damn cold. Christina and I survived the night though. It required a lot of cuddling to survive though - that's why you bring good friends in these types of trips.
The morning hike was 8 km with about 800 m elevation gain. I wore two pairs of pants, two socks, a tank, a tee, a long sleeve, a fleece, a ski jacket, a rain jacket and a rain poncho. It was about -15 ish and switching between rain and hail. It's tough to decide what layers to wear because you're hot from hiking but stopping is damn cold.
We went into a traditional Andean house along the route. It was super smoky inside as they burn alpaca poo for fuel. It's interesting to see what they do to survive in the mountains. It's very simple and a whole lot of carbs. The guide claimed that the people in the Andes do not have cancer or any diseases. I don't quite believe him as they also have no doctors to tell them otherwise.
At lunch we had better weather so our guide decided to change the path to the higher version. We then hit snow, hail and rain. It was a 700 m over 7 km uphill battle to 4,850 m. I may have gotten a tiny bit of altitude sickness - dizziness, headache and seeing two. However, after a bit of chocolate I made it to the top. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Breathing sucked. Walking sucked. It was damn cold and windy. But man, the view was way worth it.
We then raced down hill battling the darkness to sleep at 4,350 m. Since the porters had set up the tents, it had snowed more. Our tents were buried in 25 cm of snow when we arrived. It was not a warm sleep at all. Christina's sleeping bag also broke. So neither of us slept because it was cold and christina was unhappy - rightfully so too.
Breakfast menu: porridge, hot chocolate, pancakes with orange sauce, and toast with jam.
Lunch menu: Chinese chicken, noodle mash, and vegetables. I didn't eat much.
Dinner menu: asparagus soup, hot chocolate, chicken mash and some weird type of vegetables.
Day 3: Mystery Mash Day
The last morning was rough. We woke up to more snow. The hike wasn't too bad - 7 km downhill and only about 4 hours. We saw tons of kids coming back from school. Apparently the kids all stay at the school in town and hike back for the weekends. Oh also girls in the mountains get married at 14 to have kids between 15-20. It's sad.
We took the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, which is also known as Machu Picchu town. We had a simple meal then early to bed with a glorious hot shower. I've never appreciated hot water as much as this shower.
Breakfast menu: egg mash and chocolate cake.
Lunch menu: mystery mash with an assortment of types of pasta.
Day 4: Machu Picchu
You know when wake up is 345 am that it's going to be a rough afternoon. We stood in line for the bus up to Machu Pichhu starting at 415 am and only got on the bus at 645 am. The lines are just that long and there's not many buses that go up the road at one time.
It is amazing that western civilization even found Machu Picchu. It's incredible. It's surrounded by this massive Rocky Mountain range and jungle forest. I'm not surprised it wasn't discovered until 1911 by Hiram something from Yale University. I do remember that his original quest down to Peru was funded by Tiffany's Diamonds because that was his father in law. Our guide did tell us some facts about it but he told us to lie down and appreciate the sun and surroundings, so I promptly fell asleep. So I have no facts about the area. Sorry not sorry. I do have photos and google though.
We then took the train back to Ollantaytambo. I had a great conversation with one of the ladies on our trip about being your own person and not getting caught up in men's agendas.
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