 Part
2 of Matt Pendle's account of his gap year trip to Peru
Saturday,
9th April, 2005 On
Sunday I got really badly ill, not a good thing when it's a 1 1/2hr trip
from Cusco to Zurite on very packed, and hot buses. I somehow managed to
survive, although for the last half hour or so I was apparently green.
When I got back to Zurite I went straight to bed, and stayed there for the
next 2 and a half days. By Wednesday evening though I was feeling a lot
better, and by Thursday I was all but alive again. It was a massive
relief, seeing as the Inca trail was that weekend, and it would have been
absolutely gutting to not have been able to go on it. But I did, so all
was well. We
went into Cusco Friday afternoon as normal, and at 7 o'clock we had a
briefing at Liz's Explorers with our guides, and were told we had to be
there at the very resonable time of 6 in the morning on Saturday. This
meant getting up a 5, oh joy. Somehow we all managed it, and were sitting
on a bus ready to go by 6:15. We arrived in Urabamba (where we built a
wall for a school) at about 7:30, where we had scrambled eggs and rolls,
not the most filling of meals. We got back on the bus and at about 8 or so
we turned into a school playing field, where we unloaded. My bag was taken
off of the bus, and it wasn't the most reassuring thing to see one of the
porters do a double take on the weight of my bag. I had a bad feeling the
next four days could be very hard work. We walked to Km 82, the starting
point of the trail, and set off. I was a bit nervous as I have never done
much walking, but it was comforting to have the other volunteers with me. As
the guide, Ronald, had said the first day was quite easy, although there
were a couple of small hills that I found quite trying, which didn't bode
well for the next day when we had to do four or so hours of constant
uphill climbing. Having become slightly acclimatised, and being used to
walking up to Condor terrace, six of us shot ahead of the rest of the
group, and stupidly, we shot ahead of the guides. The outcome of our haste
was that we took a wrong turn, and instead of walking along the hilltops,
we went down the hill/mountain. Fearing we had gone wrong we stopped for a
bit, and when nobody caught up, we were certain we had taken a wrong turn,
but in true British spirit, we continued to surge ahead along our chosen
path, which thankfully turned out to be an alternative route, as opposed
to a wrong one, and we arrived at the lunchtime campsite shortly after the
others. What had apparently happened was that there had been a problem
with the tickets, and so the Guides had had to stay at the Km 82 entrance
gate whilst the rest of us went off alone. Then the group split, with the
faster ones rushing ahead. The guides had then caught up with the slow
group, and asked where the rest of us were. They had pointed ahead, so
Ronald had attempted to catch us up. He even asked other groups if they
had seen us, and the reliably assured him that we had followed the correct
route. But we hadn't, and were having a wonderful time on the scenic
route. Never mind though, we did eventually turn up, safe and sound,
although with slightly battered egos, and had a wonderful lunch. We then
did another hour of two of walking in the afternoon, till we reached our
evening campsite, where at 5 o'clock we had a high tea of popcorn, and
crackers, followed by a few swift hands of cards, by which time it was
dinner, and after Ronald's reiteration that tomorrow was the hardest day,
we quickly went to bed. We
were woken up at 10 to 6 by the potters offering tea. Packing quickly
followed, and breakfast was at 6:30, and what a breakfast it was. There
was masses of fruit salad, toast, porridge, and to top it all off,
pancakes, we were truly spoilt. I was absolutely stuffed by the time we
set off, but I was really glad that I ate so much, because it truly was
the hardest day, especially since I had added another 2.5 litres of weight
to my rucksack in the form of a bottle of water. Myself and Alex were,
after about an hour of uphill struggle, the lead two of our group. I say
struggle, but Alex was all but skipping up the path, having managed to
give all his water, a very heavy commodity, to the girls to carry (he's so
thoughtful), whereas I was sweating absolute buckets. I eventually managed
to make it to the top in 2hrs 50 mins, although the last 100 metres or so
was just steps, which are a killer after two and a half hours of climbing.
Having
climbed 1215 meters in just under 3 hrs, it felt oh so good to take my
backpack off, and just collapse. I must admit that it was quite reassuring
that at the top the porters were also gasping for breath, I made me feel
less unfit. The next person to arrive did so quarter of an hour after
myself and Alex, and the last person, an hour and a half after, which I
though was an absolute joke, seeing as they had given their pack to a
porter to carry for the day. Despite
how hard it was, it could have been a lot worse, namely if it had been
sunny, as opposed to overcast, as that would have meant it would have been
a lot harder to walk. After the mammoth climb it was downhill till the
lunch time camp, which also turned out to be the night time camp as well,
there was to be no walking in the afternoon. Hurray! The
third day we were again woken at 10 to six, and were told that today was
the longest day of walking. Again it started with an uphill struggle,
which I thought was a bit unfair, though this one lasted and hour and a
half, as opposed to three. It was then
down and uphill for the rest of the day, though we did have to walk
in the afternoon. Today was also the day that contained the most ruins,
which made a welcome break to the walking, and Ronald was very good at
explaining what we were seeing. Once again the food was amazing, a very
important factor in any expedition for me, and once again we were in bed
by 10. On
the fourth day we were woken at 4, but this time there was to be no
morning cup of tea. Somehow I managed to survive this deprivation. The
breakfast was again incredible, I could get used to pancakes in the
morning, and we set out walking at 5:30. The main reason for the early
start was so that the porters could catch the first train back to Km 82,
so they could catch another tour leaving the same day. It's a very hard
life for a porter. We
reached the so called sun gate at 6:30 ish, but it was overcast, so we
could only catch glimpses of Machu Picchu through the cloud, therefore we
started our descent. Thankfully by the time we reached Machu Picchu, and
had sorted out our bags, got our passports stamped with the Machu Picchu
stamp, etc the cloud had been burnt off by the sun, and it was a wonderful
day. Ronald
gave us a very in-depth tour of Machu Picchu, explaining contrasting
theories on certain parts of the site, and offering his own, well reasoned
explanation for them, well it seemed well reasoned to me. After the tour
we were given 2 and a bit hours to explore on our own, so Kevin, Sinne,
Setfan, Dee, Flor, and Myself decided to climb up Huayna Picchu so that we
too could get those amazing views over Machu Picchu you see in the photos.
It was well worth it, and I got some amazing photos. We
came down again, and went to Aquas Caliente, the nearest town, where we
had lunch, and then caught the train back to the stop before Cusco, where
we were met by the Liz's Explorer´s bus, and were served with wine for
the trip back to Cusco. After a very cheap meal of hamburger and chips,
very Peruvian, I went straight to bed, after having said goodbye to the
other people from the trail. On
Wednesday I spent the morning in Cusco, and then went back to Zurite for
my Spanish Lesson at four. After that there was a pirate party to
celebrate Alex´s Birthday, which was the same day as we arrived at Machu
Picchu, (coincidence? I think not), and also to commiserate his leaving
the following day. On Thursday we went for a walk, though two people bailed out,
seeing as one had a very bad hangover, and the other went back to make
sure he was alright, and to ´nurse´ him, which involved him going to bed
and her watching DVD's. Friday
we came to Cusco, and Saturday I have so far spent on the internet! +++ 24th April, 2005 Buenos
días Now
what did I do this week, the beginning of the week seems so far away I may
have trouble remembering, oh no wait, I've got it, myself, Jon, Sinne, and
George dusted 3 more alters in the church, and the pulpit over Monday and
Tuesday, how could I forget that? We are beginning to feel that this is
quite a pointless task, seeing as there is a lot more dust to be made in
the church, and we think that we got stuck with this job because they don't
trust us with the delicate jobs. I suppose that in this respect they are
sort of justified, as things keep ´falling off´ of whatever we dust, but
never mind. In the afternoons of both days I was very lazy, and just read
Hiram Binghams´´Lost City of the Incas´ in the sun. On
Wednesday morning we finished off the bench from last week, and built a
very very comfortable floor seat in the little garden, which is absolutely
fantastic for reading a book, seeing as it gets the sun most of the day,
and has roses growing in all the flower beds. On Wednesday afternoon, I
had the free Spanish lesson that everyone is entitled to weekly, and then
went back to reading my book. So far not the most energetic of weeks. Thursday
however we did go to a terrace, which was a fair walk first along a very
long flat, and then up a steep hill. When I did reach the top gasping for
breath (I can´t believe how unft I am) it was straight to work with a
machete, and no plant, bush, or tree dared to stand before me. In the afternoon
I discovered a small waterfall, obscured from sight by several large
bushes, so I spent the afternoon chopping them down, so that from anywhere
on the terraces you would have a decent view of the waterfall. I managed
to get most of it done, and it will only take a short while more with the
machete next Thursday to cut the rest of it down. Unfortunately though I
was rather overzealous with my macheteing, and ended up getting several
blisters on my right hand, despite wearing gloves, and so spent the last
hour or so using my left hand, which also gained a blister, not wanting to
be left out of the fun. Friday
we did the normal half day of work, and half free day. The half day of
work was spent painting a kindergarten inside and out, which took a lot
longer than it should have, due to the fact that most of the brushes and
rollers were hard with unwashed paint. At 2 o´clock, just after Lunch, Sinne,
the only volunteer who had consistently been in the house since I arrived,
and who I shared various walks with, left, which was a bit sad, but he is
in Cusco for awhile, so I am sure I will bump into him again. After that
most of us headed off to Ollantaytambo for the night, a very long and
expensive journey from Zurite, because in the morning there was a social
with all the TAPA volunteers to one of the ruins in the locality of
Ollantaytampo, though not the llantaytambo ruins themselves. It was quite
a pleasant eveing, fairly relaxed, although we were all in bed pretty
early as there is nothing to do in Ollantaytambo. Saturday
we set off on the trek to the ruins, which involved all 20 or so
volunteers being heraded into the back of an open top truck, and being
driven along a dirt track for 20 or 30 minutes. It started off quite fun,
but my arms soon got tired of hanging on, and the girls kept being hit in
the face by branches as we ´sped´along. We were dropped off at the foot
of a hill, which took 30 mins to ascend at which point we reached the
ruins of choqubamba a Wari fortress which was taken over by the Incas, and
added to. It was a fairly decent ruin as ruins go, though not nearly as
impressive as Ollantaytambo, which I have yet to visit. After Lunch we headed back to Cusco, and arrived around 6, when we went out to the opening of a new restaurant. Uriel the previous cook in Zurite, who had been released mid-March, had opened his own Chinese resataurant, and the entire of TAPA had been invited. It was a really good Chinese meal, and I will definitely be trying to get the other Zurite volunteers to go there occasionally for meals, although it is slightly off the beaten track. After the meal we met up with another volunteer whos´ last weekend in Cusco it was, for a few drinks, which was a very pleasant way to spend the evening, and that, is my week. Matt Pendle To read part 1, click here and click here for the concluding parts |