Can't wait to get Kate back on Friday, I know that! But I am happy things are going smoothly and they're having fun.
Jeremy
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Word from abroad
Just got off the phone with Kate. Things are going smoothly having completed their Llama Trek. From what I heard, camping was good (Easy? Difficult? An adventure? I don't know) - All I know is it involved tents and sleeping bags and camp food. At such altitudes it was three steps then take a breath; three steps then take a breath. Tomorrow they head to Machu Picchu and return to Cuzco by bus (am I getting this right?). I'm a little confused about where they are right now. I was under the impression that the Llama Trek was TO Machu Picchu, but it sounds like that is not true. Who knows! Anyway, that's what I know.
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2 comments:
Jeremy,
Are you saying our posts are not a marvel of quality and communications efficiency? Even with me here to help?
Well, I will do what I can to add clarity.
Camping would have been pretty bad if not for having a terrific crew who knew how to get us to the next campsite before dark, fed, whole and happy. At night it was much colder than we were really prepared for, not dangerously so, but 20F just before dawn... well, let´s just say emptying one´s bladder into a small hole in the ground while shivering violently is a uniquely humbling way to start a day.
There were a hundred wonderful and unique experiences. Falling asleep to the sound of a horse munching the grass just outside my tent, so close I could hear him swallow. Watching our llama handler run far up a frosty 40 degree slope (300+ feet of vertical) to round up his charges who were happily munching frosty grass far above us.
"Camp food"? No,no,no. After a half day of hiking at 13,000+, raw walrus would probably taste good, but this food would have been acceptable at any average American restaurant... and our cook produced enough over a small camp gas stove, to satisfy 6 hungry hikers soon after arrival at camp.
The three steps per breath was accurate below 13,000. By 14,000 I personally was down to 2 steps per breath, and it got worse quickly after that. Therein lies another unique experience. I was wearing a small day-pack which normally just holds a water bladder and a few small items. We took out the water bladder and used it for snacks, extra clothes, etc. (The entire second morning through the pass was hiked with full winter gear: 4 layers, plus scarves, wool hats, and gloves). My psuedo daypack had a sternum strap which I thoughtlessly clipped comfortably at the start of the hike. I was about 1000 feet behind Johan, Ariel, and Kate (the fast group) and 1000 feet ahead of Lisa and Cynthia (the slow group) as we passed through 14,000. And my chest began to hurt. I pressed on, but couldn´t really catch my breath. I was down to taking a single step per breath cycle when it dawned on me that you have to breathe more deeply as you go to higher altitudes. I unclipped the sternum strap, and it was as if someone had given me a tank of oxygen. Immediately I was back to a 2-steps per breath mode, and very comfortable. Above 14,000, though, the path became pretty steep. At the top, we bivouacked for 10 or 15 minutes enjoying a view that made Crawford Notch look like a half-size first draft. But behind us a mass of stratus cloud was ascending the pass, so we had to move on.
I can´t remember the name of the village at which the Lares Valley trek ended, but from there we took a van to Ollantaytambo, then on to Aguas Calientes via an incredibly slow but also incredibly scenic sunset train ride. Most of the ride was spent on sidings waiting for other trains to pass on the single track. But imagine a full moon lighting snow-capped peaks 4000 feet higher than you and almost directly over your head. Lisa and I enjoyed this greatly; Ariel and Kate chose to snooze.
I will post a very detailed message about the hiking itself here, once I have accesss to a more familiar keyboard, but suffice it to say that as I was hiking here, my feeling was identical to that of snorkling off the Kona coast: "I cannot imagine bothering to do this anywhere else".
The buses to Macchu Picchu run to and from Aguas Calientes. It is also a nexus for many trains, and the main tracks run not 8 feet from our hostal´s front door. Quite a sight to have the lobby brilliantly lit by 6 headlights mounted on the front of a locomotive noisily approaching the check-in desk.
Having done the hot springs thing just before beginning the Lares trek, we´ve eschewed duplicating it here, particularly because the town is hopping due to a 4 day national holiday. This caused Machu Picchu itself to go from lightly and pleasantly populated at 9 am to Times Square on New Year´s Eve by 1 pm, at which point we called it a successful exploration (about which there will be detailed posts later).
To be strictly accurate, things are not going "smoothly", in the sense of a well-oiled machine. They never do on a field trip this jam-packed with goals and activities. We´ve all had moments of exhaustion and frustration, as well as various physical wear and tear. But our guide, Cynthia, has always sensed when to help, when to change the pace, and when to suggest an enjoyable alternative when a planned activity starts looking more difficult than expected. She is also a fount of information about every aspect of Peru.
But lest you get the wrong idea: this trip has definitely been way more fun than can be imagined or described.
Hi Jeremy. Gary showed me you had some interest in where we were going next. Tonite, we leave here on the 8 o'clock train. We will be on that for about an hour and a half and then transfer back to our original van from the first day to return back to Cusco to our hostal, Hostal de Anita.
Tomorrow at 7 in the morning, we are taking a high end bus from Cusco to Puno, which is the gateway to Lake Titicaca. The bus makes about seven sightseeing stops and arrives in Puno late afternoon. The next day we will take a boat tour around the lake, stopping for the night at Isla Taquille. That brings us to Wednesday when we return to our hostal in Puno for the night. From there we will carefully escort tu novia to the airport at Juliaca where she will take the plane back to Lima, stay in our same hotel as we stayed at when we first arrived. She should be well taken care of.
We have to go back to our hostal here and check our luggage, meet with Cynthia and wait for our train.
Speak to you later--
Lisa
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