The Emperor's New Groove

So a group of 6 Dukies went on a 5-day hike to Machu Picchu this past Friday through Tuesday. We went on the Salkantay hike, which is a popular alternative to the Inca Trail, since it's easier (but longer). Over the course of 4 days (from our starting point, Mollepata, to the town next to Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes), we hiked around 48 miles, which is a lot. The trip turned out to be more luxurious than I had in mind - we had a cook, a porter, and we even got to stay in a hostal our fourth night. The cook and the porter took care of everything campsite-related, and so all we had to do was hike, eat, and sleep! After a long day of hiking, it is pretty nice to not have to set up tents or cook food. We hiked with 5 other people in our group (and our guide as well), and they were from England, California, Lima, and Japan - a pretty fun group. I'm in the process of uploading some 300 pictures from the trip, but I'll break it down in terms of what we did day by day.

Day 1: (20 km hiked, 1000 m elevation gain to 3800 m above sea level)

So we stayed overnight in Cusco on Thursday night, and were picked up bright and early at 5 am by van. We drive for 3 hours, and arrive at Mollepata, our starting town. After a quick breakfast, we start hiking. The climate here was a mountainous one, which was a cool sight to see. The trail was a dirt jeep trail, and there were steep shortcuts through it that we took. After about 7 hours of hiking, we arrived at Soraypampa, our stop for the day. It was near the base of a glacier, but our tents were inside of a shed, so we didn't get extremely cold during the night. 

classic.

Day 2: (25 km hiked, 800 m up to 4600 m, 1800 m down to 2850 m)

We get woken up at 5 am by our cook with steaming hot cups of mate de coca, which is the perfect thing at that hour of the day. After breakfast, we start hiking to the glacier pass, where we can see the Salkantay glacier. The glacier is massive - much more impressive than Chicon. On the way up to the pass was a really steep trail, so reaching the pass at 4600 m was a joyful moment - until we felt the cold. The winds at the pass were freezing (with us being next to a glacier and all), so we quickly started descending. The coolest part of this hike was seeing the micro-climates along the way. Once we descended into the valley, we started seeing a tropical climate (accompanied by rain). It was really bizarre, but really cool. After 8 hours of hiking, we collapsed at Challway, where we spent the night. 

Salkantay in the clouds

Day 3: (16 km hiked, 650 m down to 2200 m)

We again get woken up with coca tea at 5:30 in the morning, and start our hike shortly after breakfast. Still in the tropical-climate, we hiked along a river for most of the day. We found a house along the way that sold passion-fruit straight from the trees along the trail (delicious!), and we saw some avocados and bananas growing right alongside the trail. After a super-easy 4 hour hike, we got to Sahuayaco (2200m), ate lunch, then were bused down to the town of Santa Teresa (1650m), where we stayed the night. From Santa Teresa, we walked about 40 minutes to natural hot springs, where we were able to soak our aching muscles (yay!). 

Suddenly, forest.

Day 4: (16 km hiked, 400 m up to 2050 m)

We had a later start (6:30 am), and hike for 2 hours to Hidro Electrica, where we take a break. Along the way, we saw a pretty snazzy waterfall, and still hiked along the river from earlier (River Salkantay). From Hidro Electrica, we hiked 2 hours along a train track to the town of Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain that Machu Picchu's on. The town is entirely built on tourism, and it was really confusing to have people try to talk to us in English (we can understand your Spanish better!). We had a hostal, and stayed there for the night (hot showers!!). 

When did waterfalls start making milk?

Day 5: (? km hiked, 400+ m climbed)

So we woke up at 7:30 am, and start hiking up the mountain to Machu Picchu at 8:40. The trail up is a series of 1786 steps (more or less), and takes about 1 exhausting hour. We enter Machu Picchu, and get a guided tour of the city, which is pretty cool to hear about. (side note: I saw a group of Whitefish Bay kids at Machu Picchu!) After 2 hours, we get turned loose, and a group of us (5 dukies and the british kid) decide to hike the Machu Picchu mountain. After another exhausting, sweat-dripping (it was really humid) 50 minutes up a trail of steps, we reach the top. From our view, we were higher up than Waynapicchu mountain, and we could see just about everything - Machu Picchu, Waynapicchu, Hidro Electrica, and Aguas Calientes. The view from the top was spectacular, and being on level with the clouds makes you want to be able to just jump off and fly. After all of that, we came back down to Aguas Calientes, and hitched a train to Ollantaytambo, then a bus back to Urubamba. 

The view from Machu Picchu Mountain

I'd like to start making postcards now.

Edit: new photos can be found here.

#wemissedurubamba #youshoulddothis #machupicchuisprettyamazing

G(astronomical) Tour of Cusco!

So our Spanish teacher, Reyner, took us out on a food tour of Cusco instead of Spanish lessons (win!). We first went to a Cebicheria, and we ordered a giant 50 sole platter (for three people) that had ceviche (best I've ever had), Paella, seafood curry-like thing (with mussels), and fried fish/squid.

Spectacular

So after that (my stomach was stuffed to the brim), we walked for a ways until we reached a pasteleria. It looked pretty amazing all around, and it was one of the nicest places I've been in Peru so far. All of us ordered our own cakes (6 soles per slice), and I settled on a traditional Tres Leches cake. Needless to say, it was mouth-wateringly delicious!

Tres Leches

We then went on over to a cafe, where "the best coffee in Peru" was made, according to our teacher. I ordered a black coffee, for tasting, and an espresso, since my food coma was coming on strong. I'm going to have to rate the coffee as good, but not great (best coffee still gets awarded to Blue Bottle drip coffee in San Fran), but the espresso was one of the best I've had. Definitely the best coffee I've had in a while (Peruvians seem to enjoy instant coffee a lot…blech). Para continuar, we went on to a chocolate shop, which specialized in delicious coca chocolate. Nom nom. Finally, we went to get dinner at a place that specialized in cow hearts and intestines grilled on a stick. Upon our teacher's recommendation, I ordered the corazones. Putting aside the fact that they're hearts, they taste pretty good! It's similar to a really savory beef, and meat-lovers would appreciate it, I think. That ended our food tour, and we all went back to Urubamba to nurse our aching stomachs.

Hearts on the right, papas on the left

#somuchfood #goingbackforceviche #cuscoisprettysweet

¡Nos Vemos!

So forgive the lack of posts in the near future - I'm going on the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu for the next five days!  I leave for Cusco tonight, and leave Cusco early tomorrow morning to start the hike.  I'll be getting back Tuesday night I think.  I owe you, my faithful readers, a post on the awesome food tour I took in Cusco yesterday.  Hold me to it.

Back in 5 days.


#excited #ilovehiking #onekiloofanimalcrackers

Hitting the Pavement in Peru

So for those who don't know me, I like running. To make matters more interesting, I like running in these:

Vibram FiveFingers: Bikila

So after 4+ weeks in Peru, I've finally gotten back to running on a semi-normal basis.  Here are some of my observations on running in Peru:

• people don't run a lot around here (unless in sports), so I get a look for that
• Being Taiwanese, I get a look for that
• Wearing somewhat short shorts, I get a look for that
• Running in Vibrams, I get a look for that
• Add up all of the above, and I'm basically a spectacle in the streets

• The air's pretty nice to breathe (once you get used to the altitude - which sucked at the beginning)
• Lots of rocky roads and dirt roads in some areas
• Hills. Everywhere.
• Dogs can try and chase you sometimes (really, really scary when it's a pack), so you try to carry a small rock in your hand and throw it near them if they start chasing you
• The sun makes running around noon almost unbearable (thanks to us being 10000 ft closer to it)

Now, I've started doing something a little more...exerting (read: crazy).  There's a road out of Urubamba that runs to Cuzco, and with Urubamba being in a valley, the road goes up and out of the valley.  Me, being the genius that I am, decided to try and run out of the valley on this road (3 times so far).  It's basically uphill for all of it, some gradual, some decently steep, and if I'm lucky, flat ground.  The farthest I've gone on it was 3 miles up (today!), and yeah, it's pretty high (I didn't even get out of the valley).  Besides getting to be really good at running uphill, the best part about this route is seeing the reaction of the people driving on it.  I get honked at, I see faces which can only mean "what is this chino doing all the way up on this road???", I see bewilderment and smiles, and an occasional shout out ("amigo!" "Chino!").  Hopefully this running (read: craziness) translates well when I get back home.

#theviewisworthit #crazygringo #imadesomanypeoplesdays

¡Festival for Sr. de Torrechayoc!

Wiped.

There's been 2 days of festival for Señor de Torrechayoc (who is more or less Jesus).  There's so much that just happened, but let me see if I can't break it down in a list.

• Bands like practicing at 4 in the morning
• Fireworks go off every 5 minutes or so
• Urubamba is packed
• Sr. de Torrechayoc's face is plastered everywhere
• 42 groups are dancing throughout the streets
• Colors and costumes galore! (lots with masks)
• Start from 7 am to late night
• Everyone's getting drunk
• Apparently people save up $ all year for this one festival
• Can someone say religiously themed?

There's so much that went on, I think I'll just go ahead and do narrating through pictures.  (Currently uploading some 350 pictures, but some 350 pictures from the weekend can be found here starting around #630)

#allfestivaledout #somanycolors #wow #peruvianscanthrowdown

Fish on the Wall

So we go to La Salle in the morning, being told that we're going to a fish farm. Intrigued, the four of us (environmental education group) jump in the back of a motorcycle-with-a-truckbed vehicle, and proceed to make our way up to the farm. On the way, we buy clementines, lemons, tomatoes, bread, veggie oil, and potatoes. We get to the fish farm after about a 30 min ride up a super rocky road, and see tons of trout.

Trucha!

We fished out 5 trout (5 soles apiece, how sweet is that?), and proceeded to clean, gut, and prepare them. We made 2 fires, and boiled potatoes along with frying the trout. Now, after eating the finished product, I have to say that it was definitely the best fish I've ever had (since it was alive maybe about an hour before we cooked it). Delicious does not even begin to describe the freshness that was consumed. Peru is just full of good eats!

You want this.

#wanttogoback #reallywanttofishnow #yum

Café con Queso

So my Spanish teacher (Reyner) took me to an Italian Panaderia instead of having a lesson. We had really awesome pizza, and a little something known as café con queso (Peruvian origins of several hundred years). So the coffee at the panaderia was spot on (served in individual French presses) and quite possibly the best I've had yet in Peru. However, it wasn't complete. We got thin slices of Queso Andino (Andean Cheese), and dropped it into the coffee, and kept on drinking. Surprisingly, the flavor doesn't change at all, and so you finish the coffee. When you're done, you eat the cheese that remains at the bottom! The queso gets a different texture (more smooth I guess), and it takes on a coffee flavor, and it's pretty interesting. Personally, I kinda like it, but you should try it for yourself.

Upon adding the queso

After drinking the coffee, this is what's left

Café con Queso


-Super-hot coffee
-thin-ish slices of cheese cut into sizable chunks (Cheddar apparently works well).


-Add cheese to coffee while super hot
-Continue to drink coffee
-Eat cheese when done



#onlyforthebrave #TwoOfmyfavoritethings #tryit