Trekking to Machu Picchu, well almost / sort of or not...?

Acclimatising to the altitude can be a long process but it is necessary. Plodding around ruins at 4000mtrs can really take your breath away. Cusco itself is great. Small friendly tourist oriented and with good infrastructure and plenty of people and places to get rid of money by the bucket load. It in definitely not the cheapest of Peru towns. There are many ruins close by so they are easily visited on one day or half day tours.

WOW a 42pt font dummy spit...

We all went out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate Ric and Sue’s new grandchild and found a great place on the edge of the main square. Nice food, good company and a bottle of wine. We were also celebrating the impending trek to Machu Picchu which we were leaving on in 2 days. Ric and Sue have chosen to undertake Lares Trek, a 4day / 3night trek through thre jungle. Kay and I chose the Salkantay which was a 5 day and 4 night camping trip across a 4600mtr pass. The following day we went out to Pisac to visit markets and ruins. Another night out and we chose Italian this time around and had some really nice food before being out for the week. I had started out the day with a wobbly stomach and by the time we arrived back to the hostel I was truly bloated. Spent the night in true fashion and was fully drained by the morning. Too bad we were supposed to leave at 5.00am for our trip. That didn’t happen of course. Ric and Sue did manage to depart as planned. Several negotiations later we have arranged to join the same trek as Sue and Ric but later. Kay would leave that afternoon and I would leave the following day. Yay, an extra 20hrs in bed for me, that should do it.

Kay ended up in a collectivo bound for some place out in the jungle. An uncomfortable 5 hour car trip with her backpack on her knees. She managed to surprise Ric and Sue the following morning for breakfast. I was told that a car would pick me up at about 2pm and so I was surprised also when halfway into a nice shower there is loud banging on my door and people telling me we are leaving for the trek… yeay right… Another 5 minutes later and I was out on the street and on my way. I hadn’t even packed when they had arrived. It wasn’t until an hour later, when running through my checklist (mentally of course because I am a male) that I discovered that I was now on a bus headed out for a trek with 10 people I didn’t know and no money. I was not too worried because hopefully they would feed me as promised and have me join Kay, Sue and Ric within a few hours. My stomach felt like it was in some kind of balance so I spent the next 5 hours without water or food to keep it that way. Lucky because the bus didn’t have a toilet and it only stopped once.

I joined the group at some beautiful hot springs and all went well from there. Albeit Rics bicycle accident not withstanding which he had on the first day. I was told that the days walk was pretty tough going however everyone was in good spirits for the evening meal and all slept pretty well. Nice preparation for Machu Picchu in the morning. There has been lenty said about Machu Picchu and photos and words do not do it justice so I won’t add to the woes. Get on a plane and get down here, over here or across here. You will be amazed.

So we are now awaiting our requested 2.30pm train which we were given tickets for as the 6.00pm train. Couldn’t swap them because the 2.30 was full. The train only gets you half way back and then you change to a bus. We were told by our guide that someone would have our names or his mane on a plaque for us to read and we would join that bus. Well… The names of everyone in our group were listed and called out except ours. We informed the bus agent a nice girl, that there was a problem. She acknowledged in a slight fashion and carried on as she was trained to do. Never mind I tell my travel companions just make sure you hop on the bus and that you get on early and get a seat. We would work the rest out later. Yeah that was the plan.

Our beautiful little Spanish only speaking conductoress on discovering that we were now on the bus instead of just standing in a group outside and saying “our names are missing” came up with the first solution. We would all pay for the bus trip. I came up with the second and it was pretty blunt but carried some weight. A flat no. Several Spanish words flew around wildly and she spend most of the two hour trip trying to contact someone and clear the way. Unsuccessfully as it was. Her solution was still in place when we arrived at Cusco around 10.00pm at night. What ensued was a prolonged discussion as everyone alighted from the bus. This discussion ended shortly after a 42pt font dummy spit from Sue in English demanding the return of a receipt for the tour which Ric had passed over earlier to help resolve the issue. Make me say WOW. Sue in full flight. Emotionally drained, physically drained, hungry tired and angry now wanted that receipt NOW. Several arms restrained her imminent physical attack of this poor girl and quickly shuffled her off the bus. We were off and we didn’t pay any extra. It is easier for the bus company to get the money from the tourists and then the tourist has to leave before they can get their money back from the tour company so there are two winners and one loser. Not us this time. Hell, the bus broke down as well so what were we to do.

Discussion now focuses on where we go from here. We are thinking Copacabana for a few nights.

We had decided to hole up in Cusco to allow this aclimatisation process to occur naturally. (We had spent several days in Ayuchuco at 2700mtrs previously) Following Ric telling some waitress in Ayachuco he had no bed for the night in his new found Spanish (when asking for the bill at a restaurant) he decided that more learning was in order. While we laid low in Cusco he took a few lessons. Those lessons found him asking some woman he didn’t know how much she will cost (cuanto cuesta) while walking through the ruins at Machu Picchu. He tells the story that he tapped his watch and she asked if he was strong or not (fuerte). Apparently the discussion ended when the boyfriend replied with the time of day and walked off with his girl. Rightly so too. I shudder to think what he might ask someone after we finish in Arequipa.