Lares Trek

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* Because all of the permits to hike the Inca Trail had been used when I booked the trip in August, I had to sign up for an alternate trek, called the Lares Trek.  It was a three day, three night, less-traveled trek through beautiful landscape, though it does not lead directly to Machu Picchu.  Four of us from the Intrepid trip took this route, the others hiked the Inca Trail.

Day One: Parte Uno: The Llamas Forgot the Forks:

We left early from Ollaytantambo and drive to Huaran, where we began our trek. There were 7 people, including myself, on the trip: Alex and Debbie, a wonderful British couple in their mid-thirties; Wayne, a Canadian guy in his late 50s or early 60s (all three from the original Intrepid trip); Kate, a 25 yr old from Wisconsin who is currently living in Chile; Mike, a 24 yr old from Chicago who was traveling with Kate; and Daniel, a 26 year old from Colorado, who will heretofore be known as  ¨Mountain Man.¨

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Our guide´s name was Celso.  (He entered an Inca Trail race and completed the entire Inca Trail in 5 hours.  The fastest was three.  It takes most tour groups three days to do it).  We also had 4 horsemen and 3 cooks, ranging in age from 16 to 40, making our trek doable.  And on the first day we had 13 llamas (on the Inca Trail, there is usually one porter per 1-2 people to carry their bags, but because we weren´t going up steps, the llamas, and later, horses carried our stuff).

Our trek was extremely beautiful, solitary and serene.  We basically walked up down and around mountains, stopping to check out the llamas, give local kids toys, and to try to catch our breathes.

Speaking of catching our breath, the altitude difference really took a toll.  We only hiked 5 hours the first day, but it was a killer.  For the first five minutes after we rested, every time without fail, we´d stand up, start a conversation with the person next to us, and then have to stop talking and gasp for air because it felt like we were walking straight up a hill with legs that had never exercised a day in their lives.   Let´s put it this way, we were never so glad to see lunch.

Lunch, and later camp, were like mirage in the desert.  We´d come over one mountain pass or another and all of a sudden, there it was: camp- complete with an eating tent with plastic table and chairs, a bathroom tent (a red zip-up tent with hole dug into the ground), basins of hot water, soap and washcloths, boiled drinking water, and a friggin´Thanksgiving day worthy feast of the best food we´d eaten anywhere since our arrival.   And just as soon as it came, we´d move on, and camp was gone, like we´d never been there before.  The horseman and cooks were nothing short of magic workers.  The only thing that was missing was forks, which Celso explained, the llamas had forgotten. 

At the end of Day One, after changing into dry clothes, we all collapsed around Alex´s and Debbie´s tent for a thimble of whiskey and chocolates, to celebrate before dinner.  That night we froze beneath a full moon.  Kate and I had fitful sleeps, but we so excited the next morning, we couldn´t have cared less.  

Day Two: Parte Dos: Daniel is the Shithead (four times over):

By far the most challenging day of the trek.  We hiked straight up one pass (14, 8500 feet above sea level) straight down the other side, and then straight up, over and down another pass (14,000 feet above sea level), totalling between 9 and 10 hours.  The original plan was to camp after the first pass, but it turned out the farmer whose land it was didn´t want us there because another group of trekers had left too much trash behind.  So, we had to push on.  Of course, it started hailing and people were dropping like flies (except for Daniel, who was practically scaling the mountains), but we did it!  That night, we celebrated by playing my new favorite game that Celso called us, Shithead. Maybe in punishment for being so adjusted to the altitude, Daniel lost the game not once, but four times.  He was very upset about it.

Day Three:  Parte Tres: Cake for Breakfast

We had a much better rest the second night (a combination of pure exhaustion and relatively warmer weather) and woke up to cake for breakfast (g-d bless the cooks!).  Since we had done much of Day Three´s hike on Day Two, we had a leisurely walk downhill, back toward civilization, and, after 3-4 hours, ended up in Lares, where we partook in hot springs & lunch. 

The rest of the day consisted of transfer back to Ollaytantambo and a train ride to Aguas Calientes, where we slept that night.