Ah...the Classic Spur of the Moment Peru Trip


So this last spring I was sitting around planning a big trip to conquer the tallest peak
in the Western hemisphere with my brother Rob and best friend Dan a year from then. Then
suddenly I received tragic news . . . Dan's vacation schedule has changed and this trip to Argentina will
have to be postponed. Luckily I have many other friends who like to travel. So after only a couple days
of looking checking the options, I jumped on a trip to Peru that my friends Than and Brian had setup.
Ah . . . much better, I only had to endure three weeks of training to climb 20,000 foot mountains
and learn Spanish instead of drawing it out over a year, I did not want to be too prepared! That's
right, three short weeks later Than, Brian, and I were South of the equator touring Inca ruins,
climbing mountains, and drinking Pisco sours.





We started the trip, which lasted just under three weeks with, as you probably
guessed it, very little sleep. We arrived in Lima, the capitol of Peru, around midnight
and decided to stay up through the night playing cards in the airport so we looked and felt
our best for the 6:00am flight to Cusco. It turns out that little sleep was one of the prominent
trends for the trip. We got up later than 6:30 only once throughout the three week trip - might
as well not waste any time. We were greeted in the claim area by Peruvian flute players
who seamed to follow us around entire trip providing
an authentic background soundtrack.




After wading through a mob of taxi drivers, the three of us piled into a small car with our backpacks and whizzed through town weaving around bike taxies and a statues, shooting down narrow cobble stone alleys, and doing loops around the Plaza de Aramas. Not long after we got in Cusco we found a neat place to stay that had an amazing roof top deck with a view across terra cotta tile roof tops of the city and surrounding terraced mountains. You can't beat that for only $3 a night!




Cusco is a large city with a small town feel tucked between two mountain ranges of the Andes. It used to be the capital of the Inca empire with several million people. Unfortunately the Spanish came during an Inca civil war and were able to quickly conquer the divided natives. Today the current city is built on the foundations of the Inca buildings still using some of the original stone walls. Cobble stone streets and alleys link markets, squares, and restaurants. We had a loose plan to start out in Cusco, tour around the surrounding ruins and Machu Picchu and then head south for climbing volcanoes. Luckily, we met up with Cesar and Humberto the cousin and uncle of a friend of a relative of Brian. Conveniently, they were locals that ran a travel agency in Cusco. We quickly became good friends and after we told them what we wanted to see, they set everything up for the entire trip - busses, tours, guides, flights, trains, and people to meet us everywhere. It was sort of strange having the trip planned, but the trip went very smooth and they made several arrangements that we would not have had a chance setting up on our own.




We headed out on our first day of touring to the surrounding
ruins and markets around Cusco, but not before an amazing
breakfast at Jacks. They had the most amazing pancakes
toped with fruit and cream or a banana maple syrup compote.
It was so tasty that we ended up eating breakfast there every
morning we were in Cusco. That day we toured the Sacred
Valley including the ruins and markets of Pisac, Urubamba,
Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero. Many of the locals were
wearing traditional brightly colored cloths. The markets
were full of alpaca wool cloths, blankets, and bags. There
were also many people selling pottery, paintings, and much
more. It was neat to look at but that is all we did, we did not
want to carry any more than we had to with most of the
trip ahead of us.



Shown above are a couple examples of the
terraces that covered most every hillside and
mountain. Most were built by the Incas and
have been used by the locals in the same
fashion for hundreds of years. Others were
overgrown leaving the mountains with
horizontal scars. Many of the houses were
made of mud and straw adobe, especially in
the outlying areas. And the roofs were either
the terra cotta tiles or thatched. We spotted
herds of llamas and vicunas looking like puff
balls or drowned rats depending on how
recently they had been shaved for their wool.




It turns out that it takes about three days for
the permits to go through to hike the Inca trail
to Machu Picchu. So we decided to head
South to tour around the country while the
paperwork was being arranged. Cesar
hooked us up with a plush bus down to the
city of Puno which is on the shore Lake
Titicaca. Before getting to the lake we first
had to go up and through a mountain range.




As soon as we got off the bus in Puno, we
were grabbed by someone waiting for us and
were whisked off for a tour of the ruins of
Sillustani. There perched above Lake
Titicaca were many chullpas, or burial
tombs, in the form of huge stone towers.
Due to superior Inca stonework, most
towers remain standing even though the
many earthquakes that constantly plague
Peru. The one shown above was damaged
by lightning strikes.




We spent the next day out on the lake. We took a motor boat out to a couple of the
floating reed islands, one of which is shown below. These islands are constructed out of the reeds
that grow in the shallow areas and are lived on by Peruvian natives. They are about 9 feet deep and up
to 100 feet across. We met the natives and toured the houses on the islands. Some had solar
panels for power but they were rare. Most of the time they drift on the lake
and the people fish and make crafts.

To get around, they make reed boats. These
boats were made entirely of tightly woven
and stacked reeds. We took a ride on
one and the captain shown on the right
below moved it across the water easily
with a single oar positioned between
two uprights. He gave the three of us
each a chance at the oar and what little
distance we moved was in the wrong
direction . . . those things are a little tricky.








After Puno, we headed down to a smaller town,
Chivay, perched on the edge of a huge canyon. The
Colca Canyon and its neighbor Cotahuasi Canyon are
the deepest canyons in the world measuring from the river
bottom to the peaks towering above. The night we spent
in Chivay was a neat cultural experience including
beautiful Peruvian music and dancing. We also had great
local food here, including many different types of corn
and potatoes. There were over twenty types of corn
including some that was twice as big as the kernels used
in corn nuts or hominy. Peru is where the potato
originated and there were around 200 types ranging in
color, sweetness, texture, and size.




One early morning we took a small bus from Chivay along the canyon rim to a view
point. From our vantage point we watched around 20 to 30 Andean Condors rise from the depths
of the canyon thousands of feet to disappear high above us. It was amazing how little they moved just
circling up riding on the early morning thermals. The Andean Condor has a wing span of up to 10
feet (larger than the California Condor).




After watching the condors rise, we hiked
along the canyon rim viewing neat flowers,
cactus, the drop off below us and the
mountains above. Meanwhile our guide told
us some history about the area. This included
the perception of sacred animals with the
condor representing heaven, the puma
representing earth, and the serpent
representing the underworld. We of
course had a great vantage point to
see more amazing terracing.


We then traveled down to the city of Arequipa. Above the city towers two majestic
volcanoes and over the next 5 days we tested our endurance, constitution, and will by climbing
both. The first Chachani was the taller of the two at 6075m or 19930ft. We were spoiled by the guide
company as they dropped us off at 16000 feet. Our guide Ivan was a experienced climber of the
surrounding Andes and other ranges, but as a local who spoke English, we learned a lot about area,
people, and how these two volcanoes played a part in peoples lives through the times. We hiked up to
a base camp of 17500ft and set up camp. It was instantly below freezing as soon as the sun went down
at 3:00pm since we were on the East side of the volcano. We basically huddled in the sleeping bags from
that time until 12:00am trying to get some rest before the big climb . . . with little success.
At midnight we crawled out of our
bags drank some hot tea and started up
the mountain. It was a beautiful night and with
the full moon we turned off our headlamps
and hiked by the pale white light. We camped
on the back left side of the mountain with
respect to the photo and the tallest part of the
peak is on the right. This meant that we had
to climb and then descend several ridges
on our way to the top. We also had to strap
on and remove our crampons periodically
(metal claws for the boots) as we
encountered ice fields and glaciers.




There was an established path to hike on and the
surrounding material was a lot of scree, ash, and
sand that the volcano had tossed onto its sides.
Every once in a while you would have to fight a
bout of nausea that quickly came and went, and
short headaches were also common through the
group as we hiked upward. It was quite pleasant
when we reached the top. The wind was mild and
the sun thawed us out nicely.


We arrived back to base camp around 11:00am, packed up, and headed back to Arequipa.
The next day we rested our tired bodies in hot springs of Yura preparing for the next climb. On the
heals of the successful climb to almost 20000ft we were excited to try the more dramatic
El Misty, which is 2825m or 19111ft.
This time the 4-wheel drive car could
only bring us up to about 11000 feet making
this a more formidable climb. We climbed
up out of the flowering desert up to a base
camp at of 14800ft. From here we watched
the city get swallowed by the dark shadow
of Misty. The weather was much more
pleasant that night and we all were able to
get some sleep . . . that is until the winds
picked up. When we got up the next morning
there was a brutal wind that chilled you to
the bone if you stopped hiking. But besides
the wind, it was another great hike with the
moon again lighting our way.




We zigzagged up the volcano until we finally
were sitting at the top looking down into
the crater. Unlike Chachani, Misty is still
active. Gases could be seen coming from the
crater and the fresh sulfur thrown from the
center was quite pungent at times. This time
while quickly descending down the sandy
side, we had the satisfaction of knowing this
was the last mountain for a while. We again
packed up camp and headed back to
town to celebrate.




To avoid getting board we immediately bussed back to Cusco and started a four day/three night trek on the Inca trail to the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. It is now required to take a guide on the trail and there is a limited number of hikers that are allowed to start off per day. We were with a group of about 14 plus two guides and about eight porters to carry the food, cooking supplies, and tent. Even though there were four other similar groups it was not too crowded. It was as if you were hiking a front range 14er on the weekend. The Inca trail actually once connected all cities in the Incan empire which stretched across much of South America. We hopped on the trail finish off the last 30 miles of it. We began by following the river shown above and then we quickly cut left into the mountains.




The trail varied between a hard beaten dirt
trail, uneven rock, and even steps carved out
of the bedrock. There were many rock
stairs to climb as the trail wound through
valleys and over mountain passes. The
weather was beautiful with everyday sunny.
The view was amazing as we hiked through
lower mountains with taller glaciated peaks
surrounding us.




Throughout the trek we passed small Inca
ruins. These were mainly thought to be used
as outposts for smaller cities and checkpoints
at trail junctures. It is said that there were
runners ready at each one ready to carry
a message or important product to the Inca
ruler from anywhere in the empire.








We began the hike in a drier area and as we
crossed mountain ranges the foliage slowly
changed. We started moving into a cloud
forest that was wetter and much more lush.
Orchids and many other flowers brightened
up the undergrowth and moss covered most
everything. Apparently the rain forest of the
Amazon starts not far from this area as you
travel down out of the mountains.




We however did not descend out of the mountains. Instead we hiked to the top
of on mountain where the magnificent ancient city of Machu Picchu stands. Essentially, the Incas
transformed the peak of a mountain in to a remote city to get away from the metropolis of Cusco, which
had millions of people at the height of the empire. It was also used to get closer to Gods. It was so
remote that it was forgotten about until the 20th century when it was finally unearthed from the
overgrowth that had taken over for hundreds of years.
This meant that it was left untouched by the Spanish and modern looters who had torn down and stripped most other ruins. Many of the original structures are still standing as the Incas originally built them. There were several water management features that are also still operational, diverting rain water safely away from the city in stone ditches. The stone work was amazing. The stones used in the walls of the more important buildings were very smooth and fit together almost seamlessly. Here no mortar was used and some stones linked together with up to 12 cuts on a side to help withstand earthquakes. However it is not known how the rocks were cut. The hardest metals they had were gold, silver, and copper. And to make matters worse, they did not have the wheel until the Spanish came . . . Anyway, we hiked all around the ruins and atop the opposing peak Huayna Picchu. This last trek finally capped our trip to Peru and we slowly made our way back home wishing we had more time to explore.


If you would like to see any other
pictures of specific parts of the experience,
or want higher resolution copies of what are
on the web site, just let me know. Also,
don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. jon.pineau@colorado.edu

Check out some pictures from other trips here