Lima.
Once just a relatively small city, its population burgeoned starting in the 1920s as rural natives flocked there looking for jobs. Many inhabitants today look to be direct descendents of native South American tribes, perhaps Incan or other civilizations. Their hair often is straight, long and black with a beautiful sheen to it; their skin color is relatively dark; and their facial bone structure often looks distinct such as with an attractively-angled jaw bone resembling those perhaps typical of Native Americans. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who resemble Spaniards, likely direct descendants from the Spanish Colonizers; and then there is a continuum of people with physical characteristics of both cultures. Everyone speaks Spanish, and in the countryside the indigenous “Quechua” language lives on.

You can see signs of the colonizers throughout Lima, as there are numerous well-kept buildings and churches with Spanish Colonial architectural design. Add to it the Incan influence and some more modern building techniques and you get an interesting mix, from 400+ year old churches to Papa John’s pizza joints. Sadly there seem to be no vehicular emissions controls, rendering the city quite polluted. Thank goodness it is beside the ocean, enabling oceanic winds to clean the air periodically. On the other hand, the lack of pollution controls allows for an interesting array of 20- to 50-year-old vehicles, including old school and other buses which other countries around the world presumably have deemed beyond use, but which some Peruvian companies have been able to keep running. Some even came from China, as evidenced by old Chinese writing on the sides or back. The bus Heidi and I took to downtown was an old Ford school bus; every time we would go over a bump (and there were many) the back of the bus would slam up and then down for the rear shocks were completely gone. This made for quite a fun ride! There are numerous types of buses and routes and the buses all look different; my guess is that there are many privatized bus transportation companies. (Interestingly, Peru’s postal system is also privatized.) I would like to make a poster of photos of many old colorful bus types, most of which look like they’ll fall apart with the touch of a finger! 30 cents for a half-hour ride, however, is a great deal.

We stayed in Miraflores, a section of town up on a cliff beside the ocean. This was the “upscale” section of town, apparently meaning that there weren’t any run-down sections to be found. Downtown Lima had an array of neighborhoods from those appearing to be relatively poor, to the Presidential Palace on the “Plaza Del Armas”—the most toured square with beautiful flowers throughout, and the enormous, beautifully-kept Spanish Colonial Cathedral along one side.

Cuzco & the Elevation Gain.
From Lima (at sea level), we flew straight up to Cuzco, in the Andes Mountains at elevation 10,900 feet. I took no altitude illness prevention medication so as to see how I would fare at elevation without meds. At this elevation the air pressure is 64% that at sea level, presumably meaning that the air had 36% less oxygen in it. For the first few hours I felt somewhat light-headed but mostly fine; I could walk about without encumbrance. After a few hours, however, lethargy set in and I needed to rest. As I lay down to sleep at about 7pm, I found that I needed to lay there with my mouth open so that I could take deep-enough breaths of air to satisfy my circulation system, just as I had to do when climbing Mount Fuji. For several hours I could not sleep; I just lay there taking deep breaths despite complete physical inaction. After perhaps 5 or 6 hours, however, I came to feel “acclimatized” in that I could breathe normally and feel fine. From this point onward I slept well, and awoke feeling normal and energetic. It was wonderful.

Sacred Valley of the Incas.
This day we drove through the mountains, stopping in several places to take in alpine views, shop at artisan markets, and hike around Incan archaeological sites. It was impressive to see how the Incans built earthquake-proof structures of huge stones perfectly fitted together, stones which are so incredibly hard that water has had little to no eroding effects over hundreds of years. The markets were bright and colorful, chock full of goods made from Alpaca wool as well as other crafts. As we drove from place to place we saw many people dressed in colorful traditional garments, so it wasn’t just a show; some people dressed that way in their regular lives. Our two hikes of 1 to 1.5 hours each involved some steep climbs and I was quite pleased to find that I was performing physically just as though I were backpacking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We visited and passed through Pisac, and our final resting point for the day was in Ollantaytambo, a village near the common hike start point for the Inca Trail. The town had some nice archaeological sites and was an interesting mix of locals presumably of Incan descent and trekkers, forming what is perhaps a toned-down version of how I envision Kathmandu, Nepal to be. We happened to arrive on the night of a festival of a locally-celebrated Saint, and got to witness a celebration with dozens of dancers in colorful costumes performing was seemed to be ritualistic dances rich in symbolic meaning, to the tune of a marching band. I think the whole town (population 2000) came out to celebrate; what a treat it was to see a local festival. That they were celebrating a Christian Saint is testimony to the success of the colonizers’ religious quests.

Inca Trail, Day 1.
Today we awoke at a bright & early 5am to cruise from our hotel to the main Inca Trail head at kilometer 82 and be the first group on the trail. We had 7 hikers, a guide, and 11 porters; we were one of the first if not the very first group to set out on the trail this day, which was great because despite the trail control allowing 500 people maximum to enter per day (including porters), we ran into few others the entire time. We were given duffel bags to give to the porters and were allowed to stuff in 6 kg (13 lbs) per person. I kept mine light with nothing but snacks in it because I was training / seeing how I would perform backpacking at elevation in preparation for my Sierra Nevada backpacking trip in September. My own pack weight was 25 lbs including all necessary gear except a tent, sleeping pad and meal food; most other hikers had daypacks weighing 12 to 15 lbs (except Joe’s pack weight equaled mine).

We started out on a leisurely stroll along a beautiful river between steep granite mountain peaks. I was quite worried about a girl named Raj in our group (from Chicago), her shoes were not built for hiking and had zero side or rear ankle support. Her feet were sliding around in them and Joe suggested she put on another sock layer, which she did and miraculously got no blisters. Raj started out slow and lagged behind a bit, but in the end she came through like a champ.

The porters (each carrying around 50 lbs) cruised ahead of us; three stopped, set up dining tent shelters and prepared lunch for us; everything was set up and ready for us when we got to the lunch break spot. The porters greeted us with a sort of blue corn juice, and then served us hot asparagus soup and hot chicken curry with rice for lunch. The other eight porters, rather than stopping there, had cruised ahead to set up camp and dinner. After a post-lunch mini-siesta, we started up the difficult section of trail – a 2600-foot climb. A relentless hike, it was pretty much all uphill for about 3.5 hours. Paul, from Australia, fired ahead and arrived at the campsite in about 2 hours. Heidi and I pushed ahead but not that fast; we would go about 20 or 30 feet or so up along the trail and then stop for a breather and rest. The views of the mountains, sometimes snowcapped, were incredible; at one point a light sprinkling passing rain cloud produced a beautiful rainbow against the granite peak background. For part of the hike we entered a dense forest near a rushing clear stream, lush forest scenery one would expect to see in the Lord of the Rings.

When we arrived at the campground, we found that the porters already had done a wonderful job of setting up the campsite and we each got to choose our own tent. In not long it was “tea time” with a porter serving a variety of hot drinks including coca tea (made from leaves of the coca plant!), animal crackers and popcorn. Oh, and a bottle of dark rum! An hour later a fried fish and rice dinner was served, and hot chocolate pudding for dessert. One of our crew was feeling the effects of altitude with some light-headedness, so she decided to skip dinner, take altitude illness medication and call it a night. She woke up the next day feeling reacclimatized and great.

Inca Trail, Days 2 & 3.
Wake-up time was 6:30am, but everyone seemed to be up a bit earlier chatting about. At 6:30, porters went to each tent and offered a choice of hot drinks. After breakfast we broke camp (at about 8am) for the continuation of a steep, all-uphill, 1300-foot elevation gain hike to our total journey’s highest elevation point, 13,800 feet, at Dead Woman’s Pass. The air pressure there was only 57% that at sea level, hence presumably the air had 43% less oxygen in it. Nonetheless, Joe fired up and made it there first in just one hour, Paul was right behind, Heidi and I trailed 15 minutes and most of the others arrived at around 10am. What a spectacular view East and West of two mountain ranges! After a nice rest and some group photos (including shots of porters resting at the top), we continued down the trail and soon were greeted by a pack of friendly llamas. From here on out the trail was all stone blocks averaging perhaps a foot on edge, and placed such that the surface was uneven and the trail typically was two people wide (perhaps so porters and fast hikers could pass easily). The descent from the peak at Dead Woman’s Pass was grueling, as it was steep and the trail was a set of seemingly never-ending stone stairs. And so the trail was to be for the rest of the ascents and descents all the way to Machu Picchu. I had no hiking poles to ease my way down the steps by transferring some of the load to my upper body, so my calves were burning the next day. Mental note for next future backpacking trips with long descents: poles, poles, poles! Many of the others in the group had brought their own poles or purchased bamboo walking sticks near the trail head.

After another great lunch with many different freshly-prepared hot food choices, and an ascent to a 13,100-foot pass, the trail’s ecosystem changed from a mostly arid climate supporting a variety of brush, cactus, etc. to a lush cloud forest with trees covered in thick moss and the vegetation so dense in some places that one could only see a few feed deep before it turned almost pitch black. Both ecosystems, particularly at the higher elevations, supported a wide variety of colorful wildflowers including orchids, passion flowers and lady slippers.

Over the next two days, the trail continued to offer incredible views of snow-capped peaks, wildflowers and other interesting vegetation, and a sustainable uneven rock-paved pathway. Sunrise Expeditions (chartered by G.A.P. Adventures / Intrepid Travel) continued to pamper us with gourmet meals, lunch and campsites set up for us before our arrival, and excellent service all around. Our trail timing was perfect as it was just after the end of the rainy season and the vegetation was still green (much of it in the arid areas is brown during the dry season winter months, starting in June). Our guide Dimas said we were hiking just before peak season, so perhaps this contributed to the wonderful fact that we rarely came across other groups on the trail. Furthermore, we were not herded around; we had the freedom to split off and enjoy the trail on our own or with one or two new friends, so we really felt the peace of the natural beauty all about. The numerous Incan archaeological sites along the way were impressive, great to see with few others around, and interestingly interpreted by our guide. The perfect blend of all of the above continued, and then we arrived at our final anticipated destination: Machu Picchu.

Inca Trail, Day 4.  [Note:  the pictures above are not of Machu Picchu.]
Entry to Machu Picchu is controlled, both from the entrance gate atop the switch-backing dirt bus road up the mountain, and from about three miles out on the Inca Trail at a control gate just a five-minute hike from our final campground. The trail gate opened at 5:30am; we awoke at 3:45am to pack up, have breakfast, and be at the trail gate at 4:40am. We were the first ones there (by design) so when the gate opened, we could race to the “Sun Gate” overlooking Machu Picchu to get sunrise photos of the site before it started crawling with tourists. Indeed we were the first ones there, running about 3 miles along the same type of difficult trail in 35 minutes, roughly 5 miles per hour – a speed I now know to be my backpacking jogging speed. A cloud anticlimactically hid Machu Picchu when we arrived, but it didn’t really matter because the run (and anticipation beforehand) was so much fun. The cloud cleared in not too long and we had the view we ran for; actually though, we found the view to be best about an hour later when the sun rose above the surrounding peaks and highlighted the vast Incan site. We then descended down to Machu Picchu for a nice guided tour, and Paul and I made a perilous 35-minute steep climb up neighboring Huayna Picchu for a view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding mountain peaks (some snow-capped) from atop large boulders, giving us the feeling that we were on top of the world (and with one slip, “splat” a few thousand feet below!). Paul and I descended and joined the others for lunch and shopping in Aguas Calientes / Machu Picchu town beside the river far below the archaeological site, and finished with a few beers on the train ride back to Cuzco. I wish I had more time to wander around the maze of buildings and rooms at Machu Picchu, and I was quite sad that our incredible backpacking journey through the Andes and numerous Incan sites had come to an end. Sweet sorrow, as I now feel fulfilled knowing what the Andes Mountain scenery and history have to offer. As a side note, while Machu Picchu was huge and fun to explore, my favorite of all the Incan sites we visited during our trek was just beside our final campsite, a site called Huinay Huayna, a.k.a. Winay Wayna. The views from the site’s terraces and buildings were exquisite, making this perhaps the most beautiful place to live that I have ever seen.

The next day we all took a breather and had some r&r in attractive Cuzco, and awaited with anticipation our next day’s journey into the Amazon.

Amazon Rainforest Jungle.
From the Puerto Maldonado (elevation 800 feet) airport we took a minibus on a backcountry dirt road to Rio Tambopata in the Amazon watershed, where we boarded a large motorized canoe and headed to our own jungle lodge. On the way we spotted the largest rodent in the world, a rather cute animal eating some greens on the river bank. Our jungle lodge, Inotawa, was built of materials from the forest and was small enough to feel homey. On day one we went for an evening hike and spotted a variety of bugs / insects including a huge communal spider web housing dozens or perhaps hundreds of spiders, and then came the grand finale: a tarantula.

The next day we awoke early to go spot exotic birds including macaws at a clay lick (containing essential nutrients for birds so they can detoxify the berries they ate earlier) and an open field. After breakfast we proceeded to an oxbow lake where we spotted more birds and someone caught a piranha! The guides enjoyed themselves as they went for a dip (in the piranha-infested water!) and Kim took the brave plunge as well. Then we returned to the lodge and later in the afternoon, a few of us went on an optional hike to an old plantation, where we saw mango trees, star fruit trees, and cacao trees, the fruit from which all chocolate comes. The cacao fruit was football-shaped and perhaps 8 inches long; inside there were multiple seeds encased in a white gooey substance. The white stuff tasted good, but the seeds – from which cocoa comes – were bitter and dark purple on the inside. Upon our return to the lodge, the whole group went on a beautiful full-moon boat ride along the river to spot caimans (resembling small alligators). Our guide Antonio caught a two- to three-foot-long one with his bare hands, and he let us look at it before releasing it to the same territorial spot. After a return to the lodge and dinner, a few of us went on a short hike to the same tarantula hole, where this time we spotted two tarantulas out of the nest. When we got close, the smaller one scurried into the hole while the bigger one stayed out and posed for pictures. Also after dinner, I brewed an entire bag of coca leaves (perhaps 12 servings!) in a single cup for 20 minutes, hoping for a tasty buzz, but sadly it didn’t do too much – so I guess a “buzz” from coca tea, if you get one, is just mind over matter.

There you have it, one summary of our adventure to Peru. While the rainforest jungle was interesting, I had hoped to see more animals and Joe was surprised to find the areas we visited in second growth stage, with lots of underbrush as opposed to a very tall old growth canopy letting little light through for undergrowth. Our trek on the Inca trail was incredible, and I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to take in the beauty of the Andes on a backpacking expedition. I met some others who had visited the Galapagos and they loved it so much that they said they’ll be going back—so perhaps that will be a club destination some day, maybe in 2007 (let me know if you’re interested!), as I’m looking forward to Tibet, Nepal, and Everest Base Camp in May 2006.

Safe & happy exotic travels,
:) Matt