10/27 - Colpa Lodge

The morning dawned bright with just a few clouds in the sky. A promising start to the day.
In the briefing last night Dalmiro let us know that we would not be going very far before our first stop today. We're going to stop by a local farmer's place about 0.5 mi from the lodge and spend some time there as we don't have a long way to go to the next Lodge(we'll be there in time for a late lunch). The farmers still follow the traditional ways, with some modern life sprinkled in. So as we ate we wondered what that might be like.

Cool clay oven Wayra Lodge used for all our food.

Typical breakfast at the lodges.

I took pictures of the area since it was clear out. While we waited after breakfast for everyone to be ready (Dalmiro's job seems to be 30% Provide Information, 30% Coordination, 30% Herding Cats, and 10% Guiding). Once everyone was outside Dalmiro called "Vamanos" and headed off.

Becca waiting for the group to start hiking.

Mt. Salkantay with horses waiting to be loaded with our luggage in the foreground.

Peak of Mt Salkantay.

Wayra Lodge's Satellite Dish for Internet Access

It didn't take us long to arrive at Maria's house. She and her husband (who wasn't there - he's a Mule Driver) know Dalmiro. He talked to her for a few minutes and she gave us permission to look around and to go into their home. Dalmiro gave a riveting history/anthropology/sociology lesson using her farm as an example.

Dalmiro and Becca as we approach Maria's farm. The closest building is for storage, the middle building is the children's(built once they can't sleep in bed with Mom & Dad anymore) and the far building is the main house. 

Note the different coloring of the thatch on the roof. The lightest is newest (about a month old) the darkest is the oldest (about 5 years and nearing replacement). Also note the solar panels mounted on metal poles. These were apparently "gifts" from a Regional Governor last election. He gave them to all the farmers hoping for their votes.
He lost. But they are used to charge batteries for simple lighting and a radio.

Our Assistant Guide Lis talking with Maria (on the right).

Dalmiro explaining that there is no chimney, this is so that the smoke coats and seals the interior of the roof. Over time this helps waterproof the roof. Also this helps preserve the food. Mark and Bernice listen intently.

Guinea pigs laying on the stones around the kitchen campfire, the stones are still radiating heat. As I've mentioned before the Guinea pigs are livestock, not pets.

Meat and produce are stored in overhead lofts so that they are naturally smoked when the fire is used for cooking or warmth. 

Niches are built into the stone walls for storage of pots/pans/and sundries.

Each Mule Driver is responsible for making their own horse shoes, saddles, bridles, etc. 

Dalmiro wielding a traditional tool for planting potatoes - with a modern metal blade. Before the Spanish invaded farmers would have used a stone blade. If the ground is particularly hard the farmer will soak the entire thing in water overnight before planting to increase its weight. The soil is so poor the fields need to lay fallow for 5 years OR be fertilized. The rock walls are used as pens for the animals - mainly for fertilizing.

Lis pointing out that the two rocks at her feet are used daily as mortar and pestle in food preparation.

I could not stand in either the Main House or the Storage building. The ceilings were probably about 5'6" or so. Also the Main House was pitch black; there are no windows (protection from the elements) and the fire wasn't going. The single light bulb is only used sparingly. The light from the photos is actually my phones flashlight. Dalmiro and Lis talked for probably an hour or so, I've barely touched the surface here. It was fascinating and enlightening. Once the group was done looking around the farm and we all tipped Maria Dalmiro called "Vamanos" and we started our descent.

Our trail today would take us low enough to begin to enter the high jungle where we would stay for the remainder of the trip. Dalmiro is from a village in the jungle and it was evident that he enjoyed returning to the jungle environment from the alpine environment. He pointed out lots of flowers and plants. He also pointed out a free range pig that was up slope of us.

A Lead Mule in a Mule Train - the decorations mark it as such. The decorations also indicate who owns the mule.

Free range pig up slope of the trail at head level, maybe 3 feet away. Scared the dickens out of me.

Looking back on the way we came.

Dalmiro lets us know the Lodge is at the end of the ridge on our right and that the road we see in front of us is the start of our trek tomorrow. The road was built to serve some silver mines up valley but will be a useful connector between trails.

It's tough to see but the thin gray line in the middle of this photo is the line bringing water to Colpa Lodge (our destination). The photo was taken from the other side of the valley.

As we neared the end of the trek for the day, we came upon a village. The village exists to serve the tourists who come through on this path. One of the services they offer is a zip line across the valley to the other ridge line. The zip line ends on the property of Colpa Lodge. Dalmiro tells us we can either take the zip line or descend the valley, cross the river, and then ascend the valley on the other side. 4 of us chose the quick way. Becca chose to hike. So after a transfer of essentials to her pack I'm ready for my zip line. It's over quick, maybe 15 seconds, but it offered a great view of the river we'd been following all day. Dalmiro came with our group and Lis hiked with the other group.

The village.

We who are about to Zip Line, the Guides and the Zip Line operator

The orange dot in the middle is me, flying free as a bird.

Once across we were greeted by the Lodge staff with our customary hot washcloth and cold Welcome Drink. Did I forget to mention that? Sorry, happened every day. This day the cold drink was a traditional Purple corn drink with cinnamon and clove. Very tasty. We lounged in the sun and drank our cold drinks for about 20 minutes until the hikers showed up. Once they received their customary hot washcloth and cold Welcome Drink Dalmiro told us that our lunch was going to be a traditional food called Pachamanca.
The staff had done some prep work but were awaiting our arrival to start so that we could see a demonstration.

Dalmiro explaining the ingredients: Lamb, Pork, Beef, Guinea Pig, Fava Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Purple Potatoes, and Yuca.

The Pachamanca expert dismantling the stone oven that has been burning for the last 3 hours.

Dalmiro and staff adding the root vegetables on the bottom as they take the longest to cook.

Dalmiro and staff adding layers of ingredients alternating them with hot stones.

Dalmiro supervising the last of the stones being added.

Traditionally this step uses banana leaves, but the cardboard can be reused and is more efficient.

Adding a heavy canvas tarp.

Adding a plastic tarp.

Carefully covering the edges with dirt.

Final shovels of dirt.
At this point Dalmiro told us that we had 30 minutes if we wanted to go change and come back to watch the unveiling.

Becca and I cleaned up and changed into our Lodge clothes then came back for the unveiling.

Note the cook not using gloves. Yikes.

Still no gloves and is now grabbing the food out from between white hot rocks

Then lunch was served.

Guinea Pig how it would be served at a feast.
This was an example it was cut up and arrayed with the rest of the meats after we'd all seen it.

Platter of the roasted vegetables:(Clockwise) Fava beans in their pods, Purple Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and Yuca

Self Serve Buffet Table

Dining Hall Decorations.

More Dining Hall Decorations.

 

My Samplere Platter
Clockwise: Guinea Pig, Pork, Beef, Chicken, Purple Potato, Yuca, Tomato, Beets, Cucumber, Guacamole, Fava Beans

Purple Corn drink with cinnamon and clove with a cucumber decoration.

Traditional after dinner brandy - Pisco. Quite Tasty. 

Found this in our room after lunch. REI and Mountain Lodges of Peru continue to impress. This probably came 20 mi by mule.

Relaxing in the hot tub and taking in the view while digesting lunch.

Colpa Lodge Lounge. Not too many partook of Tea Time after all that food at lunch.

After dark they conserved power by lighting the hallway to the guest rooms with candles.

The rest of the day was ours to do with as we wished. Some people hiked back to the Zip Line to either do it again or to try it the first time. Becca and I relaxed in the hot tub, then read in the lounge and talked with our fellow trekkers.
Dinner was also spectacular but could barely eat any of it, after the late and massive lunch. Everyone went to bed early.

10/26 - Salkantay Pass and Wayra Lodge

After spending our second night at Salkantay Lodge acclimating at 12,690' we had breakfast and checked out of our room. Once our bags were packed we left them in the hallway to be loaded onto a Mule Train. The Mule Train would take them to the next lodge. Our bags will be waiting in our rooms when we check in. Something I haven't talked about yet, is our cooks. They travel with us from Lodge to Lodge for the duration of our trip and prepare each meal for us. They are phenomenal and the food is fantastic. Anyway.

To spread the wealth and ease congestion on the Inca Trail the government is trying to encourage more people to hike to Machu Picchu on the path we are following, so they are starting to provide camp sites along the way. To encourage this and to limit the impact of camping on the environment. We passed one of these sites as we left the valley that the Salkantay Lodge was located.
Salkantay Pass (15,213') is the highest point of our trek. Once we crest it we'll start heading down and in fact Wayra Lodge (our destination today) is about the the same elevation as Salkantay Lodge. The first 5 miles of today will be climbing. Lis has rejoined us after accompanying Sue to Cusco.

While we were taking a rest break a mule train with our luggage passed us. They had taken a different route to that point but here our paths crossed. A little while later we had to make way for a Mule Train with the Propane tanks for the next Lodge. The Lodges us propane for the generators, hot water, and heat. Dalmiro commented that the Lodge will go through about 16 tanks a day on average. This is with the generator only running from 6 am-11 pm. A stark reminder of the amount of effort it takes for us to be able to do what we're doing. Once that train is past and all of our group catches up Dalmiro calls "Vamanos" and we continue climbing.

At our next break point (there are a lot of them today, the trail is steep and the air is thin up this high) we spot another Condor. This one does a flyby and we all scramble for cameras. Christian who had been sharing his turkey jerky among the group managed to get the best picture I saw. After the Condor lands on a hilltop a ways away we all start jokingly referring to the turkey jerky as Condor Bait. Once everyone is rested Dalmiro calls "Vamanos" and we continue climbing.

At a plateau called Soyrococha, Dalmiro calls for us to take a break so that the party can regroup. He takes advantage of the break to wrap an ace bandage on Christian's knee, which had "popped" a little way back and was now giving him some pain. While we're resting the wind picks up, so we take shelter behind some of the plentiful rocks. Shortly it begins to snow, the tiny snowflakes that you can barely see but still snow.  Dalmiro radios back to Lis and satisfied the rest of the group is almost caught up to us, calls "Vamanos" and we continue climbing.

Success! We reach Salkantay Pass at 11:15 am.  At the pass is an elevation sign, a pyramid of rocks about 10' high, and numerous cairns. More cairns than you can count. We have a snack and rest until everyone is present. Dalmiro informs us that the pyramid was built by locals and it is a shrine to the Mountain deity. They bring the rocks with them as an offering. I ask about the cairns and Dalmiro dismisses them. Apparently the cairns are built by tourists using rocks found here. The weather is better here, no wind and some spots of blue sky, but definitely not as clear as we'd like. There is a rock/snow fall in the distance that can be heard for several minutes (or so I'm told). We are all starting to cool down when Dalmiro calls "Vamanos" and we descend. A few minutes into our descent we come across some Inca steps, they are all that remain of the Inca trail we are following. The rest has been destroyed over the past 2000+ years by pack animals as farmers followed their ancestors routes through the mountains.

After hiking another hour or so we can see the tents where we'll have lunch down below us and they look a long way off. Thanks to a fairly steep path we're soon to the tents and getting ready for lunch. The tents are set up permanently by a local family who rents them out to various groups/trekkers/etc. Our cooks have everything waiting. Every meal (except our first box lunch) was hot and had an appetizer,main course, and dessert.

We covered the remaining distance to Wayra Lodge in good time. We arrived just around Tea Time. Everyday the Lodges had Tea Time (4:30-6 pm) - coffee, tea, hot choclate, finger sandwiches, cookies, marshmellows, and crackers. Just a little something to hold you over until dinner. Becca and I enjoyed the hot tub and then met Mark and Bernice in the lounge and relaxed until our 6:30 pm briefing.

Looking back on Salkantay Lodge as we begin our hike.

Example of a new campsite added by the government.

Climbing out of the valley.

Some of our luggage.

Propane for the lodge we are hiking to today.

Me taking a rest.

The condor on its second pass (Christian in the foreground).

Katie needed some assistance when the trail got to steep. 

Salkantay Pass elevation sign and rock pyramid to the Mountain Deity.

Some of the many cairns built by tourists.

Direction the rock/snow fall was happening.

Caught Becca with her mouthful of yummy snacks while resting in the Pass.

Becca and I by the Inca trail steps.

Clear shot of what remains of the Inca steps.

Tents where lunch was waiting, with Dalmiro in the foreground.

Inside the tent waiting for the soup course.

Wayra Lodge.

Wayra Lodge front steps.

Becca having Tea Time in the Wayra Lodge lounge with Mark and Bernice.

10/25 - Humantay Lake

This morning we had a later start as our planned activity was only going to be 1/2 day and then we were spending a second night at Salkantay Lodge. Our activity was hiking to Humantay Lake. Humantay Lake is a glacial lake at 14,000 ft. about 2 miles from the lodge.
Sadly, our fellow trekker who has been suffering from altitude sickness has not gotten any better. After consulting with a doctor Dalmiro sent her back to Cusco for medical attention. Lis is accompanying her so our party is done to 9 trekkers and our Lead Guide. Hopefully our fallen trekker can rejoin us down the trail in 3 or 4 days.
Dalmiro arranged for a local Andean priest, Santo, to come with us to Humantay Lake. There he will perform an extremely shortened traditional Andean ceremony honoring Mother Earth.
The hike today was more challenging than yesterday's but not overly so. Santo played his flute while we hiked which certainly added ambiance.  Along the way we passed by our Mule Driver Phillipe's house. His wife and daughter came out to join us. A few miles later Phillipe left his wife in charge of the mule so he could go help his brother plant a crop of potatoes. Phillipe's family is fairly well off due to his being a Mule Driver and they have numerous cows. When I asked Dalmiro "Are the cows were primarily for meat or milk?" He replied "Neither, they are the farmer's bank to be sold when needed.The locals are lactose intolerant and the meat is very tough due to the conditions the cows live in."

We saw two Andean Condors on this hike, both were adults (you can tell by the coloring of the head). They are massive birds, with a maximum wings span of 10 feet. Dalmiro was surprised to see two in one day, they are rather uncommon.
About 5 minutes after we arrived at the lake the drizzle became rain. Then small hail arrived. We managed to get some photos (and one of the others managed a quick dip) before Dalmiro decided the weather was too inclement to stay and watch the ceremony. Too great a risk of exposure/hypothermia so we headed down the mountain to Santo's melody.
Lunch was served shortly after our return.
Afterwards everyone had free time until our 6:30 briefing.  Planned hot tub time was short circuited as thunderstorms rolled through the valley.

Salkantay Lodge

Becca ready to start hiking.

Phillipe's House

Our group listening to Dalmiro talk about the river below.

First Condor Sighting.

Christian listens while Santo and Dalmiro play during a rest break.

Phillipe's herd. Also in the upper left is Phillipe's brother's field where they were planting potatoes.

Second Condor sighting later in the day.

Humantay Lake before the weather deteriorated.

Our tour group (minus Sue who returned to town for medical attention).

Dalmiro's Owl Mask he found on the trail (it is a dead yucca).

Every night we'd leave our hiking shoes on the stoops of the Lodges. The staff would clean them and then have them waiting for us in the lobby the next morning.

10/23 - Cusco Day 2

We started our day slowly,  as we didn't have to meet the REI group until 1pm. We ate breakfast and then lounged around until we headed 6 blocks over to the El Mercado Hotel. We met our Lead Guide Dalmiro and the rest of our fellow trekkers. We have a group of ten (including us) which is a great number. Not too many that you are lost in the crowd but enough to keep it varied.
We embarked on a 4 hour city tour. Cusco was the Inca's capital city so there are numerous sites in and around town. We visited 3 - Temple of the Sun, Temple of Lightning and another religious site whose name escapes me. We also went to the Cusco Cathedral that the Spanish built during colonial times. They were all impressive.  Sadly no pictures were allowed in the cathedral and it was raining when we were at 2 of the Inca sites. So I don't have many pictures on my phone (they are on the waterproof camera).
After our tour we had an informational meeting and then broke for dinner. We called it an early night as we had an early start tomorrow.
We lost power and internet due to the rain/wind. I'll try to post this from the next lodge.

10/24 - Salkantay Lodge

We woke early and checked out of our room before breakfast as we had ro be on the road by 7am. This was due to construction on the road we needed to take. According to Dalmiro we had to pass through the construction between 9 & 9:30 am as that was the only window for traffic. Otherwise the road was closed until later in the afternoon.
We loaded 5 to a van. One van had Dalmiro and one van had the assistant guide Lis. Becca and I were in the van with Lis.
Once underway we did make one brief stop at Tarawasi, an Inca site that the Spanish had converted into a rest station on the road from Lima to Cusco. We also stopped for a bathroom break before the construction zone. We made it to the construction zone with 15 minutes to spare.
Once through we stopped for coffee in the town of Mollepata. The coffee is served as a concentrate. You decide on how much concentrate you want and then dilute with hot water. At the coffee shop we encountered our first guinea pigs. Lots of families keep guinea pigs as a source of food, like some people keep rabbits back home. This is sort of a national dish in Peru and I imagine we'll try some before this trip is over.
After the coffe break we went to a project that REI supports where local women make clothes and textiles using traditional techniques and dyes to sell to tourists. There were many beautiful thungs but we decided Portland doesn't really call for Alpaca wool clothes.

Once the shopping was concluded we drove until about 11 am. At this point we disembarked and started our 3.5 mile acclimatization hike to the lodge. Unfortunately one of our fellow trekkers is already suffering from altitude sickness so she rode the rest of the way in the van. The hike was just along the road today but still offered some nice scenery. We talked with our fellow trekkers and took pictures. We had a box lunch along the way. We arrived at Salkantay Lodge at about 3 pm. The lodge sits in a valley beneath two mountains.

The lodge is very nice. It is far enough from anything that they have two propane fired systems one generator for electricity and one for heat. The electricity is on from 6am to 11pm everyday. After that headlamps are required. We checked in and relaxed in the main rec room. Tea time arrived at 4:30pm. At 6:30pm we met for our daily brief. Dalmiro went over what we were doing tomorrow and gave us some information on the surrounding area.

At dinner one of our felllow trekkers was suprised with a birthday cake. After a delicious dinner we retired early to find a bouquet of flowers for our honeymoon in our room. REI, Mountain Lodges of Peru, and Dalmiro have impressed with their attention to detail, knowledge, and friendliness of the staff.