Informist

Home Page of Mayur Goyal

Travelogue - Hiking Machu Picchu (2002)

Page 1: Prologue; Getting Started; June 29 at Cusco

Prologue

The hiking trip proved to be a great eye-opener to the world hitherto unknown to me - the world of un-hindered naturalism in a continent entirely new to me. It was a great experience to climb tall and at-times snow-capped mountains, to literally walk above the clouds, to communicate with locals based on understanding of the context and very superficial knowledge of their language, to be away from any worldly trappings. We had a plenty of time to wonder about what the civilization almost 7 centuries ago had in mind when they settled, constructed and cultivated in this area - of course, we might have been entirely wrong in our guesses.

Getting Started

It all started one fine day in April 2002 when Bharat came up with the suggestion that we escape to Machu Picchu for a hiking trip. In the next half an hour we had got Hari also interested and booked our air tickets for first week of July. I thought Sreekumar - one of my old friends from under-graduation days - might also be keen and this got confirmed after I called him in New York. He told me that his colleague Aaron would also join us. So, within 24 hours of my first encounter with this new name, there were five of us all booked to be air-transported in July to explore this territory.

Then followed a barrage of planning activities: creating email group to pass info (I christened this group as ‘PIG5’ for ‘Peru Invasion Group of 5’. This name also rhymed well with ‘Big 5’ reference to the 5 behemoths of accounting industry who made headlines almost daily after Enron debacle); selecting and then making reservations with the tour operator; reserving hotels and flights within Peru; securing Visa for the trip; preparing list of ‘survival kit’ items for the trip and purchasing them etc. At times, it was difficult to take time out for planning and co-ordination due to other commitments but each one of us did whatever he could. All of us were quite excited and really looking forward to this trip.

The trip was exotic enough to lead to detailed discussions about the place in particular and outdoors in general with my personal and professional acquaintances. Sometimes I had such discussions with total strangers too - for example, the counter clerk at the convenience store who got curious after I purchased some travel accessories, a fellow passenger in a domestic flight who told me her husband was at Peru for a brief period, another fellow passenger in another domestic flight who was returning after a fishing trip in Alaska, yet another fellow passenger in Boston subway whom I met on my way to the Airport for Peru flight and who got interested in my back-pack. Post-facto, I think that the planning and bragging activities before such outdoor trips contribute a lot to the overall excitement. I am now convinced that outdoors is like religion, sports and politics, in that it has enormous potential for endless talking between strangers - some sort of a ‘social glue’.

Of course, the preparation couldn’t have been complete before the last minute. So, there I was in an outdoor accessories outlet, shopping for a sleeping bag at 8:45 p.m. on 28th June - just 15 minutes before its closing time and the night before my flight to Peru. The next morning, while doing my final packing, I had to make a final dash to the nearby convenience store to purchase all important toothpaste and de-odorant.

The Boston-Miami-Lima flights were about 9.5 hours long (3.5 + 6.0 hours) and very comfortable mainly because Hari had obliged us with an upgrade to Business Class (it helps to befriend an ‘excessively frequent flyer’). As we left Boston for Lima, the percentage of people using Spanish increased exponentially. In response to this onslaught, I resorted to speaking words instead of full sentences (like ‘water’, ‘no food’, ‘thanks’) and to sign-language (like a frenetic gesture of hands and head to indicate yes/ no) on an as needed basis.

Lima (for that matter, whole of Peru) is one hour behind the US East coast time in July. But as it does not observe Daylight Saving Time, there is no time difference between Peru and US East Coast from October End to April Beginning (US Daylight Saving time period). We reached Lima airport in the wee-hours of June 29th. While waiting to collect our bags, we saw quite a number of back-packs on the baggage carousel (I remember seeing many of the same faces in later days during the hike). After immigration and custom formalities, we proceeded to meet with Sree and Aaron who had landed there a few hours earlier. We were scheduled to take a 9:00 a.m. flight to Cusco but due to early landing, we decided to try our luck with an earlier flight. We made into the ‘Aero Continente’ 6:00 a.m. flight. We were impressed with how much we could get done with how little language we knew. Others in the group (especially Bharat) were more experimental with the language but I stuck with ‘Gracias’ most of the times.

June 29, Cusco

The flight was about an hour long. The airport and in-flight service reminded me quite a bit of a big city airport in India. The crowd, no walkways in the air to connect gate and aircraft, very friendly crewmembers, good catering. The flight was about 60% full so I could stretch my legs and got a very brief nap. As we approached Cusco, I could see the very hilly landscape and some snow-capped peaks.

Cusco airport was clean and cold. Cusco is at an altitude of about 2500 mts (~8300 ft) and for the hikers it is recommended that they spend 2 days there for acclimatization to high altitude. I was very conscious about this and probably this, more than the high altitude itself, caused a feeling of disorientation when I first got there. But it passed very quickly. Near the baggage collection area, there was a band of locals dressed colorfully playing ‘Andean’ music. The music produced with flutes and repercussion instruments (bongos) sounded very melodious to me. It was punctuated with happy shouts of the artists that made it very cheerful.

Aaron faces a tough choice between Inca music and my recital

The airport was full of travel and hotel agents seeking the tourists. After not much haggling, we could get a reasonably priced (for 10 Nuevo Soles - about 3 USD) transport to our hotel at Cusco. It was an old big-size van that comfortably accommodated our bags and us.

Bus full of pigs

(L to R) Hari, Sree, Mayur, Aaron, Bharat

The driver and his companion were very friendly. Language remained an issue but we could do basic communication about the city, the weather and about India (it is not that only the tourists are interested in a new place, the locals are also pretty curious about their tourists) on our way to the hotel. The cleanliness of the city impressed me quite a bit. It was early hours on Saturday and I could see a lot of people going to work, to schools etc. Buses were the public transport and they at times, appeared overloaded with passengers (another similarity to my country).

As we approached our hotel, the roads became decidedly narrower and stone-cobbled. We were told that many of the stone-cobbled paths and walls were from Inca times (at least 7 centuries old). Most of these narrow roads were one-way (thank goodness). Two car makes that I saw very often were Volkswagen and Toyota - mostly hatchbacks. I saw some hand drawn carts too - not very different from the famous hand-drawn rickshaws of Calcutta only that here these carts were for carrying luggage and not individuals. The names of the roads were mostly Indian and they were written on the walls along the roads. I did not see too many traffic lights and situations could get messy at intersections. I also observed that there were not too many two-wheelers. To go around, I think people must be using public transport predominantly. To roam within the city, they really do not need to have vehicles. Most of the four wheelers were either public transport or taxis for tourist.

Our destination was ‘Hostal Rumi Punku’ on ‘Calle Choquechaca’ (street Choquechaca). Rumi in Quechua (their local language of the natives) is ‘Stone’ and ‘Punku’ is ‘Gate’. True to its name, the place had a big stone gate at the entrance.

The proprietor of the hotel was an old lady. We had no interaction at all with her. The care taker was a young man named Raul. He was very hospitable and shy and provided us a lot of opportunity to pick-up Spanish as he was not very comfortable with English. The hotel was a two-storied big house - very homey and clean. They even had a small area with small fountain, garden and some local statues - I guess, to offer a bit local flavor to the guests. I, Bharat and Hari took a 3-bed room and Aaron and Sree took a 2-bed room. Our room had high ceiling. It had a wooden floor and there was no air-conditioning. To compensate for the possible cold nights, there were heavy comforters on the beds. For its price ($40 a night for 3-bed room), it appeared very reasonable to me - they also served complimentary breakfast. Raul treated us with freshly squeezed orange juice, home made jam and ‘pan’ (Spanish for bread). And, of course, I took my first sip of Coca tea here made by soaking Coca leaves in hot water. I was a bit concerned about the narcotic quality of the leaves and so made it very mild. I found it very refreshing mainly because of hot water!

Breakfast at Hostal Rumi Punku

Our main activity on the first day was to make payments to our tour operator. After the hearty breakfast, we decided to go there walking. As we discovered, our hotel was just a 5 minute walk to the central square ‘Plaza de Armas’. The walk was through the cobbled stone roads. By the time we started it was broad daylight and the streets and markets were buzzing with activity. The narrow streets were lined with small shops and full of street vendors. Most of them sold things of interest to tourists (such as art pieces, paintings, postcards, music, T-shirts) and accessories (such as cameras, films, chocolates, bottled water). Many locals, especially kids and women, were dressed in their colorful, local costumes. Female costumes consisted of a long frock, blouse, a hat, sandals and a lot of jewelry (made of stones and some metal not gold or silver though - I guess). July is a winter month in Peru (Southern Hemisphere) and this costume can be reasonably warm. There were many school kids on the streets, explaining the way in which Incas put together the stone walls the stones were cut to have multiple sides so that they can be fitted like puzzle blocks. Some stones had as many as 12 corners. Of course, after each explanation, one has to give a few soles to the kid.

One typical cobbled street at Cusco

Plaza De Armas is done and maintained well. There is a central square that is decorated with fountains and flowerbeds. One side of the plaza has an old cathedral and another has a church. In front of the cathedral, there is a big stage used for performances I guess. The weekend we spent at Cusco, there was no performance there so we could walk freely on the stage and take some nice photographs. Other sides of the plaza were lined with eating places and various shops for tourists.

Plaza de Armas at Cusco

The staff at the office of ‘Andean Life’ our travel agent were very friendly (I am being very repetitive here but I really liked their hospitability). There were many travel agencies in that area offering various treks to Machu Picchu (ranging from 2 days to 5 days). We had booked ourselves for a 4 days trek. We made our respective payments ($220 per head). The travel agent office clerk also offered some good advice as to what to do for the two days at Cusco and where to eat. After this, we had (another) hearty breakfast at an open air restaurant facing the Plaza De Armas. It was mostly sunny, sometimes cloudy and windy, but overall pleasant day. We had freshly squeezed orange juice, jam, pan, omelette all for about 6 soles per head (~ USD 2). Our server an ‘amiga’ (Spanish for ‘female friend’) was very friendly. We were approached by the vendors of various handicraft (paintings, cards, coins, painted fruit shells etc.) and traditionally dressed locals (for photographs). We very soon figured the best way to show no interest was to keep quite.

The Plaza was full, but not exactly crowded, by tourists and local young couples. I found the place very calm. Another noticeable fact was that there were no beggars. Cusco is a small town (a population of less than 500,000) and I guess the economy of the town is well supported by tourists and local professions (agriculture etc.).

We tried to catch up with some sleep during the afternoon and then, in the evening we went to Sacsahuaman (‘House of Sun’). I read in a book that this place was the ‘Citadel of Cusco’. It is about 2 Km from the city and we took a cab to get there. We were told to be not there after dark and so we could spend only about an hour there. The ruins were very similar to the ones that we saw over the next five days - huge construction consisting of walls and gates (they must have been rooms, water canals and water fountains in their un-destroyed form). The enormous boulders that formed part of the construction were put together perfectly without using mortar. The heaviest weighed up to 125 tons. I read that this complex is considered first of the ‘new seven wonders of the world’.

Sacsahuaman

Sacsahuaman provided a magnificent view of the city.

Cusco view from Sacsahuaman

We were told the flat area at this location is used for an annual festival on June 24 called ‘Inti Raymi’ (‘Festival of the Sun’) - we missed it by a week. I saw my first llama (pronounced ‘yama’) here.

Locals at Sacsahuaman

As it was getting dark, we came back down to Plaza de Armas (our center of the world for that day) at around 7:00 p.m. We looked for a restaurant and after lot of in-decision, got into one that offered some live Andean music too. I played it safe and had the time-trusted chicken noodle soup and some ice-cream. I loved the live music - it was performed by some kids.

We came back to the hotel at around 9:00 p.m. Next morning were the soccer world cup finals (between Brazil and Germany) and with some oral communication experimentation, we could ask Raul to get a small TV in our room.

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