Beyond Cusco Peru – Stage 1 3rd April 2019
Walking around the historical district of Cusco is very quirky and plenty of satisfying visions, albeit in between carriageways just big enough for a small car on cobblestones. Like any overseas street; you own every footstep.
There are women in customary costumes; some holding baby alpacas and the women swarm when a photo is required .. hold onto your cash … and so many young women presenting cards for massages. You pass so many in full view of each other saying no; yet they persist.
Scott with traditional women and a baby alpaca.
We have a laneway we ventured down often from Jack’s Café (very popular & great food/ juices) to the Main Square and each time we gaze upon an Inca wall that continues to amaze us with its accuracy and architectural/ geotechnical features. OMG!!! How do they do this & the wall survives the earthquakes over the years? There is one famous stone that has 12 angles along its perimeter .. and not small either (Thank you David & Sue for the photo & smiling).
David & Sue showing the 12 edge cuts of the famous stone expertly shaped.
We have a few bookings we must complete before we venture to the Machu Picchu trek on 8th April 2019. One of these is a real fitness & altitude sickness test. The famous Rainbow Mountain; a 1 day tour with some 2.5hrs 138klms of bus travel each way South West of Cusco. I contacted the tour company late afternoon prior to confirm the pickup time. Apparently, their response was a bridge construction site was to be on strike early morning. They tried everything to postpone our tour but I could not accommodate this. They then responded at 9.30pm by saying they will pick us up at our hotel at 3am. Straight to bed we went. Of course, they were very late (40mins) & considering with all the ‘stress’ I was awake at 1.10am … I can now expect a very BIG day!!
Our bus was filled with 18 or so people so they didn’t postpone either and we later found work was proceeding as normal on the bridge. There was some obvious rainfall the night prior which made the bus almost bogged & sliding sideways towards the cliff edge in parts. Sometimes we had to stop to allow other vehicles to slither past us. Yikes!!! Almost half way we had a break to the weirdest breakfast. Bread with margarine & tea. Luckily we packed a few snacks from Cusco.
After some 20mins we were on the last winding leg of the road trip … shut your eyes!!! Upon arrival you are herded out for a quick harness of your backpack & given a time limit of 1.5 hrs to venture up & return. You first notice the horses for rent (9 Soles .. Soleless … $3US each) that will take you 2/3rds of the way up. A lot of people use them .. even when they are half way up on foot.
The first staircase & landing immediately gets you pumping. High altitude & oxygen deprivation kicks in. We notice this every time we exit a vehicle after a long time in it. This first staircase really hits you. My super fit son Scott provides the motivation & refuses to acknowledge my age. Youth!!! The tour company highly recommends anyone over 55yrs to rent a horse. I’m far beyond that so I shrugged off that advice. Oxygen less to the brain, I think. Also, the tour operator did not specify walking poles .. others had them … we left ours behind .. they would have provided great assistance.
With every painful step I could see with clear weather the tip of the peak we must reach & it seemed klms away. Trekkers looked like ants along its ridge. After numerous pauses, clutching for air I took another 20 steps knowing I was inching closer. Every now & then you see a flat spot .. albeit maybe 3 metres at most which means 5 seconds only of respite.
Step by step my resolve was duly tested … the temperature cooling around me .. my lungs seem to be getting warmer & drier … Scott stayed with me & pushed forward the encouragement. He had just about completed a book he was reading called ‘Can’t Hurt Me’ by David Goggins (A decorated US Navy Seal for starters). David Goggins rates most of us only use 40% of our capabilities as a rule. With Scott reiterating the 40% rule every now & then & what seemed ages I managed to get to a platform ‘at the top’ with lots of people sitting on rocks or standing still talking. While getting my breath there, Scott said there was another section to do as he could see people walking up & down a small ridge about 25m higher & steep, so I said don’t worry about me keep going.
In between the clouds drifting in & out I could see parts of the Rainbow Mountain in its expected 7 colours. Lots of people were happy with that and maintained their positions. Mind you there was very little space available & again, no handrails or barricades … just a gentle slope to oblivion if one was to slip or slide off.
With my breath partly back, I reminded my self of the 40% rule and staggered to the step up to the next ridge in search of Scott, dodging people that were returning. This part was quite scary as I now encountered large sheets of ice packs that must be avoided at all costs. Slowly & very carefully I managed to step to the absolute peak of the mountain at 5,031m. With lungs & heart pounding & screaming for oxygen I regathered just in time to yell out to Scott before he took his first step to return below. He was shivering with cold, yet he managed to take my photo against the sign of the mountain. Once taken, I then realised I had forgotten to put my gloves on .. Scott, with icy fingers himself managed to get my gloves out of my backpack & helped put them on. How could I possibly go all this way & without my gloves? I felt my hands turning white & numb. Same for Scott.
Within that second of getting the gloves on we both decided to get our return trip underway. In that tiny second later we were encapsulated into a complete cloud cover with very little vision and almost immediately we were hit sideways with 60knot wind gusts. With no choice but to tread towards the voices and looking at the ground beneath our feet we avoided the ice caps and reached that platform ledge I spoke of earlier. With our minds now focussed on our return we confidently stepped into a rhythm and for some reason we only stopped twice to the bus to take photos. It was a lot easier than the incline. We took notice of the distorted stressed faces of the trekkers still finding their way up the mountain and those keeping their composure on horseback.
Our Guide confirmed we did the trek in 1 hr 40mins & we were not the last ones back. Once settled, Scott showed me one of his photos. It was the famous shot of the REAL Rainbow Mountain that you could see once you reach the very top of the mountain and look back over the way you came (over the people on the platform just below). Most people were looking, say West when they should be looking North, I think. I missed this due to that fierce cloud cover that came in when I met Scott. It was opportune for Scott to have a stranger take his photo minutes before I reached the top. I’m very glad Scott got to see the real mountain & get his photo however, most people & I believed to be cheated of this due to the cloud cover. I guess, that is the climate there and is very frequently covered in cloud … so it is a real lottery of course.
Suffice to say, it was an amazing experience and a trek worthy of all the accolades and a must do. An amazing sense of achievement was my satisfaction .. such an arduous journey up that sheer height. Both Scott & I were extremely pleased how our Salomon X Ultra 3 Coretex Mid Hiking boots went. These are making us very confident for the upcoming Machu Picchu trek over 4 days & 3 nights.
The bus trip back to Cusco was a sleepy one & an occasional talk of “did we just do that?”. Shower, dinner & a very early night of course and a dream of disbelief to the day.
BH Life Travels 