Bidding the islands a groggy farewell, I flew to Lima for a couple of quiet nights. Most travellers give Lima a bad rap but it seemed okay to me. It's a huge city and it's not easy to get around the sights, which may be why people complain, but I'd like to come back another time and spend a few days here.
Cuzco was a big change of climate and change of scene after a couple of weeks on the islands. Fortunately for me, the altitude didn't present any problems. They call Peru the Egypt of the Americas, and it's from Cuzco that most people set off to see the jewel in the Inca crown - Machu Picchu, of which more later.
Due to such an attraction, Cuzco's one of the most touristy places in South America. At the airport you have to run the gauntlet of tour agencies offering you this or that, and in town you're always running the gauntlet of women selling massages. (How this came to be such a massage mecca, I'm not sure). The city and its surroundings are beautiful and interesting, and Cuzco's enough fun, so it doesn't matter. And in any case, there's something stupid about a tourist complaining about a place being too touristy.
I took a bus 11km out of town to a site called Tambo Machay, which was small but in good shape and still boasted Incan plumbing with water flowing. Near to that was Puca Pucara, which wasn't remarkable. From there I walked back towards Cuzco, taking in another 2 ruins, one being the magnificent Saqsaywaman (pronounced similar to "sexy woman" in a thick Jamaican accent).
Although the Spanish burned most of the original site, the stones remain, and you can see how the Incas constructed their cities. The stones were enormous, some being as high and wide as 2 tall fatties, but fit together perfectly as the Incas cut them to fit without any bonding or cement. Imagine a jigsaw puzzle with thousands of pieces, weighing up to several tonnes each (the heaviest is 120 tonnes) and you get the idea.
The Inca Empire and the Spanish Conquest
The Inca empire emerged from the 13th century and covered, at its peak, all of present day Peru and Bolivia, and the surrounding areas from Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Chile. Most of these territories were captured and ruled by peaceful, pragmatic means. Cuzco was where the early tribe sprang from and it remained the heart and administrative centre throughout the empire. Quechua was the official language but, inevitably over such a large area, there were hundreds of dialects and variations. The word Inka itself means ruler or lord in Quechua, and referred to the ruling family. (The Spanish later transliterated it to Inca and used it to refer to all subjects of the empire rather than just the ruling class.)
All empires ultimately crumble - Egyptian, Ottoman, British and Spanish and all the rest, just as today's superpowers won't always be superpowers. The Incan empire came to an end with the Spanish Conquest in 1533, but had already been fraying at the seams. The Spanish had reached Inca territory in the late 1520s and reckoned they'd stumbled on a great and rich place to raid. By the time they returned in 1532 to conquer the Incas, the empire was already weakened due to a conflict between two ruling brothers, unrest in the territories, and smallpox. Within a year, much of the empire was under Spanish control. In 1533 they arrived in Cuzco and promptly smashed and burned the place up. Some original walls are still in place, the Spanish having incorporated them when constructing the new city.
True to form in their conquest of South America, the Spanish quickly set about destroying the traditions of the Incas. Many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their sophisticated farming system. The Spaniards implemented mandatory public service which literally worked people to death. One member of each family was forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the silver mine at Potosi in present day Bolivia. When a family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family would be required to send a replacement. Smallpox, diptheria and measles largely finished the Inca empire off.
It's tragic that we lost the intelligence of the Incas, like the Egyptians before them. Their endeavour, techniques of mathematics, agriculture and construction make the skyscrapers in our cities today seem vulgar by comparison. We still can't figure out, with all our wonderful technology, how the Egyptians did some things. But history is littered with conquest, and oppression of the conquered. It's fitting that the empires which grow from such brutality and enslavement also seem to crumble under their own weight. Perhaps one of the most tragic aspects of the fall of the Inca empire is that its growth was largely peaceful, and could have served as an example that, even if you do believe that conquest and expansion is somehow good, violent means can be a last resort rather than the first. Then again, if you believe that conquest and expansion is somehow inherently good, maybe you're not a people person anyway.
The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu
Not being sure if I would need time to adjust to the altitude, I'd arrived 3 days before starting the walk. I managed to take it easy for the first couple of nights but then met up with a friend from London and the drinks were flying. So although with a 5am start a few drinks were ill advised, I couldn't resist.
I'd booked the trip 2 months before, as I heard you need to book several weeks in advance. It used to be that you could just show up in Cuzco and find a late place, but not anymore, at least not with any agencies worth using. That being said, there are plenty of alternative treks to the Inca Trail and no doubt some of these are just as good if you're willing to do something different. I chose Peru Treks on the grounds that they put some of their profits back towards community projects, and they're said to treat their porters well. They treated this Porter well, for sure. I'd heard from people in Cuzco that the food was good with Peru Treks, too, and I wasn't disappointed.
There were 16 in the group, a mix of Aussies, Americans, Brits, Swedish, a German, and me. The trail only opened at the start of April, so the timing was lucky for us. Huge landslides in January wiped out part of the railway line between Cuzco and Agua Calientes (the nearest town to the site) leaving thousands stranded for several days. There was damage throughout the area, and it wasn't certain that the trail would be open again so soon. They always close the trail in February to give it some time to regenerate from the other 11 months of sweaty gringos walking it. This year it was closed in March, too.
We went by bus 2 hours east of Cuzco in the Sacred Valley of the Incas to Ollantaytambo for breakfast and to buy last minute provisions. I didn't bother with a walking stick on the Colombia trek and the downhills killed my knees on that, so I made sure to arm myself this time. From there the bus continued to KM82, at 2,600m the start of the trail and the end of the road.
It's stunning scenery from the start, as you're surrounded by mountains and steep, towering hillsides. We passed some terraces at a site called Llactapapa, which was once used as an agricultural station to supply Machu Picchu with maize, the staple crop. Onwards along the river and up a steady incline, we reached our first camp, at 3,100m, Wayllabamba.
There was a rough football area ("field" would be pushing it, without grass on 90% of the playing surface) so some of the group joined the porters and guides for a kickaround. There was something special about the setting, being so high up yet surrounded by still-higher peaks. This felt like the Peru I was hoping for. The first day was complete with us standing around the bar, which consisted of a bucket of beers on the ground. It was a fitting end to a hard first day.
The next day we were up at sunrise for breakfast in spectacular surroundings, before hitting the trail. We were shown how to chew coca leaves, with a little lump of charcoal to release the active ingredients in the leaves. It's hard to describe just how unpleasant the taste is, and I'm not sure how necessary it was for me seeing as I wasn't struggling with the altitude anyway, but when in Rome...
The first section was painless enough, up to 3,300m for a break. From there the going got a little harder, and it was another 1.5 hours to the next break point which, bearing in mind we'd been on an incline pretty much the whole way, was inexplicably only another 380m up. Most people consider the 2nd day to be the hardest, as the next section's a long, steep uphill to the highest point of the trail - Dead Woman's Pass, at 4,200m.
After the pass it was another 1.5 hours downhill to our 2nd camp. At 3,500m it was the highest place we would sleep, and definitely the coldest. We had a good introduction to the porters - all 19 of them - and the cooks, legends both. Most of the porters also work on farms, and leave the trail during harvest times. There was a wide range of ages among them, the youngest being 19 and the oldest a staggering 63. How anyone can stomp the trail with 25 kilos of camping gear, week in, week out, at that age, in rubber sandals, is beyond me. It was enough to hike with about 6kg in good boots at 33. It was difficult for them when the trail was closed for the extra month in March but Peru Treks went to their villages and gave donations to help see them through.
The mist rolling up the valley added some atmosphere to the location, cold as a witch's tit though it was. The guides treated us to some ghost stories after dinner. They were possibly the worst ghost stories I ever heard, such as Dead Woman's Pass being named after a woman who camped in the cold at the top years ago against locals' advice....and who wasn't there when they checked in the morning..... and they went further down and found her pale and...... not moving and...... went to get the police, who came to collect the body and discovered that....... she wasn't really dead.
Those who don't rate day 2 as the hardest say that day 3 is, as it's easily the longest. It starts with another climb past the Runkuracay ruins to another pass at 4,200m. The view from here is amazing and it's nice to know there are no more big uphills. We descended to another ruin at Sayacmarca, whose purpose wasn't known. After here the trail took us through spectacular cloudforest, with ferns and mosses that wouldn't look out of place on the south island of New Zealand. We made it to the final pass and again had amazing views of the surrounding valleys, with cloud and mist rolling in and out.
From here is the reason some say day 3 is the hardest - a long slog down over 1,000 Inca steps they call the Gringo Killer. Even with the walking pole it wasn't the easiest on the knees by the end, and it was a relief to make the last camp for a cold beer and a hot shower, expensive though they were. I guess they have a captive market. After 3 days of walking and having survived the Gringo Killer, there's a sense of achievement that can only be rewarded with a bottle of suds.
There wasn't much sleep on offer that night, partly because of the rain making a racket on the tent, partly because they got us up at 3:45 for breakfast. They have to get you up early so you can cover the 2 hours to the Sun Gate (leading to Machu Picchu) before the sun appears over the peaks to the east. It's hit and miss at Machu Picchu at that time of day, and with clouds coming in upon our arrival at the Sun Gate, we'd hit a "miss" day. Still, there was something special about sitting there on the terraces in the high cloud, in the eerie silence, having reached our destination.
We continued down to the main site and waited for the cloud to lift. Even with some cloud enveloping the site, there was a magical feel to the place, but when the clouds did lift it was magnificent.
The city was built around 1450, at the peak of the Inca empire, most archaeologists believe it was to be an estate for the Inca emperor. It was abandoned in 1572, although (fortunately) the Spanish never found it, and therefore never destroyed it like pretty much everywhere else in the empire. What a waste.
In 1983 this became a World Heritage site, and in 2007 a new Wonder of the World. The pictures explain better than I can...
Cuzco was a big change of climate and change of scene after a couple of weeks on the islands. Fortunately for me, the altitude didn't present any problems. They call Peru the Egypt of the Americas, and it's from Cuzco that most people set off to see the jewel in the Inca crown - Machu Picchu, of which more later.
Due to such an attraction, Cuzco's one of the most touristy places in South America. At the airport you have to run the gauntlet of tour agencies offering you this or that, and in town you're always running the gauntlet of women selling massages. (How this came to be such a massage mecca, I'm not sure). The city and its surroundings are beautiful and interesting, and Cuzco's enough fun, so it doesn't matter. And in any case, there's something stupid about a tourist complaining about a place being too touristy.
I took a bus 11km out of town to a site called Tambo Machay, which was small but in good shape and still boasted Incan plumbing with water flowing. Near to that was Puca Pucara, which wasn't remarkable. From there I walked back towards Cuzco, taking in another 2 ruins, one being the magnificent Saqsaywaman (pronounced similar to "sexy woman" in a thick Jamaican accent).
Although the Spanish burned most of the original site, the stones remain, and you can see how the Incas constructed their cities. The stones were enormous, some being as high and wide as 2 tall fatties, but fit together perfectly as the Incas cut them to fit without any bonding or cement. Imagine a jigsaw puzzle with thousands of pieces, weighing up to several tonnes each (the heaviest is 120 tonnes) and you get the idea.
The Inca Empire and the Spanish Conquest
The Inca empire emerged from the 13th century and covered, at its peak, all of present day Peru and Bolivia, and the surrounding areas from Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Chile. Most of these territories were captured and ruled by peaceful, pragmatic means. Cuzco was where the early tribe sprang from and it remained the heart and administrative centre throughout the empire. Quechua was the official language but, inevitably over such a large area, there were hundreds of dialects and variations. The word Inka itself means ruler or lord in Quechua, and referred to the ruling family. (The Spanish later transliterated it to Inca and used it to refer to all subjects of the empire rather than just the ruling class.)
All empires ultimately crumble - Egyptian, Ottoman, British and Spanish and all the rest, just as today's superpowers won't always be superpowers. The Incan empire came to an end with the Spanish Conquest in 1533, but had already been fraying at the seams. The Spanish had reached Inca territory in the late 1520s and reckoned they'd stumbled on a great and rich place to raid. By the time they returned in 1532 to conquer the Incas, the empire was already weakened due to a conflict between two ruling brothers, unrest in the territories, and smallpox. Within a year, much of the empire was under Spanish control. In 1533 they arrived in Cuzco and promptly smashed and burned the place up. Some original walls are still in place, the Spanish having incorporated them when constructing the new city.
True to form in their conquest of South America, the Spanish quickly set about destroying the traditions of the Incas. Many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their sophisticated farming system. The Spaniards implemented mandatory public service which literally worked people to death. One member of each family was forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the silver mine at Potosi in present day Bolivia. When a family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family would be required to send a replacement. Smallpox, diptheria and measles largely finished the Inca empire off.
It's tragic that we lost the intelligence of the Incas, like the Egyptians before them. Their endeavour, techniques of mathematics, agriculture and construction make the skyscrapers in our cities today seem vulgar by comparison. We still can't figure out, with all our wonderful technology, how the Egyptians did some things. But history is littered with conquest, and oppression of the conquered. It's fitting that the empires which grow from such brutality and enslavement also seem to crumble under their own weight. Perhaps one of the most tragic aspects of the fall of the Inca empire is that its growth was largely peaceful, and could have served as an example that, even if you do believe that conquest and expansion is somehow good, violent means can be a last resort rather than the first. Then again, if you believe that conquest and expansion is somehow inherently good, maybe you're not a people person anyway.
The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu
Not being sure if I would need time to adjust to the altitude, I'd arrived 3 days before starting the walk. I managed to take it easy for the first couple of nights but then met up with a friend from London and the drinks were flying. So although with a 5am start a few drinks were ill advised, I couldn't resist.
I'd booked the trip 2 months before, as I heard you need to book several weeks in advance. It used to be that you could just show up in Cuzco and find a late place, but not anymore, at least not with any agencies worth using. That being said, there are plenty of alternative treks to the Inca Trail and no doubt some of these are just as good if you're willing to do something different. I chose Peru Treks on the grounds that they put some of their profits back towards community projects, and they're said to treat their porters well. They treated this Porter well, for sure. I'd heard from people in Cuzco that the food was good with Peru Treks, too, and I wasn't disappointed.
There were 16 in the group, a mix of Aussies, Americans, Brits, Swedish, a German, and me. The trail only opened at the start of April, so the timing was lucky for us. Huge landslides in January wiped out part of the railway line between Cuzco and Agua Calientes (the nearest town to the site) leaving thousands stranded for several days. There was damage throughout the area, and it wasn't certain that the trail would be open again so soon. They always close the trail in February to give it some time to regenerate from the other 11 months of sweaty gringos walking it. This year it was closed in March, too.
We went by bus 2 hours east of Cuzco in the Sacred Valley of the Incas to Ollantaytambo for breakfast and to buy last minute provisions. I didn't bother with a walking stick on the Colombia trek and the downhills killed my knees on that, so I made sure to arm myself this time. From there the bus continued to KM82, at 2,600m the start of the trail and the end of the road.
It's stunning scenery from the start, as you're surrounded by mountains and steep, towering hillsides. We passed some terraces at a site called Llactapapa, which was once used as an agricultural station to supply Machu Picchu with maize, the staple crop. Onwards along the river and up a steady incline, we reached our first camp, at 3,100m, Wayllabamba.
There was a rough football area ("field" would be pushing it, without grass on 90% of the playing surface) so some of the group joined the porters and guides for a kickaround. There was something special about the setting, being so high up yet surrounded by still-higher peaks. This felt like the Peru I was hoping for. The first day was complete with us standing around the bar, which consisted of a bucket of beers on the ground. It was a fitting end to a hard first day.
The next day we were up at sunrise for breakfast in spectacular surroundings, before hitting the trail. We were shown how to chew coca leaves, with a little lump of charcoal to release the active ingredients in the leaves. It's hard to describe just how unpleasant the taste is, and I'm not sure how necessary it was for me seeing as I wasn't struggling with the altitude anyway, but when in Rome...
The first section was painless enough, up to 3,300m for a break. From there the going got a little harder, and it was another 1.5 hours to the next break point which, bearing in mind we'd been on an incline pretty much the whole way, was inexplicably only another 380m up. Most people consider the 2nd day to be the hardest, as the next section's a long, steep uphill to the highest point of the trail - Dead Woman's Pass, at 4,200m.
After the pass it was another 1.5 hours downhill to our 2nd camp. At 3,500m it was the highest place we would sleep, and definitely the coldest. We had a good introduction to the porters - all 19 of them - and the cooks, legends both. Most of the porters also work on farms, and leave the trail during harvest times. There was a wide range of ages among them, the youngest being 19 and the oldest a staggering 63. How anyone can stomp the trail with 25 kilos of camping gear, week in, week out, at that age, in rubber sandals, is beyond me. It was enough to hike with about 6kg in good boots at 33. It was difficult for them when the trail was closed for the extra month in March but Peru Treks went to their villages and gave donations to help see them through.
The mist rolling up the valley added some atmosphere to the location, cold as a witch's tit though it was. The guides treated us to some ghost stories after dinner. They were possibly the worst ghost stories I ever heard, such as Dead Woman's Pass being named after a woman who camped in the cold at the top years ago against locals' advice....and who wasn't there when they checked in the morning..... and they went further down and found her pale and...... not moving and...... went to get the police, who came to collect the body and discovered that....... she wasn't really dead.
Those who don't rate day 2 as the hardest say that day 3 is, as it's easily the longest. It starts with another climb past the Runkuracay ruins to another pass at 4,200m. The view from here is amazing and it's nice to know there are no more big uphills. We descended to another ruin at Sayacmarca, whose purpose wasn't known. After here the trail took us through spectacular cloudforest, with ferns and mosses that wouldn't look out of place on the south island of New Zealand. We made it to the final pass and again had amazing views of the surrounding valleys, with cloud and mist rolling in and out.
From here is the reason some say day 3 is the hardest - a long slog down over 1,000 Inca steps they call the Gringo Killer. Even with the walking pole it wasn't the easiest on the knees by the end, and it was a relief to make the last camp for a cold beer and a hot shower, expensive though they were. I guess they have a captive market. After 3 days of walking and having survived the Gringo Killer, there's a sense of achievement that can only be rewarded with a bottle of suds.
There wasn't much sleep on offer that night, partly because of the rain making a racket on the tent, partly because they got us up at 3:45 for breakfast. They have to get you up early so you can cover the 2 hours to the Sun Gate (leading to Machu Picchu) before the sun appears over the peaks to the east. It's hit and miss at Machu Picchu at that time of day, and with clouds coming in upon our arrival at the Sun Gate, we'd hit a "miss" day. Still, there was something special about sitting there on the terraces in the high cloud, in the eerie silence, having reached our destination.
We continued down to the main site and waited for the cloud to lift. Even with some cloud enveloping the site, there was a magical feel to the place, but when the clouds did lift it was magnificent.
The city was built around 1450, at the peak of the Inca empire, most archaeologists believe it was to be an estate for the Inca emperor. It was abandoned in 1572, although (fortunately) the Spanish never found it, and therefore never destroyed it like pretty much everywhere else in the empire. What a waste.
In 1983 this became a World Heritage site, and in 2007 a new Wonder of the World. The pictures explain better than I can...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment