Day 260
Ollantaymbo, Peru
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Milli´s 6th birthday today!!!!!! Awww..........big pussie smooch!
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Our last day before the trek!!!!
We´re still in Ollantaymbo..and we´re all excited. And a bit nervous at what to expect! Today we looked around the Sacred Valley and town of Ollantaymbo and did a climb...we felt the altidude as we were climbing but it is a bit lower in the valley..so it´ll be harder tomorrow! I felt breathless as we were climbing up..but once we were at the top it was ok. My ankles were perfect. Greg said the same thing about being breathless. He was perspiring a lot too.
The weather is weird here. One minute it´s really hot. THen it´s really cold. The nights are freezing, literally.
We´re actually only one hour and twenty minutes by train, away from Macchu Picchu at the moment. The altitude here is about 200 feet lower though because we´re in the valley.
The Valley here follows the course of the famousUrubamba River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River.
At the Ollantaytambo mountain today we saw two places of worship ..there was one part that worshiped the sun and one that worshipped water. There were channels of water upstream that were run through their shrines of worship. There are also granery´s that are up high on the side of the mountain where the grains are cool and dry in the winds.
The ruins, Citadels, fortresses, and temple ruins here are just so fascinating! Such a mixture of inca and colonial architecture.
We also went a local museo that outlined all the history of this fascinating place!
Lunch was at a local house which was gorgeous..but our minds are on what will happen tomorrow.
Wé´ve discovered so much about the inca´s since being here...
We´ve had a meeting with Jose...He´s given us our duffle bags and our sleeping bags and coat. I´m using my sleeping bag as it´s warmer and i really suffer from the cold..but today is a day of just getting organised, getting excited, and wondering how we´ll go on the four day trek.
We meet at Chilica to commence the trek. ALong with all the other group and individual trekkers.´
We have our walking poles, our tin water bottles, and warm inca hats and angora jumper and ponchos packed. As well as our clothes and small backpack. The porters carry our other 7kg pack and the rest of the gear we don´t need (our big pack) will be sent back to Cusco to join the pack we left there..
So..what else.
Our boots are broken in...
And..Wé´ve been told to keep up the cocoa leaves (and give the porters some to keep them happy), to drink heaps of water (2L) every 4 to 5 hours...monitor for altitude sickness (?) and we´ve been told pretty much what each of the four days will be like.
Day one will be on a plateau, day two is mostly up..and day 3 will down to Machu Picchu..then day 4 we go back to Macchu Picchu all day to just look at it.
We´re excited..can´t wait!!!!!!
And i hope we´re fit enough, acclimatised enough, and ready for this...
Will write again AFTER we get back!!!
NB Sorry about the lack of description in this last couple of blogs..it´s nervousness............there will be a more thorough account of it all i´m sure!!!!!
Sunday, 18 November 2007
OLLANTAYTAMBO...SACRED VALLEY
Day 259
Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley
We awoke early after a sleepless night. I had such a major headache last night i had to take ibruprofen. Apparently this happens. My tongue was really tingly and my throat was dry. I had drunk a lot of water during the night as well. My appetite was non existant. I forced fruit down for breakfast.
Greg felt woosy and giddy and had a headache as well.
I knew i was reacting to the altidute. We were at 35,000 feet in Cusco.
We had to repack our packs and leave one behind. THat took a bit of decision. We didn´t have that much to begin with, we thought. But once we layed everything out we realised we had a lot of STUFF! We need it all..but not for the next week when all we need is trekking stuff. We still needed to buy water bottles and hats and ponchos. Greg has the one David and Angie gave him as a going away pressie..but i needed something for the sun! WHile taking malaria..we shouldn´t be in the sun..and we will be in the sun all the time!!
We met our group again that we were to go on the trek with in the dining room over breakfast. We had briefly met them in the hotel last night but not for long. Jose said he´d introduce us all today. There were Another two couples. Jim and Carly from Sydney and David and Nada from St Kilda Melbourne. They all seemed very used to trekking and over breakfast we learned more about some of the walks they had done.
We thought it was good because it meant we could get tips from them! And we did.
On the way to the Sacred Valley we all swapped our altitude woes and remedies. We wasn´t the only one with headaches!!! We were told to eat even if we didn´t feel like it, it would make the headache go away. And to such on cocoa leaves and drink heaps of cocoa tea. We bought some leaves!!!
We went to Chinchario Plateau first and saw the view of the mountain ranges. The Andes are so spectacular and have a lure. And a real sense of mystery and sacredness. I feel the whole of Perus is like that. A magical sacred place! And here we are..THERE! Such a wonderful feeling to be in this part of the earth! Feels like we´re being enveloped by thousands of years of history.
One of the highlights of today was going to a textile place. It was in the Andes..hidden away and there was a family just weaving all their textile. I knew mum would LOVE it here. There were balls of wall being dyed...women using spinning tops to spin angora and llama...and women weaving with a variety of looms. There was a horizonal frame loom and a foot loom and a waist loom. I couldn´t resist buying a table runner (they said it would be US$130 but i bought it for $100). It´s for mum...and i know it´s going to be so HARD to part with. I keep thinking of all the trips to the post office whenever i think i want to keep it! It´s so GORGEOUS!
The man i bought it from also gave me a little gift of a purse, so i have that to remember the place by. So special seeing all the textiles being produced from first the wool being washed..which we saw! They used a rock to grate the wash off..and it soaps up..and that´s what the wool is washed in. They wouldn´t tell us what the name of the rock was for fear of being exploited! After it was washed, it was spun, then weaved...i will never forget this....and we have a lot of pictures of it all!
We left there thinking we may have paid too much..but..HOW often can you buy textiles in the Andes!!??
After just looking at amazement all around us we drove to the salt mines in Chincharo Plateau. From way above where we precariously walked...we could see all the salt baths..they looked like cheese blocks!
It was 2.30pm by this time..and we were hungry. Jose took us to this restaurant called Alhanbria and there, we listened to more pan flutes and had a delicious buffeet. My headache had gone.....thank goodness!
After lunch...we drove on to a little town that had a corn beer house with a game with a monkey used in it!!! We all had a go of this to see who was going to shout the beers! It´s a game where you have a box on a stand which has a drawer. You throw discs into the monkey and other holes on the top of the box and if you get one in the hole it lands in the drawer. Greg and i got three in each and got 3000 points! Not bad!
The corn beer was something else. Inca beer. There was a red flag hanging outside to show the loclals the beer ws ready! But...We saw it being made..and we tried it...and it was sort of a cross between frothy gingerbeer and beer...and it had a secret recipe. It´s the beer of the Andes!!!
Out the back of the house was a huge pen of guinea pigs...aww so cute! Aww..so delicious...haha....you can pick them and they cook them for you here..at the home restaurant..but to be honest..i dont´think i´ll be eating anymore guinea pigs!
Our little local hostel in Ollantaytambo is nice. We´re sharing a two room section with Barb and Trish and we have two nights here..
Dinner was at a local restaurant...with more music. Not so good this time..and not worth a great tip!! But we did anyway. They really try hard to earn their money here and mainly by music...These guys followed us all the way to the restaurant and then set up their harps and flute and guitar..and they sang their local sad songs...and we were glad when they left!! Aww..
Bed beckoned early..by 9pm there was not a sound in the hostel!
Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley
We awoke early after a sleepless night. I had such a major headache last night i had to take ibruprofen. Apparently this happens. My tongue was really tingly and my throat was dry. I had drunk a lot of water during the night as well. My appetite was non existant. I forced fruit down for breakfast.
Greg felt woosy and giddy and had a headache as well.
I knew i was reacting to the altidute. We were at 35,000 feet in Cusco.
We had to repack our packs and leave one behind. THat took a bit of decision. We didn´t have that much to begin with, we thought. But once we layed everything out we realised we had a lot of STUFF! We need it all..but not for the next week when all we need is trekking stuff. We still needed to buy water bottles and hats and ponchos. Greg has the one David and Angie gave him as a going away pressie..but i needed something for the sun! WHile taking malaria..we shouldn´t be in the sun..and we will be in the sun all the time!!
We met our group again that we were to go on the trek with in the dining room over breakfast. We had briefly met them in the hotel last night but not for long. Jose said he´d introduce us all today. There were Another two couples. Jim and Carly from Sydney and David and Nada from St Kilda Melbourne. They all seemed very used to trekking and over breakfast we learned more about some of the walks they had done.
We thought it was good because it meant we could get tips from them! And we did.
On the way to the Sacred Valley we all swapped our altitude woes and remedies. We wasn´t the only one with headaches!!! We were told to eat even if we didn´t feel like it, it would make the headache go away. And to such on cocoa leaves and drink heaps of cocoa tea. We bought some leaves!!!
We went to Chinchario Plateau first and saw the view of the mountain ranges. The Andes are so spectacular and have a lure. And a real sense of mystery and sacredness. I feel the whole of Perus is like that. A magical sacred place! And here we are..THERE! Such a wonderful feeling to be in this part of the earth! Feels like we´re being enveloped by thousands of years of history.
One of the highlights of today was going to a textile place. It was in the Andes..hidden away and there was a family just weaving all their textile. I knew mum would LOVE it here. There were balls of wall being dyed...women using spinning tops to spin angora and llama...and women weaving with a variety of looms. There was a horizonal frame loom and a foot loom and a waist loom. I couldn´t resist buying a table runner (they said it would be US$130 but i bought it for $100). It´s for mum...and i know it´s going to be so HARD to part with. I keep thinking of all the trips to the post office whenever i think i want to keep it! It´s so GORGEOUS!
The man i bought it from also gave me a little gift of a purse, so i have that to remember the place by. So special seeing all the textiles being produced from first the wool being washed..which we saw! They used a rock to grate the wash off..and it soaps up..and that´s what the wool is washed in. They wouldn´t tell us what the name of the rock was for fear of being exploited! After it was washed, it was spun, then weaved...i will never forget this....and we have a lot of pictures of it all!
We left there thinking we may have paid too much..but..HOW often can you buy textiles in the Andes!!??
After just looking at amazement all around us we drove to the salt mines in Chincharo Plateau. From way above where we precariously walked...we could see all the salt baths..they looked like cheese blocks!
It was 2.30pm by this time..and we were hungry. Jose took us to this restaurant called Alhanbria and there, we listened to more pan flutes and had a delicious buffeet. My headache had gone.....thank goodness!
After lunch...we drove on to a little town that had a corn beer house with a game with a monkey used in it!!! We all had a go of this to see who was going to shout the beers! It´s a game where you have a box on a stand which has a drawer. You throw discs into the monkey and other holes on the top of the box and if you get one in the hole it lands in the drawer. Greg and i got three in each and got 3000 points! Not bad!
The corn beer was something else. Inca beer. There was a red flag hanging outside to show the loclals the beer ws ready! But...We saw it being made..and we tried it...and it was sort of a cross between frothy gingerbeer and beer...and it had a secret recipe. It´s the beer of the Andes!!!
Out the back of the house was a huge pen of guinea pigs...aww so cute! Aww..so delicious...haha....you can pick them and they cook them for you here..at the home restaurant..but to be honest..i dont´think i´ll be eating anymore guinea pigs!
Our little local hostel in Ollantaytambo is nice. We´re sharing a two room section with Barb and Trish and we have two nights here..
Dinner was at a local restaurant...with more music. Not so good this time..and not worth a great tip!! But we did anyway. They really try hard to earn their money here and mainly by music...These guys followed us all the way to the restaurant and then set up their harps and flute and guitar..and they sang their local sad songs...and we were glad when they left!! Aww..
Bed beckoned early..by 9pm there was not a sound in the hostel!
ARRIVED IN CUSCO
Day 258
Cusco. Peru. South America.
We finally flew to Cusco! After staying in our accomodation, The Cabana Quinta, which was reasonable accomodation considering the remoteness and sparseness of the town. The sound of the birds was spectacular (and noisy at the same time!) we packed up in the morning and hoped the shuttle would arrive!
On check out..we were informed that yes, we did have to pay the 160 soles for the nights accomodation and the tour company would not be responsible for it. We wondered how that worked, considering it was a tour, and our accomodation in Cusco would have been cancelled for that night anyway...something we were told to work out once we were in Cusco. The other two girls seemed a bit blase about it..but the way we looked at it was, it was another night, we could have had elsewhere and why should we pick up the bill for it if they did not have to pay in Cusco..........
It did..although it left a few of the group behind! It was so crammed packed with people..and luggage..that they just took off and left 3 people in our group at the hotel!
We were still wondering whether the strike was really over or not..and once we arrived at the airport we saw that it was crowded with all the people from flights that day, as well as all the ones that were cancelled yesterday! We didn´t get any preference...but we didn´t have to pay another lot of airport tax so that was ok.
The trip to Cusco only took 30 minutes and we arrived to a voice telling us to join him. Jose was to be our tour guide for the Cusco and the trek.
He told us Cusco was not responsible for the strike. LAN, the airline was! So..there you go..different voices with different blames..some said it was the ground staff in Cusco. Some said it was coming from Lima. Who knows what happened?
As we boarded the bus hawkers with cocoa tea and lollies met us. Some bought some. We didn´t think the leaves seemed dried enough and Greg was already dubious about more medicines after the hallucinating experience i had in the Amazon!
Cusco is a gorgeous town. Just the journey to our hotel was incredible. ITs colonial yet cosmopolitan. It was old, yet had been rebuilt after the earthquake in the 1950's. The roads were cobbly, the buildings stone. So quaint and exotic at the same time. I wished we were there longer..and not just for the accliimatising of the altitude that i knew we needed. For the feel of the place. And to just be there. It just felt like a gorgoeus little spot to stay a while.
Our hotel was gorgeous. It was in the main square. The plaza de ... As we checked in we were told cocoa tea was available twenty four seven. We took advantage of this and drank about 2 litres over that night!!
After checking in, we found our room and had 50 minutes to get ready for a tour. We were supposed to be doing this later on our tour but due to the lost strike day the plans changed.
We all took off to the incredible Sacsayhuaman. And it was so incredible! To see how the inca´s built their empires was fascinating. And so much supposition and hypothesis attached to the way the stones were lifted. Jose filled us in on the history which we couldn´t get enough of. His personal stories were great! The first citadel was large with a great grassy expanse in the centre. All the walls were built in three tiers. And they were strong, sturdy, symmetrical and solid!
In one of the burial sites there we learned how the bodies are buried with their slaves, animals, gifts and ceremonial artefacts.
The people of Cusco are now are predominately catholics and also believe in their own god´s as well. Real sacredism.
Apparently the people of Cusco celebrate the ceremony of the Mother Earth every Aug 1st where they give payments to god´s. The sacrifice artefacts then burn them.
So much superstition attached to the way they think about things.
I bought a black and white 3 stepped necklace from a local girl here..for five soles. It was representative of the ´trilogy´ that the local people praise. The top was a condor, the middle represented the puma and life and the bottome represented teh snake, which to the inca´s means wisdom.
One little local handler had a condor there for us to see as well...they think of everything!
The next place we went to in Sacsayhuaman was a smaller labrinynth. And that was all built in stones in formations as well. How they mastered the building is a wonder itself. The inca´s were wondrous in their building and engineering skills that´s for sure. What they lacked in other things, not having ladders or wheels for pottery etc they certainly made up for in their stone work!
After this we went to the local cathedral which was just incredible!!! Baroque and ornate. IN a way it was embarrasingly golden...14 carat leaf statues and decorations.`JUST SO much GOLD!! And a long story attached to this as well. Basically the spanish catholics built it at the indian´s expense...and raided all the gold to use as a worship for the god´s. The artwork was amazing. And there was a statue of a black Jesus. There´s more..i could go on for hours about this!
For dinner...Greg and i went to the plaza de amores and found a gorgeous restaurant that had local inca music...
AND.....we ate guinea pig and llama steak!
The guinea pig came out on the plate looking like a large baked rat..with the head and tale..(which wasn´t a rat´s tail!) and it tasted like chicken or turkey. A bit of a cross really. Greg ate most of that..and i ate most of the llama...which was tender and succulent ande very nice!! It just sounds like you´re eating a pet!
What a day though..so much history...and being here in this precious city is just amazing......Cusco...a city of the true inca´s for sure. ALlt he people were wearing peruvian dress..it´s not just a tourist thing..that´s what they wear.
Wait till you see the photos...
They´re colourful..depict the whole story ..and are just incredible!
Tomorrow...we go to Ollanyaytambo...one step closer to the inca trail!!!!
I´m getting nervous...
Cusco. Peru. South America.
We finally flew to Cusco! After staying in our accomodation, The Cabana Quinta, which was reasonable accomodation considering the remoteness and sparseness of the town. The sound of the birds was spectacular (and noisy at the same time!) we packed up in the morning and hoped the shuttle would arrive!
On check out..we were informed that yes, we did have to pay the 160 soles for the nights accomodation and the tour company would not be responsible for it. We wondered how that worked, considering it was a tour, and our accomodation in Cusco would have been cancelled for that night anyway...something we were told to work out once we were in Cusco. The other two girls seemed a bit blase about it..but the way we looked at it was, it was another night, we could have had elsewhere and why should we pick up the bill for it if they did not have to pay in Cusco..........
It did..although it left a few of the group behind! It was so crammed packed with people..and luggage..that they just took off and left 3 people in our group at the hotel!
We were still wondering whether the strike was really over or not..and once we arrived at the airport we saw that it was crowded with all the people from flights that day, as well as all the ones that were cancelled yesterday! We didn´t get any preference...but we didn´t have to pay another lot of airport tax so that was ok.
The trip to Cusco only took 30 minutes and we arrived to a voice telling us to join him. Jose was to be our tour guide for the Cusco and the trek.
He told us Cusco was not responsible for the strike. LAN, the airline was! So..there you go..different voices with different blames..some said it was the ground staff in Cusco. Some said it was coming from Lima. Who knows what happened?
As we boarded the bus hawkers with cocoa tea and lollies met us. Some bought some. We didn´t think the leaves seemed dried enough and Greg was already dubious about more medicines after the hallucinating experience i had in the Amazon!
Cusco is a gorgeous town. Just the journey to our hotel was incredible. ITs colonial yet cosmopolitan. It was old, yet had been rebuilt after the earthquake in the 1950's. The roads were cobbly, the buildings stone. So quaint and exotic at the same time. I wished we were there longer..and not just for the accliimatising of the altitude that i knew we needed. For the feel of the place. And to just be there. It just felt like a gorgoeus little spot to stay a while.
Our hotel was gorgeous. It was in the main square. The plaza de ... As we checked in we were told cocoa tea was available twenty four seven. We took advantage of this and drank about 2 litres over that night!!
After checking in, we found our room and had 50 minutes to get ready for a tour. We were supposed to be doing this later on our tour but due to the lost strike day the plans changed.
We all took off to the incredible Sacsayhuaman. And it was so incredible! To see how the inca´s built their empires was fascinating. And so much supposition and hypothesis attached to the way the stones were lifted. Jose filled us in on the history which we couldn´t get enough of. His personal stories were great! The first citadel was large with a great grassy expanse in the centre. All the walls were built in three tiers. And they were strong, sturdy, symmetrical and solid!
In one of the burial sites there we learned how the bodies are buried with their slaves, animals, gifts and ceremonial artefacts.
The people of Cusco are now are predominately catholics and also believe in their own god´s as well. Real sacredism.
Apparently the people of Cusco celebrate the ceremony of the Mother Earth every Aug 1st where they give payments to god´s. The sacrifice artefacts then burn them.
So much superstition attached to the way they think about things.
I bought a black and white 3 stepped necklace from a local girl here..for five soles. It was representative of the ´trilogy´ that the local people praise. The top was a condor, the middle represented the puma and life and the bottome represented teh snake, which to the inca´s means wisdom.
One little local handler had a condor there for us to see as well...they think of everything!
The next place we went to in Sacsayhuaman was a smaller labrinynth. And that was all built in stones in formations as well. How they mastered the building is a wonder itself. The inca´s were wondrous in their building and engineering skills that´s for sure. What they lacked in other things, not having ladders or wheels for pottery etc they certainly made up for in their stone work!
After this we went to the local cathedral which was just incredible!!! Baroque and ornate. IN a way it was embarrasingly golden...14 carat leaf statues and decorations.`JUST SO much GOLD!! And a long story attached to this as well. Basically the spanish catholics built it at the indian´s expense...and raided all the gold to use as a worship for the god´s. The artwork was amazing. And there was a statue of a black Jesus. There´s more..i could go on for hours about this!
For dinner...Greg and i went to the plaza de amores and found a gorgeous restaurant that had local inca music...
AND.....we ate guinea pig and llama steak!
The guinea pig came out on the plate looking like a large baked rat..with the head and tale..(which wasn´t a rat´s tail!) and it tasted like chicken or turkey. A bit of a cross really. Greg ate most of that..and i ate most of the llama...which was tender and succulent ande very nice!! It just sounds like you´re eating a pet!
What a day though..so much history...and being here in this precious city is just amazing......Cusco...a city of the true inca´s for sure. ALlt he people were wearing peruvian dress..it´s not just a tourist thing..that´s what they wear.
Wait till you see the photos...
They´re colourful..depict the whole story ..and are just incredible!
Tomorrow...we go to Ollanyaytambo...one step closer to the inca trail!!!!
I´m getting nervous...
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