Peru, day 9 & 10 (Sept 17 & 18)

Sept 17 we were off to start our trek. It was a loooong bus ride, 10 hours. Basically, from Cusco we drove around Machu Picchu to Vilcabamba and from there we'd be hiking back to Machu Picchu. On the drive we had to go over a 4,200 meter (almost 14,000 feet) high pass. We could all feel it. Gave us headaches. The road over the pass was very scary! It was barely two lanes wide, and it was terrifying when we had to pass another vehicle. Even our most unflappable member was finding it difficult. I had to literally shield my eyes from even looking in that direction.

Here's a view looking back on the road we'd been coming up. One switchback after another...

And here's a picture of what it looked like when we passed another vehicle. Insane!!! There was NO room for error! Towards the top it started getting really foggy, which just made me more nervous. And then, the paved road ended and it was gravel the rest of the way. I tell ya, when we reached the lower elevations, I wanted to get out and kiss the ground!

We finally arrived in Vilcabamba, a very small town in the high jungle, about 3,200 meters. From there we were a five day hike from Machu Picchu. We arrived just in time to set up our tents before the rain rolled in. So far, we'd been very lucky with the weather. This was the start of the rainy season, but it could go either way. We were all hoping this wasn't a omen of weather to come! :) Here's mom in our tent set up at Vilcabamba.
Here we are having dinner that first night. The plan was to stay in Vilcabamba for two nights: the day we got there, do a moderate hike the next day, stay that night and then head out for the trek early the next morning. So, in the below picture from left to right we have: Carla, Toni hidden behind Carla, Ida half hidden by the pole, Anne (she's the one who arranged the whole trip), Carol, Jean, me, Clasina, Maureen and her husband Ken. Missing are my mom, Kim and Rudolph. Ida is Anne's sister, and came all the way from Germany for this!


Sept 18 ~Here we are the next morning heading out for our hike. We were going to hike for about 4-5 hours, stretch our legs. This was Wilbur's chance to really gauge our fitness level. We took our "starting" picture today, so that we wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow. The rain had also cleared up for our hike. It had rained cats and dogs (or since I was in Peru guess I should say... llamas and alpacas?) all night long, but cleared up right before we got out of our tents.



Shortly after the above picture was taken we had to step to the side of the trail to let a herd of horses run past us. While we did so, Toni, Anne and Kim were way at the back. They unfortunately took the wrong turn and would up on the wrong side of a ravine. It was rather interesting to lose people from our group on the first day! :) Eventually we got them back and continued on towards the Vilcabamba ruins, Nusta H'ispana and Vitkos. Here is mom going up some Inca steps. Again...whew! They tuckered us out.

Here's Nusta H'ispana. It was a sacred site used by the priests. It was only partially completed because the Inca didn't have time to complete it before the Spanish found them again. Vilcabamba and Vitkos were the last strongholds of the Inca. They had fled to this area to try and get away from the Spanish. It worked for a while, but they were eventually found. You can see me sitting facing the camera. The other side of this was all terraced. You can see that on my Flickr gallery.

And this is Vitkos. The last Inca king, Tupac Amaru was here in the last Inca stronghold for... I think it was about 10 years. He was tricked by the Spanish to come to Cusco, where, they told him, he would be honored. Instead he was tortured and murdered. And so ended the Inca rule. War is always sad. Sad, sad, sad. Here we are coming into Vitkos. It's high up on a hill that has almost 360 degree view, good for defending. It's being rebuilt/restored, so doesn't look as much like a ruin as some of the other archaeological sites.
We made our way back to camp, had dinner and went to bed early. The next morning the horses would be packed up with all our stuff...and we were leaving! :)