The Inca Trail

There has been some big news for me recently, as I have decided that I am going to return to Peru for an extra few months! I will still be coming back to Minnesota in about two weeks (Nov. 16) to get in the final weekend of deer season with my friend Greg, catch up with other friends, and to see my family for Thanksgiving and stay through Christmas! Then I will be returning to Lima at the beginning of January. Now onto the update from Peru...

A few friends and I went on a weekend trip up north to Huanchaco. We stayed in a pretty cool hostal right on the beach, and spent the weekend trying to surf. When I was in Hawaii with Rob two years ago, we tried surfing using short boards (like what the pros use). We absolutely failed miserably, even with the help of a few locals, Rob's friend Zan and one of his friends.

Knowing that it is literally impossible to surf on a short board, we decided to take lessons using a long board. We managed to do okay... and by okay, I mean we maybe each got up on one wave. Either way, it was great fun and great exercise. My body was sore for the entire next week!

We also went to go see some ruins, which were alright. After seeing Machu Picchu twice, I am a bit spoiled when it comes to seeing other ruins. As my dad said along the Inca Trail, "They're called ruins for a reason. They're just a pile of rocks. Eventually, you don't really want to see any more piles of rocks..." or something to that effect.

Ocean view with clear skies! Something that Lima has been lacking...

My friend Kristyn at the Chan Chan ruins

Waves coming into Huanchaco

Cool reed boats that they use to get around in

Getting to and from Huanchaco wasn't too bad. It was about a 9 hour overnight busride each way, and we got to watch plenty of crappy movies dubbed into Spanish. Always entertaining!

For my 23rd birthday (October 20 in case you forgot...), my dad came down to visit. He came down here to visit my sister in February with my mom, aunt, and her partner, but they were unable to see Machu Picchu because the path to-and-from had been taken out by record floods.

(On a side note, if you want to read about the floods, my friend Danni was trapped in the town of Aguas Calientes when that happened for one week before getting helicoptered out. She wrote an article for the BBC about her time that she was trapped.)

I hadn't seen my dad (or any of my family for that matter) since May, so it was great to get to see him! I met him around midnight at the Lima airport (at the 4D to get some ice cream...) and we had a few hours to catch up. We flew to Cusco early the next morning (Saturday), as we would be starting the Inca Trail on Tuesday. It is generally recommended to get to Cusco a few days early to acclimate yourself to the altitude before starting to hike 42 kilometers through the mountains...

We spent the first day in Cusco just walking around and relaxing. We were both exhausted from lack of sleep and also the altitude. The second day, we decided to test out our conditioning and do a mini-hike up to the Cristo Blanco (White Jesus) statue. An interesting fact about the Cristo Blanco: it was actually a gift from Palestinians that were living in Cusco during World War II. We both did alright hiking, but we were definitely feeling the effects of the altitude. 

The next day we took an all-day taxi tour to two different ruins as well as a church that is famous for the amount of gold that it contains. We started out by going to Tipón, which was an Incan city with incredible water channels, funneling water down from a nearby mountain to feed many acres of crops, built in terraces. The next stop was Pikillacta, which was a pre-Incan city that housed up to 20,000 soldiers at any given time. The city had great walls and still has many houses that are in good condition, even after countless earthquakes in the region. 

For lunch, we decided to stop and have cuy al horno (baked guinea pig). I had guinea pigs as pets when I was younger, but I still decided that I wanted to give it a try. We had no idea how to eat it (as it just came on the plate whole), but the waitress came around to help us cut it. If you have an undying love of guinea pigs, I recommend not looking at the fourth or fifth pictures or the video!

My dad and I at Cristo Blanco. Me wearing my Randy Moss jersey from 12 years ago. I guess I can bring that back home with me in two weeks to put BACK into storage...

Tipón and all of the terraces

My dad enjoying the mountains

Cuy al horno

My dad, the taxi driver, and I about to enjoy cuy al horno

On Tuesday morning, we woke up early to take a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the city of Ollantaytambo, where we would start the Inca Trail. The trail is a 4 day, 3 night hike to (you guessed it!) Machu Picchu winding 42 kilometers through the Andes Mountains. This is a very similar hike to the Salkantay Trek (link to my blog post about that trip that includes many more pictures of Machu Picchu) that Rob and I did at the beginning of August, but is more historic because it is actually one of the original trails that the Incan people used to get from Cusco (their capital) to Machu Picchu.

We were put into a group with only two other people, a couple from Vancouver, Canada. The two were celebrating their honeymoon and he convinced her to do the trek (her first time camping) and afterwards, they'd take a cruise to the Galapagos Islands. Joe is a police officer that is currently working in Afghanistan and Jennie works for the Canadian embassy in DC. We got along great with them and our guide, Socrates, was very knowledgeable and made the trek very enjoyable.

Our group at the starting point

My dad and I crossing a small bridgre along the way

Nice view of the mountains

Wearing the poncho

For my birthday, the chef baked (somehow) a birthday cake for me for us to have for breakfast! That was incredible! This was definitely my most memorable birthday that I have ever had. It started with a 5:30 am birthday cake, complete with singing from the porters, continued over the highest pass of the trek, and ended at a beautiful campsite surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. My dad and I had celebrated with cigars and a cerveza when we arrived to camp. Definitely something that I will never forget. And to top it all off - they made us a "Happy Honeymoon" cake for dinner that night for the other two!

My birthday cake!

Yes - that is a Minnesota North Stars sweatshirt, for a game played in Vancouver, Canada (a perfect sweatshirt for our group!)

Our group along with the porters

Dr. John taking a stroll through the Andes

Nice view

Waterfalls as seen from the second campsite

Sunrise on day 3

The group overlooking some ruins

My dad atop the third pass

The mountain in the middle is Machu Picchu Mountain - where my dad and I would climb the next day. The town of Machu Picchu is on the other side of the mountain

Snow-capped mountains at sunset - beautiful

My dad's first glimpse of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu with my Dad!

The peak is Machu Picchu Mountain

The view from the the top of Machu Picchu mountain with the Incan flag on top

The view of Machu Picchu from the top of Machu Picchu mountain

"May peace prevail on Earth"

It was absolutely the trip of a lifetime and something that I will never forget. My dad is going to write a letter that I will post to the blog as well, for his view of the trip. There are more pictures in my Picassa album (link on the right side of the page) if you want to check out more of the pics from the trek, or any of my other pictures that I've taken here in Peru!

I also got a chance to go to the Green Day concert for 20 soles ($7) with a few Peruvian friends, so I included a few pics of that as well.

Green Day concert

Nohelia, Miguel and I at the concert

And I suppose I can't help but add in a picture of my Halloween costume... I was Barney this year and went with a friend dressed as Winnie the Pooh. Very entertaining...

Barney and Winnie the Pooh at a sports bar...