The Inca Trail

There is of course another option if you don't want to take the train—you can spend four days hiking the Inca Trail. The trail starts outside of Ollantaytambo, and the train stopped there to let trekkers disembark. (There is also a one-day option now; you can get off the train closer to Machu Picchu and do a seven-hour hike. We all joked that we wished we'd known about that option before we decided to take the train.)

The picture on the left shows the sherpas who carry all the food and equipment for the hike, and the hikers are on the right.

The Machu Picchu Express

The ninety-minute train ride from Ollantaytambo follows the Urubamba River through spectacular scenery. All of these pictures were taken through the train windows so aren't as clear as they could be, but you can see how the mountains change as you move into the high jungle.

The road to Machu Picchu

I always underestimate the size of countries in Africa; on a map they appear comparatively small, just a small percentage of the total land mass of the continent. But that continent itself is huge, and the individual countries are always much bigger than I would guess.

I think the same may be true for South America—I was shocked to learn that Peru is almost twice the size of Texas. I would have guessed it was maybe the size of California, or a little smaller, but it's much much bigger.

And all of that land is very diverse. There are 34 types of climatic zones, and Peru has 20 of them, from the deserts in the south and on the coast, to the Andes, and then the Amazon Basin.

You can see the changes as you head from Cusco north to Machu Picchu. The mountains in the south are brown and rocky, with little snow. Machu Picchu is in what is called “the eyebrow of the Amazon,” a high-altitude jungle.

There are no roads into Machu Picchu; you have to take a train from Ollantaytambo to what used to be called Aguas Calientes and is now being rebranded as Machu Picchu Pueblo, the town at the base of the mountain. From there it's a death-defying (only a slight exaggeration!) bus ride up the mountain to the ruins.

Faces of Peru

Women selling textiles and souvenirs at the overlook very generously allowed themselves and their children to be photographed.

Cordillera Urubamba

We stopped at this overlook on the drive from Cusco to the Sacred Valley. The mountains behind me are the Cordillera Urubamba; I think the snow-capped peak is Sahuasiray.

The altitude challenge

Honestly, I wasn't expecting to have such a hard time with the altitude. I knew that climbing ruins at high altitudes would be a challenge, but I thought my knees would be more of a problem than the altitude itself. I've spent time at altitudes from 5000 to 8000 feet without any symptoms more serious than a headache, so I thought that after a few days I'd be acclimated.

Our first night in the mountains, we were in the Sacred Valley, at an elevation just under 10,000 feet. And I felt fine—until I didn't. I started to feel dizzy during dinner, and by the time we were finished the room was spinning. All of the tourist hotels in the mountains have oxygen available, and our guide suggested I might need some. I thought they'd just hand me something like the little cans of oxygen they had for sale in the lobby, but they wheeled a tank to my room that looked like something you might drop from a plane on an enemy city. I breathed through a mask for ten minutes, the tank was removed, and I spent the rest of the night throwing up.

In the morning they sent me to the local clinic, where I was given more oxygen, and altitude sickness medication. And I was better, but the symptoms came and went until I went back to Lima. So, does coca help? Yes, a little. I would have tea with breakfast, and suck on the candies during the day. It gets rid of the headaches, and gives you a little burst of energy, but it's no substitute for oxygen.

And yet. I would go back. I loved Peru, and I would love to go back. I tell myself that maybe if I started on the medications sooner, or acclimated differently, I would adjust better. It's crazy; I was pretty sick. But I dream about going back.

Fish market

Some of the future ceviche on display at the market.

Welcome to the working week

A woman working at the fish market in Chorrillos.

Sunday bird blogging

Peruvian pelicans outside the fish market in Chorrillos, south of Lima.

Peruvian politics

Since I am talking about Lima again, here's a picture of the presidential palace. It's also known as the House of Pizarro, since it sits on the site of the first Government Palace, built by Pizarro. This building dates primarily from the 1920's.

It is the official residence of the president of Peru, and as such has seen a fair amount of turnover in its occupants. The current president (and first woman in the job), is Dina Boluarte. She was vice president under Pedro Castillo, who was impeached after attempting a coup. (Sound familiar, Americans?)

Castillo is now in the same prison on the outskirts of Lima as two other former presidents, Alberto Fujimori and Alejandro Toledo; I believe a few other former presidents are under house arrest elsewhere.

Saturday reflections

Not technically reflections, but similar effects. These are glass blocks from the hotel in Lima, which turned the streets of Miraflores into abstracts.

Weaving

Weaving using a backstrap loom. It will take her more than forty hours of work to finish this piece.

Giving it a spin

Where the wool comes from

I didn't get any good pictures of the alpacas because I was too busy feeding them. But I like the expressions on their faces here, when the group had moved on to feeding the llamas. “Wait! I'm still hungry!”