The Sacred Valley
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2010
1
26
47
Trip End
May 27, 2010
Ollantaytambo, Cusco, Peru
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
I woke up super early yesterday morning, well like 6 30 am, to get to the airport by 7 so that I would be there for the requisite 2 hours before my 9 10 flight from Lima to Cuzco. It turns out that my flight was delayed until 1 pm, so I had a lot of time in the airport to kill and got a free breakfast out of it. Checking in right after me were two girls in hiking clothes with backpacks and hiking poles, so I struck up a conversation with them. They were also going to Cuzco but were doing a 5 day hike, not the Incan Trail one. Good for them. Four days is more than enough for me. They were both from the states and really nice, so I ended up spending all my time at the airport with them doing the usual things - eating breakfast, checking out the bookstore, listening to cds for free in the souvenir shops. It was nice to have the company. The couple who sat beside me on the plane were also from the states, and very friendly. We talked for the whole hour flight.
I got a lady who worked at a tourist booth in the airport to hook me up with an official taxi who took me from the airport to my hotel, which is really really nice by the way. Except for the fact that my room was on the 4th floor, and I had a really hard time making it up there. I realized a few minutes later that while I am out of shape, it was the altitude that made it very difficult. The air is noticably thinner up here, and I was huffing and puffing and stopping to catch my breath all night. I didnt sleep well at all, because I constantly felt like I couldnt breathe, that I couldnt get enough air, and that isnt a fun feeling. You do get used to it though. Now I dont notice it until every once in a while I have to take a deep breath, or when I climbing hills or stairs.
My roommate is awesome. Her name is Katherine and she is from England and she´s my age. She has also been travelling alone, starting in Australia and then New Zealand, now in Peru, and then she´s going to spend some time in the States and Canada. We have so much in common and hung out the entire first day in Cuzco. We went shopping - something I´ve wanted to do for a really long time and she likes that too. I bought a pair of dark skinny jeans which I actually love, a really cute top for airports and going out at night, a loose fitting t-shirt for hiking in and one of those really baggy long tank tops that go nicely with a pair of leggings and remind you of the ´80s. Liss and Lea will be so proud of me. I also bought a really nice pair of gloves and a matching touque made out of alpaca fur. Soft and pretty. Katherine had no idea what a touque is, but she´s going to use that when she gets to Canada.
We ate at a fancy shmancy restaurant where the food looked more like artwork than something you would actually eat, but it was really good. This morning we woke up at 6 30 to shower, had breakfast at 7, and were out the door by 7 30. We took a bus to the Pisac ruins first. It was pretty high up, and I discovered that in addition to being prone to seasickness, I also get altitude sickness. My symptoms include quite the headache, feeling dehydrated and exhausted, and slightly nauseous. I´ve been trying to drink more water and I had some coco tea (tea made with coco leaves, the same leaves that are used to make cocaine. In its tea form its used as a medicine for altitude sickness, because it thins your blood and makes you inhale faster so your body can absorb more oxygen) and also some coco candies. After lunch I began taking my altitude sickness pills, so hopefully I´ll be okay tomorrow. I still have a headache. The ruins were really cool, really high, and I got great pictures, but it was really difficult climbing up and down all the stairs at that altitude with sun beating down. In fact, on my way back, I almost decided not to do the Incan Trail at all, instead head to Cuzco and go to Machu Pichu by train. But Katherine and this girl from Holland and everyone else in my group is so encouraging, that I´m going to do my best to stick it out. Apparently there are people who dont make the Incan Trail, but I really really hope I´m not one of them. We´ll see how it goes.
My tour group, by the way, is totally awesome. They are all my age, they are mostly girls, and they are from all over the world and many of them are travelling alone. A really cool group. I´m looking forward to getting to know everyone better over the next few days.
We also went to the Pisac market, but I was feelign so awful the whole time I didnt stray very far from the bus. From there we drove to Ollantaytambo, a small little town where the last remaining descendents of the Incans still live. There are ruins here, in the shape of a Llama, but you can´t tell unless you see it in a picture from the air. Lots of stairs though, and of course more nice pictures. We took that slowly and we didnt go that high or for very long, so I managed that. Now we have free time so a bunch of people in the group went out for drinks and I´m going to head back to the hostal and probably have a nap or watch tv. I´m really tired, and you´re supposed to take it easy when you´re not used to the altitude. I still have a cold - blowing my nose and coughing all the time, and combined wiht my headache, I dont really feel like going out. I do want to buy some snacks for tomorrow though, because we start the actual Inca Trail tomorrow and will be camping at night and wont reach another town until the last day. Wish me luck!
