Day 7

Finally, sleeping in! We didn't get up until almost 8am. All we had on our agenda was to check out of the hotel (ask them to watch our bags) and do some last minute shopping. We headed out to a market to find a shawl for Linze and a T-shirt for Brian. After that, we headed to the main square, where we discovered a parade forming. We stood watching the parade for a long time. We are still unsure of what most of the costumes and dances were representing. They were very strange looking. After a while, we worried that we were getting even more sunburned (it was so nice out). I spotted a balcony overlooking the parade route that was open for lunch. We quickly ran up and grabbed a table with an amazing view. We watched for hours as we leisurely ate lunch. We left after the parade had been going for 3 hours and was still showing no signs of being over.

We made it to the hotel, used the bathroom, got our stuff, and then our guide picked us up and took us to the airport.

We waited in the airport and filled out postcards. Our flight was on time to Lima, so we boarded at 4:45am. We arrived at 6pm back at our favorite airport. Here we ate dinner of Papa Johns, wasted time, and then boarded the plane at 10:50pm. The plane was nice and we were able to sleep some on the flight.

We landed on time at 5:20am Sunday, and sat in the airport of Miami. We had breakfast while we waited. When we boarded our Miami to San Fran flight at 7:30am we got the best surprise of our lives. We found out that our seats, which were not together (2 and 2)were the best seats on the whole plane. They were origionally for the flight crew to sleep, but had been turned into coach seats. The seats fully laid back and had foot rests that came all the way up. We were given comforters (not scratchy blankets) and fluffy pillows, just like the first class seats! There were no seats behind us or in front of us. We were almost in a pod like space. Since the flight was 6 hours long, we enjoyed our sleep for the whole 6 hours!

We arrived in San Fran very well rested. We waited FOREVER! for our luggage. Finally, we were off to our parking space. Once there, we realized that we could not find our receipt saying we already paid. So, we had to pay again and get a form to fill out later to be reimbursed when we find the receipt.

Then, again, finally we were off to Portland via an 11 hour drive. I drove the whole way and we stopped a few times to eat, but otherwise had a very uneventful trip back. We got home at 10:30pm and collapsed in bed after a very nice shower.

Peru - Day 8

Day 6

4am came very early. This last night Josh and I slept better than we had all trip, but still not very soundly. The ground was very hard each night and the mat was not very plush. We pretty much tossed and turned every 30 minutes or so to give our sides a break.

Anyway, it was still pretty dark, so we quickly tried to pack and get to breakfast. They served pancakes!! We got in line outside the entrance to the hike down to Machu Picchu, which opened at 5:30AM. The hike to Machu Picchu was pretty hilly, but we were finally acclimatized and able to enjoy the hills without too much huffing and puffing. We all stayed together, but really booked it to the sun gate. This was the top of a mountain where you get your first glimpse of Machu Picchu. Of course, it was pouring down rain, so we could barely make out the ruins below. After more hiking, we made it to Machu Picchu just after 7am.

The sun broke through most of the clouds and we got some fabulous pictures. Juan gave us a wonderful tour of Machu Picchu and we were in awe of the buildings and scenery. After a while, the clouds started to gather again, so we took a few last photos of each other (glam shots) and headed to the bus as it started to rain. We took a bus down the mountain to the small town of Agua Calientes. Juan was waiting for us at a restaurant where we ordered Pisco sours and pizza. Then, it was to the train for a 1 1/2 hour trip to the beginning of our hike. It felt good that it took so long to take a fast train to the beginning of our trip. From there, we boarded a bus, sans porters, and headed for Cuzco. We got the best views of the snow-capped mountains on the trip (as seen in the photos taken from inside the bus). We arrived back to the hotel at 6pm. We ran for the showers.

After showers, we headed out for dinner next door at Boheme again. It was delicious again. We went to do some shopping to kill time before we were supposed to meet the people from our trip at a bar called Ukukus. However, it was very difficult to find and when we got there, only 1 person (the person who suggested it) was there. We had one drink, gave up on the others and headed back to fall into bed. At this point, Josh was not feeling well. He had both the runs and a bad sinus infection. We slept like the dead.

Peru - Day 7

Day 5

Day 5 started off the same as day 4. Hot tea, water, and a very early morning. We had one difference at breakfast. One of the guys on the trip had a birthday, so the chef actually baked and frosted not one, but two cakes! Check out the picture. Can you believe they were able to do that at over 13,000 feet? It was absolutely amazing to eat too! The taste of orange, strawberry, and vanilla. It was seriously good.

After breakfast, we headed off on our "easier" day. It started with gaining almost as many feet as yesterday, but a lot more down. When I say down, I mean break-neck stairs. I guess I should mention that the Inca trail was mostly stones laid in a path, but on the steep part, it was actually stairs, many of the stairs were very narrow, much more narrow than my size 9 1/2 feet. It was brutal.

We hiked and hiked and hiked. There was a late lunch because of the terrain, but they gave us a snack to take with us. Orange, apple, candy, cookies. Yum. We didn't start off very fast because one girl in our group was very altitude sick (throwing up and very weak). The only way to get better is to get to lower elevation. Unfortunately, the only way to lower elevation is to go up, up, up, then down. By the time we stopped for lunch, altitude had claimed another victim.

The hike was interesting because we went through several different micro-climates. It was much like a cool temperature jungle. We saw so many beautiful plants and several ruins.

Despite people not feeling well, we all made it to camp for the night.

This was an exciting campground because it had a bar, shop, restaurant, and most importantly SHOWERS! They were supposed to be hot, but they turned out not to be any hotter than luke-warm. We did enjoy a few drinks and loved feeling clean, although it was freezing to take the shower. After dinner, we had all the porters gather together to present our tip. It was very sweet that Juan had each porter stand up and say their name and how happy they were with us, and us with them. We didn't tip as much as we would have liked, considering how much they did for us.

Everyone was in good spirits and met for a quick drink before bed. We were going to be getting up at 4am to get to the sun gate by sunrise.

Peru - Day 6

Day 4

We were awakened at dawn (5:45)with a nice hot cup of coca tea. Did I mention that coca tea is made with the leaves that are turned into cocaine? :) They also set out tubs of hot water and soap to wash up with. The bathrooms at this first campsite were probably the worst I have seen, I mean smell, ever. There was no light of course, but worse, there was not a way to "flush" the hole in the ground. You had to wipe, then put the used toilet paper into a wastebasket near the "door." With no light and no flushing, you can only imagine how horrible the stench and sight was.

Anyway, we packed up our things and headed over to breakfast. This also was a nice spread of food. They had lots tea, hot chocolate, and very strong coffee (think of a shot of espresso and a whole cup full of milk unable to water it down). They made each of us a fresh omelet with tomatoes, green peppers, and cheese (I ate around the veggies). They also had jelly and bread.

We stayed together as a group for the first hour or so. It was "easy" for the first 2 hours. I can tell you that it wasn't "easy" for me. The altitude was really hard for me. I was huffing and puffing during the "small" hills. Luckily, Linze and Josh were willing to wait for me and Joshy to take our time up the big hills.

This was a beautiful day and although the hike was one of the hardest I have ever been on. We stopped every 20 meters or so to "take pictures" or "tie our shoes" or anything else that let us stop. All told, we gained 3,000 feet in just a few hours. The bad news was that we had to go back down almost all those feet. So, we died on the way up, but our knees almost blew out on the way down. It started to rain on the way down, which made the steep stairs very difficult to navigate. Linze and Joshy started to book it at this point (for some reason they are very annoyed by rain and always take off to try to get out of nature as fast as possible). The funny part was when Joshy was having trouble keeping up, then slid, fell on his ass, but managed to accidentally get revenge on Linze going too fast, by flinging his walking stick and hitting her in the leg.

We arrived at camp by 3pm, and found we were the last ones there. They had all waited on lunch for us (which was nice and unexpected). We again had a huge feast and enjoyed soup and many plates of food. After lunch, we went to find the bathroom where we had a very interesting experience. We had brought toilet paper, but when you try and poop while squatting over a toilet bowl with no lid, the poop tends to stick to your butt. So, even though I was shaking and shaking, the poop would not fall. So, I had to grab ahold of it and try to wipe clean. However, I did not have enough toilet paper. All I had with me was a map of Cuzco. So, even after tearing it into 4 pieces, getting poo on my hands, I gave up and came out of the bathroom. Linze was up next, she also ran out of toilet paper, yelled from the stall and Josh handed her his old plane ticket. Again, like my experience, a torn up plane ticket does not stop you from getting poo on your hands, or get your butt clean. I rememembered that Dave and Rowan had baby wipes. We went back to camp on a mission to get our backsides clean. They obliged and soon we kicked the boys out of our tents and spent some quality, but cold and slimy time getting cleaned up.

After that, we decided to go and stretch. Man are we true believers of stretching after this trip.

We headed back to camp for tea time where we had crackers and popcorn again. However, we were not as hungry since we had just eaten lunch. We ate anyway of course.

After snack, we walked around and took pictures of mountains and the campground. It wasn't long before dinner, which we were not very hungry for either.

We ate a huge dinner and even managed to eat desert.

Again, we went to bed early since the next day would be the longest hike. Plus, it was cloudy and no stars.

Peru - Day 5

Day 3

We woke up at about 5am and ate breakfast at the hotel. Juan was a little late picking us up, but we got in the van about 6:10am. The van had about 10 people on it, including two girls from our white water rafting trip. We made one more stop to pick up the last people from our trip, and then once again to pick up our porters. I can tell you the smell was one I have never experienced. It was spicy, pungent, and with a slight hint of wet manure. We were on the bus until 10:30, so we really got to enjoy the full subtleties of the smell.

At one point, we stopped to get gas. I went to the bathroom in the "restroom." I had no idea that my experience at the gas station was a preview of what was to come. Of course, I forgot to bring toilet paper with me, so I was forced to use a business card to wipe. It worked about as well as you could imagine.

We arrived at a small town just outside the beginning of the trail. The ladies immediately tried to get us to buy all sorts of things. We settled on buying walking sticks and ponchos. We had a quick cup of coca tea and then were wisked away on the bus again.

The rest of the trip was very interesting because it was a one lane road but two way traffic. So, everytime another car/van came, both vehicles would honk and the one with the loudest or most persistant honk got to go forward, the weaker vehicle would have to go backwards until there was enough space for the weakling to pull over enough for the loud one to get by.

We finally arrived at the start of the trail where we were bombarded again by the local ladies who peddled more wares. We started walking by crossing the Urubamba river. The hike was pretty easy, not much up or down. We stopped at about 1pm for lunch. The porters set up a large tent and cooked food for us.

While we waited (the only day we actually had to wait for lunch) we played with a small booke, where two of the guys with us made a dam. A local little girl came and talked to us and sat while we played with the dam. Our lunch started with quinoa soup (delicious) and chicken. We finished with tea.

We got walking again and stopped after a few hours. The porters had run ahead of us and set up for tea time. They made hot water for tea or hot chocolate and brought out cookies and freshly popped popcorn! We couldn't belive it. After a nice long tea and getting to know our fellow travelers, Juan called us out to look at the sunset.

The "sunset" was really watching the setting sun's rays hit the snow-capped mountains. Which, of course we hated. Just kidding, we took like a million pictures. After the sun went down, it was almost time for dinner, so we went into the tents to get our stuff all ready for bed. Dinner was incredible. We started with soup again, then we had about 5 dishes of vegetables, rice, potatoes, pasta, and chicken. It was sooooooo good.

After dinner, we went outside to enjoy the stars. They were so vibrant and bright. We hit the sack early since we would be getting up at 5:45am to get started on the hardest day of hiking.

Peru - Day 4