Tuesday, March 21, 2006
La Paz, Bolivia
I did the Inca Trail from 7th - 10th March. Despite the huge amount of hype and the cost ($300), it definitely lived up to expectations. There were 13 of us in our group, plus 2 guides, a chef and an alarming number of porters...about 15 I think. All we tourists had to do was walk: the porters carried our tents, the cooking equipment, the food, the dining table, chairs, etc. Amusingly, we noticed one was carrying a toilet seat, but we didn't use it and I can't imagine why we would've needed it. At lunchtime the porters run ahead to set up the dining tent, so that's all ready when we arrive, they prepare the food and even serve it to us. In the evening they go ahead and set up all our tents for the night. I'd hardly describe it as camping, it was such an easy experience. And the food was brilliant. In addition to the 3 meals a day, we had a 'teatime' which I especially enjoyed: they made us loads of popcorn and there was a selection of teas including coca-leaf tea, which was very nice.
The whole thing was somewhat less wild and remote than I'd imagined. I'd been worried about what to do when I needed a crap, but it turned out there were washblocks at all the campsites. It was also hard to imagine that you were in a remote location when there were hundreds of people on the paths!
The walk itself was great. The first day was a gentle climb along river valleys. We passed some interesting little communities which could only be reached by walking along the trail. The second day started with a long, long climb up to the first pass, "Dead Woman's Pass" - I don't know why it's called that. I ended up with the people at the back who were struggling a bit with the altitude. We adopted a one minute walk, one minute break technique, but it was still hard work. The pass was at 4200 metres, which is the highest point on the trek and must be the highest I'd been in my life, so it felt like quite an achievement.
After that the trail went up and down over 2 more passes. There were beautiful views of mountain scenery along the way, and we also got to look round some Inca ruins. Later on, we were using original Inca paths (which had been partly restored) which were impressive engineering: they wound round the sides of the mountains and were sort of built up away from the mountain on the outside edge, in order that they'd be flat. On day 3, after reaching the third pass there was a long, long walk downhill.
This was hard work, and I was glad I'd bought a walking stick (like the ones you can see in the photo). But we reached the campsite by lunch, so had the afternoon off. We spent some of that time visiting some nearby ruins called Huiñay Huina, which I thought were really impressive.
There were terraces curving round over a huge swathe of mountainside, giving a sort of amphitheatre effect. We got up very early on day 4 to walk to Maccu Picchu. Here's my obligatory photo:
After 3 days of walking it needed to be impressive...and it really was! The setting was incredible: 1. it's perched right on top of a mountain. After the buildings stop, there are terraces sloping down the mountain...then they end and it's a sheer drop to the river gorges below. 2. This whole mountain is surrounded by bigger mountains, so it's totally hidden! The ruins themselves were on a massive scale and we had a great time looking round them in the morning. It was fairly quiet to start with...then later in the morning the tour buses arrived and it became as busy as a modern-day city. A bathe in the hot springs in the nearby town was a nice way to finish off the trip. We then had to endure a hellishly long train ride back to Cuzco...somehow it took about 6 hours...I'm sure I could have walked it faster.
The next day I travelled to Puno, a town in southern Peru on Lake Titicaca. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the time to stay there. The flights I'd booked gave me just three and a half weeks for Peru and Bolivia, so I didn't do nearly as much stuff as I'd wanted to. So the next day I crossed over into Bolivia, to another town on Lake Titicaca called Copacabana. This was my first overland border crossing. I'd expected some sort of military checkpoint, with officers demanding bribes before I could get across...but actually it was really easy. You just walk across freely, and go into little buildings on either side to get your passport stamped.
I really liked Copacabana - a big factor was probably the fantastic weather. I don't know...I was expecting something colder and bleaker...after all, Lake Titicaca is the biggest high lake, or the highest big lake in the world, or something. Actually, the place felt like a seaside resort. It even brought to mind an old fashioned English seaside resort: there were donkey rides and people floating around on the lake in pedaloes. I stolled up and down the front, and a woman kept pestering me to hire a canoe. She was remarkabley persistant...but it turned out she was right - I did want a go. I felt a bit sad going in a 2-person canoe on my own, but at 5 Bolivianos (about 35p) how could I say no? Yeah, that's the other thing I liked about the place...everywhere I'd been had been cheap by British standards...but this place was exceptional. My accomodation cost 15 Bolivianos per night, which is just over 1 pound.
I had one more full day in Copacabana, which I spent visiting Isle del Sol (Island of the Sun). As I got onto the boat I heard someone call my name. I knew I'd bumped in to someone I'd met, but as it had happened so many times before, it really didn't surprise me. It turned out to be Tim and Sonja, who'd volunteered at Jatun Sacha with me! We went round the island together and had a lovely day. There are (of course) Inca ruins. More specifically, there is the site where the first Inca, the child of the sun, rose from the lake. I'm reading a book about the Incas (it felt like the right thing to do) and the ruling family didn't really beleive they were decended from the sun. But everyone else thought they were: the ruling family were the only ones who knew the truth. This helped them to appear divine to their subjects, so their rule wouldn't be questioned. Um...anyway, after that we walked the length of the island, had a drink and the boat picked us up at the other end. Let's see if I can find a nice photo....
I did the Inca Trail from 7th - 10th March. Despite the huge amount of hype and the cost ($300), it definitely lived up to expectations. There were 13 of us in our group, plus 2 guides, a chef and an alarming number of porters...about 15 I think. All we tourists had to do was walk: the porters carried our tents, the cooking equipment, the food, the dining table, chairs, etc. Amusingly, we noticed one was carrying a toilet seat, but we didn't use it and I can't imagine why we would've needed it. At lunchtime the porters run ahead to set up the dining tent, so that's all ready when we arrive, they prepare the food and even serve it to us. In the evening they go ahead and set up all our tents for the night. I'd hardly describe it as camping, it was such an easy experience. And the food was brilliant. In addition to the 3 meals a day, we had a 'teatime' which I especially enjoyed: they made us loads of popcorn and there was a selection of teas including coca-leaf tea, which was very nice.
The whole thing was somewhat less wild and remote than I'd imagined. I'd been worried about what to do when I needed a crap, but it turned out there were washblocks at all the campsites. It was also hard to imagine that you were in a remote location when there were hundreds of people on the paths!
The walk itself was great. The first day was a gentle climb along river valleys. We passed some interesting little communities which could only be reached by walking along the trail. The second day started with a long, long climb up to the first pass, "Dead Woman's Pass" - I don't know why it's called that. I ended up with the people at the back who were struggling a bit with the altitude. We adopted a one minute walk, one minute break technique, but it was still hard work. The pass was at 4200 metres, which is the highest point on the trek and must be the highest I'd been in my life, so it felt like quite an achievement.
After that the trail went up and down over 2 more passes. There were beautiful views of mountain scenery along the way, and we also got to look round some Inca ruins. Later on, we were using original Inca paths (which had been partly restored) which were impressive engineering: they wound round the sides of the mountains and were sort of built up away from the mountain on the outside edge, in order that they'd be flat. On day 3, after reaching the third pass there was a long, long walk downhill.
This was hard work, and I was glad I'd bought a walking stick (like the ones you can see in the photo). But we reached the campsite by lunch, so had the afternoon off. We spent some of that time visiting some nearby ruins called Huiñay Huina, which I thought were really impressive.
There were terraces curving round over a huge swathe of mountainside, giving a sort of amphitheatre effect. We got up very early on day 4 to walk to Maccu Picchu. Here's my obligatory photo:
After 3 days of walking it needed to be impressive...and it really was! The setting was incredible: 1. it's perched right on top of a mountain. After the buildings stop, there are terraces sloping down the mountain...then they end and it's a sheer drop to the river gorges below. 2. This whole mountain is surrounded by bigger mountains, so it's totally hidden! The ruins themselves were on a massive scale and we had a great time looking round them in the morning. It was fairly quiet to start with...then later in the morning the tour buses arrived and it became as busy as a modern-day city. A bathe in the hot springs in the nearby town was a nice way to finish off the trip. We then had to endure a hellishly long train ride back to Cuzco...somehow it took about 6 hours...I'm sure I could have walked it faster.
The next day I travelled to Puno, a town in southern Peru on Lake Titicaca. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the time to stay there. The flights I'd booked gave me just three and a half weeks for Peru and Bolivia, so I didn't do nearly as much stuff as I'd wanted to. So the next day I crossed over into Bolivia, to another town on Lake Titicaca called Copacabana. This was my first overland border crossing. I'd expected some sort of military checkpoint, with officers demanding bribes before I could get across...but actually it was really easy. You just walk across freely, and go into little buildings on either side to get your passport stamped.
I really liked Copacabana - a big factor was probably the fantastic weather. I don't know...I was expecting something colder and bleaker...after all, Lake Titicaca is the biggest high lake, or the highest big lake in the world, or something. Actually, the place felt like a seaside resort. It even brought to mind an old fashioned English seaside resort: there were donkey rides and people floating around on the lake in pedaloes. I stolled up and down the front, and a woman kept pestering me to hire a canoe. She was remarkabley persistant...but it turned out she was right - I did want a go. I felt a bit sad going in a 2-person canoe on my own, but at 5 Bolivianos (about 35p) how could I say no? Yeah, that's the other thing I liked about the place...everywhere I'd been had been cheap by British standards...but this place was exceptional. My accomodation cost 15 Bolivianos per night, which is just over 1 pound.
I had one more full day in Copacabana, which I spent visiting Isle del Sol (Island of the Sun). As I got onto the boat I heard someone call my name. I knew I'd bumped in to someone I'd met, but as it had happened so many times before, it really didn't surprise me. It turned out to be Tim and Sonja, who'd volunteered at Jatun Sacha with me! We went round the island together and had a lovely day. There are (of course) Inca ruins. More specifically, there is the site where the first Inca, the child of the sun, rose from the lake. I'm reading a book about the Incas (it felt like the right thing to do) and the ruling family didn't really beleive they were decended from the sun. But everyone else thought they were: the ruling family were the only ones who knew the truth. This helped them to appear divine to their subjects, so their rule wouldn't be questioned. Um...anyway, after that we walked the length of the island, had a drink and the boat picked us up at the other end. Let's see if I can find a nice photo....
# posted by Alex @ 7:23 AM 
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Woah, I'm late to this again. No cookies for me.
That picture with the mountain coming out of the clouds and the stone city? That should surely be winning a prize for something.
TCH
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That picture with the mountain coming out of the clouds and the stone city? That should surely be winning a prize for something.
TCH
# posted by 
: 1:42 PM
: 1:42 PM << Home
