First of all, wow, I'm incredibly sore. It's been two days since Machu Picchu, and I'm still not quite fully recovered. It was definitely worth it, though.
To start from the beginning, last Saturday, Ramsey and I were picked up at our hostel in Cusco by our German guide, Nora. Her mom happened to be visiting, so she was actually part of our group, too. The four of us rode a bus for about four hours through the Andes, which sort of fun at first...like riding on a rollercoaster. That fun feeling got old pretty quickly, though. After about two hours of it, I finally was able to fall asleep, which was impressive, considering the way our driver was driving. A little after noon, we arrived at Jose and Julia's farm, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. It's near a small town called Huayopata. Jose and Julie live with their two sons and a niece and nephew. Everyone was very sweet and welcoming. When we first arrived, we had lunch, and then Jose took us on a little tour of their farmland. I'm used to corn and soybeans when it comes to farmland, and this was much different. They basically had a jungle in their backyard. There were a number of fruit trees (banana, passion fruit, manderine, and more), leaves used for teas, and most importantly, coffee beans. We got to pick some coffee beans ourselves, and then Jose encouraged us to open them and taste them. The beans themselves are covered in this slimy stuff that's surprisingly sweet and delicious. We had to suck on them, though, because biting them leads to a very bitter flavor. Next, Jose showed us the cooperative, which is where they bring all of their coffee beans after they're done harvesting them. We got to see the entire process of fermenting and drying out the beans. What's upsetting, though, is the fact that there are good beans and bad beans. The good ones get sent to other countries, like the United States, and the bad ones are what the locals drink. You would hope that these people would get to enjoy the benefits of their labor, but that's not the case. Thankfully Jose and his family take advantage of their good beans, though, and save some for themselves to drink. Even the children grow up drinking coffee. Once done at the cooperative, we got to drink some coffee, and it was amazing. Seriously, it was the best and freshest (clearly!) cup of coffee I've ever tasted. That night, we went to a town party/concert with Nora, her mom, Jose, and Julia. It was fun, but we were disappointed that no one was dancing.
The next day, we had breakfast with the family and then said goodbye to everyone. They were all so warm and welcoming, and both of us agreed that we would have liked to have had more time with them. It was also nice because they had a sweet dog, Chiquita. We both miss our dogs so much, so it was nice to play with a sweet little puppy. Also, there are so many strays in both Ecuador and Peru, so it was nice seeing a dog get love and attention. After leaving, we took a taxi to another farm. To be honest, this family was so extended that I'm not quite clear on the relationships between everyone. There were at least six children there and about the same number of adults. This old man showed us their farm. It was very similar to Jose and Julia's, but they had cacao fruit instead of the coffee beans. We got to open and taste the fruit there, too. It was similar to the coffee beans, but it was even sweeter. We then got to see and be a part of the process of roasting, husking, and grinding the fruit. Once it was roasted, it already smelled like the chocolate I know and love. At the end, a woman made us some fresh hot chocolate, which was delicious!
After visiting the cacao farm, our taxi dropped off Nora and her mom, since they were going to do a longer hike together. We were a little nervous about this since the tour company hadn't told us about this ahead of time. It was fine, though. We road to a train station called Hydroelectrica where we met up with our new guide, a Peruvian named Omar. We had the choice of either walking on the train tracks or taking a train, but we had chosen to walk. It was a little over six miles, but it was so beautiful. I kept looking up at the mountains, thinking about how amazingly close we were to Machu Picchu. We eventually arrived in Aguas Calientes, which is the town at the base of Machu Picchu, and we settled into our hostel. We decided to head to bed early that night since we had to wake up early the next morning, but our attempts to get sleep turned out to be fruitless. We were woken up at about 10:30 by what sounded like a marching band right outside our hostel. It was so loud that our room was vibrating! It turned out to be a little five-man band, but the sounds were echoing in the narrow streets. It was not enjoyable. They eventually left, and we were able to go back to sleep.
The next morning (well, basically it was still night) we woke up at four. When visiting Machu Picchu, one has the option of climbing to Huayna Picchu, as well. It's that peak that can be seen right behind the ruins in all of the famous pictures of Machu Picchu. Only 400 people are allowed on Huayna Picchu each day, though, so that's why we were up so early. We got in line at the base of the mountain with our passports and tickets, ready for our trek. There was a big line, but we were pretty confident that we would be in the first 200 and therefore have first dibs on the time to visit Huayna Picchu (they only allow people at seven in the morning or at ten in the morning). At about 4:50, we were all allowed to enter, and this hike led to one of the most surreal things I've ever experienced. It was so dark, but some people had flashlights. The stairs on the trail simply zigzag up the mountain, so I was left to just keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. Each time I came around the corner, I would just see more figures walking and the bobbing lights from flashlights. With each corner, I kept hoping the hike was over, but it just seemed to go on forever. I was out of breath pretty early on, and I had to stop once for water. I kept up with Ramsey for a while, but she's naturally very competitive (and far more athletic than me), so we ended up getting to the top at different times. A little before six, I made it to the top. It wasn't until after I was at the top that I was reminded that the hike was about five miles! I'm actually thankful that I hadn't realized that because I probably just would have focused on that the entire time. By the time we were at the top, the sky was much lighter and everyone was celebrating the fact that they had completed this trek! Ramsey and I were both in the first group of 200 people, so we chose to visit Huayna Picchu at seven rather than ten. It's funny because your reward for getting to the top so quickly is to get to hike another five miles since that's how far it is to go up and then back down Huayna Picchu. Anyway, once we made it through the gates, we got to see Machu Picchu in all its glory, and it was stunning! It's just as amazing as the pictures, but it was so wonderful to actually be there! There are so many things that don't make it to the post cards. It was incredible to just soak it all in. Hiking up Huayna Picchu, while further exhausting, was incredibly gratifying. It's definitely a workout, and it's often quite terrifying. Once at the top, you're basically just on a bunch of rocks. Omar informed us that if you were to fall off the rocks, there's a 100% chance that you will die. Yikes. After all that climbing, we explored the ruins in detail, and it helped that Omar was so knowledgeable about everything. We were both pretty tired and dehydrated, though, so we were thankful to ride the bus back down once we were finished. In all, Machu Picchu was as amazing as I'd hoped it would be. There are some places that don't quite live up to the hype (I'm looking at you, Stonehenge), but Machu Picchu was simply breathtaking.
After completely exhausting ourselves (walking six miles the day before and then at least eleven miles that day), we ate some lunch and then rode a train to Ollantaytambo. From there, we rode a bus to Cusco, and by that time, we were very, very tired. We still had to check into our hostel, though, and then go find dinner. Cusco was still having celebrations leading up to Inti Raymi, and that night there were fireworks. They were beautiful against the old buildings, but we were so hungry and exhausted that we just wanted to get to a restaurant. Everyone was walking toward the fireworks except us. After eating, we got to our hostel and went straight to bed. To be honest, I don't really remember much of that evening because I was sooo tired.
The next morning, yesterday, we woke up and flew to Lima, which is where we are now. Unfortunately I woke up feeling really sick, and I was afraid I'd caught a bug. I was miserable in the airport and on the plane, but the flight attendents assured me that I would feel better as soon as we landed and that it was probably altitude sickness. Ramsey and I hadn't considered this since we've been in high altitudes for so long, but the flight attendents were right! I felt like a completely different person when we landed. I guess just going up and down so many mountains over the course of a week took its toll on me. I'm still feeling a little weak and don't have much of an appetite, but I'm thankful to be feeling as good as I am. Now Ramsey and I are in Lima, which is the last leg of our tour! We were nervous about Lima when we spent the night here on our way to Cusco, but I think it's actually perfect for what we need right now. We've been go-go-go this whole time, and Lima gives us a chance to take our time and not hurry. There's not a lot to see or do here, so we don't have to feel like we're missing out on anything. Yesterday we visited a pretty neighborhood called Barranco with our new friend Franz and then we ate dinner at a Turkish restaurant. Today has been very low-key, which is nice as I recover. Now we're left to enjoy our time while counting down to when we return home--one week from today!
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