Peru Fragments: Part IV: Climbing the Dream

In the summer of 2014 I taught a short-term study abroad program to Peru. Here is my fourth post of fragments on the trip. Here was Part III.

After the wonderful dinner and star-gazing from the night before, we were all a little slow to rise. Plans were hatching that would split our crew up into two groups. One group wanted to go back to Cuzco and attempt to attend the Inti Reyma.  We had planned on this being a possibility but had not been able to score tickets. This is the annual event that celebrates the sun and it would be a great opportunity for all of us.

We were told that tickets to the event were sold out and that the cheapest ticket would have to be bought from scalpers at over a hundred bucks! Plus, we would have to take the hour-plus trip back to Cuzco.  I was torn but I really didn't want to pay money for an unknown. Even if we got tickets,  I had no idea what the seats would be with. Plus,sitting in the sun all day in large crowd sounded unappealing. I just had a bad feeling about the whole endeavor. Besides, I had an plan for us back in Ollantanytambo. I loved the "small town" atmosphere and knew we were going back to Cuzco later in the trip anyway.

After a nice quiet breakfast at the hotel, the two groups parted ways. The group that went back to Cuzco was comprised of only students. I am sure this broke a rule or violated some ethical study abroad guidelines, but hear me out. The three students that went were well equipped for their adventure. One was an 34-year old US military vet and a well-worn world traveler (she was unafraid of just about any situation) and another was a Spanish speaker. It seemed a perfect match.

Our group rode one of the motos down to the bus stop and took a taxi to back to Ollantanytambo. We planned going up the trail El Camino a Pinkuylluna. This was a path up the mountain that was opposite of the Sun Temple that we had been at the day before.  On the mountain there were several granaries that stored food for the Inca community. Because it was higher elevation and kept at a cooler temperature, the food was sure to last longer. Most of the store-houses were about the size of a small apartment or home but we made our goal of the day to make it to the largest structure on the mountain.

Our first problem was finding the path! The trail-head was extremely difficult to find and was not well-marked at all. Maybe we were just oblivious, but if you're looking for the entrance, keep your eyes open!  The travel book I had with me was unclear and even asking a few locals, we still couldn't find it (although we got a good tour of the city). After an hour, we finally found that we had walked right past it earlier in our journey! Doh!

This was the street that Pinkuylluna is on. Cool little cobblestone road.



Even though there was a skull and cross bones, that just made the whole climb feel more fun. I can't recommend this hike enough. It's free and you are free explore as you wish. I heard online some folks paid a guide and that's completely not necessary. Just start climbing, and have fun! At least on the day we went, it was pretty empty as well. One of these days, someone will do something stupid and they won't allow people to roam free on and around the ruins. It almost felt like you were getting away with something. 

One of our members was a little out of shape, while the rest of us were moderately "in shape". The climb starts pretty steep, so we had to watch our step and our hands. My colleague managed to get a cactus needle in his hand while he was trying to take a picture. After about 40-60 minutes into our climb, our out- of-shape student said we could move forward without her. While we encouraged her to come with us, I think we were all relieved about her decision. She hung out in one of the old granaries all by her lonesome, but at least she had a heck of a view of the valley. 

Every few minutes we would climb to a new ridge and find another granary to explore. There were multiple paths as well that offered too many choices. I instantly regretted the time we wasted finding the trail and thought it would have been even better to leave earlier in the morning to have more time to explore.  Something got into me as we made our ascent. During our climb I started climbing ahead of the other two, just climbing crazy, like a mad man. We had the trails pretty much to ourselves, so it just felt like my own mountain. It was great. 

This was about as high as I would go.  We decided to veer to our left (the photo's right) to get to the largest granary, plus we needed to plan for climbing back down, eating lunch and catching a ride back to Urubamba. 

Look, I'm getting all 21st century on ya with the first selfie of the blog!

This had been our goal, the largest granary on the mountain. Years ago, I had seen pictures of these very store house online in my early research of our program. I had even forgotten about it, until the path turned around the bend and there it was. It was other-worldly. 

The afternoon sun made the rocks gleam as if they were made of gold. I waited for C and the other student to arrive. I took it all in and enjoyed the moment alone. On a group trip like this, alone time is at a premium.  Having an ancient Incan ruin to yourself is pretty darn sweet.  

 I took a few pictures and then I  did something that while inappropriate, it was completely necessary inside the granary. Don't judge me! It wasn't a holy site and the granary afforded me the privacy that was necessary. Besides, it would be another two hours before I could find a proper bathroom. 

I find doorways without doors are pretty cool. 

After a short rest and more photography at this granary, we headed back down the mountain. We had some solid sandwiches at Hearts Cafe. I had the hummus and tomato sandwich- thumbs up for me. There is good food to be had at this little place and a nice second story to people watch in the town below. They also had wifi, and that's always nice.  It was one of those late lunches that only means you'll skip dinner and later be starving at 10 o'clock.

We caught a taxi back to Urabamba but for some crazy reason we walked from the bus station back to our hotel. We stopped by a local park and riverside and the river was nice - if you didn't look down at the trash.  We continued our walk but we realized how silly it was given how tired we were. We discussed hailing a taxi or moto but never did and it made less and less sense the closer we got. We stopped at a convenience store for ice cream and finally, after an hour of walking from the bust station, we came upon our hotel, exhausted.  

One of the motos in Ollanta.  Baby Jesus and Mary above the tiger with wings, inside a Bat-Man symbol, surrounded by reversed Nike swooshes.  Could this get any cooler? Also, Ying-Yang symbol on the mud flaps. Sweet. 

There was a bit of drama as we hadn't heard from the other team. But after a strange text and a short phone call, we found out they were on their way back. They arrived at 9 or 10 and we had "class" by exchanging stories of our day. Apparently, they had a great adventure as well and their tickets and seats were great! Our class time got a little heated, as C had them talking about peace and conflict and well, conflict happened. It was our first sign of strain on the group but it all worked out in the end.  

I think I snacked a little on my snack reserve, knowing I could enjoy a big breakfast at the hotel in the morning.  I had packed crackers, dried banana chips, Cliff bars, peanuts, etc. for just this kinda thing. Also in my backpack: AAA batteries, tissue, hand sanitizer, band aides and of course pens and pencils. Just call me a boy scout. 

One last look at our hotel. 

The next morning we had a nice leisurely breakfast before we were moving up in elevation once again. This time we drove to our highest peak of the Sacred Valley, (12,100 ft.), Misminay. It was a nice drive up sloping mountains and our drives were always quiet and relaxing.  Usually on these bus trips I would occasionally look down below and wonder, "Wow, if the driver had a brain aneurysm, we would all die".  

Misminay is a village that embraces tourism as a way to make their lives better. It was great. I had seen this quick BBC video clip about the village before we left for the trip.

I had mixed feelings soon after we arrived. They did they a little welcome as they did in the video above. It felt slightly forced and it felt slightly exploitative.  On the other hand, it was tourists like me that helped keep their way of life and beliefs intact (I hope) and allowed them to make their lives easier. I mean, I felt exploited later when they started to hawk their stuff. I dunno, capitalism....this is what it does.

Although some of it felt like a show, it felt like there were some "real" moments as well (???).  We shucked some corn with the villagers and then shared a blessing ceremony to Pachamama with coca leaves and chicha. The chicha is traditionally fermented with spit and I wondered if this was the case with this batch.  We were offered each a sip and I felt as thought I couldn't refuse. It wasn't as sweet as I was expecting but hey, I've never tasted corn juice fermented by spit.

Blessing and prayer to Pachamama

The village was an amazing display of the strength of the indigenous faith and belief system. I was under the impression that the mestizo culture and the Catholic Church had over-run or incorporated indigenous belief into it's own system. However, what I was finding out was that for many indigenous peoples, the belief systems weren't mixed. The two systems existed as two concurrent systems that didn't contradict one another but complimented one other. Offer a prayer and blessing to Pachamama, then go to church later that day. What seemed like contradiction to us, seemed logical to the people.

After the blessing, we had a home-cooked meal, which was pretty good with some serious, kick-ass chili peppers (it looked like pico de gallo but much spicier). Then the women of the village showed us how the women clean the wool, dye the wool and spin the wool of alpacas. Of course, when showtime was over, they started selling items.

After it was over, it was time to head back down to Ollantanytambo on a long bus ride back. We had a train to catch to a little place called Machu Picchu!!

Part V coming soon.....