Machu Picchu at Last

Reunited at last

It's been a while since I've posted, but do to my brother's insistence on keeping up to date with my blog for retrospective purposes in the future and my excitement to share my journeys with the world wide web of creepers, I'm back.

It was an unforgettable week here in Peru for many reasons, including my first crack at chocolate making and ziplining (unrelated, but both gnarly), but above all, it was great to share my life and my work down here with my Mom and my sister, Meaghan.

Before the elder Kach women arrived (and by elder i just mean the older two of three; i think that whole "i'm 34" game still seems to be working out for you), I didn't have the slightest idea how we would fill our time outside of our planned three-day hike and trek to Machu Picchu.  Luckily, however, the Incans made enough groovy ruins for us to fill a hectic, yet unbelievable six days.

On Wednesday, I met my Mom and sister in Cusco and enjoyed a hot cup of Coca tea with them in order to help them adjust better to the altitude.  After they were all settled in and we met up with some Duke kids for coffee, my mom, sister, and I decided to tour the ruins in Cusco.  First, we went to Saqsaywaman, a massive outdoor sun temple considered to be the second most impressive Incan ruin to Machu Picchu.  We went through some caves, much to the dismay of my frantic mother, but my snarky sister pushed her through to the daylight on the other side.  Below are some pictures from our afternoon adventure!

Karen and I at Puka Pukara!

Megsie and I killin' it on top of the Saqsaywaman ruins.

Sliding down the natural rock slides at Saqsaywaman. On the left, we can see the younger sister struggling like it's her job.

On Wednesday night, we took a van packed with men, women, and children of the Sacred Valley back to Urubamba.  Karen and Meaghan were loving the clarity of the night sky, comparing it to the sparkling brilliance of the hallway bathroom mirror after my mom enslaves  Mr. Kach to clean on Saturday mornings. 

Amaru Valle Hotel in the morning sun- The humble abode of the Kach ladies for a couple nights.

I walked them back to their hotel in Urubamba, and withing five minutes, Meaghan resembled a grizzly during winter, face down and snoring like a yetti.  My mom, however, was a big time trooper and came back to my home stay house with me to meet my family and give gifts of gratitude to Dulia and Allison. It was great to see my host mom meet my real mom (so i think? Jim still tells me I'm adopted), and the night ended with arts and crafts time with Allison and her new toys.

On Thursday morning, I brought Mom and Meg to my school to meet all of my students. They were jumping up and down yelling at them with smiles in Spanish, naturally leading to my mom's classic uncomfortable response of "bueno?!"

We then walked over to the organic farm I work out, and Ameriko brought them on a tour of all the greenhouses and animals. After a solid lunch at Dulia's place, we went to Moray and the Salineras with Dulia and Allison. My mom made great friends with my 7 year-old host sister, and they booked it all around the ruins while the rest of us watched in amusement. Below's a group shot.

From left to right: the Karenator, yours truly, Allison, and Dulia. Scholars contend Meg was off bowing down to some Incan sun god, drumming on a puma skull.

I stayed the night with Mom and Meg in the hostal on Thursday, woke up to a breakfast of eggs and fruit, then ventured off to the Pisac ruins and market.  My mom stocked up on decorative plates and bowls with my acquired Spanish accent to barter like a champ. Fear not Kachadoorian party-goers, the onion dip will still be there, only in a hipster bowl that requires listening to a verbose story from the mamabear.

The Kach ladies at Pisac.

We got into Cusco on Friday night and enjoyed an awesome dinner on the Plaza de Armas. We crashed early and got ready for our trip to Machu Picchu!

On Saturday morning, our guide, Wilian, picked us up at our hotel at 615am and brought us over to the adventure agency's office to get us all set for our trip.  After getting sized up for mountain bikes and picking out some t-shirts, we hopped in the car and began the three hour trip past Ollantaytambo to Abra Malaga, a 4530meter peak. From there, we got on our bikes and began the fast-paced decent along a winding path for a few hours to Santa Maria. Check the road below.

Felt like Lance zooming through the Andean hills.

After we got to Santa Maria on our bikes, we high-tailed it in a van from Santa Maria to Santa Teresa, winding high above the Locomayo (translated to Crazy River from Quechua). We got to our hostal for the night to be pleasantly surprised by the simple elegance that was the EcoQuechua retreat.

Our eco-focused hostal in the woods of Santa Teresa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning was lahhhhhhgit. Our guide, Wilian, brought us to Cola de Mono, a zip lining agency tucked into the woods in Santa Teresa around 8am.  I wasn't nervous for some reason, probably because I didn't realize how high or how far I'd be zooming above a ravine in the upcoming hour.  After a pretty slapdick "safety" session, we hiked up to the launch point of the first of six cables.  I edged toward the back of the group to avoid going first after looking down on what seemed like a pretty quick death. Luckily, some fox from Argentina with metaphoric "huevos" bigger than mine hopped on the cable and took off at over 80 kmh over the river, giving me the confidence to step up and go second. To all you who say second is the first to lose, kindly silence yourself.  Below are some pictures of the exhilarating zip line experience.

Locking in my harness. Not pictured for good reasons: Epic harness wedgie.

Anddddd I'm off!

Megsie did great on the zip line as well, and at one point, we actually passed each other over a couple hundred meters off the ground zipping along on different cables. Karen assumed the role of camera lady for the morning, and for good reason: she was "a little out of her comfort zone" after climbing a narrow stair case later in the afternoon.


We got trekking around 11am for Aguas Calientes, inching closer and closer to Machu Picchu with every step.

Sibling shot journeying on down the road.

At our lunch spot, a bunch of hammocks set up to comfort lazy fools like me.

Andddddd I'm spent. Meg probably taking pleasure in giving me a wet willy while I sleep on the side of the trail just shy of Aguas Calientes.

 We got to Aguas Calientes, the small town at the foot of Machu Picchu at about 4pm on Sunday afternoon, just in time for a hot shower, relaxing dinner, and a father's day shoutout on the hostal computer to the only, the only Mr. Kach.

While my mom and sister took the amateur route early Monday morning by taking the 25 minute bus up to Machu Picchu, I hopped out of bed at 430am and strapped on the hiking boots to begin my final push on foot up to the park entrance. 1900 steps later, adorned in my fleece, gloves, and headlamp, and arrived at the entrance to one of the 7 wonders of the world. From my calculations, since I've already hit Quarry Head and Cranberry Park, I've only got four more wonders!

The first 400 people at the park entrance in the morning get a stamp on their ticket to climb Huayna Picchu, the picture-esque peak in the background of every cliche photo of the Incan ruin.  I was probably in the first 100 people up there and chose to get my entrance stamp to Huayna Picchu at 10am.

After milling around in line for a while, I saw my mom and sister get off the bus with a rollicking group of tourists from all over the world including some shoeless hippies from Brazil and eldery German women with trekking poles to climb the four stairs to the snack bar.


We began our two-hour tour of the ruin with a group of about 20. Here are some shots from the early morning.

Said best by Miss Gifford herself- goin' rogue.

Sorry for taking a personal break from the tour, Mom.

Instead of taking my stamp to climb Huayna Pichu at 10am, we chose to climb as Machu Picchu Mountain as a family.  The latter is a newly opened peak and the highest point in Machu Picchu Park.  It's a road less traveled due to its comparative difficulty to Huayna Picchu and recent opening.

We left the ruins park around 930am to begin our hike up to Machu Picchu Mtn., but first, Megs signed the guest book at the foot of the peak full of names of tourists from all over the world.

The hike took a little over an hour, and the view kept getting better and better as we climbed higher and higher over the ruins.  Here are some cool shots with Ma. Pi. in the background!

Gotta photoshop the other three hooligans into this family gem.

Machu Picchu with the backdrop of Huayna Picchu.

Psyched to be here. Karen hadn't seen enthusiasm like this since I crushed first grade tee-ball.

It was truly an amazing day at Machu Picchu, and although I'm not as well traveled (or pretentious) as Meaghan or my mom, I think I can die happy after seeing this place.  We headed back down to Aguas Calientes for a quick meal then hopped on the 3 and a half hour train to Cusco for the night.

Mom and Meg headed out yesterday, but before they shipped outta South America, we went to the chocolate museum of Cusco. Gladys, our Peruvian chocolate workshop leader, led us through the entire production process from picking the cacao bean to munching on homemade truffles in a couple hours.  Here are some pictures of the squad!

Your nothing without an apron according to Gladys.

Pouring our dark chocolate into molds.

Unfortunately, my mom and sister headed back to the states, respectively back to Camp Woodstock and Mercer, but I'm so happy to have shared my experiences down here with them.

We got a couple more weeks down here, and the next few days should be wild in Cusco with the Corpus Cristi and Inti Raymi festivals on Thursday and Friday night.

To anyone who actually read this entire post, god bless you, because I'm too lazy to go back and edit it at this point.

I'll probably have an update in a few days after the street festivals.

Cheers,
Chris