GAdventures | trying to travel light

The Lares trek and visit to Machu Picchu was the only thing I booked in advance on my trip, which I booked with Gap Adventures. We were a group of 13 from the UK, Canada, America and Ireland, including a surgeon, TV promo writers for ABC, IT guru – so quite a mixed bunch! Of course, on the first night the Irish lads had us go to Paddy`s Bar (supposedly the highest Irish owned bar in the world but I suspect not…) as they were desperate for Guinness (from a can, flown from the other side of the world). Most of the group were doing the Inca Trail so it was me and Melanie, Dina and Jigna from London on the Lares trek. Later Beth (from London) and Yoella (from South Africa/Israel/Toronto) joined us for the actual trek.

Our guide for the Sacred Valley tour was Percy (not a very Peruvian or Quechuan name). We went to a small weaving village where we saw how they dye and spin wool and then weave it into blankets. This is a charity supported project to provide extra income for an otherwise remote village whose main income is from farming.

Balls of wool dyed with natural dyes

We also visited amazing Inca ruins at Pisaq and Ollantaytumbo which had great examples of Inca terraces, principally built to support the mountains on which the Inca`s built rather than for agriculture (as commonly thought). The stone constructions are amazing and how the Inca`s moved stones of this size around, and how they made them fit so perfectly together is a feat of engineering. It`s really incredible to see this stone work first hand.

Ruins at Ollantaytumbo

Loading up the gear

We stayed in Ollantaytumbo town as we had an early start the next day for the Lares trek. Our guide was Freddy (see the pattern here…) and we went to the start of the trek where our duffel bags (strictly 3kgs of stuff) was loaded up onto llamas and horses for the trek. We carried just our day packs with water, snacks, rain poncho etc.

Ready to trek!

The first village we passed through had only got electricity 11 months ago. People in the village will have TV for the first time but there aren`t any Quechua language programs we all the channels are in Spanish. Imagine getting TV for the first time and you can`t even watch anything in your own language. It`s hard to imagine the effect of TV on these remote villages but there are definitely positives and negatives.

Walking through amazing scenery in the rain and sleet

Shortly after the village the hail and rain started (spending s./3 on a rain poncho was the best investment ever) and carried on as we walked through the most amazing landscapes. I felt like we were in the Lord of the Rings film walking up and over mountains and lush green hills dotted with tiny stone villages.

Check out the little koala on the girl´s hat

We didn`t see anyone else all day apart from a few local women selling drinks and souvenirs and our porters, llamas and horses racing ahead of us to set up camp. We even saw eagles and condors circling overhead at one point.

Our snacks (and Yoella demonstrating the iPhone4 to Freddy)

As a fussy vegetarian I don`t have very high expectations for food on organised trips but the food we had over the three days was amazing. When we arrived at the lunch stop the porters had already set up the kitchen/dining room tent and had hot coca tea and crackers ready for us (even though we’d already been given a snack bag for the day). Then followed hot soup, a main dish and more tea. Dinner followed the same format but we had fresh popcorn with our tea and then soup and a main dish again. How they managed to cook such delicious and fresh food with limited supplies and equipment was amazing. I never have any excuse again for not being able to cook a wholesome dinner from scratch.

What a beautiful place to camp (and do a bit of yoga)

We walked some more in the afternoon (it carried on raining) until we reached our camo for the night. This trip should really be called glamping because our tents and everything were all set up for us when we arrived, and we were woken up each morning with a cup of hot coca tea. After dinner it was dark and we could see the most amazing starry night sky. I thought the night sky in the outback of Australia was amazing but the sky on the Lares trek was out of this world. My camera wasn`t up to taking a picture but I`ll never forget the brightness of the stars and being able to clearly see the milky way. Because there was no cloud at night it was bloody freezing. Fortunately I had layers of clothes to wear and a warm sleeping bag that I`d hired.

The llamas with some of our stuff (they can´t carry as much as the horses)

We woke up early for the second day of trekking but didn`t set off until we had made an offering of coca leaves to Pachamama (mother earth) and Freddy had shown us how to prepare some coca leaves for chewing (they really help with the altitude and fatigue). I also managed to fit in some outdoor yoga with amazing views. The second day of the trek took us uphill all morning to the highest point of the trek at 4,600 metres. At that altitude climbing uphill for hours can be quite a challenge but we all went at our own pace and made it to the top, even Melanie made it without of the aid of a horse and she was super sick with food poisoning.

The view of the lake from 4,600 metres

Our reward for making it to the top was the most amazing view of a lake and the surrounding landscape, and a traditionally dressed lady that let us take her photo in exchange for some coca leaves (well deserved as she`d hiked up the other side with her baby in tow). I found the whole photo in exchange for money/coca leaves a bit awkward but then you realise there are few opportunities for people, especially women, to make some extra money in these remote areas so you can`t blame them for taking advantage of the opportunity to make a little extra money through photos or selling drinks to trekkers.

After more walking and another chilly night at a beautifully remote campsite by a river we were treated to an amazing breakfast of pancakes decorated with writing in caramel sauce. On each pancake they had written `Señoritas en Lares`. It was so cute and we were all made up (and again amazed at what they could rustle up in the cooking tent). As we descended to a lower altitude the scenery became more green, lush and tropical.

Our support team (from L-R the horse and llama men, the guy who set up our tents and brought us tea and water in the morning, the chef and boss of the other three, Freddy our guide)

The whole team post-trek

After getting back to Ollantaytumbo we caught the train to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo) which took us through more amazing landscapes of mountains and green forests. Aguas Calientes is the main gateway to Machu Picchu so it`s full of gringos and tourist restaurants. There are no cars there but the train runs right the way through the middle of town. As we sat down for dinner in a place next to the train tracks, a train went through and sucked all of the electricity out of Aguas Calientes. There was a power cut in the whole town so we had to make our way back to the hotel, through the cobbled streets, with one torch between us. At the hotel we were given a candle in a plastic bottle. When the power came on later in the night, you could hear the town cheer. I guess this is a regular occurence because there was a power cut the next day when we got back from Machu Picchu.