eMail Journal

A journal of emails sent during Peruvian portion of the trip:

From: Rick Samco
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Subject: Earth's navel & stairways to heaven

Well, we've returned from our South American adventures ...

The trip's last segment was mostly spent in Peru exploring Inka history and artifacts in the Cusco (aka Cuzco) area. We had previously seen amazing pre-Inca, Tiawanaku civilization ruins near Lake Titicaca, and also hiked to where where the god Sol came to earth as the first Inca at that lake's Isla de Sol. Now we were finally able to get further down history's trail and see the remains of the heart of the Inka empire around Cusco (a shortening of the Inca word for "earth's navel") and the nearby "Sacred Valley". Actually we mostly saw the bottom few feet of that empire since the Spaniards destroyed most everything, building their churches on top of Inka temple foundations. Nonetheless, the remaining Inka walls are incredible -- it boggles the mind how they were able to transport the huge stones, shape them and fit them so perfectly together that a piece of paper cannot be slipped in the joints. And they are not square blocks, but each is a different, complex shape. E.g., some have upwards of 15 complex sides ... amazing.

The high point was visiting Machu Picchu at the eastern-most end of the Sacred Valley, at the threshold of the Amazon jungle, after the river had cut its way through 18,000 foot snow-covered Andean peaks. Our early afternoon arrival was in rain and fog, but as we explored the ruins the weather slowly cleared and the amazing sights were unveiled... Machu Picchu is surrounded on three sides by the river, on top of 2000' bromeliad-covered cliffs! Although, it was abandoned before completion by the Incas, it was never found by the Spaniards and therefore is the best evidence we have of what that civilization was capable of. Our fabulous guide, Danny, gave us a great overall tour and we were reluctantly kicked out as the last visitors at dusk.

The next morning we were up before dawn (to clear skies) and were among the first to enter the park. Having already explored the heart of the ruins the previous day, our remaining half day goal was to explore the three major peripheral sights -- the "Inca Bridge" Inka Trail entrance to Machu Picchu on the SW, the "Sun Gate" Inca Trail entrance on the SE, and climb the high peak, Wayna Picchu, to the N. At dawn we first hiked up to the Inca Bridge -- a spot where the Incas constructed an entrance trail across one of those incredible vertical cliffs. The "bridge" is a few yards of that cliff's trail that is composed of wooden planks used to span a cliff section too steep and smooth for any other solution. Fortunately you are unable to cross the bridge! Next we climbed Wayna Picchu, a pinnacle about a thousand feet above Machu Picchu, and more than 3,000' above the river on the remaining 3 sides. The trail is an almost continuous, incredibly steep, stone stairway constructed by the Incas. Thankfully cable handholds have been installed by our post-Inca civilization at critical sections. At the top Bob rewarded each of us with an Oreo cookie carefully saved from the Galapagos ... yummmm, the best I've ever had! After a careful retreat back down to Machu Picchu, we hiked up and out on the main Inca Trail to the famous Sun Gate entrance to the city. The vistas back to the city are incredible. We were congratulating ourselves on having knocked off our three goals when Danny informed us that we were the first of his groups to ever do all three in one day! He said that we were causing him to reevaluate his opinion that Germans are the strongest hikers!

The afternoon was spent on the train back to Cusco, with another train the next day to Puno located on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. We then spent a day exploring the floating reed islands and Taquile Island. The former are about 30 small islands constructed totally of reeds, floating in about 100 feet of water, with each inhabited by 15-20 indigenous people. Quite interesting. And Taquile Island (a "real" island) is inhabited by another indigenous people whose culture somehow remains pretty unaffected by modern influences (including the large number of tourists who visit and thereby support them economically). E.g., each individual's dress is strictly determined by their community and martial status -- available bachelors, unavailable bachelors, and married men all wear different hats. And the chewing of coca leaves by the men is ubiquitous, where they exchange leaves between their pouches as a greeting (e.g., instead of shaking hands).

We then spent the final almost 3 days getting home -- bus to La Paz and a missed-connection-prone flight home. Although we are glad to be able to see missed family and friends, breathe sub-10,000 foot air, and wear different clothes, we really miss the incredibly friendly people of the southern hemisphere, and that continent's amazingly wide variety of cultures and environs. We strongly suspect that we'll be back down there for more adventure! Now it's time to wade through thousands of taken pictures, culling out the best to share ... stay tuned for a final email.

Rick & Martha