I woke up at two o'clock when my cell phone alarm went off. My promised wakeup call never came.
Yesterday I took the precaution of securing 10 doses of anti-diarheall and tetracycline to assist me in the recovery of any future bouts of food poisoning.
I finished my packing and put my bags in the luggage room, an unlocked and unattended room on the first floor of the hotel. I noshed on a beef empanada and a chicken empanada I purchased last night, brushed my teeth and hard and drank the glass of coca tea which had been steeping since last night.
As I sat on the main steps facing the front door a light flickered through the window. A man and a woman stood on the walk with a passenger manifest in hand and asked for Florien, a 32 year old Austrian with whom I had a guinea pig dinner last night. I walked off toward his room and was intercepted by Rosa who told me that Florien was asleep and that that was no problem. This is the same woman who promised to wake me at two. I ignored here and fetched Florien and returned to my perch on the stairs.
Ten minutes later I responded to another flicker; this time it was I being summoned. We walked down the street to out transport, a large van with six rows of passenger seats with a set of two on the port side and a single seat on the starboard side excepting the last row which had four seats. With my shoulder against the window my left should extended half way across the aisle. A Quechan in the seat ahead of me was teaching Spanish to the couple across the aisle, who communicated with the instructor in heavily accented English which could not possibly have been their primary language.
After several more stops we departed, presumable having picked up all who had signed on for this trip. There are four other solo travelers and two couples. The couple learning Spanish is in their late fifties or early sixties; the balance of the adventurers is in their twenties. The guide came over and introduced himself as Edgar and explained that we had a four hour bus ride to Chivay where we would buy admission to the park and then proceed to our next stop Cabanacoca. The bus stopped in front of a small store, the large European got out and I followed. Two apples, four bananas and a large bag of coca leaves came to three soles.
4:12 Now that I am paying a little more attention I see that the European is teaching the Quechan Polish. Hmm, I have been using a term I have yet to introduce. At the height of the Inca Empire there were ten million Quechans but only one Inca, the ruler; although today the terms are used interchangeably. Quechua is the name of the people and the language. West of the Andes the Peruvian population seems to be predominantly Quechan outside of Lima, though they seem to invariably also speak Spanish. The hawkers know Pidgin English.
4:19 It is now 4:18 and I shall attempt to nap but fear that my efforts will be in vain.
6:56 I had retired to the back of the van and laid across all four seats. The guide seemed amused at the fact that I was sporting morning wood when he woke me up. We ride along the butte the terraced slopes rising above us to our left. To the right lies the canyon over which on the far side lies a broader butte and more terraces, the stairs of giants, ascending to the crest.
6:59 The entire valley is planted in regions enclosed by stone walls, some mortared and some so crude they appear to be nothing more than a relocation of rocks away from the tilled areas.
7:12 As we head north, further into the canyon the terraced wall faces are almost completely covered with verdant growth.
7:21 A pueblo, church in stone walled corrals. A huge expanse of cactus to the west. A tunnel at least half a kilometer followed by the grey dusty rock embedded slopes to the west.
Shit even more boring than the above has been deleted.
7:44 Tighten laces in preparation for a four hour descent.
7:45 Arrived at Cruz del Condor.
9:02 And we are off. The huge Andean Condors show up at the appointed time. It is difficult to say how many individuals we saw. There were at least two adults and one juvenile. The juvenile approached within eight meters of us and perched on a rock. They exhibit no fear of man.
I had chosen a premier spot, based on observations of the photographs I figured they would soar below us so I chose a spot with the widest angle of view of the canyon. Were they to soar at our level it mattered not where one stood? When the great birds appeared a German woman squeezed in next to me and kept elbowing me. I refused to crowd those to my right to make way for her. Every time she elbowed me to make room I shuffled a little closer to squeeze her even more.
Next stop is Cabanaconde.
9:51 Time to check into hotel in Cabanaconde. Wander around town for an hour and a half and then have lunch.
10:00 Change of plans, we will eat lunch after a trek. Edgar is provisioning, bought one pound of flour out of a five pound bag, tea, onions, potatoes, green beans, carrots, rice total price $8.50 soles. I sure as hell hope there is more for the four of us to eat in three days than this.
I met Maria, the Ariquepean and Anna the 24 year old Swiss woman. Anna hikes every weekend in the Alps. Maria speaks nothing but Spanish, she doesn't look like she spends a lot of time hiking.
10:34 Two small mutts humping in the road. We stop at Virgen Del Carmen hostal, Anna sheds nothing.
10:37 The people of the valley, the Colca, have three important gods, the earth, the mountain and the river. This monument is ostensibly in the shape of the mountain behind it. The people walk into the canyon, exchanging the locally grown corn for the fruit grown in the valley; the produce is carried in sacks on their backs.
10:50 Arrived at a sight at which we can see the towns in the distance and start our three hour descent.
11:36 It is getting hot.
13:17 Made it to the bridge. I must have blisters on every toe. My legs are rubber.
13:44 OWalk over theountain to get the llamas and alpaca nothing for them to eatkinmmkmmaaqmc sjdeesk here but thr mules will eat this scrubkkk Mu.
The above entry was not my proudest moment of not taking. In any event there are no animals kept in this part of the valley. The vegetation is too sparse to support anything but mules. The hardy folk walk for three weeks, carrying their water on their backs to a remote village with better foliage and obtain alpacas which then walk back and butcher.
14:40 Lunch of soup, alpaca, rice followed by euchre with Anna and two Juniors from Indianapolis. These boys carried a library on their backs, and a tent, sleeping bags full hard core trekking. They passed water from the river through an activated charcoal filter; I doubted that it would remove the arsenic and heavy metals from the much polluted river. This area is downstream of silver and gold mining.
15:45 I am huddling underneath a mound of blankets. In this rarified air warmth dissipates quickly after sunset. There is no electrical service to these primitive cabins. My flashlight was stolen in Puerto Narino almost in front of my eyes during a black while I was in a billiard parlor.
Dinner was mashed potatoes in the Peruvian style, very runny, topped with a minuscule porting of diced alpaca in nearly homeopathic concentrations in runny gravy with sides of boiled white rice and green beans. It could not have been more than 600 calories, not much sustenance after a five hour hike.
My fellow trekkers are a 24 year old Swiss girl who lives in the Alps and treks every weekend and a woman from Arequipa. Both of them handily beat me to the bottom of the canyon. The walk today was almost entirely downhill. It was slipper walking. The path was dry but fine gravel covered the rocks acting as ball bearings. I had few opportunities to take photos if I were to keep up the pace. The Arequipan took photos with her cell phone as she walked. Apparently neither composition nor focus were elements of her photographic style. When it was time to ascent the other side after we had crossed the bridge she had her comeuppance. I thought she was going to pass out. I asked the guide if he had any oxygen but he administered a topical lotion containing salicylic acid in alcohol with a few other ingredients. She applied the liquid to her face but I think it was the rest that helped the most.
After twenty minutes of walking on level ground we arrived at our camp. Two youths from Indianapolis, juniors in college, Anna and I played euchre until dinner.
June 5, 2010
6:15 My accommodation was an adobe building with cobblestone floors a window without panes and a quarter of a shower curtain for drapes. The door is about five and a half feet tall. There are but two toilets for the whole facility. No seat, no toilet paper, outside on the exterior wall is a sink with a faucet that yields no water. The shower works and has soap in it.
6:22 Everything in this valley was either carried in or transported on the backs of mules. The doors to one of the sleeping quarter are steel; the room has bars over the windows. This seems like an extreme security measure in such a remote valley. It is difficult to conceive of someone breaking in and walking for four hours up the side of the canyon in full sight of the camp with the only furnishing in the room, a bed. Perhaps they are afraid of someone stealing the lodger’s gear while the camp is occupied. Hell I had someone in Panama break into my apartment and steal two computers, my camera, and as a final indignity, my wallet which was in my pants, laying on the foot of my bed while I slept it int. These are not trails one should travel alone lest one get robbed.
6:59 As I await breakfast I reflect on yesterdays walk while gazing at the steep canyon walls down upon which we made our descent. It is not possible to photographically capture the full extent of their height from the narrow valley even with a wide angle lens. For long stretches the trail cuts across the face descending at a slope of thirty degrees. The foot falls ahead and either gains firm purchase driving the foot forward and abrading and further irritating the knuckles of my toes or lands on gravel which rolls underfoot.
7:56 We pass a cactus known as Tuna. There are large orchards of them here, the fruit is said to be delicious. On the cactus is a small white insect known as cochinia. ?????? ???When crushed it yields a bright purplish red liquid which is used as a fabric dye. The insects fetch 400 soles a kilo. As they are very small a huge number must be collected to amount to a kilo, they must weight just a fraction of a gram. Another plant which lines the trail is used to make tea to cure stomach aches and to cure sore muscles when crushed and rubbed against the skin.
8:42 Arrived in Casneihuia ??? at elevation 2600 meters, the bottom of the canyon is at 2335 meters. The locals trade their wares for llama, walking for three weeks at a time carrying their water in huge jugs on their backs, leading mules bearing their food and gear. The towns have an upper part and a lower part. The population of the two regions does not socialize. The lower regions, nearer the river grow the crops; my guide was unable to tell me how those in the upper regions supported themselves. Most of the houses are roofless and abandoned. On February 2 a celebration is held, the Virgen of the Candelleria. There is much dancing and the two groups socialize, often young men choose a woman even of the other elevation and they dance closely and then get married. The guide had no idea if these people were socializing prior to the dance; he also stated that metal roofs are put on the abandoned houses and people come in from Arequipa and Cusco for the celebration and the roofs are taken down. I begin to question if he has any idea at all what he is talking about.
We sat in front of a small one room museum and had a glass of chicha. A woman showed us how crops were ground, rocking stones, how salt gathered from mines near the peak is ground and candles made of llama grease that burn for eight hours. I wonder how salt mines were created at this elevation. It is simply not possible that this area was ever covered by seas at this elevation. Were the salt deposits made before the mountains rose from the earth?
11:00 We arrived at the oasis. The pampas is verdant in strong contrast to the dusty slopes that surround it. There are four camps with swimming pools. I had been advised by the cocksucker at AI Tours in Arequipa, who sold me this trip that his tour was different as we would not be staying in the nasty accommodations with horrible beds, swarming with mosquitoes but rather in a very nice hotel. The hotel which I had visited yesterday was in the dirty, dusty town of Cabanaconde. This place was wonderful, beautiful and could not possibly have any mosquitoes due to its aridness.
We have decided to stay the night here rather than trek for three more hours to stay in Cabanaconde. I bought a beer for my guide and one for myself and we sat and chatted. The beers were 10 soles each, almost three times the price of beer in Arequipa, but they had to be packed in on mules. I asked if we were to see the fifty meter waterfall on the way out but was informed that it was in a very remote portion of the canyon which we would not be visiting. Cocksucker! The prettiest part of the canyon is also the deepest. The trek is nine hours downhill followed by rappelling and kayaking. This sounded wonderful. My guide called over another guide who leads treks down there; the other guide advised me that I was twice as wide as the trail and that I would be hanging over precipices thousands of meters tall. So much for that trip.
A mule sells for 6000 soles. That is a lot of money, about 2,200 dollars. Mules sell for $250 in Santa Fe, Panama. I presume they use the time honored tradition of crossing a male donkey with a female horse and wonder at the cost of equine push buttons around here. My guide thought it hilarious when I asked why a donkey fuck was so expensive here.
Lunch was soup and perhaps an ounce or an ounce and a half of chicken, half a cup of boiled rice and a small boiled potato.
17:30 An oasis in the valley, verdant and terraced, studded by large granite boulders one of which forms a wall of two swimming pools, rising between them perhaps six meters. Water is captured far up the side of the mountain, diverted into a pipe from whence it spews into a small pool, is recaptured and feeds two fountains into a swimming pool which is thereby continuously provided with fresh water, the overflow captured to feed the other swimming pool, the destination of the spillage of which cannot be determined by the casual observer. Shat is afforded by exotic palms on the lawns which cover the lower flat areas. Hammocks are secured to posts for railings on one end and radiate out from a moderate size tree. Cobblestone pathways connect the various buildings used as temporary dwellings for the transients. The sleeping quarters are built of bamboo or adobe, have thatched roofs of llama grass, rather than the palm fronds used at lower elevations; the floors are dirt. The rooms have no electricity. Poorly made doors hang from tiny hinges secured by bent nails. This is not the finest craftsmanship in the country.
The tables’ tops are a section of palm trunk secured over a pedestal of palm trunk of significantly smaller diameter. The chairs are section of palm trunk sawn nearly through for the seat and with the majority of the height of the chair being the back.
18:03 Three people are preparing dinner; peas were shucked from their pods. The pods are accumulated in a ten gallon bucket awaiting delivery to the pigs. My guide and a woman are dicing carrots. Water is boiling on the adobe wood fired stove. The stove has openings for two pots. A central island has a large three burner stove, capable of prodigious heat output; the propane tank is replaced every ten days.
Candle holders are constructed by sawing the tops off of two and half liter water bottles with serrated knives. Water is placed in the lower portion for stability, the tops inverted, additional water is placed in the top portion and a candle is inserted.
Darkness arrived as though a light was switched off in a windowless room. There was no lingering twilight; the sun disappeared behind the mountains. The cooks all wear head lamps. Seems like a very strange way to cook as there is electricity. A few judiciously located fluorescent or LED bulbs would save a lot of money on batteries. I only used rechargeable batteries in my flashlights. It is easier, more convenient and less expensive that feeding them disposable batteries, which are hard to dispose of in an environmentally conscientious manner. Diced papaya, onions and tomatoes are added to the boiling water.
19:28 Soup followed by diced carrots and peas with rice, hardly enough food for an appetizer. Anna facilitates communication between Maria and me, in addition to English and Spanish she knows German and her native language. I await the spaghetti that never came. The other group was eating huge mounds of pasta. My total caloric intake for the day could scarcely have been more than a thousand calories; not much when one is sedentary, an insult when trekking heavily. The guides in the kitchen are feasting on huge quantities of rice and chicken. I storm off to bed, ravenously hungry after chewing out my guide. I share quarters with Maria and Anna, the guide has other accommodations.
June 6 - Day Three
5:27 Beneath a half moon a man sweeps the bottom of the empty swimming pool. I search for my guide and pay my tab at the concession stand with dollars at an exchange rate of 2.50 soles per dollar. I am out of soles, what can one do?
6:07 We have only been climbing for half an hour and I am dying. Anna is either determined to set a record ascent time or just incredibly fit. I slow down to my customary pace, but none of my former training was with a pack.
6:51 Two more hours to the top.
7:30 A team of mules passes us. The guide tells me we need to speed up; the women are way ahead of us. I had been told that the hike out was two to four hours. I was on my way to a three hour trek and now I was being pressed to make it two and a half. Cocksuckers. AI Tours, Arequipa, Cocksuckers.
I consent to take a mule to the top to meet the guide’s schedule. From this point I was told that the fare would be thirty soles. My guide called Juan back who wanted forty. I indicated that I had but thirty which he grudgingly agreed to. Now I would have no sole for the hot springs or lunch. I am about the maximum carrying capacity for a mule, the mule driver dons my pack and I mount the mule. “Adelante!” I thought the mule driver was just urging the mules on; he occasionally prodded them with tip of my walking stick. An English speaking person indicated that I should lean forward as it was easier on the mule when climbing. My mule panted, I was sure I would be sitting on a dead animal in minutes.
8:16 We arrive at the top, the guide throws my pack, bearing my camera to the hard ground and races off to catch one of his mules returning to collect his money.
8:58 We sat at the only table left at the restaurant. My chair was in front of the door to the alley which led to the Peruvian bathroom. It seemed as though I got up twice for every person in the restaurant. Two portions of bread, a single egg and a single cup of coffee composed our breakfast.
10:39 The bus takes off. My guide told me that the agency already gave the money to the hotel and that I would not be receiving a refund for the unused night. It was only thirty soles, about eleven dollars but my faithful readers will know that I don’t take this abuse lightly, it is an insult. I told the guide that this was patently bullshit. Both nights we stayed at places other than were described to me by the cocksucker and AI travel. The guide was paying in cash in the morning. No money had been paid to any hotel. I had the guide call again, this time I was told that the manager was not there and that the money had already been deposited. I have heard every excuse and told my guide that I would be in the office in the morning and that I would be receiving a refund which elicited a dubious look.
11:04 We stopped again at Cruz del Condors, but it was too late in the day for the great birds.
11:34 Despite the huge number of terraces I see no crops, just dusty grey soil.
12:28 At the hot springs having passed through Chivay. Admission was ten soles, but I had none. Ambling around the walls I saw the tanks which were obviously used to heat the water, this was not naturally 39 degree mineral water. I walked over to the little food stands and managed to exchange a twenty dollar US bill for fifty soles and purchased admission to the hot springs. My bag was locked in the bus, I entered the changing room doffed my vest, shirt boots and socks then unzipped the pants at the knees, now attired in Columbia Titanium polyester expedition pants and Mountain Wear polyester underwear. I showered, swam for twenty minutes, dressed and sat in a chair for five minutes which was sufficient time for my pants to dry and donned the rest of my attire. As I walked out the pools the bus pulled up. I stoked up on large portions of food at the wonderful buffet, owned and operated by a Japanese couple. Lunch was twenty soles. Maria likewise had several platefuls of food.
15:51 The terrain to the right is gray with very sparse vegetation like dinner plates of green scattered amongst the rocks and dust. In the distance lie the cragged peaks of the mountains. Nearer is a mound looking like a huge loaf of baked mud. This is the highest elevation of the trip well over four thousand meters. For some reason we disembark and take pictures. A short ways down the road hundreds of llamas, dark brown, light brown and white, graze on the sparse vegetation.
18:15 It is dark and in the distance I thought I could see the second largest city in Peru, our destination, Arequipa. The buildings were too high and the city too small. As we neared it I saw that it was an isolated facility of manufacture on a grand scale. Illuminated inclined planes zigged and zagged between large structures. Further down the road a great white wall eclipsed my view. Ahh, limestone, it was a concrete factory.
18:26 We have made it to the outskirts of Arequipa. Finally we pulled up in front of Monastery Santa Catalina, the largest monastery in South America and possibly the world, a city within a city, with five acres of buildings and roads. I walked back to my hotel. As I was a day early my requested room was not available and I took one within the bowels of the building. No private bath, but it sure was quiet.
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