The view of Cuzco from the top of the city.
Before starting the Inca Trail, we did a tour of the Sacred Valley Ollataytambo. We went to a women´s collective where they make artisan goods from Alpaca wool. They used to have looms, but because of a flood about 4 years ago, all their equipment was destroyed so they make the garments in the way shown above. It can take them upto a month to make each item, as they can only weave in their free time--outside of maintaining the house, cooking, and caring for their children. They also turn the alpaca wool in yarn by hand with no machine, and dye all the yarns with natural dyes.
My roommate Becca and I at one of the ruins in the Sacred Valley. The farmers made terraces for their crops so that the stones would heat up from the sun and cast the warmth back down, allowing them to grow crops at high altitudes. The difference between each terrace can be as much as 5 degrees. They also used sand as a layer underneath the soil to prevent flooding, as they were aware of the natural disasters common to the area.
Our group at the start of the Inca Trail!
Day one was an easy climb, relatively flat. The mountains looked amazing as the clouds descended down upon them--it looked like a cloud waterfall in slow motion.
The first night Becca woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me that all my shit was in a puddle. Leaky tents are the worst, and none of my clothes nor my sleeping bag ever dried after that until the end of the trip.
At the top of Dead Woman´s Pass (4200 m) on day 2.
Dead Women´s Pass with the valey behind me. It was freezing up there, and it started to pour about 5 minutes after we got up--good thing we were the quick ones in the group, as the people behind us were miserable by the time they got to the top, and it wasn´t clear enough to take any shots.
Day 3 the backdrop shifted amazingly quickly. We went from being just mountainside to being in a cloud forest. We were literally walkeding through the clouds, and it was so lush. I also found out on Day 3 that my raincoat isn´t actually waterproof (thanks a lot Columbia). I hurt my knee after lunch and then had to go down hundreds on slippery wet uneven stone steps in pain and drenched. Not so much fun.
Day 4 we wokr up at 3:40 am to hike to Sun Gate. I was still in pain and going pretty slowly, and it wasn´t clear enough to see Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate, but it started to clear up on the trek down, and there was actually a bit of sun (for the first time ever) by the time we got to the Inca city.
Machu Picchu was amazing, and it totally made it worth all the wetness and coldness that preceeded it for 3 days. I´m in Cuzco now for a few more nights, and then I head to La Paz to meet up with Clare!
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