We chose Wayki Trek as our tour operator for the Inka Trail hike because they were written up as the only indigenously-owned trekking company in Cusco.
When we went to Wayki to meet our guide and get a briefing, the company told us that we were the only ones on the tour. Others had been signed up, but had canceled, and now it was just us, five porters, a cook, and a guide! We were sort of excited, since a private tour would ordinarily be far more expensive than what we paid, but we also knew that we would miss the camaraderie of fellow trekkers.
As part of their trekking options, the company offers the "Wayki Experience": a chance to spend the night before you leave on your trek with a family in the village where some of your porters live. That sounded great to us, so on Saturday afternoon, we left Wayki with a guide for the village.
That turned out to be a rather convoluted journey. We took one taxi that left us off somewhere in the middle of a sort-of sketchy neighborhood on the west of Cusco. Jaime, our guide spent a while walking in different directions, changing his mind, and talking to various cabbies, all of whom shook their head at whatever he was asking them.
We asked him what was going on, but his English was not very good: half the time he clearly didn't understand what we were asking, and we couldn't understand what he was saying in return. Finally, he found a cab driver who agreed to take us and we set off again.
Until we stopped in the middle of the street in a dusty little town outside Cusco and were told to get out again. This time, Jaime was able to explain to us that we had to take a village colectivo (a small bus) from there to the village.
The colectivo was crowded with locals, but they cheerfully made room for us.
After a long, bumpy ride down streets paved and unpaved, we reached our destination, then walked about half a mile down a dirt road and up a steep green hillside to the farm of the family we were staying with.
Our hostess standing in the doorway.
The farm is a small, walled adobe enclosure. At night, the family's four cows and small herd of sheep sleep here. Their little daughter was a bit shy, but was okay having her picture taken with us. The door to the far right is the entrance to kitchen, where all the family's meals (and ours) were prepared on a very basic wood-fired stove. Inside, there was a rickety little wooden table where we ate two delicious meals: wonderful soups and rice dishes. The floors were dirt and, we soon realized, home to close to twenty cuys (guinea pigs), whose cooings and mad dashes from corner to corner kept us entertained.
We were shown our bed in the potato shed.
As it turned out, however, they decided later to put up a tent for us outside the compound instead.
The day was still young, so Jaime asked us if we wanted to visit the village proper. Of course we did.
Instead of taking the road, we walked through the fields. Here's a view looking back at the farm. It's the set of buildings closest to the middle of the picture. Yes, those are eucalyptus seedlings in the foreground. It turns out that eucalyptus were transplanted in Peru in the early 1800s and have thrived there ever since. We were especially surprised to see them so prolific at 12,000 feet.
As we walked up over the hill, we were greeted by a spectacular view of the Andes.
In the village, a small group of people were preparing for their pilgrimage to the sacred mountain. A party was being thrown to send them off. We were given a bowl of soup and watched them get ready. Unfortunately, we were asked not to take pictures.
We were, however, able to get some shots of the livestock.
I know I keep using the word spectacular to describe the scenery here, but it is that. And far more.
And really, the spectacle had yet to begin.
Next, the Inka Trail itself.
P.
1 comment:
The adventure begins, I can't wait for day two.
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