kjcrane.com

Our friend Helen (not pictured above. I mean, she couldn’t keep her eyes open in any photos. I’m just sayin … but here she is) invited us to dinner at Hibiscus in Dallas for her 30th birthday. It was an awesome time, and a delicious dinner. Kari and I both had fish, and it melted in our mouths. So good.

After dinner we met up with a few others at the Capitol Pub (that’s Kari, Kate and Melissa there above). Very cool place, just down the street from Hibiscus in the neighborhood that’s apparently among the few “it” places in Dallas. At least it was, until I was spotted there.

So we made it back from our long weekend in Chattanooga, TN, with our little (adorable) nephew Ford. Jason’s cousin Daniel got married in the area, so we figured it was a great excuse to get a cabin and meet up with the family. Had a nice time relaxing and hanging out with Jeff, Allison, Ford (their take) and Jason’s dad. We even got a hike in while we were there. We’ve been dying to get outside and do something since we’ve been back from Peru. It wasn’t quite the Andes, but it was still pretty! Photos from the trip.

“Helen had always feared that it would be an anticlimax, that something dreamed of for a lifetime would inevitably be smaller than the dream. She had lived so much of her life in the imagination that it was for her more powerful than reality. But what towered before her was greater than anything she might have conjured. Photographs were as ashes to a live body. Nothing captured Machu Picchu, a kingdom ruined but alive.”

That quote from a book says it better than we could. But what a trip. If we haven’t bored you with our stories yet, we made it back from Peru, where we hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and just enjoyed our time away. There really aren’t words to describe what a great experience it was. But we’ll try. The views were absolutely amazing. The people were so kind. The food never ceased to surprise us. And Cusco is a city of stunning beauty.

But what we really went for was the trek. We hiked about 26.5 miles, up 7,000 feet, down 6,880 and over a 13,750 foot pass. And every step was worth it once we made it to Machu Picchu. You’re missing out if you don’t take this trip sometime in your life. I’d always dreamed of visiting the lost city, and it truly does not disappoint. Along with the stunning ruins and views along the way, we were lucky to take the trip with a great group of people and to have Saul and Jose as our guides.

Check out our photos here. We started with more than 1,000, so let us know if you want the extended showing! Below is our more detailed journal of what we did each day, if you’re interested.

It was a long day of travel (late flights and missed flights) but we’re finally here. We were greeted at our hotel (el Balcon) with the traditional coca tea. We’re easily won over by this local custom, but it takes Kari a handful or so before she realizes she shouldn’t be eating the leaves, just sucking on them. But either way, they seem to help fight altitude sickness and offer a nice little burst of energy. Sorry friends in the U.S., I won’t be trying to bring any back for you to try. After a little nap to recover from the overnight flight, we venture to the main square in Cusco for an early dinner. This is an absolutely stunning city.

We decided to have a pretty regular first meal. We’ll save the guinea pig and alpaca for later. So we found a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the square (not hard) and settled in for some coca tea, soup (easy to digest in the altitude) and pasta. On our way back we chatted with a kid selling paintings in the square. He thinks Obama will be our next president; McCain is just for the old people. We loved getting his take, but really, we’re here to forget about the news.

The altitude isn’t killing us like we thought it might, but we do have lingering headaches. Hopefully a real night of sleep will cure all.

A bus tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas is on the agenda today. After a quick stop at a little market, we entered Pisac, a huge site with terraces, water ducts, ruins and best of all stunning views of the valley and the Urubamba River. It’s a Spanish creation built on top of an old Inca settlement. This was our first real hike and gave Jason his first little taste of stairs next to steep dropoffs. Not his favorite!

After lunch we visted the ruins in Ollantaytambo, the real highlight of the day. They say Manco Inca hid from the Spanish here for a short time. It’s a gorgeous fortress and temple high above the valley. At the top is the unfinished Sun Temple.

We ended the day at an ornate 17th century church built on Inca foundations in Chinchero.

Finally, the altitude isn’t bothering us at all today. We decided to spend our last full day here doing a walking tour (self-guided) of the ruins in and just around Cusco. We took a taxi to Puca Pucara (archeologists believe it was an Inca hunting lodge) thinking we’d hike back toward Cusco on a trail described in our travel book. Obviously we were the only ones with this idea. The trail was hard to find and follow, and we never saw another person while hiking it. Just glad we didn’t get lost. In the end we were happy we did this. For at least a little while we felt like we were the only two people on Earth, hiking through the Andes. Life doesn’t get much better.

Eventually we found our way to Salapunco, a big limestone rock with great views from the top, and the second stop on our tour. Next up is Qenko (the big Puma out front) where we met a nice couple from Cusco who were studying English. They gave us a free tour of the sacred site so they could practice their English.

Finally we ended our tour at Sacsayhuaman (pronounced something like sexy woman).The size of the stones at this place is incredible. It’s so hard to believe the Incas were able to move them around, much less place them in a meaningful manner. The biggest is estimated to be 8.5 meters high and weighs 361 tons. They’re not really sure what this site was, but probably a temple, and it was used as a fortress at some point too. From here we took a cab back to the center of town.

Tonight we had our pre-trek orientation, so we got to meet the rest of the group. Looks like we all live in the U.S. and one couple is even from Dallas. Small world! Can tell we’ll love our guides. Back to our hotel to pack up for the hike. Originally we were going to carry our full packs, but at the last minute we decided to have a chaski carry some of our stuff. We’ve heard lots of horror stories about people carrying their own packs, so we decided this might not be the time to be tough! We’ll probably only do this trip once in our life, so we want to enjoy it.

Finally, the reason we’re here. We caught a bus at 6 a.m. to head to the start of the Inca trail at (KM 82). Our first day of walking was pretty easy, and for a second we even thought we might not have a hard time at all! We were wrong. But it was a great day where we saw great views of a snow-covered Mount Veronica and passed through a few villages. We were absolutely blown away at lunch and at every meal to come over the next four days. The food was truly gourmet. It was just amazing what they were able to pull off in the middle of the mountains. Every night when we got to camp we had tea time (loved the poppy corny!) before another fabulous dinner. Our chef was really amazing.

What we learned during day 1: First, how can you not be thrilled to be here? The scenery is truly amazing everywhere you turn. We love our guides (Saul and Jose) and everyone in our group. You lose your breath going uphill much faster than it seems you should.

We walked a little more than 8.5 miles today. We also saw our first Inca site, Llactapata, from above.

Today was supposed to be the hardest day of the trek, and it was, but I think it was the best day too. How can a day go bad when a glass of coca tea is brought to your tent at wake up time?

It felt like it took ages, but we finally made it to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass! We hiked from about 9,842 feet to 13,750 feet. It was a slow hike, but the views were amazing, and really we made it without too many problems. But it was tough to get going again after lunch, knowing we had another pass to cross. I had a little bit of a headache (maybe the altitude, maybe the heat) but a dunk in the river seemed to fix that. Saul has an easy solution for everything.

On the way to the next pass we got to see Runkuraqay, the egg-shaped ruins. The important lesson at this one: sleeping with llamas is stinky. We were also lucky because we got to see a black bear! It was Saul’s second in 13 years on the trail, so I guess it’s pretty rare. It looked huge from where we were. Couldn’t get a good photo though. Just before camp we stopped at Sayaqmarka, probably a market for the people of MP.

Tonight’s camp is the coldest of all the nights. But nothing tea and a little poppy corny couldn’t cure. And we finished the day with a surprise: juice mixed with Incan rum. We’ll sleep well tonight.

Today’s toll: About 7.5 miles, but the up and down was killer!

Most of the trail is made of original Inca stones beginning on the third day. When the Incas were fleeing the Spaniards, they destroyed much of the trail to conceal their path, but only up to this point. Today was one of my favorites (I think I say this everyday though). It was easy hiking compared to yesterday’s passes. Much of the hike today was through the forest with lots of flowers and other vegetation. There were about 2,000 steps down though, so it was a tough day on the knees. On our way to camp we stopped at Phuyupatamarka, the town in the clouds. We had great weather, so we were able to see Machu Picchu Mountain, and it’s neighbor, Happy Mountain, from here. The end was in sight!

We only hiked for about five hours today (about 10 miles) before lunch and then we were at camp. And guess what… there were showers! I didn’t think I’d take one, but I also didn’t think I’d smell so bad. So a shower it is. Too bad they didn’t come with clean clothes… Jason, content in his stench, skipped the shower.

Later that afternoon we took a five minute walk to Winaywayna, the best of all the ruins we’ve seen along the way, but nothing compared to what we’ll see tomorrow.

This campsite also had a bar/restaurant to hang out at, and I think we felt like we deserved a few beers! Had to pace ourselves though. Wake-up call is 4 a.m. tomorrow so we can get to the Sun Gate early. This was a nice night because we finally got to meet all the chaskis who are making the trip with us. It’s just amazing what they carry and how hard they work to make these trips happen. And they do it all with a smile and a good attitude. We couldn’t have the great trip we’re having without them.

We don’t usually get up at 4 a.m., but if anything will get us out of bed it’s the end of our hike to Machu Picchu! (Only a little over 4 miles to go!) After a fast breakfast we got in line at the checkpoint to the trail, which opened at 5:30 a.m. The first part of the hike was in the dark but soon the sun was out and not too many steps later (including about 30 huge, steep steps up) we were at the Sun Gate. Here we got our first glimpse of the great city. Another 45 minutes or so and we arrived at Machu Picchu. The city is much bigger than you can imagine when looking at photos. Everywhere you look, the views are stunning and the stone work is amazing.

Saul gave us nice tour of some of the best parts of the city, and the rest of the afternoon we just roamed around this once lost city. After several long days of hiking and years and years of dreaming of being there, it was hard to believe we were actually in the city of Machu Picchu. The photos say it better than we can, but the immensity of the city is striking. Agricultural terraces, many religious temples, the royal palace, and the huge urban district. It was a lot to take in, but we saw a lot of the city and took a long, well-deserved rest in the grass.

We all got to have one last lunch together in Aguas Calientes before some of the group headed back to Cusco with Jose and Saul. The destination for the rest of us: The hot springs. We were a little worried when we asked Saul and Jose about the springs. All they said was to take a shower when we were done. So we weren’t expecting greatness! All I’ll say is, if you make this trip, don’t feel bad skipping the hot springs. They’d be better named “dirty pools of kind of warm water.”

So we showered. And then crashed. Probably would have slept through dinner, but they came and woke us up. Didn’t realize dinner was waiting on us!