Day 1

Three amigo’s!!

Hire north face three man tent.

Hire three thermarests and gas burner and pots, acquire food.

Find Terminal Terrestre,Find a bus to Chacora or Abancay

Bus to Ramal

Walk to Choquequirao,see Llamas in stonework,do what is regarded as the toughest of the Inca walks and get home alive.

Dasha Mimi and I split up to get food tent etc, and somehow come 11 we are back at the hostel repacking for an epic trip.

With minutes to spare we find a bus to Ramal,it doesn’t look great and smells of urine in the back,were we are seated.As the journey heats up so does the stink.We wind out of Cusco and throughout the tiny hamlets,on the road side I see a three year old playing with a plastic doll,in absolute filth,she is in her own world with the doll, and it is absolutely disgusting,beside the main highway.

As the day heats up so does the bus and an enterprising local with cool box climbs on board before a winding canyon and does laps of the bus selling ice creams,well worth $1.20,after all the 5 hour bus ride cost $5.

Ramal, not really a town,more of a point on the map, and with the local we stand in the rapidly plummeting temperature hoping for a taxi to Chacora, some 45 minutes away,they all drive away uninterested.

As dark is setting we discuss with the locals and decide to walk it, they say it is “a long and narrow path”,thought they have  two year old in tow.

So we set off and quickly loose the locals,whilst the sun setting on the snow capped peaks is spectacular,the narrow path is not.

I load up my pack and put Mimi’s on the front as the rocky track is too rough for her in the night.

What seems like 10 km takes nearly three hours and we likely do two villages too many in the dark,honestly we are all bloody buggered by the time we arrive at three balconies:tree balconies.

However Raoul has a hot meal and cold show awaiting us and we wolf down soup, and chicken egg corn and rice,the first of many we will have in weeks to come.

Raoul’s brother is an arriel,or horse man,and in the morning will arrive with Horse for Mimi and Mule for her gear.

Dasha and I want to see if we can do the hike unaided,having heard how hard it is we think we are tough enough.

So after a exhausted sleep we load up mule with as little gear as possible,a clean American couple is leaving in time with us and we quickly pick up that our lightweight gear and mule is being supplemented with elaborate and extravagant camping paraphernalia.

So Uriel our mule man and the three of us head off on a misty clouded morning filled with brovado to conquer the mighty Choquequirao,1800 metres down,followed by 1950 metres up.

We do well and hit the top of the first peak and Mimi has yet to touch the horse,a gently mountain path like a road,with the odd cow,landslide and slab hut made of gum tree planks,also chicha drink stops for local brew.

Now the descent,along the this path as the sun blasts through,we see that Carlos from Lima did not make it and he is not the only one.

Finally as the relentless sun beats down on us in the sharp canyon walls we reach the shade of Choqiska,whilst the water passionfruit and shade are welcome the Horse flies and Mosquitoes are not.

A brilliant lunch of pocket bread avocado and cheese is great and Uriel looks oddly as we offer him avocado on bread.

Deep into the valley we descend,ever more heat and sun as we go,until the Santa plains on the river edge.Our calve muscles ache and we welcome a cool drink in the 40c heat.Mimi and I have gone arab in the headwear department and Dasha is proving how tough she is wearing a full length ice breaker to cut the sun as she has no other.

We all fantasised about a swim in the river but seeing the massive turbulent current, there is no way any of us are going in now we are closer,so we man up and head across the cable suspension bridge for the climb.

Each of us feeling pretty funky by now in their own way,i am light headed and giddy,Mimi tired and Dasha quite ruddy,but we push on.

Soon into the climb Mimi feels her heart giving palpitations and Bella the horse is called into action,I admit as the Mule was utterly distracted despite conditions and after the epic walk the night before i am quite stuffed,before we started and thus Mr Mule gains more than just tent and sleeping mat from me,he doesn’t even notice.

Up and up we go to Santa Rosa,switch backs cut into the mountain side zig zag their way every up and slow and steady is the best approach.

Mimi Bella mule and Uriel get the jump on me and just keep on slogging,I Loose Dasha just keep on going,UP UP UP.

Now and then a mule caravan passes loaded with water coke seven up and once I see  a horse who has eight dozen eggs tied atop the saddle.

The mules seem completely unbothered about the terrain and often stop to nibble beside the track,if not brought back into line.

I wait for Dasha and together we have cool drink that brings us back for the last slog to the camp site.

Everything here is Muled in,or out, and so i take great curiosity in photographing a irrigation channel made from plastic coke bottles to direct a mountain stream into the village.

Santa Rosa,Mimi and Uriel have the tent up and the daytime temperature is fast evaporating in the mountain side camp.

To add to difficulties Mimi has a cold shower to cleanse herself as being a girl sometimes happens at the worst times.Still a candle lit dinner of pasta and tuna at a raw wooden table with nailed on plumbers plastic top and coca tea is very welcome,in the dark we see stars and the fires of locals on the valley across, from where we came.

Apparently North face 3 man tent,is just that, and nothing more,still we all are glad for mats and warm sleeping bags as our 5am start,is suddenly not too far away.

Day 2

Muesli bars and coffee to break the dawn,and amid mist we haul our way up the hill to Marampata,which is the village Uriel calls home.Choquequirao next stop.

We pay our entry to the INC Path and pleased to note we are the first of the day.

Choquequirao, Looks close and peaks through clouds as the day clears, up until Marampata we were in full mist.

It only looks close and it about 1030 when we finally down packs and 1130 when we have good tent site and are ready to leave camp for “the final assault”looming high above us our legs ache and each step  up is felt and often taken in regard to minimise effort and balance.

I note that we all tottering rather than walking.The peak itself is a bit of  non event and we are truly to exhausted to enjoy it.we have an early lunch and bask for an hour in the mountain sun,the altitude is affect us and huff and puff our way around the ruins wondering what each building was for.

Looking in every direction the Choquequirao site is strategically cunning and can see down several converging rivers right up to snow capped peaks.

Despite not wanting to go down and up again,our curiosity is too great, we must see the famous llama terraces.so down we go,and honestly to slip would be very messy.

Every step down is met with complaint as we know we must go up.

Finally there they are, amidst vertical stone build terraces,not horizontal stones like all other inca terraces,the famous white llamas in stone work.Gazing out into the mountains below, and terraces so steep,etched into the jungle and mountain side where even today with,modern machinery you could not build,gracefully the terraces sit unfazed by time and weather.

As we gaze about there is moment of stillness and memory as a might andean condor spans across the peaks directly overhead,he sails on the wind as if to own it, and even in the sky above seems massive.

Condors can in day go from the Andean peaks of snow to the coast and back searching for prey or food.They are the  mightiest of the vultures.

Really to appreciate this you have to see it,but image Thredbo’s  Supertrail,add some steepness and make farm terraces on it.

On the way up i swear and regard that this is the longest steepest hardest staircase i have encountered anywhere in the world,without doubt.And it is some steps are greater than 2 normal steps and need a hand to climb,it is at least 1in 2 climb.

Finally 5 is approaching and we must leave this mountain peak.

Dinner is pasta with trout and tomato paste, nothing more,we are so exhausted and famished we all find it good and finish the lot.

DAY 3

So after several discussions Uriel was to join us 620 am as we gave him the day of with his parents,some 7am he is not to be seen and Mule Stephen kicks into action, thankfully i only go a short way and Uriel turns up without explanation,and relieves me of the enormous burden.

Down down we go,along the way meeting folks in various degrees of decomposition as the day heats up as does the climb,they put on a brave face but are suffering,we know.

Ever the day gets hotter and we do our best to beat the climb and stay in the shade,on noon we make it back to the searing river valley floor of Santa Plana,and soak in a cold shower and lunch, i feed water to the mule and horse,who seem genuinely pleased,left standing in the sun.

They trust my smell now and muzzle me.

Our goal for the night is to make it past Chickisqua and thus make the last day short.

Along the way we meet a couple of French who have seen the Bespectacled bear,we share passionfruit and cool drinks in the shade of Chickisqua as we head for camp in the afternoon heat.

Mimi has resorted to the horse like any sensible person, despite the climb and heat i am in fine form and feel great,despite the complaints of y legs the day before.

Finally to Sawana the last and camp and the best view,across the river and mountains we have just climbed.

2 minute noodles with asparagus soup and pasta for dinner, Yum.

Moments before dinner is ready i collapse with a fever and nausea,i skip dinner and sleep with vivid dreams as happens at altitude, this happens to us all and with the 4 am starts we discuss our inner workings and what it might mean,mostly very distorted and interesting.

Day 4 the final.

Cachora can not come soon enough,food a shower and homeward,we are buggered