Peru2018

Hiking the Lares Trek in the Peruvian Andes

1 Nancy in the Hotel San Agustin Dorado lobby	2 Breakfast buffet at the Hotel San Agustin Dorado	3 Frank leading a tour of Inca and other sites around Cusco	4 Outside the CoriConcha - the main Inca temple comandeered by the Spaniards and turned into a church
5 Behind one of the Inca walls. Unknown what those protusions are for...	6 Courtyard outside the CoriConcha. Each layer of wall was built by a different tribe/civilization	7 A rare black llama along the road leading into the Sacred Valley	8 Vicunas at the weaving center
9 Alpaca at the weaving center	10 Natural materials used to dye wool	11 Dyeing some wool	12
13 Weaving demonstration	14 Entering the top of the ruins at Pisac in the Sacred Valley	15	16 Pisac agricultural terraces and buildings, with the village of Pisac in the valley off in the distance
17	18	19 Agricultural terraces	20 Trail we'll be taking down to the buildings at the top of this series of terraces
21 Final descent to the valley floor and the village market at Pisac	22 Outside the Pakaritampu Hotel in the village of Ollantaytambo where we spent two nights	23 Many roofs had these...	24 The ruins at Ollantaytambo
25 Looking down from the upper teraces, with market stalls with the town behind them	26 Granaries on the mountain with the sacred valley to the right	27 Frank explaining the ruins	28 The Inca's (sun king) chair/throne carved out of rock
29 Upper buildings and ruins	30 A probably unfinished wall with standard and significant Inca images carved into the rock	31	32
33 Visiting some of the ruins buildings and waterworks on the valley floor	34	35 I think this was a ceremonial fountain where a princess would bath or perform rites	36 In the center of the village of Mares a statue illustrating the nearby sites
37	38 An Incan agricultural experimentation center. Each circle was a different micro-climate used to grow plants for transplantation to higher elevation terraces (like at Pisac and Ollantaytambo)	39	40 This circle is not fully restored yet.
41 The salt pools and factory at the head of the valley	42 Pools where salty thermal spring water is directed to the evaporate, leaving layers of salt to be harvested. Each village family has several pools that they maintain and from which they derive some income	43 Cleaning up a pool in advance of re-flooding it	44
45 Salt items for purchase on the way out	46 A colonial church built on the ruins of an Incan palace, in the village of Chinchero, We were not allowed to take pictures inside	47 In the courtyard outside the church	48 Chinchero is a center of weaving in Peru, so of course there are lots of Peruvian textiles, etc. for sale by local families and merchants
49 Awaiting pickup to begin our trek out of the Sacred Valley to the village of Lares	50 The "before" group picture	51	52
53 Taking a water/rest break as we hike up the Pumahuanca valley	54 Horseman and spare horse in case someone needed to ride (or just carry their pack)	55 Inca ruins on the valley floor, possibly a waystation for messengers and travellers	56 Taking a break in the ruins
57 Walking by a small high altitude village	58 ...where children came out looking for treats	59 Our campsite up the valley	60 Having tea and a snack in the dining tent
61 The next morning, looking back at our camp and how far we've come	62 A quick adjustment break as we work our way up the valley toward the pass	63 Pumahuanca mountain shrouded in clouds - we're headed to the pass to the left of it	64 Hiking up the valley
65 Taking a break near treeline. Note the traces of snow and ice on the ground	66 Continuing upwards	67 A high altitude pond along the way up	68
69	70 Almost there...	71 Arriving at the Pumahuanca Pass (over 15,000 feet)	72 Pumahuanca Pass
73 Pumahuanca Pass shelter?	74 Getting the horses ready for the upcoming descent	75 Beginning our descent down from the pass	76 Doug and Dad by a pond in the clouds
77	78 Hiking in the clouds	79 Pooped at our lunch stop	80 Pooped at our lunch stop
81 The next day descending out of the clouds to the village of Cuncani (~12,000 feet)	82	83 Children from the village below that came up to the trail looking for treats	84 Alpacas
85 Campsite at Cuncani that provides some income to the villagers from the various outfitters that use it. Bathouse on the left had flush toilets and showers!	86 And of course we were greeted by...	87	88 Well, we haven't seemed to have lost anyone...
89 Looking behind the campsite as the clouds began separating we saw this	90 Thermal springs at Lares - each pool is a different temperature controlled by the amount of cold water mixed in with the hot	91 Jane and Natalia about to take the plunge	92 Same with Tod
93 And the three of them sitting in the sun on a bridge over the brook	94 The other end of the bridge is the beginning of the trail Tod, Kathy, and Jon took for the second trek while the rest of our group travelled to Machu Picchu	95 Jon and Tod headed along the river up the valley to the village of Huacahuasi with Aldo	96 A couple of aggressive turkeys we encountered
97 Children that came to meet us looking for treats	98 Some of this afternoon hike was on the road	99 And some was along old Inca trails like this one	100 Herder shelters and herds of alpacas and llamas along the way
101 Alpacas	102 More alpacas. We're headed up the valley along the stream to close to the waterfall in the distance	103 Another shelter and herd	104 Arriving at the village of Huacahuasi (aka Waca Wasi)
105 We had dinner and spent the night with one of the horseman's family just outside the village. The outdoor sink is on the left and the cooking building is on the right in this picture	106 Very curious chickens	107 The misses cooking over an open flame. She also has a small two burner gas (propane) stove.	108 This was our afternoon tea and snack
109 Kathy and friends the next morning. Tod, Kathy, and I spent the night in a room at the top of these stairs	110 One of their daughters who had to be coaxed to take her picture. She had never seen a picture of herself before	111 The daughters and a neighbors children hoping to sell us some of their wares	112 Both families wives and children and their guests (us)
113 Tod and Kathy all smiles wiaiting to start the day's hike now that the horses have arrived	114 Horses about ready to go.	115 Climbing out of the valley the morraines apparent on the other side of the valley indicate that there used to be a glacier here	116 Climbing up the wide valley to the Ipsayjasa Pass. A family is picking potatoes in their potato patch
117	118 Looking backwards as we climb higher you can see all the potato fields (dark patches in this picture)	119 Ipsayjasa mountain?	120 Llama and alpaca dung pellets all over the ground, fertilizing the soil so grass will grow in this environment. Very symbiotic
121 Kathy and Tod	122 A couple of house high up in the valley. With a close look you can see women weaving in their front yards	123 More up	124 Looking back from where we came as we climb ever higher
125 Reaching Ipsayjasa Pass (14,599 feet)	126 Enjoying the view from Ipsayjasa Pass	127 Group portrait for this trek	128 Heading down the other side of the pass toward the village of Patacancha
129	130 Laguna (lake) Ipsaycocha (at 13,943 feet)	131	132
133 First view of the road from Patacancha into the mountains	134 Then it rained and hailed on us for 5 minutes. The village of Patacancha is in the valley below and to the left	135 Descending to Patacancha amongst potato fields	136 A post-trek celebratory dinner courtesy of Killa Outfitter. All entres (meat, fish, tofu) are cooked and served on slabs of volcanic rock. Very yummy
137	138	139 Looks good ehough to eat	140
141 Last day was spent on a walking tour of Inca sites in the hills above Cusco, including Tambomachay, Pukapukara, Quenco, and Sacsyaywaman. We also attended a Shaman ceremony along the way	142 Ritual waterworks at Tambomachay, a place reserved for ceremoneis of the Inca king and royalty	143	144 On the path back to the road
145 Pukapukara was a waystation for people and commerce entering Cusco	146	147 Classic Incan fitted stone wall	148 And another example, perhaps built earlier in the Incan era
149 Also explaining to us	150 We cut across country to get to the next tourist area and encountered this with a bunch of art students drawing	151	152 A view of farms, valleys, and terraces with the city of Cusco in the valley in the background
153 Shaman preparing an offering to Pacha Mama (mother earth)	154 Tod had volunteered to be the Shaman's assistant during the ceremony (hence the	155 We all got to try on the costume Tod wore. Here is Doug	156 ...and our guide Aldo
157 This was an interesting area where royals were mummified, but no pictures as it was close quarters	158 Taking a break before heading into Saqsaywaman	159 Taking a break before heading into Saqsaywaman	160 In Saqsaywaman it begin raining after this picture was taken, so not pictures of it this trip
161 At the end of the day was walked back into Cusco, had a nice dinner at a restaurant, amd visited the main Plaza des Armes. The houses in the hills are not organized in streets with streetlights because they are all squatters	162 Jane, Doug, and Tod on our way back to the hotel	163 Our last day in Peru Kathy and I went to the market and saw groups of school kids on field trips	164 and took her picture with a real-life, Inca sun god (for a donation, of course)