TWELVE HOURS TO CUZCO

WEATHER: Cooler at 3300m for the whole day

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Finally getting to Cuzco

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Sitting in a truck for 12 hours – but it is an overland journey right!

BUYS OF THE DAY: Didn’t buy a thing all day

WORD OF THE DAY: Are we there yet – are we there yet

Another early start today.  We have to double back a few hours to a meeting point where we will change back into Rosita, say hello again to Gray and goodbye to the ‘sardine’.  The good thing being wedged in like sardines was with the cold morning it helped to keep us warm with whoever you were sitting next to.  Always a positive to a negative.  So with a wake up at 5am, breakfast at 6am and we were on the road at 6.30am. 

After only driving approximately 40 minutes we stopped at the highest point on our way back at 4900m, where there was a plaque where you could get your photos taken to snap the moment.  The second I jumped out of the van I felt very light headed, and I felt like I was walking like a man on the moon.  It was very off putting and weird feeling all at the same time.  Altitude sickness—also known as acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a pathological effect of high altitude on humans, caused by acute exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude. It commonly occurs above 2,400 meters. It presents as a collection of nonspecific symptoms, acquired at high altitude or in low air pressure, resembling a case of "flu, carbon monoxide poisoning, or a hangover".  It is hard to determine who will be affected by altitude sickness, as there are no specific factors that correlate with a susceptibility to altitude sickness. However, most people can climb up to 2,400 meters without difficulty.

Headaches are the primary symptom used to diagnose altitude sickness, although a headache is also a symptom of dehydration. A headache occurring at an altitude above 2,400 meters, combined with any one or more of the following symptoms, may indicate altitude sickness: Lack of appetite, nausea, or vomiting, Fatigue or weakness, Dizziness or lightheadedness, Insomnia, Pins and needles, Shortness of breath upon exertion, Nosebleed, Persistent rapid pulse, Drowsiness, Peripheral edema (swelling of hands, feet, and face), Diarrhea.  I only experienced the light headedness for the 15 minutes we stopped here, but heaven help people that get that continually for their time above 2400m.  What a terrible feeling. 

There was a lot of what the South Americans call Pachamama.  The Quechuan peoples use ‘cairns’ (rock piles) as religious shrines to the indigenous Inca goddess Pachamama, often as part of a synchretic form of Catholicism. There were hundreds of them all over the landscape.  They were all different sizes and it looked quite surreal top see so many of them.  The tourist has now jumped on board and for us it means good luck to travelers.  So not one to mess with travel gods and luck I created my own Pachamama and left my mark in the Andes.

After a group shot with Misti Volcano in the background it was time to hit the road again.  We had a date with Gray for 8am.  We did manage to do one more stop with over a hundred Alpaca’s, Llama’s and Vicugna’s walking across the road.  So we all piled out to get a photo of these national treasures.  An alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a domesticated species of South American camelid and it resembles a small llama in appearance.  Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, northern Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude of 3,500m to 5,000m above sea level, throughout the year. Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be beasts of burden, but were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to wool. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles and ponchos in South America, and sweaters, socks, coats and bedding in other parts of the world. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia and 16 as classified in the United States.

The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids, along with the guanaco, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to share a wild ancestor with domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their fiber. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every 3 years. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's fur is very soft and warm. It is understood that the Inca valued vicuñas for their wool, and that it was against the law for any but royalty to wear vicuña garments.  Both under the rule of the Inca and today, vicuñas have been protected by law. Before being declared endangered in 1974, only about 6,000 animals were left. Today, the vicuña population has recovered to about 350,000, and while conservation organizations have reduced its level of threat, they still call for active conservation programs to protect population levels from poaching, habitat loss, and other threats.  The vicuña is the national animal of Peru; its emblem is used on the Peruvian coat of arms representing the animal kingdom.

The llama (Lama glama) is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times.  The height of a full-grown, full-size llama is 1.7 to 1.8 m tall at the top of the head, and can weigh between 130 to 200 kilograms. At birth, a baby llama (called a cria) can weigh between 9 and 14 kilograms Llamas can live for a period of about 20-30 years depending on how well they are taken care of. Llamas are very social animals and live with other llamas as a herd. The wool produced by a llama is very soft and lanolin-free. Llamas are intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions. When using a pack, llamas can carry about 25% to 30% of their body weight for several miles.  Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago), camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 158,000 llamas and 100,000 alpacas in the US and Canada.

Rosita was ready and waiting for us in all her yellow glory when we arrived at 8am.  Hard to believe we have been on the go already for 1.5 hours and we haven’t even left the Colca area yet.  After a quick tea, coffee and toilet stop it was time to hit the road.  Getting back into Rosita was like moving from a one bedroom apartment to a mansion.  Welcome back room and space – oh we have missed thee. 

I still haven’t found my missing altitude pills, but I am feeling okay, so I am thinking that I won’t need to take them now that we will be above 3300m for the next 2 weeks.  Thank goodness I am one of the lucky ones that haven’t been affected.  Thank-you travel god.  Some more of the group are feeling a little of the altitude pinch, but nothing as worrying as what we had with Sharon yesterday.  Headaches, upset tummies and light headedness.  We all feel the pinch walking up stairs or uphill; it really takes the breath out of you and is a little disconcerting.  Again I reiterate just how thankful I am that I am not doing the Inca Trail and I think all the guys who do it deserve a medal.  It will definitely be a judge of character and determination based on what walking and stairs we have been doing the last 2 days in altitude.  As I would say ‘F@*k That’.

With a few view stops heading over the Andes, one had Flamingos in this massive lake; we stopped for lunch at 1.30pm by the roadside and set up for lunch.  It was freezing here and was also a local bus stop, so we got to look at some of the woman and there clothes.  They all have long plaits of hair down their backs, socks pulled up to their knees and round waist high skirts with colorful long sleeve tops.  They then finish off the outfit with what look like top hats and these vary in colour and I think it is by region, but they look awesome all the same.

It’s 2pm and we were now on our final stretch to Cuzco.  We were slowed down a little with traffic/trucks and from now till Christmas there will be a lot of festivals and street celebrations, to which we got caught up in a bit of traffic heading through small towns that had processions on.  The smaller outlying towns remind me of Madagascar, unfinished buildings, not much to the towns and locals sitting around mud shop fronts.  The scenery was beautiful though and it was nice to see some green grass and farms again after nearly a week in the dry plains of the Peru coast. 

At 5.15pm we arrived in a town called San Sebastian.  This was where we say goodbye to Rosita again for the second time in 2 days as she is too big to be driving around the streets of Cuzco so we had a minivan meet us here and drive us the 25 minutes into Cuzco town.  We had to take all we needed of Rosita as we weren’t going to see her for the next 9 days as she gets a make-over and check over here in Cuzco where Tucan have an office and base.         

It was a busy evening from here once we had checked in.  Debbie had a pre-departure meeting for her trek in the morning, the Inca guys had a pre-departure meeting after that and we are also getting tour t-shirts made here as they are pretty cheap for 11AUD.  So we all got sized up for those and while the guys were in their meeting Mark and I asked the shirt guy if he could sew on my Antarctic patches onto my fleece I bought on the ship to which he said sure and when we asked the price it was 6SOL (2AUD) for all 3 patches.  Get out – that is so cheap.  I did also ask while we had him if he makes patches to which he also said yes.  So I am getting some patches made up with my blog address Bernie’s World Odyssey so I can sew them onto a few bags and Kate said she’ll take one as well.  How cool is that to have my own patches!  The cost for these was only 4SOL (1.25 AUD) each.  Bargain.  My jacket will be back tomorrow, but the shirts and patches won’t be back till next week.  That’s okay we are here for 9 nights anyway.

Because it had been such a massive day, we are getting our small orientation tour tomorrow morning and we just headed out to get some dinner.  The hotel is only a 10 minute walk from the main square, so everything is within a good distance.  We had dinner at the highest 100% owned Irish Pub in the WORLD called Paddy’s and the food here was amazing, quick service and the prices were just right.

I felt like a walking zombie and according to Kate my eyes were so blood shot, it was time to head home and get some shut eye.  We do have free Wi-Fi at the hotel and we are able to get the reception in our rooms, so before going to sleep, in what has become a habit, I booted up the computer to see if I could load some photos from ANTARCTICA!!!!  This is still killing me and it still didn’t work god damn it.  I need to look at doing something as this is now really starting to get to me.  I have read all the ‘help’ instructions on Facebook so I may have to resort to sending them a message and see what they come back with.    

Talk of the group is now of the Inca Trail.  They have tomorrow to get all their last minute supplies and clothes together and then they embark on what I think will be a very soul seeking trek and they will need to pull out all stops to get it done, which I have a 100% faith that that will be the case.

Cuzco looks amazing and I think 8 days here will be awesome.