Percy

Hey cold, just found this report by a fluke and read the whole report.
Nice to see you did the Inca Trail.

I took the easy way... toured all of the Sacred Valley, used Cuzco as a home base and took the Blue Train to Machu Picchu.

Great Report,enjoyed it thoroughly.

colduphere

Percy the only difference in approach was you (I am guessing) had nicer toilets, well perhaps not in all places. We could have used you on this trip. In the end it was a breeze but there were times when some expert medical advice would have been appreciated, especially with teenagers. I'm not sure my wife ever completely relaxed on the trip.

And it was amazing how many Canadians we ran into. Nice to see.

Percy

colduphere:
It sure sounded like an exciting trip.
I saw a documentary on the Inca Trail, where the guides and tourists encountered a rock/mudslide when they got caught in a heavy rain storm.

One guide and two young tourists were killed as they were swept over the edge.

I was thinking of that when I was reading your report.
Was happy to read that you made it to Machu Picchu.

Yes I think our toilets were a bit better !!

sf7307

cold, we HAD two doctors with us on the trip. Very helpful, especially the morning AFTER I self-administered oxygen in the middle of the night, to have confirmation that I couldn't have overdosed.

Percy

colduphere:
Have you been to the Galapagos !?

colduphere

Sf 7307 - that must have been reassuring to have the doctors there. We had 3 lawyers and no doctors. Two doctors and one lawyer (just in case) would seem ideal. A couple of days ago I typed out the url for one of the huts you might see if you went to Norway. Then I deleted the post thinking well that will convince them not to go. Fairly spartan. Very outdoorsy. But I have changed my mind and here it is. This is where we started up the hill for the start of the Besseggen hike, although we did not stay here:

http://www.memurubu.no/eng_index.html

Percy for some reason that is one place I have never had the urge to go. I must have seen a documentary once that featured a turtle sleeping. Just no interest. Have you been? I don't see it in your list of trip reports.

sf7307

Honestly, Spartan doesn't bother me at all -- I just don't love sleeping on the ground! (Now if I could carry a camp cot with me, I might feel differently....)

As for the makeup of the trekking group, we had 2 doctors, 3 lawyers, 1 entrepreneur/business owner, 1 student and 1 designer. It was a great group (we had our reunion a few weeks ago and had a blast!)

sf7307

There's not enough pictures! If you have some of your own I'd love to see them. You can email me at same screen name at gmail. Thanks.

Percy

coldupthere

Yes I have been to the Galapagos.
It is like no other place on earth, with the animals and birds.

I was on the Luxury Yatch Isabella II and did the full 10 days there.
I was there in the month of August ( bird egg hatching time)

The Blue Footed Boobies sit on their nest and you come right up to them..about 6-8 inches away and then blow a bit

and you can see their feathers move ...but they will not move, but just look at you.!!

It was an experience of a lifetime.

The I did Quito for 4 days with private guides.

The turtle you may be talking about tis Lonesome George, he was over 150 years old and died a few years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonesome_George.

Fodorite018

colduphere--DH left today, and I was thinking of your report here so sat down to read it again, when DH texted and said he was on the plane to Lima One of the guys was delayed somewhere, so may only have 1 day to acclimate in Cuzco. DH is so excited!!! They have a spot messenger thing so that we can follow their breadcrumbs

colduphere

Mms - I'm looking forward to hearing about this trip. I picture your husband and friends to be like the Spanish guy in my trip report - well ahead of the porters with nowhere to have lunch. But much more pleasant.

I'll think I'll go check Cuzco's weather, though it is very variable.

Fodorite018

colduphere--I talked to him right before they left and again last night. He said it was rainy last week, and he was a bit cold. Then he texted on Sunday and said they made it to Machu Picchu. He called last night as they were on their way back to Cuzco, and said it was amazing, but he was pretty tired. He said our DS definitely needs to do it He flies out tonight, so I can't wait to hear about it when he gets home. One of the guys did get delayed, so he had only 1 day to acclimate. But hey, he is an astronaut, so definitely in shape

colduphere

Thanks for the update Mms. Good for him.

Fodorite018

colduphere--He will get home today, so I am really anxious! He did sent all the photos, which were amazing!!! He even took his Seattle Seahawks bright blue "12" flag with him, and he got a good pic of him holding it with Machu Picchu behind him, lol! Cuzco looks better in his pics than even from travel shows I have seen.

colduphere

Mms - I would be interested in hearing which campsite he stayed in on day 1 (though I am not sure every tour comapny goes into much detail about where they are staying (we stayed in 1B we were told)) and how he found day 2 in effort terms.

Fodorite018

colduphere--So I got the full scoop on the trip. Sounds like I really missed out. It turns out they ended up doing the trail in 3 days instead of the 4 that was planned. The camp that they would have stayed at on night 3 had been partially washed away due to the rain and the guide was not comfortable staying there at night. So he ran a few options past the group and they all decided to just do more miles each day and do it in 3 instead of 4. So the camp they were at the first night was further than the one originally planned. Of course I have already forgotten the name of the camp they were at the first night, lol. He said he was fine with the entire trail, but could definitely feel his knees on the "gringo killer" as the guides called it. In their group, he and his friends were the oldest ones (all in late 40's and oldest was 50). He said all the others were in their mid 20's to early 30's. He said he was consistently in the top 4 people or so, which I teased him that the younger ones were probably not happy that the old guy was faster than them He is like that climbing too though, sort of a jackrabbit. One speed...fast. He said everyone in their group was great, so that is always nice. One poor girl had to be taken out on a horse the first day as she had some stomach issue from eating street food in Guatemala before arriving in Cuzco, and ended up at the doctor. So they got a horse to take her back to town, and then she met up with the group a couple days later at Machu Picchu. She had some parasite. DH said he was super careful with what he ate as he was afraid of that. They were all fine though. They were so happy with the guide service, that the day after they got back to Cuzco, then went back to the tour office to let them know how pleased they were. Plans are already in the making for a return trip, with DS

colduphere

Mms - thanks for the report. That's all interesting for a few reasons. Unless my memory is misleading me just about everybody from all of the groups stays at the same campsite on night 3 - Winay Wayna. I noted in our trip report that people had been killed at that campsite in 2010 due to rain and rock falls. That is probably why the guide was nervous.

I guess they avoided the "up at 3:30 am" routine on day 4. It also means they arrived at Machu Picchu late in the day. I hope their time there was not cut short.

While I am sure your husband would fly by me on the trail the one place I found easy was the Gringo Killer steps. Our guide had made them sound almost vertical - scary and difficult. The problem i did have there was that my hiking friend, who I ski with, stabbed me lightly in the cheek when his pole slipped on a rock.That could have been disastrous.

That was very nice of them to go back to the office the next day. I hope you are going on the next trip.

Fodorite018

colduphere--I think you are right about that campsite. He said they had had quite a bit of rain the week before, and it was rainy during their trip, so the guide didn't want to take any chances. They did luck out as they reached Machu Picchu on day 3 so they saw a bit of it, but then they camped down below there that night and the next morning took the bus back up and had most of the day there. So at least they got plenty of time. I would love to go with them on the next trip, but I have had a couple of odd knee surgeries and there is no way I could do those stairs. However, I am thinking about doing the short 2 day trip while they do the longer one. He said those people just had little day packs and it would work for me to still get to hike, but not kill the knees. He did say the bus was a bit harrowing. When I looked at the photos, I thought it was the trail, not the road! When the guys went back to the office to thank them, they bought t-shirts that said they survived the Inca Trail. DH didn't think about about it, and bought his usual medium size. Oops, these were NOT preshrunk and now it is kiddie sized, so it is mine now He said he has to go back and do it again just to get another t-shirt, lol!

Fodorite018

colduphere--Now the guys are trying to put together a trip to climb Kilimanjaro this fall.

colduphere

Mms - one of our companions in Peru just returned from a hike in Tanzania (can't remember the name of the peak/area). One of the things she heard from several people over there is that the number of climbers who successfully climb Kilimanjaro is signigicanly lower than reported. Apparently there is a bias towards reporting success stories, as one might imagine.

Still sounds like a great idea though.