The Best of Both Worlds

Last tuesday I met the English couple who I had been planning my trip out of Cuzco with, Chris and Sadie. We had originally wanted to visit the site of Espiritu Pampa, the final hideout of the last Inca Tupac Amaru, but it turned out to be such a tough trek we decided on going to the ruins of Choquequirao instead.  Choquequirao is similar to Machhu Pichu: they are both a mixture of residential and ceremonial center set on the side of a canyon high above a river, with beautiful views out to the surrounding mountainside.  Choquequirao was built after Machhu Pichu, and is far less well known.  Unlike Machhu Pichu, however, the only way to get to Choquequirao is to walk, a tough four day journey down a a canyon and up the other side. 

We went with an agency that offered us five days with a guide, two horses, all of our supplies, and food and a cook for 180$.  It seemed like a good deal to me, and I was happy to take it.  So on Thursday morning we left Cuzco and drove three and a half hours west to the small town of Cachora, and got on the trail.  The first day wasnt too bad, except for one of our horses falling down a small hill and spilling all our food! We were able to salvage most of it, but there would be no yogurt to look forward to the next four mornings.  The path was fairly level for 15 kilometers or so, and then started to descend to the river at the bottom, 1500 meters down, for the next 5 kms.  We ate well that night, camped out under a cloudy nightime sky, and got ready for the tough day to come.

Everyone had told us that the second day up the other side of the canyon was a killer, and it indeed was very tough.  Not only was it steep, but the sun was absolutely baking down on us, and the mosquitos were ferocious.  But nine hours later, and 9 kms further down the path, we arrived at the campsite below the ruins.  We were able to see them up above us, the goal was finally reached.