Political Mudslides and Wilderness Walks

On a weekend break from the 'rigours' of working on the business plan, Lou and I headed off to Santa Teresa, the commonly acknowledged 'back door to Machu Picchu', by which punters can walk sections of the Inca Trail and avoid the unpleasent stinging sensation of paying for a train ticket to Aguas Calientes from Cusco. It became clear after hammering around a couple of hairpin bends in a combi why the average mild-mannered tourist would prefer a train ride instead of a front seat view over sheer drops; you'd think after repeated road trips over the Southern highlands Iwould have become accustomed; sadly, no.

Having made it safely to Santa Teresa, we hada quick poke around the town, which apparently was completely destroyed by a huge mudslide in the late 90's, and subsequently rebuilt further up the hill. Overlooking the old site in the base of the valley, we got chatting to a local chap, who filled us in with the details; mercifully only two people died when the whole town was wiped out, but a more serious consequence of the slide was the destruction of the railwayline, which previously had run all the way to Quillabamba. The final stop of significance for the train was now Aguas Calientes, and the various commercial interests held there were preventing the line from being reconstructed to its original destination, thus pooling the vast majority of tourists in Aguas Calientes and leaving the rest of the communities only servicable by road of the kind on which I had just braved my life. Most of these roads are impassable in the wet season (lasting about 3 or 4 months), which can make life in Santa Teresa difficult at times. This is, it turns out, the tip of the iceberg in terms of conflicting political and commercial interests with the needs of the isolated populations of the region...

Political grumbling aside, Lou and I turned our interests to walking to Santa Maria, about 4 hours away and the wrong way down the Inca Trail in terms of reaching Machu Picchu. This suited us just fine for a day trip, and meant that the only people that we had to share the trail with (about 10 people spread over 3 groups) were all headed the other way, leaving us to stomp the base of impressive canyons, swinging brigdes, teetering drops and tiny pathways through picturesque villages without even getting a taste of josting in the crowds that are reputed to flood the trail in peak season.

Santa Teresa, Peru
12th december 2009

My Worst Haircut Ever, For 70p

Having freshly arrived in Quillabamba, I decided that my shaggy hair was suitably unprofessional and decided to dive into a hairdressers across from the local market to sharpen up my act. Pleasently surprised by the price of 3.50 nuevo soles (about 70p) I decided to commit. I sat in the chair and, without warning, my hairdresser launched at my head.

Unperturbed, I decided not to issue any instructions, to see of what the hairdresser was capable. In brief, this consisted of taking random secions of my dry hair off the side of my head, shaving random patches around the back and sides of my head and neck with a cutthroat razor weilded with enthusiasm,before finally drenching my head in water and combing my hair into a style that was decidedly 1950´s, a bit like his.

Lou watched the whole thing from the sidelines, smirking as the masterpiece took shape, before snapping the photo below; a catalogue moment, I'm sure you'll agree. In all fairness the hairdresser and his family (as well as a temporarily assembled audience) were all very sweet, and there's no one by whom I would have rather had my hair mangled.

Quillabamba, Peru
5th December 2009

Quillabamba

After four months (ish) of dossing around through Central Amercia and Peru, it was time to hunt for some work to get involved with, thus following the 'living and working in Latin America' mission statement.

Over the course of the last couple of months or so, it became clear through Lou's contact network that opportunities were available with a big coffee cooperative, COCLA, in the region of La Convencion, an 8 hour bus ride outside of Cusco. Following a couple of very promising meetings with one of the coop directors it was decided that we would assist with the writing of a business plan with the aim of developing the national market for the cooperative's coffee (more about this in later entries) and in the process of writing the plan, factor some continued involvement and payment for ourselves into the scheme of things, assisting the coop with the various skills and experiences that Lou and I had picked up during our time in the UK.

We got straight down to it, meeting the sales manager for Cusco, Sonia, and getting a tour around the various current sales outlets for the coffee, as well as visiting a couple of unversities where COCLA was intent on establishing concessions.

All the meetings and orientation allowed us to stitch together a basic proposal for COCLA for the steps of business planning and beyond, and with this emailed in advance of our journey, we headed for Quillabamba, the headquarters of COCLA, situated in the jungle region of Peru, to commence the first stage of work.

The road was incredible to say the least, climbing to pass at 4,300 m and descending through 3 different climate zones. By the time we rounded the corner in the road that wound along the side of the valley and got our first glimpse of the 'City of Eternal Summer', cold, rainy Cusco seemed like a lifetime away.

Quillabamba, Peru
4th December 2009

Up, Down and Around in The Sacred Valley

With the parents gone, Lou and I have joined forces once again, heading out for the archeological site of Pisac. Passing fairly rapidly through the Sunday market that purveys a range of near identical handicrafts at each stall, we wheezed up the selection of terraces that consistute the bottom of the site, expecting to reach the top...about five or six times.

The site was huge, winding its way around the hillsides that look down into the sacred valley, of which the settlement was once the capital city. Dizzying drops looked down from impossibly constructed buildings, clinging to sheer rockfaces. The site was spectacular and endless, a truely pleasant surprise, even if my legs needed a couple of days afterwards to ride out the beating they took.

Pisac, Peru
30th November 2009

Family Presence Drops by 66% in Peru

Sadly had to say goodbye to the folks today as they headed in a taxi off to Cusco airport. We've had a lovely month together bumbling around various bits of Peru, giving me a great opportunity to get to know a selection of the wide variety of the regions of desert, mountains and jungle that make up the country.

Cusco, Peru
26th November 2009

Top Notch Riding

Pa and I, deciding that the exhaust fumes and constant touted offers of massages, photos with llamas, cheap jewellery and expensive knitware were not really our bag, decided to escape to the countryside on a mountin biking excursion; this turned out to be a fantastic decision.

Renting a couple of squeaky but funcional front suspension bikes, we muddled around the centre until we found the bus terminal from which transport to the widely acknowledged 'mountain biking bit' of the region departed. Cheerfully tossing our bikes on the top of the next departing combi we eventually left the bus at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere by the reccommendation of the bus ayudante and pointed our wheels in the direction of the most rural looking exit.


Thus followed a four hour epic that passed mirror calm lakes supporting reed boat fishermen, tiny adobe villages, sweaty breathless climbs to bitterly cold ridges, fast downhill curves and long traverses across the bases of huge natural bowls in which we seemed to be the only forms of life amidst the vastness of nature.
Eventually sporadic directions from locals led us down a gravelly, sheer switchback to the salt pans of Salineras, hidden in the crook of a valley. After marvelling in a slightly exhausted way we proceeded through a gate down a narrow dirt track that clung to the side of the hills overlooking a dizzying drop and decended into a technical section of rocky path that spat us out at the bottom of the valley, a languid cycle along the river and onto the paved highway to Urubamba, where the bus to drag us back up the valley to Cusco awaited.

In our own way, we'd bumped into the local mountain biking scene, seeing for the first time in hours a selection of mud-dusted bikers, all who had obviously enjoyed picking their own lines down the valley.

Great fun, and I'll be sure to investigate more options in the Sacred Valley if I end up spending more time in Cusco.

Cusco, Peru
24th November 2009

MISSING: Have Seen This Person?

Height: Approx. 6ft
Weight: Approx. 75kg
Age: 36
Description: Shoulder length hair, beard, brilliant incandescence surrounding head
Clothing: Long blue, red and gold robes
Occupation: Saviour of Humanity
Last Known Location: Huancayo Central Plaza

We would greatly appreciate any information on recent sightings of The Messiah (excluding those of his form in bread/rock walls/clouds etc.), who disappeared in the middle of a crowded Plaza de Armas a couple of weeks ago during the town parades. His mother is very worried because even though she acknowledges he is a very naughty boy he would never wander off for this long.

Any information can be emailed to i_once_was_lost@hotmail.co.uk. Bless you for your kindness.

Cuzco, Peru
22nd November 2009