Putuqusi

Two minutes to spare as the craziest cab ride of my life parked us in front of the train station for Machu Picchu. “Mucho touristicas” was all our driver could say between careening around the streets of Cusco, collecting people and money, and stopping to use several public telephones. All we could do was sit back and shelf out the money for this all-inclusive trip to the Mecca for South American tourists. The train came to an unexpected halt for a solid 45 minutes while engineers ran back and forth through the cabins. Even once it started, the train ride gave the dogs running along side it a good race as it zig-zagged out from the hills of Cusco. The four hour ride continued into the sacred valley through a massive canyon, then descending further into the cloud forest. This final part of the train ride took us to the town of Aguas Calientes. This town is shoddily built given the massive influx of tourists, and most 3rd floors of buildings are unfinished. After lunch, the undying energy of being in the Andes seized me and Adam, and we decided to head up the peak of Putuqusi.








To get to the trail head we walked through Gringo land, passing tourists sitting along the tracks at outdoor restaurants, the Peruvians unloading goods from a train, and builders along the tracks. As soon as we stepped onto the trail, it was obvious that we were in the jungle. Continuing on, the otherwise steep path became completely transformed when we arrived upon massive, wooden, 200 foot ladders. Filtering out the weak, these ladders endlessly climb up the mountain; at times it is a scramble up vertical rocks with a cable. As we kept up on the path, the colossal, phallic, mountains of green revealed themselves, connected by the domain of an unadulterated valleys. The most rewarding part of the hike was the corner right before the summit, where we could hear a crew of Musicians playing Siku flute, in complete harmony with their surroundings. Directly behind them were the ruins of Macchu Pichu. To top it off, we jammed with these dudes later in town and filmed them playing live.