Backpacking South America

It is hard to capture the beauty and sheer impressiveness of Machu Picchu in photos. Upon entering the site, we were instantly overwhelmed with the structures and the ability of the Incas to tame the mountain. Centered where the two portions of the Andes meet the Amazon, located on top of a mountain, it is hard to imagine so much foresight and effort going into building a city.

The stone structures of the temple do not use any mortar. The Inca’s carved the granite so all the pieces fit together perfectly. Most of the structure remains intact without significant restoration, even though it was built over 500 years ago and abandoned for hundreds of years thereafter.

An optional side trip from within the Machu Picchu site is to hike Waynapicchu and Huaynapicchu. They have 400 permits available each day to hike the mountain. The trick is, they are first come first serve. We arrived at the park gate around 6:45 and we got tickets 394 and 395 – only 7 were left! We felt lucky and were happy to get the permits for the 10am entrance, because we were told that at 10am, the clouds usually lift and you can get clear photos of the entire site.

We passed through the trail checkpoint to hike Waynapicchu shortly after 10. About 2 minutes in the trail forks. Our guide book had warned that the hike is not suited for people afraid of heights or with vertigo. We started down the trail to Waynapicchu, after a few minutes, it was clear that trail was a bit too precariously perched on the hillside. So we backtracked to try the shorter trail, Huaynapicchu. We were shortly met by stairs up the hill, exposed to a straight drop off on one side. Carra held her ground, refusing to go further. I headed on, up the stairs, holding the rock face. I made it to a lookout, but then realized the trail continued up, quite steeply. The next obstacle was a 50 degree rock face with a rope hanging down. From there, it was just a matter of squeezing through a couple tight spots and scrambling up a hill in the mud, and seeing nothing but gray mist with the hillside being a straight drop off the other side.

I felt a sense of accomplishment at the top and sat around a bit, hoping the mist would break and I would get that famous postcard shot of Machu Picchu. No dice. There were times when the clouds broke slightly, but I never got the full shot.

Here is a set of our photos from Machu Picchu:

Backstory

We were a bit worried that we may not be able to visit Machu Picchu. Peru and the Sacred Valley were hit with extreme rains this year and suffered severe damage from flooding. The only way to reach Machu Picchu is via train to Aguas Caliente, and from there, to take a bus 30 minutes to the site. The floods this year washed out several portions of the train tracks, trapping residents and tourists in Aguas Calientes and trains on both sides of the landslides.

The route to Machu Picchu was closed from Jan/Feb until April 1st. For the last few months of travel, it seemed up in the air and unclear as to whether we would actually be able to visit the sight. But as April approached, the targeted open date held firm and we purchased train tickets a week in advance in Arequipa.

Even after months of work, the train route isn’t clear all the way to Cuzco. It was necessary to take a bus to Piscacucho, kilometer 82 on the train tracks, to catch the train. From there, it was a 90 minute ride to Aguas Calientes on a 2-car train.

Visiting Machu Picchu was a key point of our trip. We had looked forward to visiting Machu Picchu, hoping that we would be able to enter in light of the terrible flooding that hit the Sacred Valley. We were in luck – with train tickets in hand, we were guaranteed to get to Machu Picchu.

*For a brief history of Machu Picchu check out this NOVA special: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/machupicchu/

* We actually haven’t seen the NOVA special because it is blocked outside the US…but we’ve heard that it’s really enlightening.

While visiting Cafayate, Argentina in October, we shared a delicious lunch that included two bottles of wine and picadas at a bodega with a British guy. The time flew by and fortunately, we remembered some of his recommendations. He told us about a cute little town in Bolivia, Tarija, which happens to be the center of their wine producing region. Did somebody say wine? But, in Bolivia? Really? When was the last time you had a Bolivian wine? Well, we had to see for ourselves.

So, after the Uyuni Salt Flat tour, we decided we needed a little wine and relaxation. So, we headed south for Tarija, this “little” city at the heart of a wine producing region. Little is a bit of an understatement. Tarija is a bit bigger than expected, about 120,000 people, but it definitely has a small town feel. The center of town is a bit hectic at times, but its plazas are clean and always full of people young and old passing the day (or night).

Tarija has been called the Andalucia of Bolivia and was once an independent republic before it joined Bolivia (rather than Argentina). Tarija definitely has a different feel from other Bolivian towns and cities we’ve visited. There is a strong European and Argentine influence. And, the people are very friendly and long to pass the day talking.

So we took a few days in Tarija to relax, do some planning, and drink some wine. We visited a Vinoteca in town, which offered a large variety of local wines by the glass so that we could sample the wines without leaving the confines of the city. Plus, we had the local insights of the owner and his wife, since we were the only ones there. A favorite was the Sausini Cabernet Sauvignon and Aranjuez Tannat-Merlot.

We also booked a wine tour one afternoon and we probably should have done a little more research. The wine tourism industry in Bolivia is quite young. In fact, the first winery we visited, Kohlberg, is Bolivia’s largest wine producer, and they don’t even have a tasting room.

While there, they were in the process of receiving new stainless steel tanks just in time to process the harvest. We received a brief tour of the facility, which is in town. We then headed out of town to the Kohlberg Estate, where workers were finishing their day harvesting grapes. They have a massive amount of vines and a very large house, but no tasting room. So we tasted the grapes instead. Sweet – yum.

The second place we visited was a little wine shop called Las Duelas, that featured a number of artisanal wines. Remember how we were complaining about not being able to taste the wine? Well, what we tasted at this little wine shop was not wine. It was more of a combination between rubbing alcohol and vodka. We would issue a caution when trying any artisanal wines from Bolivia. We found in Bolivia that there is a big difference between artisanal and boutique wines (boutique = generally good, artisanal = not so good). We found that going with a large name wine was often better than taking your chances on and artisanal wine.

The final winery we visited was La Casa Vieja, which means Old House. We met the owner, a local woman, and had a great conversation with her. She had a very interesting story and was one of the first wine producers in the region. Unfortunately, the wine production technique hadn’t progressed beyond using black plastic barrels lined with garbage bags to ferment and age the wine.

After the brief tour, we made it to the tasting room, where we realized that we would taste 6 wines from only 6 glasses (there were three of us…) The wine would be poured, the first person took a sip and passed it on. I already had my reservations about the sanitary state of this place, and now this?! So I just took very tiny sips, hoping the alcohol would kill any bacteria I was at risk of contracting. Fortunately, I was the first to taste. The last person in the line (an Argentine) was forced to drink the remaining wine in the glass, which was usually half the glass. For some reason, Jared took pity on the guy and started to help him finish these glasses. The wine ranged from sweet to supersweet (red and white).

Miraculously, the Argentine loved the wine and bought several bottles; I on the other hand couldn’t get out of their soon enough.

In hindsight, more clarification on the quality of wineries we would visit and the opportunity for tasting would have been smart. Regardless, Tarija does have a number of decent wines that were a great value, but they just can’t compete with the wines of Argentina and Chile, nor are they really geared to tourism of the wineries.

In the end, we did find a very good quality Bolivian wine – Aranjuez Tannat-Merlot blend. It was about a $4.00 bottle of wine in the store, and under $8 in most restaurants and we found it throughout Bolivia. It’s a good price for the quality. We would highly recommend a taste. Unfortunately, Bolivia doesn’t export much wine… yet.

The must-do trip for nearly all travelers to Bolivia is Salar de Uyuni. We decided to explore the region with a 4-day jeep tour starting in Tupiza. Accompanying us were our driver, cook, a Swede and an Israeli. We loaded our gear up around 8:30am and were on the road shortly thereafter.

Our first day took us up to the altiplano and we stayed above 4000 meters for the rest of the trip. We drove up and down mountains, across open plains and through valleys. It was a beautiful landscape.

We stayed the night in a traditional house made of mud/clay walls. All electricity was provided by small solar panels in the central courtyard. Our room was a bit tight for 4 people, but we stayed warm and had the coolest sheets!

Our second day started a 4:30am. We were starting day one of laguna visits. Bolivia is rich in minerals, so when it rains, water collects in the low points, and with no escape path for the water, mineral rich lagunas are created. The more amazing part though is that the color of the lake depends on which minerals get trapped in the laguna. Also, these lagunas typically have hundreds of flamingos. I always thought flamingos lived in tropical areas.

We visited yellow, green and white lagunas – but the most impressive was Laguna Colorada – a red laguna in the middle of the desert.

We took our lunch break at the thermal pools along a laguna and then we visited some geysers – it was hot stuff!

Our third day was another early start. We visited a string of lagunas in the morning and had lunch at the base of a volcano where we spent some time playing in and around the rock formations created by the surrounding volcanoes.

In the afternoon, we were the first ones on the road and we tried to keep our distance. Our hope was to be the first to reach the nicest hotel near the Uyuni Salt Flat. We made one pit-stop at a market where I tried the local beer made using Quinoa instead of barley and it was actually much better than the mass market beers we typically have.

The day was a success—we were the first to arrive at the salt hotel in Puerto Chubica. Fortunately, they had room for our group as well. There were no reservations made for accommodations before we left Tupiza. All accommodations were based on availability that day and if there was “no room at the inn,” we moved onto another.

The hotel was made entirely of salt. The walls were made of salt bricks. The tables and chairs, salt. Our bed frames, they too were made from salt. Even the floors were covered in granulated salt. It was a very comfortable place to stay and a very unique hotel. So, we hauled all our gear in, and after snapping photos of the hotel, we were the first in line for a shower – hot shower – our first in 3 days.

Our final day we awoke before dawn and set out to cross the Salar de Uyuni for a sunrise on the salt flat. We were able to get some nice photos from the jeep of the pre-dawn. We hopped out to watch the sunrise over the salt flat – it was quite amazing and a bit chilly.

From there, it was a short drive to Isla Pescado, which is in the middle of the salt flat. We were the first to arrive, so we got to go on the trail around the island alone and spend some time in peace at the viewpoint.

We made our way back down for breakfast. By this time, all the other jeeps had arrived as well as a very persistent rhea (looks like an emu). The rhea kept trying to steal our food and successfully stole Carra’s cake while she was looking the other way.

We finished the tour by crossing the Uyuni Salt Flat, snapping photos locos (with a camera there is no depth perception on the salt flat), and visiting another salt hotel in the middle.

We finished with lunch and dropped our fellow riders in Uyuni, while we made the 5-hour trip back to Tupiza with our drivers – it was very dusty.

In all, we were extremely thankful that we chose to do the Uyuni tour starting in Tupiza – each day got more amazing. We used Valle Hermoso for our tour. Our driver was safe and courteous and every meal delicious.

We finished the W circuit in Torres del Paine National Park in Southern Chile. It was quite the endeavor – 5 days out on the trail for a total of just over 46 miles of hiking. Thankfully, we both made it through with no long-lasting injuries, but we thought we would share the highlights in the following posts.

Day 1 - Tuesday, February 23
Puerto Natales Chile to Refugio Grey

We got up early.  We had spent the previous days gathering insights on the park (conditions, routes, highlights, etc. – Erratic Rock info session highly recommended) and buying supplies to last us through the hike (everything was closed on Sunday).

Our bus arrived at our hostel around 7:30am.  After a few more stops, it was on to Torres del Paine.    As we made our way around town, we spotted a “beast” similar to what we might find in the wild.

We decided to hike the W trail (named because it makes a W on the map) starting at Hosterie Paine Grande – view a map.  So, upon our arrival to Parque Torres del Paine, we continued passed the Laguna Amarga entrance to the boat launch and took the Catamaran across Lake Pehoé to Paine Grande.

We got off the boat around 12:30, prepped our gear, ate our sandwiches and started our hike from there.

Our first leg was to Lago Grey.  The trail took us up through a valley.  Based on the info session at Erratic Rock, we were certain that within the first 30 minutes, we would be soaked by rain driven by hurricane-like winds.

Fortunately, we only had a slight breeze. The hike to Lago Grey was nice.  We got great views down the lake to iceberg graveyards (the winds push the ice falling from the glacier to the far end, where it collects and slowly melts away), and eventually, we came to the pass and had an amazing view of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field (same one that we say at Glaciar Perito Moreno).

We arrived at camp, which was on the lakeshore, around the corner from the glacier. We went into this expecting the worst:  wind, rain, cold, possibly snow.  But we arrived at camp the first night to blue sky, light breeze and no threat of inclement weather.   Our bodies felt pretty good; we were well rested.  Our packs were comfortable, but with a noticeability that there was food to be eaten.

We were treated to an excellent sunset that evening and we prepared a delicious pasta dinner.

Hike Time: 3 hours 20 minutes.

Day 2 – Wednesday, February 24

We woke up and broke down camp – still no rain, wind or anything else sinister.  On our hike out, we took some time to visit the Glaciar Grey mirador that was 10 minutes from camp.   From the mirador, we got a little up close and personal, and were overwhelmed by the sheer size of this Glaciar nestled in around towering mountains.  It makes you feel pretty small with so much ground to cover.  The glacier was moving, so we sat to listen to the thunderous cries and see if we could spot any falling ice.

On day 2, we needed to reach Campamento Italiano.  So, we backtracked the same 3 hours and 20 minutes to Paine Grande.  We decided to eat inside the hosteria to get out of the wind that seems to always be strong at this end of the lake.  We got a bit too comfortable and probably rested a bit too long because it was a bit difficult to get on the go again.  After lunch, it was on to Campamento Italiano.  It was marked as a 2 hour hike on the map.  As we walked, the sun began to peak out a bit more, and as we approached our destination, we got excellent views of the Cuernos.

The second half of the day to Italiano wasn’t so difficult, but we were both pretty tired.  Our bodies were complaining about the second consecutive day of abuse.  Our pace slowed drastically and we fell a bit behind schedule.  Finally we rolled into Campamento Italiano and set up camp.  Dinner was curry rice and fresh red pepper – yum!  We were sore and tired, and knew our packs needed a little re-adjustment for the next day.

Hike time: 3 hrs 20 minutes to Paine Grande; 2 hours 20 minutes to Campamento Italiano

Day 3 – Thursday, February 25

I peeked out the tent, just waiting to see gray clouds.  We’ve gone two days with mostly blue skies and beautiful weather.  Torres del Paine in notorious for extreme weather patterns and I was sure that we were in for a surprise today.  However, I was delighted and a bit relieved to see blue sky peeking through the branches of the trees shading our campsite, at least for now.

We set out, pack-free, to hike Valle Frances.  The air was completely still and we could hear the river and occasional crack from the glaciers on Cerro Paine Grande.   As we climbed Valle Frances, we kept saying, I can’t believe how clear and how still it is.  We met other hikers who said the valley was beautiful, but very windy.  We felt so fortunate to be blessed with such a perfect day!

The hike was a bit of a scramble around rocks and up the hill. Once we climbed up the ridge, it began to smooth out and we were passing through the forest instead of rock fields.   A little over an hour in, we reached the first mirador at the base of Cerro Paine Grande.  From here, we sat a while to watch the ice break from the glaciers, crash down the mountain, only to be followed a few seconds later by a thunderous clap.  It was mesmerizing and one of the most amazing sights of the entire hike.  As we looked back in the direction we came from, we had a great view down the valley to the lakes resting below.

As we continued on, we headed deeper into the heart of Valle Frances.  Another hour on, we arrived at the end point, a mirador nestled in the belly of a bowl surrounded by mountains.   From where we had been looking at a glacier covered face at the previous mirador, we were now looking at the other side, where there was no snow.  The mountains changed from slate to granite and varied in size.  Valle Frances is characterized by so many contrasts and you’re nested right in its belly.  We saw completely different views on all sides – it was truly 360 degrees of grandeur.

After some reluctance, we headed back down.  Along the way, we stopped at the first mirador again to take in its size and to watch the glaciers drop more ice over the cliffs.  It is just an awesome experience.  We eventually arrived back at camp and had lunch.  We packed up camp, once again, and headed out to Los Cuernos.  Our legs felt strong and our packs felt comfortable on our backs.

It took us just under 2 hours to arrive at our next camp, Los Cuernos, which also has a refugio with a few items for sale and a restaurant.  We had packed a little treat to be enjoyed on the trail – a big chunk of cheddar cheese.  So we set up camp, took a hot shower (included in the camp fee) and bought an overpriced bottle of wine.  We sat at our picnic table and had a well-deserved appetizer – cheddar and carmenere wine.

We followed that with our best dinner of the week – rice with a mushroom sauce and pineapple (5 minute cook time).

We had a perfect day and went to sleep in perfect peace.

Hike Times:  Valle Frances – 4 hours roundtrip; Italiano to Los Cuernos – 1 hour 40 minutes

Torres del Paine photo set:

So many of you may wonder what we did for Jared’s birthday. Have no fear, it was something FUN! Well your curiosity may now be killed: he got a CAR (rented, of course) and we, with 3 other travelers (Jude, Cayley and Maaike) took a road trip to Los Glaciares National Park. There we saw one of the most amazing sights, Glaciar Perito Moreno and spent the day listening and watching the glacier crack and drop large chunks of ice. It was incredible!

Glaciar Perito Moreno is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, which is the world’s third largest ice field and fresh water reserve. It is also one of three glaciers in the Patagonia region that is not retreating. It grows daily up to about 6 feet. It is about 3 miles wide and extends more than 180 feet above the water.

While there, you have the opportunity to take boat rides in and around the glaciers, but we found it more fascinating to just walk along the walkways opposite the glacier, sit and watch the glacier fall for as long as we wanted. You are able to get so close! It’s nearly impossible to capture the size and color with the camera.

The whole time, we were constantly hearing thunderous cracks and you find yourself and everyone else looking around and whispering… “Did you see that? Where’s that coming from?” Often times, it’s simply ice moving inside the depths of the field. And, then, when you least expect it, you are surprised by a huge piece of ice falling off the face of the glacier, creating a loud roar, falling into the water and making a huge splash and finding its place in the lake below.

It truly is a beautiful ice field extending as far as you can see. It’s incredible to look out over the water and see nothing but ice for miles, crawling up to meet the mountains. While you won’t see beautiful pink roses and green grass growing in this field, but you will see the most dynamic array of blues, greens and whites. It’s so surreal that you think you are looking at a picture that had been photoshopped to enhance the colors. You see blue ice, almost florescent in color, at the top of the glacier and in between the cracks of the ice. And at the bottom, you find some of the oldest, most compressed and coldest of the ice a deep deep bluish green color, making it look almost rock-like and not like ice at all. Over time it just becomes more compacted from the heavy load it carries on top and penetrates the ice changing the color to that deeper bluish green color. Glaciar Perito Moreno is a must see if you’re in Patagonia.

Can you find the triple deck boat in the photo on the left?

After the park, we returned to town and had to fill the car up with gas. Unfortunately, the first station we pulled into informed us they had no gas. What?! We went to the other gas station at the opposite end of town and there was a mile long line. We decided to pass on filling it up and pay the fee.

When we went to drop it off, the agency was going to not only charge the increased rate, but also charge us for about 3 gallons more than we needed. So, we bit the bullet and pulled into the line and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, an hour later, we finally had gas in the car and returned it – no problems.