Day 8 Lares Trek Day 2 Lamay/Pisaq/Viacha
This morning was another beautiful bright sunny day. We have been extremely lucky, so far with the weather; only rain was a brief thunderstorm last night, then clear skies and a gorgeous view of the stars. Gladly, Molly was feeling fine this morning, shaking off the effects of the acetazolamide and mountain sickness.
We loaded up on snacks for the day after breakfast. Peru has some of the largest pecans we've ever seen. Puts Georgia's to shame.
Dave Wood (AKA Android 1), decided to forego the market experience and begin hiking today. All of us were still a bit nervous about a hike that started with a 2 mi uphill climb of 1,000 ft to the Chaawacasa Pass at 14,200 ft. Most of us were having some effects of the altitude, like headache, difficulty sleeping, and poor exercise tolerance. Climbing a few stairs was exhausting. We had the option of hiking down part of the trail starting at 13,000 ft and elected to try that in the afternoon. A couple of things they don't talk about with respect to being at high altitude. First, the altitude and acetazolamide (taken to help prevent symptoms of altitude sickness) both increase urine output. It is hard to keep up with fluid intake between this and the increase in evaporation and dryness of the air. The second problem is that gasses expand as you go higher, including gas in your GI tract. Need I say more?
After Dave left to hike with Robin and Mark, a very nice couple from San Diego, our first stop was a trip to the Sunday market in Pisaq.
Our lead guide, Raul, took us to an artisanal bakery to try out fresh baked empanadas. The bakery had a huge clay oven that was heated by wood and guinea pig droppings.
Guinea pigs (Quechuan name is actually Cuys) are not considered pets in Peru, but a food and fuel source. Most homes in high Andes villages have guinea pigs running around their kitchens eating food scraps (compost), and producing vast quantities of droppings that are collected and used for a heat source. The bakery oven is often the only oven for a community, so this is where bread and cakes are baked, and meats are roasted. The bakery had a corner that housed a guinea pig condo. These guys didn't know what was in store.
We next stopped at a silversmith who claimed to be a descendant of Pachacutec, the founder of Cusco. Can't really prove this, but we'll give him a pass. We were given a demo of how the silver was made and how to spot counterfeits. Many of the group made silver purchases after significant negotiating with the owner.
Finally made it to the market
but just as we arrived, a parade began. This turned out to be the weekly mayor's parade. It involved a procession of all the local mayors in their traditional garb, their young, apprentice mayors (being groomed to be mayor when they get older), and accompanying flute players, drummers, and young dancing boys.
After the parade, we spent some time walking around the market. Their was music at a bandstand that inspired Molly and Dave to start dancing
and then Claudio, one of our other guides, grabbed Carol (who was stag since Dave was hiking), and began dancing with her.
We left Pisaq to drive up into the mountains to Viacha to meet the hikers and have a special lunch. Just when we got the farm where we were having lunch, Dave, Robin, Mark, and Beto (the 3rd guide) arrived. Dave looked no worse for wear (thus the Android sobriquet).
The farmers grew many types of tubers, there are something like 1300 types of potatoes grown here. They demonstrated how they dug the potatoes, all by hand. Very primitive, and backbreaking work.
At this point, the Panchmanca was ready to uncover. The panchamanca is similar to a Maori (New Zealand) feast that is cooked in the ground. They started this early in the morning by digging a pit and making a hot fire. Once the ground is heated, the hot ashes are removed and food is placed in the pit and covered. The hot ground cooks the food.
The food is then uncovered, cooked and ready to eat.
Included in the feast is potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken, pork, alpaca, and
guinea pig!!!
Tastes like chicken (big surprise). Not much meat on those little rodents.
After lunch, we all hiked back down to Pisa. It was pretty much downhill, so we thought this would be a good test for a real hike tomorrow.
As we neared Pisaq, we began getting views of the Pisaq Archeological Site
There are also many terraced areas probably used for experimentation and growing crops.
At the northern end of the site on the hillside, there are many dug out holes where grave robbers ransacked the Incan cemetery. Bodies were placed there in the fetal position (so they were ready to be reborn) with artifacts they would need in the next life and then covered.
Our first hike ended successfully! Tomorrow the real deal with climbing.
No comments:
Post a Comment