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Outdoors
ENLARGE
Note: Part one of four in a series.
Choquequirao is a former Inca village and ceremonial area located in the Salkantay Mountain Range. Today it is an Inca ruin site rival in majesty to that of its "sister," Machu Picchu.
As the cool Andean air passed through my hair, at one point nearly smothering me with its sheer force, I was quickly brought back to reality and reminded that we were on a mission to other pastures, literally. My Peruvian friend and trek guide Miky immediately affirmed, "Patricio, vamos por aca! (Patrick, let's go over here!)." Miky referred to the direction opposite the landscape that formed my imaginative Andean dream to the pressing task at hand: the search for transportation to our next stop, the small town of Cachora.
After descending a long, looping road into the basin of Cachora (9350 feet), located in the Cuzco region of Peru, our trio unloaded and began a relaxed search for lunch and extra supplies. Once having denied the many impassioned offers of Chicha (the corn beer of the Andes) from our waitress, we decided to get a move-on.
The trail began on the outskirts of Cachora, at which point a sign read: “Choquequirao, 27 km.” During the next ten minutes, while I considered the easy, flat trail on which we casually walked, add to this the calculated distance of 16 miles to the ruin site, one way, I naively figured "no problem!"
After sensing my "walk in the park" attitude, Miky assured me that the "stroll" would only last a few more hours; once we reached the first vista point of the Apurimac Valley, “The Point of No Return,” we would be privy to not only the majesty of this area, but also to the high degree of difficulty characteristic of the trail on which we would spend the next three days of our lives laboriously descending and ascending. And just like that, my leisurely fantasies were squelched underfoot.
Just prior to the entry point at the ominous "Point of No Return," Miky, Evelyn (Miky's girlfriend), and I observed Mount Veronica, the highest peak in the Urubamba Mountain Range. With frozen and firm glacier solidly intact to and enveloping its peak, and frigid clouds mischievously obscuring our visibility of it, this mountain's grandeur fell precipitously and abruptly to the invisible floor of the Apurimac River Valley far below. This same river valley, the Apurimac, is debated to be one of the deepest in the world. Our rampant conversation immediately halted as we submitted to the unspeakable beauty before us. Just then, I got the chilling picture that what we were about to embark upon was more involved and much greater than previously expected.
Patrick Roseblade is an author and freelance writer in South Lake Tahoe.
He has traveled extensively through Spain and the Andean countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia. He holds a bachelors degree in cultural anthropology from UC Davis. His collection of travel essays is at perupat.blogspot.com.
Choquequirao is a former Inca village and ceremonial area located in the Salkantay Mountain Range. Today it is an Inca ruin site rival in majesty to that of its "sister," Machu Picchu.
As the cool Andean air passed through my hair, at one point nearly smothering me with its sheer force, I was quickly brought back to reality and reminded that we were on a mission to other pastures, literally. My Peruvian friend and trek guide Miky immediately affirmed, "Patricio, vamos por aca! (Patrick, let's go over here!)." Miky referred to the direction opposite the landscape that formed my imaginative Andean dream to the pressing task at hand: the search for transportation to our next stop, the small town of Cachora.
After descending a long, looping road into the basin of Cachora (9350 feet), located in the Cuzco region of Peru, our trio unloaded and began a relaxed search for lunch and extra supplies. Once having denied the many impassioned offers of Chicha (the corn beer of the Andes) from our waitress, we decided to get a move-on.
The trail began on the outskirts of Cachora, at which point a sign read: “Choquequirao, 27 km.” During the next ten minutes, while I considered the easy, flat trail on which we casually walked, add to this the calculated distance of 16 miles to the ruin site, one way, I naively figured "no problem!"
After sensing my "walk in the park" attitude, Miky assured me that the "stroll" would only last a few more hours; once we reached the first vista point of the Apurimac Valley, “The Point of No Return,” we would be privy to not only the majesty of this area, but also to the high degree of difficulty characteristic of the trail on which we would spend the next three days of our lives laboriously descending and ascending. And just like that, my leisurely fantasies were squelched underfoot.
Just prior to the entry point at the ominous "Point of No Return," Miky, Evelyn (Miky's girlfriend), and I observed Mount Veronica, the highest peak in the Urubamba Mountain Range. With frozen and firm glacier solidly intact to and enveloping its peak, and frigid clouds mischievously obscuring our visibility of it, this mountain's grandeur fell precipitously and abruptly to the invisible floor of the Apurimac River Valley far below. This same river valley, the Apurimac, is debated to be one of the deepest in the world. Our rampant conversation immediately halted as we submitted to the unspeakable beauty before us. Just then, I got the chilling picture that what we were about to embark upon was more involved and much greater than previously expected.
Patrick Roseblade is an author and freelance writer in South Lake Tahoe.
He has traveled extensively through Spain and the Andean countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia. He holds a bachelors degree in cultural anthropology from UC Davis. His collection of travel essays is at perupat.blogspot.com.
