Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: tours

  • Lares Adventure – Day 5: Urubamba

    Lares Adventure – Day 5: Urubamba

    So far on the Lares Adventure, our main method of seeing the Sacred Valley was via hiking and from the window of the occasional van ride, so on Day Five, Chris and I were excited to add mountain biking to the mix. At the beginning of the trek when we saw “mountain bike along the Urubamba river and end up at a local brewery” as one of the day’s options, we signed up before you could say, “cerveza!”

    We found out the night before though, our ride would no longer end up at the brewery, but that we’d go to the brewery in the evening instead. We decided to forge ahead with the two-wheel adventure anyway, so after long and a twisty van ride back down the mountains, we met up with our mountain bike guides for the day to get situated with a bike, helmet, and gloves. I’m pretty sure this was my first time riding a real mountain bike! (I’ve always had a hybrid or road bike.)

    The first half of our bike ride was exactly what I envisioned – peacefully riding a wide dirt road along the river and taking in the fresh air, pedaling with breathtaking scenic views of the mountains, and waving to the occasional locals working the land.

    The second half of our ride took a bit of a weird turn though! Following our guides, we crossed a road over into the town and exchanged our peaceful tra-la-la style ride into a hectic mix of dodging town traffic, riding narrow paths with challenging terrain (at least challenging for a beginner mountain biker; Chris did great with all of it, of course), and hauling ourselves up some hills that sometimes forced me to walk my bike up the slope.

    It was more of a frustrated stomp rather than walk, really. Granted, I found out at the end I was using a gear that was way too heavy for riding uphill, but still. Combine that with almost falling over every time I didn’t successfully navigate an obstacle plus my mismanaged expectations, and I got a little cranky on the second half of the ride. I clearly needed more mountain biking skills to enjoy this half of the excursion.

    In hindsight, we wouldn’t have chosen the bike ride if it wasn’t connected to the brewery (we sound like two lushes, but we just enjoy trying new beers!). I’m glad we still went though. I loved the first half and it’s not like I get to ride a bike through the Sacred Valley of Peru every day. And apparently I provided some good entertainment to the townspeople as I screamed my way through several blind traffic intersections. You’re welcome, Urubamba!

    I happily ditched the mountain bike and helmet when we ended up at our fairytale accommodations for the night, K’uychi Rumi Lodges.

    Seriously. Look at the cute little path we took to get to our lodge. Every inch of the path was lined with dozens of different varieties of flowers. There was even a lime tree. I couldn’t put my camera down!

    After unlocking the front door with our llama keychained-key, we walked into a large, airy space with a cozy rustic feel. We had access to a full kitchen, a dining room, a sunken living room, and there was a bedroom on the first floor along with a bathroom. Tea and coca leaves were available for our enjoyment. I forgot to take a photo, but the door in the kitchen exited to a cute garden area with outdoor seating.

    Upstairs we found another bedroom and a second bathroom. Some of the people in our group shared a lodge, but we ended up having this one to ourselves. We would have loved having all of this space if we were staying in the area for a few nights!

    Not only was I happy to get settled in, but I was even happier that lunch was next on the schedule, and we were treated to a delicious Peruvian-style barbecue (that I totally forgot to photograph because I was ravenous) in a lovely outdoor setting.

    With satisfied bellies, we all headed out in the late afternoon for a quick stroll through the town of Ollyantaytambo with its Incan water system (aqueduct canals cut out of stone) and the original Incan street names.

    And finally, we ended up at Cervecería Del Valle Sagrado. Chris and I loved this little brewery in the valley, and had fun trying a couple of their brews. The place and the line-up on tap reminded us more of an American style than what we pictured when thinking of a Peruvian craft brewery, but for good reason – the original brewmaster hails from Washington, D.C., and originally started his foray into brewing in Oregon!

    We took a tour in addition to trying a couple of pints (all of the glassware for flights was currently in-use) and learned how the crew sources their ingredients and produces a final product. They’ve won some awards and the tap room was quite busy, so it looks like the craft beer scene is alive and well deep in the Sacred Valley.

    Next in the queue: a drama-filled Day Six as we return to Ollantaytambo to try to see the Sun Temple amidst some local turmoil!

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  • Lares Adventure – Day 4: Huacahuasi

    Lares Adventure – Day 4: Huacahuasi

    First thing after a lovely breakfast spread on Day Four of the Lares Adventure, our group set off on a morning waterfall hike. At around 8:30am, we wound our way through the sunlit valley of Huacahuasi to see that the village was already awake and alive with chores of the day. We spotted women doing laundry and tending to their children and livestock, while the men were away in the hills working with their crops, save for Valentine who was our 911 horse handler for the day. (The 911 horses come along with hikers, carrying medical supplies in case of emergencies.)

    One of the highlights of our morning was getting to visit with a local highlands woman and her family. This is another experience that I’m sure we couldn’t have arranged on our own. Touring the inside of their home gave us some insight as to how the Quechua people live, with simple means and basic provisions, and how truly happy they are with a lifestyle of having what they need versus unnecessary stuff.

    I noticed that they have electricity, but it is powering a single-bulb light fixture and a small sewing machine rather than an over-abundance of electronic items. Their nutrition comes from potatoes, quinoa, vegetables, and the guinea pigs we spotted rustling around under a pile of hay rather than processed food and sodas. I came away from our visit with a new appreciation for a more minimalist approach to living. (Says the girl hiking through the village with a GoPro, an iPhone, AND a camera, but I’d like to try to simplify in other areas!)

    We continued on through the village and up into the mountainside in search of the waterfall. Our group shared the trail with quite a few furry friends along the way. Earlier in the trip I remember wondering if we would see any llamas or alpacas while hiking and the answer was yes…indeed we would see a lot of them. If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between alpacas and llamas, my understanding is that alpacas are smaller with shorter faces and ears, while llamas are sometimes double the size of an alpaca and they have long, banana-shaped ears with long muzzles.

    That, and alpacas make better joke material: “Want to go on a picnic? Alpaca lunch!” (Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all night.)

    Here Eddie and crew are waiting for me to climb some rocks and make it up the hill. Hiking is hard when you’re constantly trying to capture everything on camera and on video! I did manage to put down the devices and enjoy the scenery every once in a while, but that’s hard when everything is so interesting and photogenic! And I don’t have any facts for you about the waterfall or the trail. It was simply a beautiful hike for taking in the scenery, fresh air, and Vitamin D.

    Back at the lodge, we attended a short cooking class where we learned to make Peruvian causa, a layered dish made with tuna fish and potatoes. No stove or oven was involved so there was nothing for me to burn, and despite my deep dislike for tuna, this was actually pretty good. (Mine was made with no mayonnaise, of course.) After the class we ate our creations as an appetizer before another wonderful meal.

    I can’t think of anything better after a hike and a hearty meal than an afternoon in the outdoor Jaccuzi overlooking the valley. Even in mid-July, the air was quite crisp at this altitude, so we were thankful for the toasty temperature of the water. Such a nice feature of Huacahuasi Lodge!

    Next post: our mountain biking adventure through Urubamba and a trip to a brewery all the way out in the middle of the Sacred Valley!

  • Lares Adventure – Day 3: Calca to Choquecancha

    Lares Adventure – Day 3: Calca to Choquecancha

    On Day Three of our Lares Adventure, I woke up feeling much better and I was ready to get out and continue exploring. We started our morning with a stop in Calca to see the market. I always love going to grocery stores and markets when we travel – it’s one of my favorite ways to get a real glimpse of local living, and it’s interesting to compare the differences with what we’re used to at home. I spotted bags of fresh-cut vegetables prepped and ready for soups and stews and marveled at the fact that they were roughly five times cheaper in Calca than they are at home in the States! All of the produce was unbelievably fresh and beautiful.

    After touring the various stalls at the market, we headed into the mountains. Our first hike of the day took us to the archeological site of Ankasmarka where we walked alongside the ruins of an ancient Incan granary and enjoyed beautiful views of the valley. We had the site and all of that fresh air completely to ourselves.

    This was the perfect spot for a group photo!

    Post-hike we split into two smaller groups – Chris and I, along with a few others, chose to dive deeper into Andean culture with a visit to Choquecancha, a small village on a steep mountainside in the Lares region. We took quite a long, bumpy, winding road (with the occasional obstacle) to arrive there.

    The village is home to a very small community of people. We observed the Incan ruins that serve as the structural foundation for many of the homes, and we learned about the ancient Incan practices still in use today. As we walked through the village, our local guides pointed out various native plant species growing along the mountainside that serve medicinal purposes for ailments like headaches and digestion issues, for weight control, and even for oral contraceptives. I admit I kind of wanted to chew on the weight-loss plant for a minute to see what happens. Maybe I could have had six-pack abs as a souvenir!

    Mountain Lodges of Peru arranged a fantastic lunch for us at a local family’s home, an experience that would have been hard to come by (probably impossible) if we had not joined this tour. We received a special blessing in Quechua as we entered, complete with flower petals sprinkled over our heads. The meal was simple, delicious, and nourishing, with locally harvested staples from the typical Andean diet. I did try a small bite of the guinea pig here – it wasn’t bad, but I don’t need to eat it again. The stuffed peppers were amazing though.

    After lunch we had the opportunity to speak (via translation) with women from a weaving group in the village. Watching their handiwork in action, techniques that have been passed down through generation after generation, was mesmerizing. I grew up watching my grandmothers and mother turn simple fabrics into functional items like blankets, drapes, and clothing as a hobby. Sadly, I have not yet mastered their skills. Here in the Sacred Valley weaving is a way of life and tradition, and it even goes a step further in that they source and dye the fibers themselves. It’s truly an impressive process.

    In the afternoon, we wound our way back down the mountain and up another one to land at our lodge for the next two nights. Huacahuasi Lodge sits perched on the mountainside at an elevation of 12,585 feet (3,835 meters) overlooking Huacahuasi village. This was the highest elevation we slept during the trek. If we had any issues with altitude we didn’t notice, perhaps because we were completely distracted by the outdoor Jacuzzi also overlooking the valley! While enjoying this gorgeous comfortable lodge and the soothing benefits of our Jacuzzi, I happily let go of any remaining guilt over not doing the Inca Trail and sleeping in tents. (But I do promise to try camping eventually.)

    We woke up the next day with a hike and a cooking lesson on the schedule, and that post is up next!

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  • Lares Adventure – Day 2: Viacha and Pisac

    Lares Adventure – Day 2: Viacha and Pisac

    The morning of Day Two on the Lares Adventure I woke up abruptly around 2am with a stomachache and a sinking feeling of impending issues. Noooooooooooo. Sure enough, I spent the rest of the night into the dawn tending to some kind of stomach bug, most likely from not being careful enough with the water situation in Peru (I did rinse my toothbrush in the sink throughout the trip knowing it was a no-no). I self-medicated with all of the over-the-counter supplies in my luggage, hoping that things would clear up in time to leave with the group for the day’s activities, but no such luck. To be on the safe side and to promote healing before the remaining days on the trek, I decided to rest at the lodge for the day.

    Chris immediately defaulted to staying back with me, but I begged him to continue with the trek and to come back with lots of stories and photos. I verbally nudged him out the door from my spot in our cozy bed, and off he went. Meanwhile, the wonderful staff of Lamay Lodge and MLP took great care of me, providing me with an electrolytes mixture to drink throughout the day, and the absolute most perfect homemade soup and toast for lunch. I passed the day by watching Netflix on my iPad, and I was so grateful for the incredibly comfortable place to convalesce.

    The group returned that evening after a long, full day of visiting the local town, enjoying a traditional Pachamanca meal, and hiking to a beautiful archaeological site. I was completely gutted to miss this day, but super happy that Chris got to enjoy it! And because it’s just Chris that experienced Day Two, every single one of these photos in the rest of the post is his! So photo credits all go to Chris, and I’m going to do my best to re-tell his stories. He is not a blogger, and quickly passed when I offered him the option to write a guest post.

    So, while the exact details are a little on the fuzzy side for Chris (I’m writing this a month after it happened, so I’ll cut him some slack!), they started the day with a visit to a botanical garden in Pisac, the Jardin Botanico Pisac, which also housed a collection of Peru’s native potatoes and insects. It’s okay with me that I missed the bug display portion of the day. Also of note: there are around 4000 different types of potatoes in the Andean region (Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador)!

    Also in Pisac, they visited the market for some shopping and to watch a baker at work. Chris bought his first Inca Cola (it tastes similar to cream soda) and brought back some Peruvian chocolate for me which I happily ate once I was feeling better. Based on Chris’s description and what I can tell from the photos, a weekday morning must have been a good time to go to this market because I’ve read from other sources that it’s quite bustling at times, especially on Sundays when additional vendors arrive to sell to the local communities.

    After the market visit, they headed off towards the Andean village of Viacha where everyone watched a foot plow demonstration and the preparation of the traditional Pachamanca meal, which is cooked beneath the ground using hot stones.

    Look at that view! I can’t imagine a more perfect picnic location. The meal consisted of lamb, chicken, guinea pig, plantains, vegetables, corn, and of course potatoes. The fact that the culinary team can prepare such a gorgeous meal using ancient techniques in this location blows my mind.

    Satisfied from a very special lunch, the group continued with the scenic hike through the village and down the mountain. They came upon a quinoa farmer drying his crop in the sun on the hillside before eventually reaching the archaeological site of Pisac.

    I love that this hike included such stunning views over the Inca Pisac ruins and agricultural terraces. These views of the citadel high up on the ridge give us an idea of the Incas’ incredible work ethic. To build this site manually, they had to maneuver all of those stones up against gravity without the use of machines or even vehicles since they did not use wheels. Impressive, right? We continued to see these kinds of examples throughout the week.

    Aren’t Chris’s images beautiful? I’m really glad he went and enjoyed such a fun and fascinating day, and that he took these photos (and video – I’ll put those clips together soon) so I can feel like I didn’t completely miss out. Thankfully after a day of resting, my stomach was feeling much better and I was able to rejoin the group for Day Three, and that’s up next!

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  • Lares Adventure – Day 1: Chinchero, Moray, and Maras

    Lares Adventure – Day 1: Chinchero, Moray, and Maras

    After spending two nights in Lima and two nights in Cusco to acclimate, Chris and I were excited and ready to set off for the Sacred Valley and Lares Adventure with Mountain Lodges of Peru! The night before our adventure began, we met our awesome guide, Eddie, and seven other fellow trekkers for a briefing. At the meeting, we went through introductions (we ended up with a fantastic group of people!), discussed logistics and packing, and went over the process for selecting the cultural activities and hikes. Over the next several posts I’m going to blog about each day that Chris and I experienced on the seven-day trek, so let’s get started!

    In the morning on Day One, the MLP van collected all of us at our respective hotels and then we hit the road leading out of Cusco. Our first cultural experience was a visit to a small village where we were treated to an in-depth weaving demonstration with information about the use of alpaca wool and the natural dyeing process. It was fascinating to see how they are able to get such vivid colors found in nature from plants, flowers, fruits, and minerals. One of the ladies even showed us how to get a bright red by smashing a beetle right in the palm of her hand (eek).

    And this was our first real opportunity to get up close to some alpacas since a few were penned up nearby. (Note: We ended up seeing hundreds of them all over the Sacred Valley throughout the seven days.) Look at those lashes and fuzzy noses! Their wool is considered to be a very high quality material in the Andean region for its softness and durability.

    After the weaving demonstration we moved on to the archaeological site of Chinchero to continue learning about Andean life and to begin our foray into the history of the ancient Incan Empire.

    And this was where we started to realize what a treasure Eddie was – his guided tours were incredibly informative, funny, and passionate. I don’t think there was a single question about Peru to which he didn’t know the answer. He also asked all of us questions about our own home countries during our time together, and we could tell how much he genuinely cared about constantly learning and soaking up all kinds of world history, culture, and general information. Our assistant guide, Admil, was also so knowledgeable, sweet, and fun. We hit the guide jackpot for sure!

    At the archaeological site we visited a beautiful seventeenth century colonial church (no photos allowed inside) that was built right on top of an Incan structure. The walls built by Incas are easily recognizable by their technique of precision-fitted cuts and slight inward tilt, theorized to prevent earthquake damage. So smart!

    Eddie also introduced us to the ancient technique of dehydrating potatoes which is done out in a sunny field like the one shown below. Once dehydrated, the potatoes can last for years to be used in soups and stews.

    After the guided tour of Chinchero, our group split up into two smaller groups for two different hikes. Half of the group set off on foot to hike down from Chinchero. Chris and I boarded the bus for the hike that would include a visit to the Moray archaeological site and then the Maras salt ponds. The salt ponds were one of the main reasons we selected the seven-day Lares Adventure vs. the five-day itinerary, so obviously we couldn’t pass that up!

    We passed through more villages along our route, and all the while my face was pressed up against the bus window soaking up details of the fascinating Andean lifestyle.

    At Moray we discovered stunning visual evidence of Incan agricultural experiments, which totally blew my mind. They went to so much trouble building this intricate terraced site to experiment with farming techniques, and I find it challenging just to keep a houseplant alive. I would have made a terrible Inca.

    We ate lunch in the town of Maras before arriving at the salt ponds for one of the coolest hikes I’ve ever done. Our walk began at the visitor center and continued along the edges of the salt ponds. The terraced formation and salt mining process dates back to pre-Incan times, and we learned about the tasks that are still performed today using that same pre-Incan structure.

    As we walked along the narrow salty ridges deep into the mines, the tourist crowd (well, other tourists that is) thinned out and the site became more peaceful as we were left with only our small group guided by Eddie. He explained that the salty water source (which we tasted!) comes from a subterranean stream which pours over the terraces, filling the ponds. As the sun shines down along the cliffs, the water evaporates and the salt remains. We observed families working in their ponds harvesting the salt crystals. Mmm, salty.

    The hike continued along the entire length of the salt mines and then a few miles down a dusty trail into the valley along the Urubamba river.

    Our Maras visit was my favorite part of the day and one of my most favorite hikes ever. I had never seen anything like it! It helped that we were gifted with absolutely gorgeous weather, too.

    Both groups met back up in the evening at the incredible Lamay Lodge where we ooh’ed and ahh’ed over our accommodations (complete with resident llama), enjoyed the hot tub, ate dinner, and attended our next briefing.

    I wish I had taken the time to photograph our lovely meal prepared by the brilliant chefs at the lodge, but we were ravenous after our big day (despite eating nearly that entire mini fruit basket as a snack) and I didn’t pause for even one snap.

    So that’s it for Day One! Next up, a visit to the community of Viacha and the archaeological site of Pisaq on Day Two.