Choquequirao Trek Day 2

Day 2: Start at Santa Rosa (2125 m / 6971 ft) hike to Choquequirao (3000 m / 9842 ft) then back down to Santa Rosa (2125 m / 6971 ft).

Day 2 was probably the easiest day hiking because we were going up and down which is much easier on your knees.   AND we were exploring Choquequirao, which was amazing.

That's Choquequirao off in the distance.

This is where we had our meals while camping the second and third day.  Leo spotted a condor too.  The other guys were all impressed.



Almost all the houses were built like this (in Cusco too, although not as much.)

They're working on uncovering more of Choqueqirao.  Pretty much that whole mountainside is covered in terraces and buildings.  Crazy how much it's hidden, eh?

Nasty trail we came up.

I don't know what it is about ruins but they always fascinate me.  I love the connection with the past and with other people.  I think so often in school and books and documentaries we're given the impression that we're better and smarter and more sophisticated now, but I really don't believe that at all. And being in them, it just makes the people that built seem so alive while also giving me the sense that my own life is so short and miniscule.  I guess it's like how I've heard people describe how they feel when they are looking at the stars.  Just insignificant in the stream of humanity. And the buildings themselves seem ethereal simply due to their desolation and emptiness. In other words, I love being in them.      
 
Dead tarantula.

This was a smaller sacrificial altar type place for the lower classes.  Leo and I both were reminded of the kivas in Chaco Canyon.

We Hiram Bingham'ed  it for a bit.

We actually ran (not quite a dead sprint but as close to it as possible without falling down the mountain) the trail that switchbacks beside the terraces above.  It was so fun!!!  Exhilarating.  I mean the hill doesn't look steep in this angle, but trust me, it was.

A snake--one of the three sacred animals to the Inka.


See this is how steep the mountainside was.








24 llamas in total and their shepard.

Our guide ran the whole way back up the stairs.  We did not we climbed slowly, huffing and puffing and stopping for breathe every so often.






This is in the temple, sacrificial altar type area for the upper classes.  Inka sacrificed llamas and other things, and at the very tops of the mountains (glacier areas) they sacrificed humans.  Of which we saw a few mummies.  Anyway, while Choquequirao is not nearly as impressive as Machu Picchu simple because it's mostly covered in jungle, I'm still very happy with our choice to trek there.  There were only 4 other tourists there that day besides us which was really neat. And the views were breathtaking.  I would have made that hike just for the views honestly, the ruins were just a bonus.  Machu Picchu is in tropical, hot, humid, and lush lower elevation.  I loved the starkness of the mountains here, it was just so forlorn and wild (although there was a town across the river from our campground that had more people in it than Evanston.)  Anyway, I would recommend it to anyone.

  So after sundown we headed back to the campsite--it was 2 or 3 miles, I don't remember for sure.  But we hadn't eaten anything since lunch and Leo had hardly eaten anything at all then.  (We had all these snacks back in our tents, but this whole time we'd been stuffed and we didn't realize how late we'd be getting back, so we hadn't brought any with us.)  Leo started to feel sick and by half way back he was barely making it.  Roselio almost had us wait so he could get a mule for Leo to ride.  And it was thundering and lightening and threatening to downpour.  *Secretly, it was one of my favorite parts of the day--I LOVE being out at night and I love thunder, and I was totally energized, but I did feel really bad for Leo.  He made it though and we ate thinking that he would feel better, but about 30 minutes later he threw it all up.  He was miserable.  He hates vomiting.   And that ended the second day.  

And here's a few videos