It Takes Two, Baby

My absence on the blog suggests that I was kidnapped by the Shining Path, but fear not I am well (er, that is a tricky statement recognizing that I am back in medical school, back in my cage). It took surprisingly little to adjust from the Inca paths I grew so fond of this summer back to the medical-doctor-business trail. Before I move on to all of the "adventures" of medical school, I want to at least a mention of the adventures experienced in the later half of the summer.

We crossed paths with maybe a handful of people over our six days of climbing and descending mountains in the Vilcabamba range. The barren trails opened mountainside after mountainside to us; each one stood unique in its beauty, yet telling a similar story. They all seemed to say, "go back to where you came from, the land is too high, the rock too deep, the soil too dry, the air too thin, man does not belong here."

The Vilcabamba has always been a region of dry air and impossibly high peaks, fast flowing water, and dry, dry earth. There are very few people eking out a living among the condors and vegetation that now inhabits the Vilcabamba mountain range but this was not the case during the reign of the Inca civilization. They built extensive roads to connect their people and their resources. They built even more extensive waterways to irrigate their brilliant terraces (in Quechua, these are called andinos, hence the Andes). They built entire cities, green, sustainable cities atop mountains. In the day of the Inca, these mountains teemed with life, with running water, with crops year round and storehouses a plenty. The Spanish were never able to cultivate the land like the Inca, so the mountains returned to their uninhabitable state. It is a disgrace that the real caretakers of the land, the Inca, had to give it up to such an incapable, ignorant people.

What was it that enabled the Inca to thrive? Their civilization grew and developed so rapidly because of the unity of the society. Not to say that they were united in freedom--that concept was totally foreign to them--but everyone contributed in some way, whether it be to build the road system, farm terraces, weave clothing, everyone contributed and everyone ate well. Those currently living in this region now struggle on their own to feed their crops and their livestock. Their children are burdened with malnutrition, and despite their isolation, they are dependent on goods from towns that are days away by mule. Take home message: teamwork can lead to great things. The Inca civilization accomplished SO much and it was because they all worked together--we'll ignore the details of how people decided to contribute for now. Seriously though, as I hiked the remains of the Inca trails in the Vilcabamba mountain range for six days, climbing and descending, and climbing, I continually thought how miraculous it was that these people were able to thrive in such a challenging environment. Where it is hard for one man to breath, they were able to build and support an entire community.

So the Beatles had it right, as they always did: "Come together, right now..."

Now a few pictures to show the current state of the Vilcabamba.
HUGE DISCLAIMER: Blogger is pathetically diminishing the size and quality of the photos. Viewers, beware!

The town of Cachora is exploding with development due to the increased tourism to Choquequirao. Choquequirao is the sister city of Machu Picchu. Much larger, much more spread out, much further from civilization, much harder to reach (can only get there by foot), and much less of it has been excavated. The later reasons are why few go to check this place out. Lucky for us. Cachora is where you start the trek to Choquequirao. Got it? The picture was taken at the entrance to the house where we loaded up our mules and headed out on the six day journey.

OK, so exploding may have been a little strong to describe Cachora's development...

The end of Cachora, the beginning of the trek.

Behold, the barrenness

Yes, that is the barren trail you see

Barrenness, day two

Plenty of vegetation, but no civilization.

Where life once thrived, Choquequirao

this is what greeted us on day four upon reaching Victoria Pass; after climbing all afternoon the day before and the entire morning; from the river bed of the valley, up ancient Inca stairs, above seemingly all living things.

We decided it was a nice spot to appreciate the barrenness over lunch.

In the interest of time, and storage space, I'll finish the rest of that trek with a quick summary. We spent the rest of day four, and the majority of day five hiking at the feet of glaciers. Day six was a gradual decent to the ceja de selba, or the "eyebrow of the jungle" in English. We reached Aguas Caliente by night and day seven was spent on Machu Picchu--I actually opted out of MP since I was there two years ago but hiked up a neighboring mountain, Cusiputu, instead.

The view of Machu Picchu from atop Cusiputu

These stairs continued for about 100m. I took the picture on my way down.