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Here's a quick overview of my uncle and cousin's trip to Peru. Rather than rewrite an account of this high adventure, I'll just repost an article from a South Mississippi newspaper:
Machu Picchu trip uphill climb, but worth it
 | View of Machu Picchu from the
Path from Intipunku |
Gulfport father-daughter chiropractors tackle hike of an Inca trail together
By NANCY BOSARGE
THE SUN HERALD
The beauty and wonder of one of South America's Incan ruins came alive for Drs. Jim and Angela Culveyhouse on a trip they took in October. The Culveyhouses, a father and daughter, who are chiropractors in Gulfport, went on a hiking trip of an Inca trail in Peru leading to the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. This ancient city wasn't discovered until 1911 by American historian Hiram Bingham and is located between two peaks 50 miles northwest of Cuzco, Peru. There are 3,000 stonework steps connecting the five square miles of the stone-laid city of Machu Picchu.
"This is an Incan city that the Spaniards didn't discover; that's why it's still intact," Angela said.
She had heard about the hiking trip from some friends who told her she needed to go. She and her father decided to make it a nice father-daughter trip. They went with a travel package by an agency out of Cuzco. The actual hike to Machu Picchu along the Inca trail would take four days ascending from 10,000 to 14,000 feet in elevation. This trail is listed as one of the top five, said Jim.
Angela has been on a few hiking trips, but none on this level, and Jim hiked some about 10 years ago. To prepare for the trip, they worked out at the gym for six months.
Continued: Click "Read more..." below.
"If I'd have realized the straight elevations, I'd have used more of an incline on the treadmill. At one point you went up for five hours. It felt like straight up," Jim said.
Half of their adventure was just getting there. They each took different airlines to Lima, Peru, and Angela's luggage, including her hiking gear, was lost. She was told it would be in the next day, so she waited. It wasn't (she didn't get her luggage back until after the hike).
They had planned to have a few days to acclimate to the high altitude of the mountains. They didn't get to their destination in time to acclimate, and their plane from Lima to Cuzco was a half-hour late so their bus to the mountain left without them.
Angela and Jim had to take a taxi to meet their group. Besides the erratic driving on steep mountain roads, they had to stop and wait because two bulls were fighting in the road, and when they arrived at the railroad crossing, they had to wait for bulldozers to clear it because of a landslide.
There were 16 people in the group the Culveyhouses went on the hike with, two tour guides and about 10 porters. For a fee, the porters would carry your backpack. Angela says the guides and porters were very friendly and helpful and so were the people in the villages along the way. The Culveyhouses were the only Americans in their group and the people in the group became fast friends.
"I was surprised by how close we got in such a short time," Jim said.
Due to not being able to acclimate, Angela and Jim were very sick.
"They give you a cocoa leaf to chew. You put it in your cheek and just swallow the juices. It did help some. That and my prescription of Diamox for altitude sickness helped me get through it," Angela said.
She said the bugs were big and the repellent didn't work very well. At times the trail of stones was steep and she worried when her father got too close to the edge. The weather was rainy. It was cold at night and started warming up midmorning. By the afternoon it was very hot, and by the time they had everything off, they had to put it all back on again.
Jim said two things about the trip surprised him. One was how good the meals were. They had three cooked meals per day plus snacks.
"They had soups, potatoes, casseroles, and there was meat with every meal. They also had veggie meals for vegetarians," Jim said.
The other thing was the beauty of the area - the flowers, the water falls, and the breathtaking beauty of the sunrise at the sun gate of Machu Picchu on the fourth day of their trip.
"Water tasted delicious from the waterfalls," Jim said.
"It was an experience I'll never forget," Angela said. "It really amazed me to realize that people lived here once a long time ago and how well the ruins were preserved. How they built this in a high place on the top of a mountain."
At night the group slept in tents provided with the tour. Angela pointed at her father, teasing, "Try being next to big snorer here. People would ask where he was sleeping, so they could sleep far from him."
Father and daughter agreed it was the best father-daughter trip they've ever had. Angela is glad she went on the trip this one time. It was a good experience. She didn't know she had the determination this trip brought out in her. Also, seeing the people and what conditions they lived in made her appreciate what she has in America.
For her next adventure she's looking at going to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. As for Jim, he liked Cuzco and is going back to explore more ruins.
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