From Maya to Inca: Gran Vilaya

Monday, 8 July 2013

Gran Vilaya - day 3

On day three, we walked from dawn till dusk. Many people do this day on horseback and in retrospect I can kind of understand why. But I didn't want to do it on horseback and I think the guide was making me pay - for that amongst other things. He strode off far ahead and seemed intent on losing me. At one point where the path forked, I was in the middle of the jungle by myself and he was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately I chose the right path but I was getting angrier by the minute, and at that point I would have loved to have had a few trout to throw at him.

We arrived at the village just before nightfall, having walked 30 kms and climbed 1800 metres. To add insult to injury, during the day I had started to feel a bit fluish, and the guide suggested drinking (of course) chuchuhuasi with caña. He said it cures everything and cleans the blood (replaces the blood with alcohol more like). This plant is from the jungle, however, and joking aside, is said to have medicinal properties. I was ready to try anything. And after another delicious meal of trout followed by a jug of chuchuhuasi and caña, I went to sleep waiting for the Chuchuhuasi to work its magic.

breakfast

plantain and yucca plants

sugar cane

wall hidden by moss

cooking rock

entrance to house

snake!

four-leafed clover

view of Kuelap from afar

me and my magic potion

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Interesting facts

Another slightly subjective fact. Peruvian mountain roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
Kuelap is a Chachapoya fortress in Northern Peru built before Machu Picchu.
Peruvian men are the most persistent men on the planet.
Blue zones are called blue zones simply because Dan Buettner and his research team (who first identified the blue zones) used blue ink to circle the areas on a map with the highest life expectancy. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Inca civilisation arose from the highlands of Peru sometime during the early 13th century.
Contrary to popular belief, Panama hats are not made in Panama but in Ecuador.
Ten of the volcanoes along the Avenue of Volcanoes are higher than 5000 metres.
Rafael Correa has introduced the "pico y placa" system in Quito, following the Colombian example, "pico" meaning "peak" and "placa" meaning "plate". Cars are restricted from circulating in Quito on certain days during morning and evening rush hours according to the last number of their registration plate, in order to ease traffic congestion.
Quito is 72 kms long and 10 kms wide.
Quito is the oldest capital in South America and lies 2800 metres above sea level.
The sex of the tortoises bred in the breeding centre in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos islands depends on the temperature of the incubators. The eggs kept in incubators at 29.5 degrees celsius become females and those kept in incubators at 28 degrees celsius become males.
The giant cacti of the Galapagos islands are the only species of opuntia cactus in the world that grows like a tree.
Legend has it that the Incas discovered the Galapagos islands in the fifteenth century but no solid evidence has been found to prove this.
Slightly subjective. Playa del Carmen sells the most expensive ice cream in the world. But it tastes pretty good.
The piece of lime in the top of a bottle of beer was originally not for the taste. It was used to wipe the rust off the rim.
Mayan mothers used to wrap planks of wood around their children's foreheads to flatten them.
The dazzling blue ocean along the Mayan riviera is due to the fact that there are no rivers feeding into it. And because of the lack of nutrients flowing into the sea, there is also less animal life along this part of the ocean.