Top of the mountain: A hike to Machu Picchu (Part 8)

By Simon J. Lau

Day 8 in Peru. This is our last full day in Peru. Ironically, this day came as a bit of a surprise to us. After being away from civilization for the better part of the last week, I got confused and thought that we would be leaving today for San Francisco. Fortunately, we actually have one more night in Cuzco and one more day to explore this beautiful country. As a final hurrah, we spent most of that time exploring the neighborhood and streets around us.

The San Pedro Market is one of the largest markets in Cuzco and primarily serves the local community. There are many fresh fruits, spices, and meat stalls here as well as a small selection of pottery. This photo is one of the many food stalls in and around the market.

Guinea pigs are a delicacy in Peru and are often served for special occasions. My father was not familiar with this tradition, so when he saw a vendor selling live guinea pigs, he thought she was selling them as pets. Unfortunately for these guinea pigs (and many more in Peru), they were probably on their way to the dinner table. As proof of this, I led my father next door to a guinea pig butcher shop. There, we found many rows of butchered guinea pigs. Rather than sharing those gruesome pictures, I chose to share this: A few silly stuffed guinea pigs I found on the counter. This is probably not the best way to go out, but at least they will live on forever as a colony of stuffed guinea pigs. Of the four, I thought the drummer guinea pig was the most well-done, although the distorted banjo-playing guinea pig gives him a run for his money.

In addition to exploring Cuzco on our own, we also enrolled in a walking tour. Our guide for the day, Marco, was a very animated character with a lot of energy. He introduced us to many cute places in the city and delivered many rich stories to us. Surprisingly, the stories I enjoyed most were of his personal experiences. Marco was a foster child and bounced from foster home to foster home. He was fortunate in that he was eventually taken in by a Scandinavian couple. This couple introduced him to many places in Latin America outside of Peru. One such place was Bolivia, where Marco discovered villages of poor mining families. These miners worked backbreaking hours in horrendous conditions, but they would regularly open their doors and share what little food they had with him and his family. It was through these experiences that Marco discovered that “it is the people who have the very least that share the very most.” This story stood out to me as an area that I have grappled with myself. Although I won’t be able to solve this dissonance in the short-term, I do hope that as I look back at my life I can say confidently that I gave back more to others than I received.

This is a typical neighborhood in Cuzco. As you can see, the roads were made in a time well before cars, but people have found ways to work around these limitations. More importantly, I wanted to share the vibrant city views, lush mountaintops, and dynamic skyline. I simply cannot say enough good things about this country!

Yes, the costume appeared a bit cheesy, but I thought the music was good. Also, as with the immediate-past photo, you can capture a better view of the larger cityscape and surrounding mountains.

After all the talk of guinea pigs on this trip, I could not help but try it. It took me some time to muster up the strength to do so. In my previous life, I had raised guinea pigs as pets, but on my last night, I finally made the plunge. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I won’t eat guinea pig again. The meat is really tough and tastes a bit dry. It was worth trying once, but it would be hard for me to come back to this again.

Overall, I would say that this trip turned out very well. It was rough at first having to adjust to the demands of hiking when sick, but after I got through that difficult hump, things turned out well. My favorite parts of this vacation included Machu Picchu, exploring Cuzco, and spending quality time with my father. My father and I have not traveled together since I moved away for college, and even then it was always together with the family. This time I felt I learned a great deal about him. For instance, it wasn’t clear to me at first just how important it was for my father to hike this trail. For him, he wanted to see if he still had the strength to make it all the way. It was particularly important to him given his age, and he was ecstatic to make it to Machu Picchu on his own. At the same time, I was thankful I got to share this experience with him. As someone reminded me on this trip, “It is pretty awesome that your dad would join you on this hike!” Indeed, he is very awesome!

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