Each year one of my friends and I set a goal that will cause us to work on our fitness during the year, preparing for the adventure.  In 2007, based on an article we read in the NY Times (http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/travel/03inca.html) our goal was to hike in the Andes mountains of Peru to a somewhat unknown Inca ruin known as Choquequirau, the Cradle of Gold.  Built by Topa Inca, son of the Inca ruler who built Machu Picchu, it was built with similar architectural styles and techniques causing its reference as “Machu Picchu’s sacred sister”.  You can actually hike to it from Machu Picchu, but it is a much more strenuous and lengthy journey than our goal required.  So, we decided to take the more common route, a 4 day hike from the town of Cachora.

You get to Cachora via a flight to Lima (from Miami in our case) and then a flight to Cusco, which is the same launching point for Machu Picchu.  We spent two days in Cusco acclimating ourselves to the almost 11,000 foot altitude.  I had never been to Machu Picchu, so I took the train up and spent the day touring the site.  It is an unbelievable experience to sit on the side of a mountain and imagine the architectural knowledge and sheer effort to construct something like this in the 1400’s.

Our trip was arranged by Lima Tours (http://www.limatours.com.pe/english/index.asp) and our guide, Sergio Cuba, who worked for Pachatusantrek (http://www.pachatusantrek.com/)  met us in Cusco.  There were three of us on the hike, my friend Gary, his wife Linda and me.  We met Sergio the night before and he gave us an overview of the adventure as well as the do’s and don’ts for the next few days.

We all got up excited the next morning and met our guide and driver for the four hour drive to Cachora.  When there, we met Amer, the owner of the horses who would be packing all our gear for the four day journey.  We ended up with 5 horses and a staff of 4 in addition to our guide.

We had lunch in Cachora and then set out walking on our trek.

The Hike

This was a hike over 20 miles and two days to get to Choquequirau.  We start at roughly 10,000 feet, go down to 5,000 feet where we cross the Apurimac river and then back up to 10,000 where the ruins are located.  You hike on trails that are fairly good, but very dusty.  There are a lot of places where the elevation is fairly steep and, of course, you are either going up or down.  While 20 miles doesn’t sound like too much, when you throw in the elevation it becomes all I could handle.  The first day you go mostly down and then camp for the night.  I had a tent and Gary and Linda had a tent.  They also pitch a latrine tent with a portapotty and a mess tent.  We ate great meals each day.  They boil water each evening and you fill your water bottles for the next day.  It is warm and very dry in the mountains and you need to drink a lot of fluid.

On day two you cross a bridge over the Apurimac river and start the hike up to the ruins.

Along the way you see few other people.  They limit the permits and this place really hasn’t yet been discovered by the traveling public.  Its rugged and remote location probably contribute as well.  There are a few rest stops and you do see locals who will sell you a soda, but mostly, you are putting one foot in front of the other, looking up occasionally to take in the incredible scenery or take a picture.

Late in the afternoon of day 2 you reach Choquequiriau.  You first see it from the other side of a valley.  After getting the the camp area, the tents are pitched and the four of us walk over to the ruins for a short stay.

One of the adventures is a walk down the steps shown here.  They look (and feel) like they fall off the side of the mountain, but really just connect the various terraces.  One thing that I found interesting is that you have to take big steps to climb with the risers sometimes over 2 feet.  Yet the folks who lived here were relatively short.  They must have been in great shape.

After dinner, its dark and time for bed.  Sleeping in the mountains wasn’t a problem for me, mostly because you are really tired at the end of the day.

We spend the next morning exploring the ruins.  It is somewhat anti-climactic as they are only 30% excavated at this time.

One of the highlights is the fairly recently discovered “White Llamas”, a wall with Llamas inset on each terrace level.

Close up of White Llama

The hike back is just as majestic as going there.  One thing about going both directions is that you really see everything.  I felt like we were on top of the world, and imagined the Incas must have felt the same.

Here is another source of information about the hike.
http://www.besthike.com/southamerica/peru/choquequirao.html

The Photography

On a hike like this, obviously you need to travel light.  I carried a Canon Digital Rebel with 17-85 and 70-300do lenses.  I also brought a light travel tripod which proved helpful for pano’s in Machu Picchu, but not too useful on the hike.  You are moving a lot.  To add some color, I had a Canon TX-1, small video camera which was used to provide some short clips for my slide shows back home.  Finally, my trusty digital elph which was handy for snapshots in camp and on the trail.  More images are here: www.pbase.com/mikeojohnson/peru

Mike Johnson
www.mojphoto.com

Mike Johnson is an avid amateur photographer who enjoys mixing travel, wildlife and landscapes all over the world. He retired from business in 2004 and moved from Minnesota to Florida, where he currently resides with Jan, his wife of 37 years. Photography became a passion post retirement and we have been fortunate to see a lot of wonderful places, meet a lot of wonderful people and experience a lot of the earth’s most exciting creatures. In the past few years Mike has been trying to raise the level of his photography by joining several well known photographers on photo safaris. Grizzly Bears in Katmai, Polar Bears in Churchill, Eagles in Homer and the Big Five in Africa have all been captured. You can find Mike’s images at: mojphoto.com

By Jillian Pichocki

I participated in a workshop through photoexperience.net during the summer of 2006, and it was a life changing experience.  I studied the historical photographic process of the daguerreotype with the contemporary master, Jerry Spagnoli (www.jerryspagnoli.com).

Learning the process in itself was amazing, but to be in such a beautiful environment at the same time was what really made it unique.

It was an awakening occurrence to go to Peru and observe a lifestyle so different than what I have been accustomed to living outside of Washington D.C. where the standard of living is very high.  With so much in excess, this trip opened my eyes as to what one really needs to get by with in life.

All the participants were excited to take part in the daily excursions organized by Adam Weintraub. Adam is a freelance photographer who lives and works in Seattle, Washington.  His wife and extended family are from Cusco, and he has been traveling to and from both cities for over ten years.  Words cannot really express how someone as knowledgeable as Adam made the whole transition of settling in to the new environment easy and enjoyable.  Adam was always available to provide an insider’s scoop as to what to see and what to bring to the various locales. The website for the bed and breakfast is: http://www.panzadelartista.com/ The majority of the time was spent exploring, but it was a great release to come back to the house and have the privacy to process the experiences from that day and to bond with fellow participants.

As I said, this trip opened my eyes to a different culture and was a good reality check for my life back in the states. I began to see the world differently and appreciate the simpler things in life.  I also got a chance to meet some amazing people.  We all had different interests in photography and not all were working in that field, but we enjoyed learning and being a part of something incredible. When I look back at my other travels around the world, none are as significant as my trip to Peru.  It was the personal growth and exploration that helped me develop a better sense of purpose and to continue to inspire my photographic interests.

The workshop series is growing and each year they have an amazing assortment of photographers that lead a different topic.  This summer they have Keith Carter (who is one of my favorite photographers), Bruce Barnbaum, and Stella Johnson.

Link:  http://www.photoexperience.net

Jillian Pichocki is a freelance/fine art photographer living in the Washington DC area. She received an MFA in Art and Visual Technology, with an emphasis in photography, from George Mason University in 2007.  Her work has been shown in the Metropolitan galleries such as: Transformer Gallery, Touchstone Gallery, the Fraser Gallery, and the Ellipse Art Center.

For over eight years, her interest in the history of photography has led her to experiment with different processes and seek out the possibilities of this medium.  Covering a wide range of formats from plastic and Polaroid cameras to large format, she uses analog photography as the foundation of her work.