"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." (Confucius) (Entry 14, Day 5)

Wednesday, May 29, 2013; 1:03 PM; plane to Cuzco

This morning marked our last day in the Amazon.  It was quite fun, but I'm really excited for Cuzco (and MORE excited for Sunday, when we actually go on the trail).  I'm kind of nervous about the altitude - Cuzco is the highest altitude we'll be (higher than Machu Picchu), but everyone is making a big deal about how the altitude will affect the climb up to the city (despite the altitude difference, the only way to the city on foot is up).  Since the altitude here is higher than the Alps, it's going to be worse if I get altitude sickness (meaning, IF I GET SICK, it will be in Cuzco).  I'm going to see how I do when we land in Cuzco (altitude: 11,1152 feet, which is ~ 4,000 ft higher than the peak of the Alp we hiked, and ~ 1 km higher than the Incan city).

Actually, scratch what I said about Cuzco being the highest.  Cuzco is 3399 meters - the highest we'll be is 4198 meters (13,773 feet), at Dead Woman's Pass on the third day of the hike.  That's also the longest day of the four we'll be hiking, which makes it only slightly more terrifying.

There are several theories why it's called Dead Woman's Pass.  One is that, if you are hiking through and you look back, there is a feminine visage in the rock face.  Another is that there used to be female sacrifices (not just virginity) in that spot (I don't remember Yuri talking about that, so I'm not sure how much I believe Mom when she says it).  Anyway, the main reason I can remember is that when a female Incan ice mummy was found in the Andes (actually within the last few decades), she was found in that pass; it was probably covered by something if all the tourists missed a BIG HONKIN' MUMMY BODY.  Or maybe it was just not on the trail.  Maybe the guy who found it was the only one who could focus properly at 4200 meters, because everyone else was dying of oxygen deprivation, because there are veery few people crazy enough to put themselves within a few kilometers of flying altitude, and none of them take to it well when outside of a plane.


Author's note: in this entry (and probably a few more), I misspelled "Cusco" with a 'z.'  I learned the difference later (and write about it later), but technically I think it's supposed to be spelled with the 's.'  Spell Check isn't yelling at me for it, though, so maybe either works?