Cachora to Playa Rosalina: Day 1 Trek Choquequirao to Machu Picchu

After a hearty breakfast, at 8:00am we say our goodbye to Jan's wife and I meet Ucco our arriero (mule handler and cook). Jan's daughter sheds a brief tear and it is time to begin our journey.

The sun was bright and the field workers are out and about well before we are. The mountain backdrop was in full view acting as a curtain to the valley in front of us. No wonder Jan chose this house and location to live in, what an idyllic scene. With cheer we set off down to the river and see the signpost indicating we are on the track to Choquequirao.  Butterflies are about and we catch sight of hummingbirds and the 'cock of the rock' national bird of Peru.
Jan points out the orphanage he supports, I wish I made the effort to look around it. And we are soon at the first historical building of note, a mission and 300+ year old bell - now accommodation/eating house.
The walk out to the peak of the valley was a great start to the trek. Unfortunately some cars go up as far as they can to bring other trekkers in. There is a good reason to start from Cachora as you get a feel for the rural life. The views are great, insect, bird life and flowers are all out. I saw humming birds, the 'cock of the rock' - Peru's national bird and many butterflies and beautiful flowers right at the beginning stages of the track .
At the peak of ascent prior to our long - 10km - descent to the Apurimac river at La Playa we say the revered condor. What a sight, this bird is big and graceful as it soars the giddy heights.
Soon after the look-out we stopped for a rest and drink.
I witnessed the guinea pigs in breeding for the first time. These critters have free range in the kitchen, dining areas liking the indoors. In traditional homes they are only eaten on special occasions.
Many streams cross this path. I reviewed my determination to purify the water and worked on the premise that it was ok to drink if its origin and path bypassed civilisation.
10km is a long descent, and the temperature quite warm, the break all too short as we heated up again. At around 2:30pm however our first camp site appeared. Playa Rosalinas. This place looks to be an unfinished resort. It is quite rocky so we elected to camp inside one of the buildings. It was quite noisy with workers and other campers arrived later with accompanying mules and arrieros.
Jan wanted us to camp here as he felt the ascent to the next camp would be too hot. So we settled for a shower and generally lounged around dodging sprinklers to keep occupied.
The Apurimac river is quite wild and could be fun to paddle or raft, though I'd be conscious of not falling in the water too often as all the towns probably send untreated waste down it.
I spoke to some fellow trekkers arriving, none going beyond Choquequirao - I am happy, a quiet time ahead thereon: for a day at least !

Special note: As at 2018 Commercial interests are pushing for a cable car to Choquequirao with the hope to boost numbers to levels of Machu Picchu. I think this a shame, maybe a positive for Cachora economically – after all they are only getting 5800 visitors per year as against 1.2 million for Machu Picchu -  and for those who are unable to do this kind of trekking: but who knows how the environment will be affected and you certainly won’t be getting a private walk if it goes ahead.

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