Pisac

I had a very pleasant evening in Pisac after my flight there, staying in a nice guesthouse on the main square, and then in the morning headed up to the top of the hill and wandered back down through the numerous Inca sites on the hillside. 

The biggest (and busiest with tourists) complex, a fortress, was at the top but the most interesting sites were lower down including an atmospheric temple area. The main crowds didn't leave the top so the wander back down exploring the ruins on the way was lovely. 

 

Inca bench

Pisac has a big permanent tourist market so I did a bit of souvenir shopping in the afternoon and then headed back to Cusco. 

Inca Thermals 2 - Cerro Sacro to Pisac

Nice little XC today, following the Sacred Valley down to the small town of Pisac, about 30km.

On my way, Sacred Valley ahead. 

More typical conditions today I think. Clear blue skies with only a few small fluffy clouds dotting the mountains in the distance. Was a lot quieter on launch than yesterday with just a handful of tourists out for tandems. The tandems seemed to be struggling again so I didn't take off until 1pm but flew straight into a nice, relatively smooth thermal of about 3m/s up and was up and away. I don't think the tandems are a good guide. 

Inca complex in the bottom right

The flight was pretty straightforward after that, following the mountains on the edge of the valley all the way down to Pisac. I was delighted to brake the 6000m mark - just - after working the very last out of a dying thermal, but then soon after found a strong thermal while still high, that boosted me up to over 6200m - my highest yet! 

Woop! 

Higher than the mountain

Looking back towards takeoff

Looking across at Cusco (should have followed this line yesterday)

Flying over Inca ruins is fascinating and all the hillsides are terraced which look amazing from above. Pisac has an extensive complex of Inca terraces and ruins and I really wanted to fly over them; they were on the far side of the valley though and the strong valley wind I dropped into near Pisac put paid to those hopes. I descended pretty quickly in the wind, flying over Pisac and landing just outside, near a very friendly and curious group of locals that had watched me come down. Had a nice chat and kept the audience while I packed up my glider. I shared a few sweets and as I was walking away, 2 of the young girls came chasing after me with a gift in return: 2 hot potatoes! 

Could have gone further...

Terracing below

Pisac

I'd packed my toothbrush with the plan to fly to Pisac and spend the night there and it's a very satisfying way to arrive in a place. My first baby step into the world of vol bivouac!

36 km, 1:53 h

Tracklog: http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:iamado/26.07.2015/18:22

Inca thermals: Cerro Sacro to Huacarpay

Over a crackly Skype call I somehow managed to arranged a  lift out to the Cusco flying site with one of the tandem pilots, an hours drive north of Cusco. Cusco is a popular tandem spot it seems; there must have been 20 odd people waiting their turn on takeoff.

The area is beautiful. A yellow and brown patchwork of fields with the Sacred Valley stretching out in front of the launch site overlooked by some mighty rock faces and jagged snow clad peaks. The valley floor is about 3500m, with the takeoff at 3900m.

The day took a long time to get going. El niño, that troublesome child, is making itself felt. The normally clear blue skies were this morning draped in clouds. They'd burnt off by late morning but the thermal cycles and the takeoff wind direction took a bit longer to get going.

The tandems started at about 12.30 but had to work hard to stay up. It was working though, if not particularly well, so having sat around all morning, I launched at 1.

I flew around the launch site for about an hour, only once gaining any decent height - getting up to 4500m with the best thermal I caught. Thermals were strong but broken and the cycles infrequent, so it was hard to build any height to go anywhere. I eventually got bored of scrapping around the launch hill however and drifted back over the hill with an alright thermal, fully expecting to soon land out and hop on a bus back to Cusco.

Looking down from launch

Looking west

But that's where the adventure began. I went on a glide after my initial thermal petered out, following the road back to Cusco and soon picked up another climb (flat land flying: you don't even need to try). Another climb later and I had my first real decision to make. I was drifting with a thermal and the wind and road direction parted ways. There were some enticing sun clad slopes up ahead however so off I went. It duly delivered: a strong smooth thermal taking me all the way from the lower slopes to nearly 6000m - nice! Up at cloud base, Cusco was suddenly within spitting distance, just behind the small mountain chain I'd  climbed above. 3000m above ground you can glide a long way! I followed the edge of the hills to the east of Cusco but entering the Cusco valley, things got a little more complicated...

Gaining some height

Cusco

Looking back north

High above Cusco

The wind namely. After flying back to Cusco with a nice tailwind I hit an easterly coming over the mountains and across the valley. My planned route, continuing up the valley past Cusco, was therefore in the lee so I decided to cross the valley to see if it was working better there. 

There is an airport in Cusco, in the middle of the valley. I'd already passed the length of it so thought I'd be fine with a quick hop over to the other side of the valley. What I didn't consider was the approach and having pretty much already crossed the valley I was confronted with an oncoming plane - using the side valley for a big u turn before straightening up for the landing.

Flying with big passenger jets is quite exciting! I made a beeline for the nearest hill and we passed with a comfortable margin. 

The final approach

The ridge on the other side was generating some easy lift so I cruised along that while I considered my options. Landing was one but the best spot was kind of in the jet path so it did have its drawbacks. Given that, I thought I may as well press on up the valley. The wind was a concern though, especially given the narrow pass I needed to get by, and I was struggling to work out what was going on. Wind from the east, wind from the north, and the smoke on the valley floor showing a strong southerly! Heading south however and still going up I figured it would work out. Definitely a bit of convergence happening in the small side valley too.

I made it to the end of the valley where it opened out a bit relatively easily, and identified a big flat area to land in where I hoped the wind would be nicer given the more open space. 

Landing zone ahead

...SCHLAPP!

A rough frontal collapse got my attention and then a few minutes after, as I was arriving above my landing field...

BAMM BAMMMM SCHLAPP BAMM!!!!

I was thrown around by a violent sequence of collapses with a big frontal and asymmetric that almost twisted my lines. I recovered fine but still going up and feeling the strain of a poor nights sleep and a tricky flight, I was getting a little nervous. I was still above 4000m at this point (about 1000m above ground level but definitely ready to land!) so I spiralled half way down and then just used big ears to lose the rest of my height. At least it was clear where the wind was coming from. I landed safely, just outside a small town called Huacarpay, in a strong easterly, only going a little bit backwards as I touched down...

The final challenge was getting out the field I'd landed in and I had to scale a big spiky security fence to break free. After that it was easy, with plenty of buses plying the road back to Cusco. 

So, for a day that promised little, it was a surprisingly long and interesting flight. Not technically difficult (the hard bit was getting down) but mentally draining and certainly with its nervous moments. 

56km, 3:53 hrs.

Tracklog is here: http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:iamado/25.7.2015/18:19 

Relieved!

Cusco

Excited by the potential for some good flying, I got on a night bus to Cusco from Arequipa. Finally I was getting somewhere "in season", although I'd been warned El niño was making itself felt and conditions weren't typical. 

 

As I was wandering up from the main plaza in Cusco in search of somewhere to stay, I was recognised by a passing face and lo and behold it was Lasse, my German pal I'd sneaked off in the night with to climb the forbidden pass in Torres del Paine. A pleasant surprise and I spent the next few nights with him and a French friend of his. The common language was Spanish and I think my spanish probably improved more in those few days than it had in the past 6 weeks. It's much easier speaking with non native speakers! 

Cusco, the capital of the Incas, is super touristy, but still a beautiful city and the blend of Inca and colonial stonework is unique. The Incas were certainly master stone masons and the quality of the workmanship, with such finely hued and perfectly fitted blocks of stone, is a wonder to behold. 

Inca stonework in the Qorikancha

That yellow cube represents the amount of coal currently consumed in the world every second of every day

I spent 2 days in Cusco and then found my way out to the paragliding spot, Cerro Sacro... 

 

Down and Ups in the Colca Canyon

About a six hour bus ride to the north east of Arequipa lies the Colca Canyon: probably the second deepest canyon in the world (the deepest being the next canyon along).

Cabanaconde

I spent a night in Cabanaconde and then headed down into the canyon for a 2 day round trip.

I didn't find it particularly exciting to begin with (just another big canyon... once youve seen a couple they don't differ that much) but the place definitely grew on me, starting when I scrambled down to the river below Sangalle Oasis (a genuinely green oasis in the brown canyon and the most touristy spot here). Had a delightfully cool swim after the descent into the heat of the canyon, followed by a good early lunch of an alpaca steak sandwich.

I then had a four hour hike, with a hard steep ascent directly out the Oasis, up the other side of the canyon, to get to Lluhar. Not much at Lluhar except a place to stay and hot springs. Nice hot, hot springs too, with the pool built right next to the river so you can cool off when you need to. I arrived just before it got dark and joined the others in the pool to relax under the stars with a beer. A nice social environment, with some pleasant chat in the pool and a few beers to follow with dinner. Inevitably the group was dominated by the french but there were some Germans, Americans and another English guy to keep it interesting.

Looking back down at Sangalle Oasis

Had a deadline to get the bus back to Arequipa at 2pm the next day, and the hike should have only been about four hours so I had plenty of time. There is a big volcanic geezer on the way, right next to the river with some pools of vigorously boiling water. It was fun being able to paddle where the hot water was bubbling up through the cool river bed.

The path out the valley led away from the track soon after that, but it's not obvious and I (and a couple in front of me) missed the turn off. I got a long way up the road before I finally concluded I must have definitely missed the path and headed back. That little detour didn't leave me much time to make the long climb back out the canyon, to get my bus at 2. I powered up though, through the heat of the day, and made the 1100m ascent and 10 odd km in less than 3 hours - probably a record. I made the bus with a few minutes to spare, exhausted.

El Misti (climb and fly)

El Misti, the guardian of Arequipa, has been at the back of my mind since my first week in Colombia, when Johanus (a young German acro pilot) planted the seed of flying from it.

It looked like a fairly straightforward climb so me and Matt planned to climb it alone. The logical reality however was that it worked out quite a lot cheaper to do it with a guide so up we signed and set off around 9 the next day with 2 American guys and an Austrian girl.

An hour and a half's drive got us up to the starting point at about 3500m and we hiked up a steady incline, passing through shrubby ground with a surprising amount of beautiful flowers (and annoying bumble bee sized biting flies with massive mosquito like snouts) and up beyond the plant line to base camp at 4700m. Took about 5 hours. I was lugging my glider up so it was quite hard work with my 20 odd kilos, but with a leisurely pace and hourly breaks it didn't prove to be so bad.

Base camp

Pichu Pichu in the last of the sun

Venus above the lights of Arequipa

Arequipa was beautifully lit up at night and the views over to Pichu Pichu and Chachani were lovely.

The wind was howling though and ripped right through the tents making sleep difficult. The air temp wasn't that cold but it felt so with the wind.

We were up at 2am and off by 2.30, our group already down to 3; with "the sickness" (as our guide put it) claiming Kyle and Claudia.

We set off at a snails pace and frequently stopped for breaks where there was shelter to get some respite from the wind. It was cold, mainly due to the wind, and with the slow pace hard to generate any warmth.

We plodded on through the night, eventually losing  Fernando to the sickness too, to just leave my self and Matt to push for the summit. I felt in pretty good shape the whole climb; the Bolivian mountains must have done me some good. It took us 5 and a half hours to get to the top and we summited at 8am, the last section taking us up along the edge of the crater and into a viscous, biting wind.

First glimpse of the top

It was nice and sheltered just below the summit however and we chilled out for almost an hour, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun and the amazing view down into the crater and beyond.

5820m

Looking NW towards Chachani

Coming down was easy and a lot of fun, skiing the direct route down a steep sandy scree chute.

Skiing the scree

Back at base camp we had a bit of time to relax before packing up; then as everyone else headed back down the mountain I picked up my glider and went looking for a good takeoff. The wind had dropped sufficiently but was coming from the west, quite gusty at times, so not ideal. 

I got off though without too much stress and managed to gain some height soaring up a small spur that was catching the wind. I was then able to fly over to the western side of the mountain hoping for a smoother ride. It was a little smoother, but with some strong gusts coming through and it was certainly never comfortable. 

I got up to about 5000m before I flew out into the valley to land, not wanting to miss my ride home. The glide out was a lot more relaxing and a chance to enjoy the view of the 3 volcanoes. With the lack of sleep and tricky conditions it perhaps wasn't the most enjoyable flight, but certainly memorable and mission accomplished!