Thursday, February 25, 2016

The Monkey House on the Inca Trail- Peru

the Inca trail
There are a number of ways to get to Machu Picchu, from the motorized, (train to Aguas Calientes, then the bus up the mountain) to the Soltanek Trek, where you hike up to an elevation of 15,200 feet, then descend before arriving at the ancient Incan City 5 days later.
Already feeling woozy at 12,000 feet, I opted for the Incan Jungle Trek, which is a 4 day excursion with white water rafting and zip-lining thrown into the mix.
On day two, we stop at two locales to rest. Photos and hopefully entertaining/ informative videos are below.

playing gingerly with a monkey with a monkey before being put in my place


This monkey is only tethered when trekking groups come through. Only two of us chose to play with him, and being granted climbing rights, he rewarded my trust by promptly reaching into my pocket and stealing 50 soles, which I quickly stole back. It's fun, but one must always be weary of being bit, which is exactly what happened to the other guy.

monkey thief steals 50 soles from me before I steal it back! 

This below video shows a much more docile, smaller monkey at the next stop- The Monkey House.
playing with a monkey on my shoulder

Numerous products grown in this fertile region are sold at the Monkey House, ranging from passionfruit juice, to cacao, to Inca tequila which comes with dead snakes inside the bottle- for flavor or as a warning, I'm not sure which. 
actual snakes in the bottle of tequila- good marketing?

Speaking of good marketing-- "Sweet Cocaine" (coca leaf): how to create an addictive product!!


painted as an Incan warrior - attracts monkeys for sure 
Martina with a cute rodent
my trekking group dressed in local garb 
some of the scenery you'll see on the Inca trail
a coca plantation



getting the Incan cross painted on my face 


the power of the Incan cross



Agricultural products of the Peruvian people along the Inca Trail

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