Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

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Before I start I must admit I was in no condition to do the Inca Trail. If I had known how arduous a task it was, I would have never even considered attempting it. Well I did not know it and sometimes ignorance is a blessing. To compound the problem it was almost a personal trek and the only other person in it was a Canadian student of Russian parents who was fit as a fiddle.Having said that Alexander was very understanding and encouraged me a lot to go on. We were picked up from the hotels 0430hrs, transported by bus, in two hours, to Olaytantambo from where we boarded a train to KM104 where the train stopped (in an hour and a half) to let us out to begin our trek. There was no station or buildings around. All we could see was a raging river. The guide who was supposed to be there was half an hour late. As theer was nobody around to ask we decided to cross the river by a foot bridge and may be start on the trail ourselves. On the other side of the river was a ranger station,who were controlling the treckers. The guide eventually turned up half an hour late and we started the trek before 0830 hours. Our target was to Wyna Wyna around 1200hrs, where we could rest, have some lunch and rest and then continue to the Sun Gate to reach by 1600hrs.

When we started of there were a lot of steps, then it was less steep. We had to climb almost 1500m in the first 7km. Soon it became apparent climbing steps was leaving me out of breath and I had to make more frequent stops. My habit of walking fast did not make things any easier. There were thousands of steps in groups varying from 10 to 40 at any time. Even between the steps the track had a good gradient up which made going tougher. However we passed at least 3 groups on our way to Wyna Wayna. Fully exhausted we stopped at the top of Wyna Wyna had something to eat and drank some water and I almost nodded off. This was a big mistake. I started to have cramps on both legs, but strangely enough just above the knees. May be the coca sweets, or vigorous stretching I was able to continue without too much discomfort. The climb from Wyna Wayna to Sun Gate was was not as steep except when we neared the Sun Gate itself when it got steeper and there were nothing but steps. From here we got our first view of Machu Picchu which was still a good 45 minutes away. When the tour was finishing I asked the guide if the days in 5 day trek are of similar difficulty. His reply was that the second day of the 5 day trek if anything is harder than this.

As in many other instances it is always the journey that is more imprtant. In spite of difficult conditions the trek was exhilerating and I would advice any fit person to take this on before going to the citadel. The scenery is gorgeous and the variation in vegitation is noticeable just as the trail leaves the railway tracks. The rail, a narrow gage, runs on edge of a raging river (it eventually joins the Amazon) which is at the bottom of a canyon formed by two ranges of mountains of average height 4,500m. Where necessary the river bank is fortified, edge of the mountain is cut off or made new tunnells to facilitate the rail line. As we move from the station the scenery start to change, from bare hills with shrubs at times to one of trees and then to forest finally going through a subtropical forest. The trek track, originally made by the Incas to have access to Machu Picchu runs by the edges of mountains and when it moves slightly inwards at times,it is through dense woodland. In spite of the hardship I was going through the ever changing scenery did make the trek exhilerating at the same time. We could not go ino the citadel as we had only permits for the next day. We got down to Aguas Calientes fairly quickly as the rain was beginning to fall. I knew that I will be in no condition to climb the next day and opted for a bus ride up early at 0530. Alexander decided to climb to MachuPicchu early in the moring say 0430 and meet me at the entrance at 0600. After a well deserved shower, a meal and with some analgesic and lot of water I slept like a log till 04300hrs.

I don't have to add much on Machu Picchu. There is enough info around to fill volumes. It appeared to be an unfinished city. Most of the stones for the construction of of the Citadel were quarried there itself. There are alot of stones in an unfinished condition in the center of the Citadel. Again as in the other Inca sites the mode of construction indicated the purpose. For workers and farmers the stone walls were made of stones with clay cement between them. For temples and kings residenses the stones were joined by fine polishing perfectly matched with no gaps between them. All thatched buildings had provision for tieing the roof tothe walls. There were peculiarities in building design and position and numbers of windows. They fortified the sides of the mountain with terraces. The irrigarin system they had was superb with channels cut into stones joined together to form canals. Everything was built on bare rock that the damage from a possible earthquake will be minimised. They used other anti earthquake tecknics in building as inclined walls, use of a base of small stones to carry major building stones etc. You could say it is a magical place, but for me the magic of Machu Picchu is not what it is but where it is. The Sun temple, the Central arena, the temple of Condor were all magnificient especially when we consider the tools they had to work with. Like other sites they must have stopped the building because of the death of the builder, probably their most powerful king Pacha Koota. The Citadel probably was built as refuge in time of danger as it was unassailable from any side. We would never know why it was not completed or why it lay hidden for so long.

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Photos

Foot Bridge over River
MAchu Picchu trek

Up to Wayna Wayna
MAchi Picchu trek

Climbing fom the river
MAchu Picchu trek

Up from the river
Machu Pichhu trek

At the Citadel
MAchu Picchu trek