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Published: August 7th 2007
The trail coming up to Dead Woman´s Pass
The highest point of the hike, at 4200m. The climb we had completed here took about 4 hours and was around 900m vertical.Cusco
After taking an overnight bus trip through the Andes we arrived in Cusco on the 21 April.
Cusco was the former inca capital and was also known as the navel of the world prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s. There´s remnants of inca buildings everywhere. Many colonial buildings including churches are built on top of original inca palaces. Just out of town (about 10 minutes walk up a steep hill) is the inca fortress site, Sacsayhuaman (also known as ´sexy woman´ by gringo´s). This is the where the Spanish finally conquered Cusco after a battle with Manco inca.
Cusco itself is alot bigger than we thought it would be and many parts cater for the tourist dollar. For example, when walking down the street you get approached about a million times by people asking if you want a massage, or purchase finger puppets, postcards, artwork etc.
We spent our first few days in Cusco site seeing and preparing for the inca trail.
The Inca Trail
After an early start (5.00am) we met the tour bus in town for the beginning of our four day trek along the inca trail.
That silly hat again.
Sometimes the trail seemed like it would never end! Municipal Parade, Cusco
The main plaza in Cusco hosts parades nearly every day it seems. This parade was celebrating the municipal workers. The cleaners are on parade with their wheelie bins and brooms!The bus drove to km82 along the Urubamba river which is where most people start the trek. Our guides, Isaac and Alex, were local Quechan speakers and knew alot about the sites we visited along the way. The group was fantastic, mostly Aussies and a two American couples. Two guys from Manly walked the whole trail in thongs!
We took it pretty easy on day 1 although were a little shocked at some of the steep hills we had to climb. We spent a cold night at 3300m but the views of the stars at night and the sun rising over the Andes in the morning made it all worthwhile.
Day 2 nearly finished us both. We climbed 900m before lunch and stopped at a Dead Woman´s Pass (4200m). After lunch was another pass at 4000m where we were hit by a hail storm, just to top things off. Also, what we soon learned was that if you climb up then you have to descend on
Stone wells
Suddenly the clouds would part and in front of you would be more amazing sites, like these stone wells with water still cascading down them after hundreds of years in use. the other side. The group couldn´t decide whether going up or going down was better. We walked a total of 16km on day 2 and spent the night at 3600m. But the
Inca Wall, Cusco
Example of colonial building with inca wall as its base.sites we visited on the way and the views were all spectacular.
Day 3 and 4 were easy going as we had done most of the walking on the first two days. We got up early on day 4 (4.00am) to walk the last two hours to the sun gate which lies at the top of Macchu Picchu. People were pretty excited about finally reaching Macchu Picchu and bolted to the sun gate where we arrived at 6.30 for the sun rise. It was pretty emotional seeing Macchu Picchu for the first time - a combination of the high altitude and all of the hard work that had gone into actually getting there. What can I say! One week on from the trail, I think the five sprained ankles between us, exposure and exhaustion were all worth it!
We will stay in Cusco for the next two weeks for Spanish classes. Gracias and no
Gracias can only get you so far. We also plan on doing volunteer work with the local community. We are staying in an apartment at Hotel Ninos which was established to help street kids. Our apartment is in the same complex as one of
One of the huge blocks at Sacsayhuaman
the children´s restaurants which serves up hot meals for the kids and ensures they can have a hot shower and get help with schooling.
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Jamin
non-member comment
Buenas dias!
Fantastic photos! It brought back a lot of memories. Bloody hell, day 2 is tough isn't it?! But sunrise over Macchu Picchu is well worth it. Very envious! Kepp having a great time, and enjoy your Spanish lessons!