Inca Trail & Machu Picchu

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Our first job was checking into our hotel for the last night of Cusco before going to our meeting with G Adventures about the Inca trail. We found out everything we needed to that night before our first day out into the Sacred Valley. We met some great community groups Planterra and G Adventures support, including women who knit clothes to sell in Cacacoyo. We also saw some old Inca Ruins in Pisac and Ollantaytambu, where you could see how they managed to make a living from living on a mountainside and construct their houses by moving the tops of the mountains to make flat land and terraced land for growing. We stopped off at a village also supported by G for lunch then it was off to the last stop to check out the Inca Ruins and check into our last hotel before the Inca Trail. The last stop, in Ollantaytambu, a small town which is the town where everyone meets before starting the Inca Trail.

Day1- was a nice Inca flat day, which means mostly up but not too difficult up. We had temperatures of 35degrees, which was a bit too warm for walking. We couldn't believe the portering team we had who carried 25kg of equipment and pretty much were running past us to get up the hills to our lunch spot or camping site. We saw some great Inca ruins before our first lunch break. The porters had already set up a tent for us and made lunch which consisted of soup, main meal and teas!! Then it was pack up time, with tents flying down in 30 seconds packed away in their bags and off again as they hurried past us. Each time we entered a campsite they would cheer us in. I kind of felt we needed to cheer them in for all their efforts. In total we had 24 porters for 12 people and 2 guides. At our first campsite we met them all, they were all from the local towns and some had been working as a porter on the Inca trail for 20 years, most of that time with G. I couldn't imagine carrying 25kg running up and down hills and staying in freezing cold campsites as a job!!

Day 2 and hardest day which consisted of a 1000m climb to 4200m to Dead woman's pass, passing through forests and up to a magnificent view across the Andes with Glaciers in the background. Then it was a steep downhill step climb to our campsite and although colder than the night before, we were more prepared with 6 layers of clothes on, a sleeping bag and silk liner. In the lonely planet book it states good things about the Inca trail such as the amazing views, bad things such as the steep climbs and downhills often being painful on the knees (polls definitely are recommended), as well as the cold nights but it also mentions the ugly, which is largely the quality of the squat toilets. Let's just say some people clearly have no idea where the hole is sometimes!! I often thought there is no point in squat toilets when composting toilets are far more practical and can be of use rather than toilets which are a hole and flush straight into the river. Anyhoo enough about toilets!!

Day3- Setting off at 6.30am we had a steep climb to the first break point, an Inca look out post, which was used to pass messages from dead woman's pass to the next look out over the mountainside towards Machu Picchu. This was made harder as 4 of us decided to take on the porter challenge. A challenge where you take the porters 25kg bag for 20 mins up a very steep section. Being at already 3600m and climbing we were higher than La Paz, this was absolutely knackering. A new found respect for our porters was to be had as I felt my heart in my throat. I cannot describe how out of breath I was, made harder with the altitude!! Worn out we managed to swap bags. The porters that had our 7kg bags were apparently racing each other and laughing as we struggled with their bags with the rest of the group giving is moral support!! The rest of the trail had many more Inca ruins and look outs complete with Inca temples and was a lovely part of the trail. This day was the longest day lasting 10 hours or so but it was amazing to see some of the route which consisted of views of glaciers all the way down to jungle. I have never seen such stunning scenery here and it made all the hard sections of the Inca trail totally worthwhile. Our lunch spot was on a cliff overlooking the town of Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town), we felt it was in our sights now. The porters had arrived around 4-5 hours before us!!!!! But I guess they hadn't stopped to visit the Inca ruins ? there were two people who were on their honeymoon and the cooks had made them a massive sponge jelly cake complete with their names on the icing, which they presented to us. It was incredible how they managed to do that in a tent on a cliff edge.
The way down to our campsite was steep and included a section called the Gringo killer, a section of steep downhill steps. It was broken up at least with some more Inca ruins.
At our campsite we got to bed early after saying goodbye to the porters. The next day saw us getting up at 3.30am to get to Machu Picchu ready for the sunrise!!

Day 4 Sungate- we were in the queue for the last section of the Inca trail at 4.45pm. The route doesn't open until 5.30am to ensure there's enough sunlight on the track as you cross Machu Picchu mountain. People in the past have fallen off the very narrow cliff path. We got to the Sungate at 6.45am ready to see the view of Machu Picchu in the sun rise. We were there!!!! Relief and what a view!! It was epic!

Machu Picchu is incredible the views of the mountains and the ruins and how they made this magnificent town on top of a mountain. We were lucky to see it where we were at the sungate and walking down to it as we felt like we had it to ourselves with the others who had done the Inca trail. 4 days walking and 3 nights of camp, two of them in very cold minus degree temperatures and no washing finally paid off!! Unfortunately Machu Picchu is horrendously busy. We felt a little cheated that people who didn't do the Inca trail or at least the Lars trek were allowed into the site!! Still despite the busyness it was still fab to see this site that the Professor, Hiram Bingham had stumbled across courtesy of the locals showing him and he didn't even realise the extent or the importance of the site until a few years later. The Spanish fortunately never found this site or many of the other sites along the way so hadn't destroyed them, like they did in Cusco, Lima and many other sites to make way for their indoctrinating religious beliefs. Machu Picchu had been hidden from view for many years until now where it is one of the most popular sites to see in South America.
We then headed down to Aguas Calientes town for a farewell lunch with our guides and to meet everyone who had done the other trail that we had been with in the Sacred Valley. We were all looking forward to a shower, it had been a while! We had a beautiful journey back by train to Ollantaytambu, sadly we didn't see any Paddington bears, but they do exist in that area. Then it was back to Cusco and a loooong sleep and shower and a few farewell goodbyes with some people.



We met up with some of our group the next day for food in Cusco after me and Sarah opted for the most popular thing they sell in Cusco..... an Inca massage!! Well worth it and advertised for people having just done the Inca trail. Then we were off to Ica the following night. Sadly despite being in a comfy tourist bus and meeting fellow travellers a bastard Spanish couple stole my day bag and got off the bus in Nazca. I had heard this happens often in South America after hearing and meeting so many travellers where this has happened to them, but couldn't believe a couple who were travelling and doing the same stuff as me and Sarah would be such nasty people to do this!! Laptop, 2 cameras with some great memories and photos (fortunately backed up) and glasses all gone. Not only that but the hostess had seen them with another backpack as they left and asked if it was theirs. What made everything worse was the bus company Cruz del Sur have their names and images they always take pictures of everyone getting on their buses, were totally unhelpful, instead of giving me their names they told me I had to go to the tourist police to make a statement. After 4 hours of the tourist police quite frankly not caring, I had a statement and a promise they would contact Cruz del Sur not today but tomorrow!!!!!! Despite me complaining, the culprits who the bus company knew and have images of them will have left Nazca they ensured they would get my bag back!! Clearly this didn’t happen. A friend I had made in La Paz warned me the South American police were utterly useless and here was direct evidence of that fact. Peru tourist police and Cruz del Sur security is nothing but a theatrical performance which are an utter waste of taxpayers and customers money, simply because the people employed in these jobs are not managed correctly and are not checked to see if they are actually doing a job or if they are simply wasting everyone's time and the countries resources!! Anyhoo very annoying but must move on. The next day I bought external hard drive back up all my pictures from my first hard drive and buy a new camera. Retail therapy helped!

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[TravelAl]

Cusco City
The great Inca capital city of Cusco in Peru