The most famous footpath in Sth America

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…….6wks SOUTH AMERICA-ARGENTINA, PERU............


“This is deservedly the most famous footpath in Sth America. It has everything: gorgeous mountain scenery, cloud forest and lush sub-tropical vegetation with numerous species of flowers, a stunning destination. There are Inca paving stones, Inca stairways, an Inca tunnel, and of course five sets of ruins, including Machu Picchu itself.” (Bradt)

During the busy dry season months of June to September, up to a thousand people a day come to visit the ‘Lost City of the Incas’. Machu Pichu remains a mysterious site, never revealed to the conquering Spaniards and virtually forgotten until 1911 when Bingham, an American historian, found it in his search for the lost city of Vilcabamba, the last strong hold of the Incas. The site when it was found was very much overgrown. It appears that M.P. was an important ceremonial centre because of the abundance of ornamentation. Over 50 burial sites were found containing 100 skeletal remains, about 80% female. The current theory is that the site was already an uninhabited, forgotten city at the time of the Spanish conquest. It is thought that the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu was a form of pilgrimage and the various sites on the way acted, both as lookouts and also where travellers could stay and cleanse themselves.

Monday 6th September, 1999 Machu Picchu
There are 14 in our group aged, maybe, 19 to 25. They got on the tour through different agencies and so the price varies. I paid us$70, while others paid $50 something. I paid $3 extra to have my own tent. The price of this trek out of the glossy brochures at home was something like $2,500. There are 5000 people that do this trek each year and looking at the 3 bus loads that arrived at once today, I believe it. There were people and packs everywhere with porters loading themselves up with maybe 40kgs- their leg muscles bulging.
Our guide sorted out who was who in our group and we set off down the valley to the river. The weather was velar and quite hot. The trail is like an ant trail with a continuous line of tourists with packs and with porters usually moving quite fast so as to set up for lunch and also the campsite further on.

We stopped for lunch by a stream. I’ve got my appetite back and it was delicious. We started to get to know each other over lunch- what a great bunch of people, aged maybe between 21-25yrs. I don’t feel excluded because of my age and we all easily fell in to talking to different people as we walked along.

It was a lovely walk, at times demanding. One girl found it quite difficult because of altitude sickness. There are 5 guys from Uruguay, 4 English girls, one Spanish Australian guy & 2 Americans who are doing an educational exchange in Santiago, Chile. They are all students of one form or another (nursing, social work, business etc.) except the Australian/Spanish guy who is travelling for a year and wants to do social work when he returns. They are a lovely, relaxed, intelligent and open group.

We went up about 200m to stop the night at Wayallabamba at 3,000m. The food is yummy, the tents excellent, the scenery spectacular (not as good as Ausangate though)- generally a good time. I walked down to the river to put my feet in for a while until it got too cold. It was very mild at night and we sat out on logs around a table and had fun talking about English/Spanish expressions. (“as cold as a penguins fart” or “bad luck is when you fall backwards and break your dick” or “as good as a tail in a room full of rocking chairs”)

Tuesday 7th September, 1999 Machu Picchu
I slept really well until about 5am when the 3 roosters got into full swing just outside our tents. Others said that they were awoken at 3am and a couple of them got up to throw rocks at them in an attempt to shut them up. We got going by 7.15am, having been roused at 5.30. A bit earlier than expected, because the guy responsible for waking us had lost his watch! WE got to the top by 11am. The pass is called dead woman’s pass (Warmiwanusca) at 4,200m i.e. a climb of 1,200m. Up, up, and up. Not as exhausting as Ausangate re altitude but extremely demanding none the less. It was a continual crowd that gathered at the top to cheer everyone along as they neared the summit. It was a great feeling of comradery and accomplishment.
Ten minutes down from the pass we stopped for lunch (soup of cream of maize with egg and spaghetti with vegetarian sauce.) We dropped some 750m to the valley floor of the Pacamayo River. We can see the trail ahead which again looks quite steep up to the Runquracay Inca ruins and to the next pass (Runquracay Pass) at 3860m.
We spent the rest of the afternoon having a nap, playing a Spanish card game and then having dinner and popcorn at dusk. It was an interesting dinner of soup again, with potatoes, cassava type potato, stuffed chilli and tomato. The chilli was lovely but pretty hot. With the popcorn we had a Peruvian desert of corn syrup with cinnamon. Our guide told us a story in Spanish (as most in the group can speak Spanish) about the Incas with battles and princesses etc. Several in the group took turns in translating. Off to bed at 8.30pm.

Wednesday 8th September, 1999 Machu Picchu

Having thought the 2nd day was the big pass and the rest downhill after the Dead Women’s Pass, we did 2 passes today of up to 4000m. Three of the group are sick with vomiting, the runs and cramp. It’s not surprising. The whole trail is like a moving refugee camp with everyone pissing and shitting along a water course. I have the runs a bit but feel quite well and are leading the group again setting my own pace- they call me Speedy Gonzales. We saw a condor but it is so high up that it just looks like an eagle. We’ve passed lots of different orchids and other flowers like large Christmas bells. The view from the top of the Runquracay pass was pretty spectacular looking down the valley each side and the tops of the mountains so incredibly high above the clouds. Salakantay was in cloud unfortunately. A man was playing the flute which filled the valley.

On the trail you have to move to one side sometimes if you hear the sound of feet coming towards you. Several porters, some carrying maybe 60 kgs and often more than there own weight, would go running by. After the pass we went down quite steeply to an Inca site -Sayacmarca, and then Phuyupatamarca. They both have ceremonial baths and ‘blind’ windows where offerings would have been put.

At Sayacmarca, a triangular plaza opens onto a wonderful vista of the Aobamba Valley. Northwest on the opposite side of the valley you can seethe Inca trail climbing around the mountain flanks toward the 3rd pass. The trail is surprisingly distinct due to the white granite blocks used in its construction in the 15th Century. This pass is really quite beautiful, not just because of the views but also because of the trees shrouded in moss, the side of the mountains thick with lichen, moss and wild flowers, including begonias and orchids. There is also a tunnel, a natural cleft in the rock face too steep and solid to pass around- so the Incas widened and cut steps into the cleft. The tunnel is 20m long.

From the pass there is a view down to the ruins of Phuyupatamarca or ‘cloud level town’. It is thought that the Inca trail to Machu Picchu was a form of pilgrimage and the various sites on the way acted both as lookouts and also where travellers could stay and cleanse themselves.

From this last site it is all downhill- a drop of about 1200m. Steep steps make progress slow because of the pressure on your knees. It was quite a long day and I was glad to finally get to Winaywayna at 2700m. There are tents everywhere on many different levels and various places to get a drink, have a shower or even get a room. There are people everywhere enjoying a drink and ‘civilization’ after a demanding 3 days. Because we are so tired it feels like it is 3am in the morning in some dingy bar with loud music from the 60s & 70s blaring out. We all went to bed fairly early. Most people had hot showers but with no clean clothes to get into I thought I would wait until the real ‘civilisation’ of Cusco.
My tent is next to where the cooks are preparing meals outside and doing dishes and so I was glad to have my ear plugs.

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Photos

First rest point
People everywhere, but good fun

Lining up for the pass
The pass is called dead woman’s pass (Warmiwanusca) at 4,200m i.e. a climb of 1,200m.

Looking like I feel!
Heading up Dead Woman's Pass

Top of Dead Woman's Pass
Cheering on the arrivals

At Dead Woman's Pass
Looking down where we have come from. Phew!

At Dead Woman's Pass
Looking down the other side to where we are heading. Phew!