The Inca Trail of 4 Days and 3 Nights Ending at Majestic and Beautiful Macchu Picchu, La Ciudad de los Nubes

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Trail_to_Machu_Picchu


“There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, its charm. There is delight in the hardy life of the open…in the thrill of the fight with dangerous game. Apart from this, yet mingled with it is the strong attraction of the silent places, of the large tropic moons, and the splendor of the new stars where the wanderer sees the awful glory of sunrise and sunset in the wide waste spaces of the earth, unworn of man, and changed only by the slow change of the ages through time everlasting.”
-- Theodore Roosevelt
Khartoum, Sudan 1910

Our adventure on the Inca trail started early at 445a when we woke up and went to the lobby to meet Ivan, our guide for the trip. We were greeted shortly after Ivan by a bus and the other guide named Wilfredo. Also in the bus were a British couple named Chris and Krisha who were our companions on the trek. We stopped a few times in the city limits to pick up some porters on the bus and then it was off to Ollantytambo, the city where the porters stage all the goods they bring with us on the hike. The way to Ollantytambo was pretty dodgy and interesting. The bus driver was driving pretty fast, truth be told it was more like a van than a bus, and we were just careening down these mountain roads and up and down the sides of mountains like we were in a Ferrari. I started feeling not so great for a few minutes because it was hot and cramped in the bus and like I said, we were in constant motion. We arrived to Ollantytambo and were let off at a hotel to eat breakfast, buy some water or Gatorade and use the restroom. None of us ate the breakfast because it was expensive and didn’t look all that great. We talked with Chris and Krisha about themselves and they had just got done with seven weeks in Africa, they were here for a few weeks then off to the USA then Asia. They are pretty hardcore. They had hiked Mount Kilimanjaro a few years ago and were telling us about their experience with that. It was nice getting to know them and needless to say I felt a little outmatched after hearing of their trip to Kili. We got back on the bus shortly thereafter and headed to Kilometer 82 which is the official beginning of the Inca trail of 4 days. Along the half hour route we came to an impasse which in fact was four huge bulls in the middle of the dirt road we were on and the driver had to get out and shoo them away! Haha it was something totally out of a movie. We got a stamp in the passport for entering the national park of Macchu Picchu and we crossed the mighty Urubamba River and headed out for the trek. At first we were not sure what to expect, or how taxing the journey would be however the first day was filled with lots of great views and some very cool ruins to whet our appetites. I was pretty surprised with how warm it was once we got walking and the environment was very diverse in terms of plant life and the terrain. It was lush but not jungle like and not too arid. The hike was definitely challenging when we first got started because I was still a little unsure of my legs and the walk itself. We carried a solid steady pace and arrived at our lunch spot ahead of schedule. We passed through some little villages along the way which is so interesting because people actually live there! We tried a cactus fruit in one of the villages called Tuna; it was sweet but had many seeds. Lunch was in a quaint little spot overlooking some mountains with a little grassy hill and a shelter to put our table up. The porters had everything set up when we got there already which was the case at every campsite. The lunch spot had chickens, dogs, cats, and some locals milling about while we waited for our food which was much needed since we had been up very early and hadn’t eaten much. Lunch was delicious, chicken and rice and potatoes with vegetables. Delicious food was common on this trip, the cook really outdid himself in every aspect and I ate better on the Inca trail than I have my entire time in Peru. After lunch the walk up to base camp for the night was pretty arduous. It took a lot out of me and I was sweating like crazy, which again was the case the entire time on the hike. We arrived at basecamp and I got out of my wet clothes and into dry ones which was so amazing i can’t even tell you how much we take for granted being clean and dry. Brett and I bought a warm beer from a random woman walking the trail selling things and we enjoyed some popcorn and crackers with our new friends in the tent. We figured out how to work the water purification pen that I have and we purified some water for the next day and that evening. Dinner was chicken that was pounded out and breaded along with rice and potatoes, also hot tea. We had hot tea about six times a day it seemed like. Most of the time it was welcome because it was chilly when we were walking and also when we would stop and be sweating and catch a chill from the wind. We went to bed that night overlooking some amazing mountains and a cloudy moon that shone overhead. We awoke at 630a and were on the trail by 730a. The hike that morning was pretty difficult. They told us the second day would be the hardest and it was. We ascended 3000 feet that morning to the summit of the 1st pass which put us at just over 14000 feet above sea level. It was rough but being on top of the mountain was gratifying, save for the decently hard rain and heavy winds that were whipping us around. The way down the mountain across the other side may have been nearly as bad as the way up. It was so cold I had to put my gloves and winter hat on and I was totally soaked through. My feet were ok but everything else was wet. Descending about 1000 feet to the lunch spot was tough considering all the paths rocks were covered with water and slippery as all get out. I took my time and took it slow, some people passed me but I just did my own thing and made it down finally. At one point though, I won’t lie, when I was soaking wet and the rain and wind were whipping me I said out loud, since no one was around, I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE! Hahah. I made it down and we had lunch in our tent and it was a nice reprieve from the cold rain. By the time lunch was over the rain had subsided and the climate began to change more. It was more arid and rocky as we ascended again towards the second pass. The walk up was pretty rough considering we had just come up and down the entirety of the large mountain behind us! We made it though, of course, and we took a few moments at the second pass to chat with our guides who were just great guys all around. We took a break and they told us about how the rocks stacked up on the larger rocks were offerings to the Inca gods that the Shamans still offer even today. We made our way down the mountain again from the second pass and the climate changed again, it began to be a little lusher and resemble the jungle however it was still pretty chilly. We saw another Inca site on the way to base camp day two and took some time there to learn about a little Inca history and what great engineers they were. It’s really pretty amazing that all these Inca sites have withstood 500+ years of earthquakes and erosion. We got to our base camp and needless to say we were spent. We took a few minutes to hang some clothes out to dry since the rain had finally subsided and lay in the tent for a while to recoup some strength. Dinner came early and it started to rain again as we ate. That night we had beef and potatoes and rice, it was again, delish. We went directly to bed as we were all exhausted from the days trying events and I slept alright except that it was so cold I had to wrap my fleece around my legs and sleep with my winter hat on as the rain fell softly on the roof of our tent. We awoke to rain! What a surprise!! We had a chilly breakfast all together as usual with some hot tea and coffee and then got moving because the rain wasn’t stopping. They told us the third day was all downhill, 3000 steps downhill to be exact. We had about an hour climb up until we reached the third pass and it was very cloudy but we were told that we could see Macchu Picchu Mountain on a clear day. We took some photos and kept moving as quickly as we could and began our descent. It was gradual in spots and very steep and choppy in others. It was also wet which made it that much more fun! Ha. The way down everything changed. It got hot, the sun started to shine, and we began to walk through the proper jungle. It was surreal to be honest. The pictures do some justice but nothing like being there in the silent places with nothing but your heartbeat and the jungle sounds around you. You could feel the palpable moisture in the air as you walked. I was again, sweated out to the bone. We arrived at our basecamp for the third and last night and it was a welcome relief to see lunch ready and also our tents set up and the sun was out! We dried out our clothes and shoes and ourselves in the hot sun and partook in one of the most beautiful scenes as of yet. It was the mountains around the Macchu Picchu Mountain with huge glaciers in the background that were capped with snow. It was amazing. The place we were at reminded me of a truck stop in the high Andes. It was a lodge with hot showers and a bar were weary travellers stopped before the trek to Macchu Picchu; it was called Wilywana and is the main entrance to the Macchu Picchu Mountain, the last stop before the great city itself. We had a couple beers and took a shower there and relaxed before dinner. Lunch and dinner on our third day were absolutely spectacular since the porters and cook leave early on the fourth day to get the train back to Cusco. We had at both meals, huge plates of fried rice, Andean potatoes, and chicken and beef in sauces to die for. Sooooo delicious. I stuffed myself at dinner and afterwards we had to tip the porters so the four of us went and met the porters and talked a little about their lives and thanked them for the extremely hard work that they did on our behalf. It was a nice evening and sleeping was much easier as it was much warmer and not raining. Our wakeup call came at 330am the fourth morning which came way too fast. We got our things together and got down to the gate where we had to wait until 530 for the park to open. We had a little snack and played 20 questions as well as hide the thimble with our British friends. It passed the time well on the dark path just waiting for the gates to open. When the gates opened it was still dark and as we hiked through the Inca jungle there was a light rain falling and the trail was slippery and totally Inca so it was definitely rough. The precipices throughout the trail were always pretty sheer and there were some serious drops but on this last leg, in the dark and the rain, the steep precipices meant instant death if you feel, some 400 feet to the bottom at points. We diligently hiked and came to a llama in the road, took a quick snapshot and continued. We were hiking hard and I was again sweating my ass off. We wanted to get to Macchu Picchu before the immense crowds of tourists that were heading there that morning. When we finally arrived to the site, it was so cloudy we couldn’t see anything! I was disappointed but looked at my watch and it was only 630a so we waited a little while, took a tour of the majestic site with Ivan as he explained a lot of what happened in the city and what its functions were. It was raining the whole time and if I am honest it was fairly miserable although at the same time so out of this world. After a while the rain subsided and the clouds cleared and there we saw the splendor of this 600 year old city on the side of a mountain in the Andes. The construction and sheer massiveness of the site was overwhelming. We explored around the site and took our time checking out what we wanted to. There was a trail leading up to the Inca bridge which is an old bridge that is out of use but still worth seeing considering it was created 500 years ago and still standing, originally it led to other villages but now it is closed for safety reasons. On our walk back to the main site, along the very small mountain path we encountered a runaway llama! It came storming past us was pretty scary considering the instant death of falling off the cliff. We all got a good laugh from this after the initial scare and made our way back to Macchu Picchu to look around some more. We caught a bus shortly thereafter to the town of Aguas Calientes which is reminded me of a wild west frontier town, kind of a small stop on the way to somewhere else. We met our guides at a restaurant and got our train tickets for the way back to Cusco. We had some pizza and beer and said our thank yous and goodbyes. We had a few hours to kill in the town so we looked around, I got a bracelet and we had some drinks. The train left on time and I passed out on it. We had to take a bus from the train station in Ollantytambo to Cusco and the walk from the train to the bus was down this dirt path in the pitch black nearly ¾ of a mile! Brett and I were at a loss about this because this would not fly in the USA; so many people would be bitching! It was rather humorous and we were some of the first on the bus and stowed our things and passed out for a two hour bus ride to Cusco. When we got to Cusco we were told by our guides that there would be a car waiting for us but we didn’t know when we arrived if this would be the case because the whole situation seemed a little sketchy. However there was a guy with my name and a sign and we followed him to his personal vehicle and he took us back to our hostel. We didn’t know who this guy was, if he worked for the company we booked the trip with or what. We joked that it was probably Ivan’s cousin that owed him a favor hahah. We arrived at the hostel around 10 and Mayra was here waiting for me. That’s a whole different story all together as you soon will see.

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