Machu Picchu

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Well it´s been a long time yet again between blogs, with the rush of 6 buses, 1 flight, and one Taxi ride in 6 days after Machu Picchu to get to the Caribbean coast, being ripped off by LAN airways, then being robbed by Ecuadorians (including the second laptop), it´s been difficult to find the time to report on everything...but alas, here we are, on our very last day in South America..to tell a tale or two!!!
I apologize in advance for the length of this blog, I know how daunting long blogs can be... stick at it if you can... if not no hard feelings, I´ll try and outline the highlights and low lights of the past month as succinct as I can....
Highlight number 1; Machu Picchu, The Inca Trail
We only booked one thing other than flights for this trip and that was the Inca Trail, we booked as early as we could yet still were left waiting in Peru for much longer than we would have liked, never the less, the day came, and we couldn´t have been more ready for it!
The long wait and endless talk left us with high expectations and anticipation, needless to say I was a little worried. So we packed as we were told by post trekkers, shorts t-shirt, ¨gets a little cold at night, but the days are really hot, don´t take your big pack just hang your sleeping bag and mat on the outside,¨ famous last words.
So we begin our trek by bus, down roads absolutely made for one vehicle, shuffling our way past the on coming traffic, we reach the starting point. This is where we first witness the amazing efforts of the porters. Here they wait in their hordes, with their enormous bags (or makeshift rope and plastic bags, carrying gas bottles, tents etc etc.) to get the OK on their bag weight, which can only be 25kg, they used to carry up to 45kg, but the government put a stop to that a few years ago.... can´t think why?!!
So off we go feeling a little sheepish with our 8 kg or so bags, Troy´s we later found out was a grand 14kg (what a man!!). We begin the trek in complete pristine hiking conditions, sun, a light breeze and a few clouds... perfect!
The first day is a less strenuous day (I was going to say easy, but none of it is really easy), we walk a little up and down, surrounded by the usual snow capped mountains, a few ruins along the way, gushing river below...spirits were really high.
We meet the group along the way, do a little circle time, get to know you...turned out there were 5 teachers in our group (felt sorry for the rest with all the teacher talk!) and an older couple, who had decided to tick the Inca trail off their bucket list , a really lovely couple with shear determination, but unfortunately the last words we heard from her were ¨It might take me a while, but I´ll get there¨I felt a little shiver down my spine as she said it, I was like, ¨good on you!¨
But when we waited for over half an hour and they still weren´t up the hill, it didn´t seem as though determination alone would get her there, unluckily (or probably luckily in the end) she came down with a fever or something and headed back to the start on horseback.
So two men down we ventured on, walking pleasantly enjoying the scenery and all the rest. We stop for lunch at a very picturesque lunch spot, by a river, where the porters had run in front of us to set up and cook lunch before we arrived (the food will get more than one mention, we ate like kings...really!), also so they could clap us in, after we had meandered after them running with all our stuff!!! (It was a little awkward!)

This happens every stop, and at dinner they even set up our tents for us... not bad camping!
That night we enjoyed some cards, before the rain started at about 6.30pm, which we were all OK with as we ate our second 3 course meal for the day under the shelter of a tent.
But that night, the rain did not stop.

We woke after a broken sleep still to the sound of rain, it´s fair to say, spirits were not as high today, as the rain continued, and we soldiered on for the hardest day 1200m up hill, over dead woman´s pass and then down again for a total of about 12km for the day.
We walked with high hopes of the rain ceasing, but as we walked further and higher, the rain grew stronger and stronger, making the steps slippery and muddy, and us cold and wet, in our hot weather clothes. At this stage having to hang the sleeping bag and mat on the outside of the pack proved to be quite the problem if we wanted a dry night sleep, but with some innovation and the help of Troy´s big pack, we managed.

Despite the rain there was still opportunity to take in the beautiful constantly changing surrounds, on day 2 we walked up the original Inca stairs through what felt like rain forest (could have just been the rain) but was just forest, below is a running river covered by over hanging trees, you look up and there are the snow capped mountains, surrounded by hugging white clouds, things that when you stop and take it in, you forget that its raining, and that your cold and you realise: ¨Hey I´m on the Inca Trail...That´s pretty amazing.¨

We continue the climb to ´Dead Woman´s pass´which in the rain and snow, is as bad as it sounds! Troy started cramping here, but pushed on like a good little Inca! (Although a little bit of new knowledge, the only Inca´s are the kings, the rest of the people are called Quechua people, a language that is still widely spoken in the Inca areas...so Troy was a king!) Trying to ignore the burning in the legs, from step after step, increasingly becoming more worried about slipping on the snow dusted steps now. As we continue our ascend it begins to snow, let me remind you we are in our hot weather clothes, Troy in shorts, I´m in a t-shirt, as my rain jacket is protecting my sleeping bag. We reach the pass, which is quite dangerous, very slippery and cold, we don´t stay long and continue down the stairs... the stairs are pretty damn slippery, while I fall over twice, Troy manages to keep his feet (of course!).
So the rain continues, then the hail has a go, and then rain again....all night!

We wake on day 3 thinking the worst was over. Day 3 is a very diverse day in regards to scenery and probably my favourite day. We start by winding our way up to the second pass, we are cold, because we have put wet clothes back on, the steps are slippery and it´s even colder than the day before. On the way up we pass a 15 or so year old kid, crying and having a go at his dad for making him do it, we quickly move on.
The higher we went the colder it got, and the steps started to turn into waterfalls, right before they were completely covered in snow. As we were waiting at one stage for our group we here the crying kid coming, but he´s not crying now...he´s howling, again we move quickly...leave the rest of our group, cos that howl was enough to put anyone off!!
As cold turned to numb and as quickly as the snow appeared it disappeared we were walking through the cloud forest, and that´s exactly what it was, a forest in the clouds, pure beauty.
After a shivering lunch we move to the next stage of what is locally known as ´gringo killer´, downhill for about 1km, step after step after step.... but we made it, a little delirious, but we got there!

We wake early for our last day to no rain, we waited at the gate with the rest of the gringos until 5.30am when we begin the last leg of our journey. We walked for about half an hour with no rain, just enough time to get our hopes up, but of course as soon as it dared be mentioned..down it came!
We walk on as usual, taking in the ever amazing scenery, walking up a set of steps that are known as the monkey steps, because you need to use all fours to get up!
And then we arrive at the sun gate, where we have our first glimpse of the long awaited Machu Picchu, finally arriving at this point felt quite surreal, the cloud cover that we were dreading actually gave it a very mystical appearance.

A very basic history lesson, so you can maybe appreciate it a bit more; along the trail you pass many archeological sites (that are not ruins, because the Spaniards never found them), all of these are built in order to serve, communicate and transport things to Machu Picchu, and Machu Picchu was built for protections from the Spaniards, so it is completely hidden (obviously not now... as there is a road that leads straight to it!).
So when we have this incredible view of Machu Picchu in it´s entirety, that we have trudged through rain, hail, snow and a little shine, you kind of feel like a discoverer or something...not really but I don´t know how to explain the feeling!!
Of course if you take away the hundreds of tourists and roads leading in and out... it´s an incredible feeling.
I hate to sound cliche, but it really is worth every step, it truly is amazing. But it´s not until you are walking through the ruins or site as I should say, that you recognise the shear size of the thing... it´s enormous beyond any postcard.
Now I don´t know much, in fact I know nothing about architecture, but the intellect behind all the structures is unfathomable, for someone like me anyway! They really thought of everything, especially their religious ceremonies, but also to prevent damage from earthquakes, how to be completely sustainable, even cultivate different species of fruits from the forests, and even how to make an echo room!!(can´t remember what it was really for) and so much more that I don´t understand!

Summing up the Machu Picchu experience, yes it´s touristy, it´s so busy its virtually impossible to take a photo without a tourist, yes you can just take a train, but to be honest I can´t imagine it would be anywhere near as good as the feeling you get upon first sight after walking in the footstep of the people who built it.
And yes it´s ridiculously expensive, but I wouldn´t give a cent of the money I spent back for the experience we had, and for those that say it´s over rated... get over yourselves.
To finish with a cliche... it´s something you really need to experience yourself.

I have written too much already and troy is hungry so the rest will be in another blog.
xxxx
Photos are coming....

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