Cusco and The Inca Trail

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The flight to Cusco from Lima was an extremely quick, comfortable and civilised affair; a little shopping, a quiet coffee and a 1 hour flight. Definitely worth the extra money in time saved and comfort when compared to the 17-27 hour bus... Landing back at altitude we expected the usual shortness of breath and dizziness etc but were pleasantly surprised to find the effects fairly mild (except when climbing some of Cuzco's hilly streets; like the one up to our hostel... hard....work...). Cusco is a very cool place to hang out. A very well preserved Colonial town with lots of beautiful buildings, plazas and churches and lots of really cool restaurants, cafes and bars. Also heaps of stores selling the obligatory alpaca/llama products, ponchos, woolly hats, gloves etc and carvings, art, jewellery blah blah blah... lots of tourist tat that we of course had to partake in (I did however manage to find a beanie that wasn't the typical cheesey will-never-wear-again-outside-of-Peru ones that feature in every Inca Trail photo). Cusco is a little more expensive of course, being the launching point for thousands of trips to Machu Picchu and very tourist orientated, but still a cool place to hang out and acclimatise before starting the Trail. Our hostel/hospedaje was a small family run place with the biggest, angriest dog we've met who snored really loudly outside our room. Actually, I feel a bit sorry for him. They kept him in an inapproriately sized enclosure, and given that they run a hostel, they hadn't bothered to socialise him so he barked and growled aggressivley at anybody who came onto the property. Poor guy, he was a beautiful big dog to. So not much to tell for Cusco, hung out in cafes and walked around the Plaza de Armas (the main plaza with the cool churches the Spanish built on top of the Inca palaces and religious sites). Saw the Inca walls that still support most of the city (including the famous 12 sided stone that supposedly represents the 12 provinces of Cusco and looks like a Puma... I really don't see it) and watched Man U draw with Arsenal (average result) in the obligatory Irish Pub. Not much else really.

So Trail day drew closer and we were set to go. Bags packed with blister kits, insect repellent, thermal tops, clean socks and sleeping bags, feeling fit and healthy and ready to go. Sweet.
Day one; a 5.20am pick up and onto the bus for the approx 2.5 hour trip to the head of the Trail at KM82. We bought our walking sticks, got our stamps in our passports and the group of 16 enthusiastic trekkers with two guides, 22 Porters (I shit you not, apparently 16 gringos need a lot of stuff, and three course meals aren't light to carry) and 1 cook headed out at a jaunty pace into the wilderness. By the end of the first day only the guides, porters and cook maintained the jaunty pace...
Our first camp; very nice grassy location, picturesque mountains and all set up for us when we arrived. Nice one. Our first three course meal, got to know some of our fellow trekkers (Steve and Danielle were on their honeymoon and were pretty cool people... for Australians.. kidding guys! Keep in touch!) and hit the hay for our first night on the cold hard ground... ahhh camping! Love it!
Day two; the dreaded hardest day of the Trai. The 1200m ascent of "Dead Womans Pass" to 4200m. 7 hours straight up and 2 down the other side covering 12km. Fun and games. Nothing to do but get into it. It went surprisingly well actually. Yeah we were stopping to catch our breath every 30m or so in the middle section (the stairs are the killer) and by the top of the pass we were really knackered but all in all it was O.K. I have to say at this point how proud I am of my wife. She had been dreading the Trail for the bulk of the trip, with the anxiety peaking about three weeks out when she seriously considered not doing it. However, for the hardest day, she chucked on her iPod with "Gym mix" pumping, and powered her way to the top without a single complaint (in fact, she did the entire Trail without complaint) keeping pace with the rest of the group. I'm very proud of her effort and determination. The views from the pass and the joy at completing the hardest part put everybody on a high. The descent was generally pretty enjoyable and the Llamas on the trail posing for photos gave us a laugh too (luckily they chose not to spit at any of us). We rolled into camp for lunch and most of the crew retired for a snooze in the arvo. The sunset over the valley and the clouds rolling around below (and around us at one point) made for a spectacular evening at the highest camp on the trail at approx 3700m.
Day three; the second hardest day of the Trail covering 15km and two more passes, with the promise of cold beer and hot showers in the camp at the end. Luckily the passes were pretty minor by comparison to the previous day and we ascended the first one early in the morning with a stop at an Inca fortress 3/4 of the way up. From the top of this pass the most spectacular part of the Trail lay before us with 95% of the Trail being original Inca work through cloud forest, mountain plateaus, more ruins, carved tunnels, and incredible views with steep drops off the side into beautiful valleys below. The walking was generally pretty easy going and the clouds parted at the right time in the third pass to give us a view of Machu Picchu mountain and Waynapicchu in the distance (Machu Picchu itself sits between the two mountains). The descent from this pass is known as the "Gringo Killer"... about 2000 Inca stairs descending into a valley, which sapped whatever energy was left in tired thighs, turning them to jelly, and punishing the knees. Easier on the lungs but much harder on the muscles. The impressive scenery made up for the exertion and the guides allowed us free reign from the top down into camp so everybody could go at their own pace. Stopping at another impressive set of Inca ruins and terraces (despite being shattered, I couldn't help climbing another hundred or so stairs to the top... they were just asking to be climbed!) 20mins out from camp, we eventually got into camp at about 4.00 and after a quick sit down, we sorted our stuff out and made for the showers (and beer for me). Excitement was building for the anticipated arrival in Machu Picchu the following morning despite the 3.45am wake-up...

3.45 the following morning and we were all up; breakfast at 4.30 and in the line for the final check point (there is a check point at every camp) before getting on the Trial for the last two hour haul to Intipinku; The Sun Gate. There is a bit of a race mentality at this point; there are approx 250 other trekkers and everybody wants a good view for the first rays of sun, and that perfect picture to send to Nana. They don't let anybody onto the Trail before 5.30 these days (it's pretty light by 5.30) due to some nasty accidents in the past (I'm sure that race mentality in the dark probably contributed to these...) so everybody is chomping at the bit while the clock counts down, and the groups go through one at a time. Then it was all on!! Marcello, our senior guide, stayed in front but the person behind him set the pace; Marcello would go as fast as that person could keep up. O.K; I put my hand up here... I was really excited/anxious about being at the Sun Gate, and having a bit (maybe a lot) of that race mentality, I found myself right behind Marcello and pushing him to go faster. Miks kept right behind me and we made it to Intipinku 30mins ahead of time... not that it counted for much... the entire mountain, valley, Trail, even some of the people around us were completely clouded in... average result. After having the best walking weather for the entire Trail, it had conspired against us to completely cloud over and hide the site, the sun and, well, everything!! So once everybody in the group had arrived, had a quick rest, and muttered/cursed under their breath about the cloud, our guides said it wouldn't clear for the sun rise and we carried on for the last 45min descent into Machu Picchu itself. Of course, being in the site didn't improve the visability at all; despite a relaxed walk down the last of the Trail and waiting for about 45mins at the Caretakers Hut (the name given to the terraces and burial ground from which all of the postcard pictures are taken of the site itself, I'm sure everybody knows the view even if you've not been there), the cloud persisted and we still couldn't see much. In the end, the guides insisted we move on so we gave up. Marcello told us the site wouldn't clear until 10.00 which is about the time the site is completely full of the thousands of bused in tourists who have done nothing to desevre the privilage of the site except pay the bus fare... Now I have to try and explain the mentality at this stage of most of the trakkers who had walked the Trail; anybody who has done it will completely understand were I am coming from. You bust ya arse up and down hills over 45km, following in the footsteps of the ancient Inca's, sleeping on the ground, and get up at 3.45 to thrash out the last 2hrs to get to the site... you develop this strange sense of ownership, of entitlement to the site, like you should be rewarded for your efforts with an incredible sunrise and the site to yourselves for at least an hour or two. When you are robbed of this... this right! you can't help feeling a little bit pissed off and resentful towards the bused in tourists who arrive smelling freshly showered and well rested. I know at least one guy in the group had to "take a moment" (his girlfriend told me this) to try and get over it. It's kind of a funny feeling in hindsight, and we did discuss this betwenn ourselves on the day; it's completely unrealistic and unfair, but you just can't help it!!

Anyway; get over it right??

So, Machu Picchu itself; it's kind of like the Galapagos in that I would struggle to find words to describe it and do it justice. It's not what I expected, much more intact, and has a feeling about it... and the setting is incredible, much more than I expected. The photos will come closest to showing you how it was but even they won't come close to the majesty of the mountains and regality of the "Lost City" nestled amongst them... it's no wonder the site made it into the new Seven Wonders of the World. I'll leave it at that.

The tour of the site was really cool, the cloud cleared to leave us in baking heat, and at the end of all this (I think spurred on by the thought that the "Aussies" and the "English" might do it and the "Kiwis" might not, and probably vice-versa for them...) five of us (representing the Aussies; Steve and Danielle, the honeymooners from Melbourne. Representing the English; Jamie and Jenny, married couple from Manchester. And representing the Kiwis... just me) decided it would be a good idea to carry on (hey, why stop at Machu Picchu) and force our shattered limbs to do the 2 hour climb up Waynapicchu which is the mountain peak that stands behind Machu Picchu. This climb is straight up... 45mins to the peak. Why you might ask when everybody else in the group sensibly decided a shower and a lie down was the better option...? Just because it was there... and it was begging to be climbed!! The route to the top was every bit as painfull as it sounds and, in places, every bit as steep, but the views were incredible and made up for the cloud covered start to the day.

Not to much more to say. We came down, got the bus back to Aguas Calientes (the little town in the Riobamba valley below Machu Picchu), had lunch, had a couple of beers and the rest of the group got on the four hour train back to Cusco while Marika and I had a shower in our hostel, and went for a soak in the hot springs by the river. A well deserved rest and good nights sleep before catching the very cool Vistadome Train (little train with semi glass roof) back through the Riobamba valley towards Cusco.

Another night in Cusco and we were off to Puno and Lake Titicaca the following day.

P.S. I mentioned in the text how proud I am of Marika for doing the Trail, and with not even one complaint... but nothing could have made me happier than to hear her admit, during the tour of Machu Picchu, how she had actually ENJOYED it!!!

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Photos

Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus; Plaza de Armas, Cuzco
One of the churches on the Plaza de Armas, Cuzco's main plaza

Hot chick with some old cathedral in the background
Actually, it's Cuzco's cathedral in the Plaza de Armas

Incognito Peruvian styles
Is that Victoria Beckham under there??

Don't know what she's laughin at, we're only half way up...
That little dip in the hills above Marikas head is the goal

The incredible view of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate...
Check out those clouds, fantastic huh?