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Published: March 7th 2013
Our arrival in Cusco certainly meant we were going to visit the famous Inka city of Machu Pichu. But, we had heard from many people that you need to book up the fabled “Inka Trail” many months in advance to have a chance of getting one of the restricted number of places. What we hadn't reckoned on is that turning up in the middle of rainy season in late January, demand for the Inka trail does actually drop off, and one of the most reputable agencies, Llama Path, offered Chris, Andrew and I a spot on their trip.
I had declined the use (and cost!) of a porter, so I was testing myself by carrying all my stuff (except the tent and cooking equipment which were taken by the porters) throughout the four days.
One of the advantages of going with a well established (albeit more expensive) operator like Llama Path was definitely the quality of the food. We had hot tea waiting for us each morning, following by a hot breakfast, then the porters ran ahead of us and cooked up a full hot lunch. Then by the time we had made final camp the porters had overtaken
us again to set-up hot tea and popcorn for our arrival followed by another full meal! We certainly ate well on the trip and the chef was amazing!
The second day of the trip was definitely the toughest and most exhilarating, with a morning climb of 900 vertical metres to reach the highest point of the trip – Dead Woman's Pass (luckily named because the mountain look like a woman lying on her back rather than because of any tragedy that has befallen previous tour groups!). Throughout the climb, the views back down the valley were exceptional, but the tough going meant Andrew's knees started playing up meaning Chris and I took on his bag between us to make it easier for us to reach the pass as a team.
Taking Andrew's load really showed how incredible the porters were, as I was then probably carrying about two thirds of their load and going about half the pace!! If it was an exam for “porter school” I'm not sure I would have passed! Luckily, the walk down to our well deserved lunch spot was a leisurely one, but the afternoon contained the second big pass of the day
– this time at 4,000m. As soon as we summitted, the mist descended and the descent into our campsite was without the benefit of any views and we arrived just before sundown tired but exhilarated!!
The day reminded me of some of the great moments trekking I've previously experienced in Nepal or down in Patagonia, and it was topped off when the sky cleared at night to reveal the snowcapped peaks that surrounded our camp beautifully reflected in the full moon.
Day 3 dawned beautifully clear, and we were all personally introduced by our amazing guide Santiago to each of the “Red Army”, the self-proclaimed name for our superb group of porters. One of the positives of going with Llama Path was that it was clear that they took the welfare of their porters very seriously. I understood that with a lot of companies in the bid to lower costs and maintain profit margins the welfare and conditions for the porters is usually the first thing to suffer. But our porters seemed genuinely enthused about the work they did, which manifested itself in little details like the fact that the Red Army always walked (or ran!) together on
Local wildlife
I think its an alpaca, but in may be a llama, or even a vicuna...the trail, whereas it was clear with other companies the porters walked in dribs and drabs.
Day 3 involved a gentle walk up to our final pass, followed by a knee buckling 1,000m descent which Andrew really didn't enjoy. Luckily, this was a half day, as during the afternoon it would only be a short walk to explore the incredible ruins of Winay Huayna (Forever Young), a very impressive site, both in scale and by all the watercourses and channels still functioning and used to move water all around the site as needed. Obviously Chris and I saw this as an opportunity to play the world's biggest game of Pooh sticks, but somehow those pesky twigs kept getting trapped en-route!
The final day involved the walk to, and exploration of, the Machu Pichu site, and it was a very rude awakening to get us on our way at 3.30a.m! Our luck with the great weather of the previous two days has finally run out, and it was a grey, misty scene that greeted us as we completed the walk to the “Sun Gate”, the location where you are supposedly able to get your first view of Machu Pichu
Group photo at Dead Woman's pass
Highest point on our trip - 4,250m just like the Inkas when they walked the trail five hundred years ago.
We started the hike down towards Machu Pichu, and here I had the realisation that the Inka Trail really is the most fantastic way to arrive at the city. You approach Machu Pichu from above, and in our case on the descent down from the sun gate we got tantalising glimpses of the remains through the occasional breaks in the cloud. While the Salkantay trek (an “alternative” trek to Machu Pichu which I had done last time I was in Peru) was certainly comparable to the Inka Trail in terms of scenery, I think the fact that with the Salkantay trek (along with all the other “alternative” Inka Trails) on the penultimate day you end up at the town of Aguas Calientes, and the following morning either take either a bus or walk up to Machu Pichu, means that the Inka Trail is head and shoulders above the alternatives.
By the time we arrived at Machu Pichu, the weather was clearing and it was almost completely cloud free. We took our first triumphant photos, and then had the pleasure of Santiago's tour of the site.
One of the other conspicuous advantages of going with such a reputable company was definitely in the quality of our guide. Santiago was knowledgeable, patient, organised, funny, spoke great English and very clear Spanish and really elevated our trip from a good trip to a great trip. To top it all off he sported the most amazing guinea pig t-shirt on our final two days, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't track down my own version in the markets of Cusco!
Post tour we were free to wander the site as we pleased, so the three of us visited the Inka Bridge – part of an amazing Inka Trail that has somehow been hewn into the side of a vertical mountain - then Chris and I enjoyed an absolute highlight, hiking back up to the Sun Gate to enjoy the views now unhindered by fog. It was a great way to bring the curtain down on our Machu Pichu experience – perhaps only bettered by that first ice cold beer at Aguas Calientes!
The journey back to Cusco was also a great experience, as at Santiago's suggestion we stocked up on beer and wine to
Winay Huayna
Probably the most impressive of the "other" Inka ruins that we visited on the Inka Trail turn our transport into the Llama Party Bus! Unfortunately, the four days trekking, 3.30a.m. start and celebratory beers meant that after a shower at the hostel everyone crashed and we would be leaving the big celebration for another night!
That night happened to be the next night, as after an afternoon spent visiting yet more Inka ruins just outside Cusco, Chris, Andrew and I started innocently propping up the bar at happy hour, went via a pub quiz that was being held in the bar that night, and ended up in shot competitions with the bar staff, memory loss, drinks on our bar tab that we didn't even know existed, and the unfortunate situation whereby Andrew and I had to give our cleaning lady a tip the next morning by way of apology for the state of the room! One of those great spontaneous nights that I'll remember – even through the hangover pain!
Unfortunately, the pain was going to get much worse as I had booked my first 2 hour private Spanish lesson at my Cusco language school for the seemingly reasonable time of 11 a.m, the morning after the night before. Unfortunately my hangover had other
Alternative parts of Machu Pichu
For me, just the surrounding landscape would have made the trek worthwhile even if the Inka remains weren't there... ideas, and on arrival I must have looked a shambles. Jesus, the course director, had prepared an introductory exam based on the level of the e-mail correspondence that we had been exchanging, but it soon became very apparent that I wouldn't have a chance of completing and he swiftly substituted that for an easier one!! I managed to survive what must have been two of the toughest hours of my life and take myself back to bed – and luckily the damage done by that initial lesson wasn't permanent and I was to end up having a very successful time at the language school!
To enhance my Spanish learning I once again moved in with a local Spanish family organised through the school. This time it was a whole family rather than a single lady in her 60's, so I thought this was a positive development!! They were also very friendly and I had a great time – although there were a few wrinkles along the way!
Peruvian cuisine is a curious thing. At the top end its apparently lauded around the world as some of the most innovative around with incredible fusions of interesting flavours. At the
Inka Bridge
An example of another Inka Trail that used to lead to Machu Pichu - luckily we weren't walking this one as it was hewn from the side of a vertical mountain. level I tended to eat, it tended to be quite a long way from that! The general consensus among travellers seems to be that Peruvian cuisine tends to lack two key things: herbs & spices in the cooking process, and sauces to go with the almost inevitable overload of potatoes and rice. This does tend to make the food seem either very bland (to my western palate!) or when its not too bland its a little too adventurous (and I thought I ate everything!) – like the tripe soup which seemed to contain EVERY part of the chicken!
Suffice to say, even though I had all the meals included in my home-stay, there were a few lunches when I thought it wise to stay in town and have lunch at a restaurant! The other wrinkle, especially for such a frail person like me, is that none of the houses in Cusco have either heating of any sort, or double glazing – and the locals have a bizarre penchant for opening doors and windows no matter what the temperature outside! This meant that while it wasn't exceptionally cold outside, it was exactly the same temperature indoors! My host family had
View from the Sun Gate
This is the view we didn't have in the morning, but we were able to enjoy by the time the mist had cleared. a thermometer in the dining room and it generally showed that at breakfast time we were around 10 C indoors, rising to a balmy 12 or 13 C by lunchtime if we were lucky! Suffice to safe my thermals and fleeces got an indoor workout that I never expected!
I got a taste of home when a Dutch classmate and I went to a traditional pub quiz that was being held on behalf of a project that helped local children. We promptly won the quiz at a canter – and took home the top prize of a bottle of red (luckily Argentinian not Peruvian!). However the deck was slightly stacked in my favour as the question setter was English, and I was the only English person at the quiz, and it might be said that the quiz had a slightly “homely” feel. Questions in the sports round such as “How many pieces of wood are featured on a cricket pitch?” did slightly play into my hands!
I also got a reminder of why the Irish are such an incredible nation while watching the England/Ireland Six Nations match at an Irish bar. When the four of five english supporters
Sacsayhuaman
Example of the incredible stonework on one of the main Inka sites just outside Cusco in the bar cheered after English points, cries of “who are the dead guys that came to an Irish bar to suport England”, but by the end of the match we had been bought congratulatory shots of Jagermeister by the owner – at 11a.m.! Death threats to free shots – quite the turnaround!!
At weekends, I again managed to get out and about exploring, and my most memorable trip was to the barely visited Inka ruins of Tipon, an agricultural site set it beautiful rolling hills that was a great example of the Inka's mastery of channelling water to meet all of their needs. There were about five other visitors there (I didn't even have to pay, as on both entrance and exit, it was apparent than the man in the ticket booth had decided to go home early for the day!), the water channels, fountains and stonework were really interesting and I really enjoyed a hike up to the highest viewpoint in the late evening sun to enjoy great views over the site, and the rest of the valley.
The second reason for coming to Tipon was its reputation as the best place in the area to
Carnaval - Cusco style
Quite low key - but a bit of dancing and colour sample Cuy or Guinea Pig. They may be cuddly fluffy pets back home, but in Peru they are supposedly a tasty delicacy that must be sampled. My attempts to sample the finest Cuy in Peru weren't helped by the fact that my specimen had clearly been cooked earlier in the day, and following my order it was gently jiggled about somewhere near a heat source until it had reached a temperature sufficiently close to lukewarm that it justified being thrown on my plate!! The skin was like rubber and really needed a stanley knife rather than the blunt piece of Peruvian metalwork that qualified as my blade! Once I actually got to sample my gourmet delicacy, I got about four forkfuls of slightly flavourless, lukewarm gamey meat before my Cuy was just a tangle of bones. An interesting experience – but I can see why it hasn't taken off worldwide!
Despite my jesting about the cold and the food, I certainly have fond memories of the three and a bit weeks I spent in and around Cusco. The Inka Trail is obviously going to be a massive highlight of my entire trip, but perhaps more personally satisfying was the
Tipon
The empty agricultural site I visited independently time I spent with Jesus and his staff at the amazing Amigos language school. One comment Jesus made to me towards the end of my stay sticks in my mind, him saying that with where I am now, the effort I'm putting in and the way I have advanced in the time I was at his school – I have what it takes to make it to level C2 (the highest of the 6 Spanish levels!!) by the end of my trip. Hopefully, this prediction will come true over the next 7 or 8 months – but its certainly going to take a lot of work – and I'm sure be a lot of fun – getting there!!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Great blog!
You've brought back some great memories for us. I can do without the guinea pig. I tried it in a stew but couldn't get past the thought of it. I don't care for rodents. Sounds like you're making great progress in your language skills. How fortunate that you were added to the hike. Can't wait to read more.