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Published: November 29th 2008
Hola mi Amigos!
Time for an update on one of the most monumental experiences of our grand South America journey. The Inca Trail hike and Machu Picchu was something that both of us had been looking forward to for such a long time now. We are happy to say that our expectations were well and truely exceeded beyond anything that we could have imagined before the trip. A great company, great guide and great group all helped to make this an unforgettable experience.
Here is a little bit of background information about Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail for anyone who has been living with their head in the sand and doesn´t know what I am talking about: Machu Picchu, located in the south of Peru, is one of the lost Inca cities. It is a spectacular archaeological site which was only rediscovered in 1911 by an American historian searching the area for a different lost city. Its stunning location as well as its condition (a large percentage of the structures are original with remarkably little restoration and/or reconstruction) makes it one of the most sought after tourist detinations on the continent. The site consists of many areas -
Royal Palace, Houses of the High Priest, many temples, a residential sector, industrial sector and agricultural terraces to name a few. It is easy to imagine how life must have been for the Incas between the 12th and 15th centuries. There is still to this day a lot of mystery surrounding the site of Machu Picchu and there are many different interpretations of the ruins which have been discovered.
The Inca Trail is without a doubt one of the most famous treks in the world.. The classic hike takes four days and covers about 45Kms of the ancient trail that was laid by the Incas through the mountains to reach the site of Machu Picchu. The hike has many challenging sections as it climbs over three passes, the highest of which reaches 4200 metres above sea level.
We´re not sure what it is about hiking in this region of the world and early mornings, but this hike was no exception. We were collected from our hostel in Cusco at 6am to begin the journey to the trail head. It was about an hour to the town of Ollantaytambo where we stopped for breakfast and the chance to invest some
of our traveling money back in to the local economy. These locals have thought of everything - hiking poles (the primitive version), rain ponchos, pouches for water bottles. And all at a ´very special price´. We´re starting to wish that we bought that t-shirt - ´No Gracias´! Another hour further along a terrible dirt road (Charlotte only threw up once) and we were at the trail head - Km 82. We spent some time preparing our gear at this point before heading off for the day. The first thing that we notice is that almost everyone else in our group (with the exception of Jeanne and Johnte) has opted for the additional porter to carry gear. We had decided against this in our planning, being the seasoned hikers that we are, and now Steve is carrying the majority of our gear in one pack while Charlotte has the photographic equipment and daily necessities in the day pack. Steve is either going to be a hero or a sucker at the end of the next four days!
Our lead guide is Juve and his passion, knowledge and enthusiasm was apparent immediately. The second guide for the group is JC. He
is also passionate and enthusiastic, though the group suspects his motivation to be more in form of cervesa and pisco sour than Inca history! Our group consists of 13 people from Ireland, England and America with us as the token Aussies - Arnie and Jenny, Shane and Maire, Alison and Jake, Jeanne and Johnte, Sue, Bonny and Casey. We get through the formalities of the first passport check, cross the Urubamba River and away we go. The hike for the first day is 12Kms through to the campsite and approximately 400 metres of elevation gain from our starting elevation at 2600 metres above sea level. We were pleasantly surprised with the level of the hike on the first day. We were both expecting it to be harder, particularly after the Santa Cruz trek last week and some of the struggles we experienced there. The trail is in good condition - very wide and spacious. The biggest obstacle that we have at this point is avoiding the porters as they scoot past - 4 foot Quechua men all loaded up with twice their body weight in gear (including a portable fridge and stove) literally running what some people struggle to walk!
Straight away we notice the popularity of this hike. There are a lot of other groups beginning the trail today with us, together with all their crews and porters = a lot of people and very crowded.
Our group takes frequent breaks along the way. The first stop is by a ´tuna´ cactus where Juve demonstrates how a white parasite found on this cactus turns to a bright purple-red colour when compressed and this is used by the local people as a dye and paint. The second stop was at a view point over the valley called Patallacta where we were able to see our first example of Inca ruins. We arrive in to camp (Hatunchaca, 2950m) in the early afternoon. We have great views of Veronika, the highest mountain (with glacier) in this range. There is a watch tower nearby which we explore and enjoy stunning views of the valley from before dinner.
There was an incredible thunder and lightening storm during this first night. The rain was coming down so hard we wouldn´t have been surprised if the tents had washed away down the mountain. This did create some concern for the second day of hiking
which is already reputedly the hardest day. We were pleased to wake to relatively clear skies and barely a sign of the storm that had passed through. It was another early start - 5am wake up with ´room service´ beverages served to the tents. Following breakfast we had an introduction with all the porters. All 20 of them introduced themselves in turn with their name, where they were from and how old they were. The introductions were done in Quechua and Juve translated for us. We in turn introduced ourselves to them. I think that this was a really nice gesture considering everything that they are doing for us. The oldest of the porters was 56!
The second day of hiking covers about 12Kms again - 9Km up the first pass and 3Km back down the other side. This day is all about the pass - Dead Womans Pass (or Warmi Wañusca) which is the highest point on the trek at 4200 metres above sea level. Our elevation gain on this second day is an incredible 1200 metres. The pass is named as such because of the profile of the womans face which appears in the mountain to the
right of the pass when approaching from this direction. From the minute we step out of camp the trail leads up the mountain at an alarming angle. And it keeps going up, turn another corner and up some more. And just when you think that it´s not possible to hike any steeper without literally slipping off the side of the mountain due to a little thing called gravity, it gets just a little bit steeper once again. There is a resting spot before the final approach where all groups stop for some food and much needed rest. At this point there are some local ladies selling necessities such as water, powerade, chocolate bars, hip flask of rum and redbull or a packet of cigarettes should one feel the desire! Finally, 9Km and 1200 metres of elevation gain later (and all before midday), the pass is conquered and we can enjoy the hour and a half descent down the other side. In fact, the descent is almost as torturous, if not more so, than the ascent. Our time spent at the pass before descending is limited. There is a misty fog accumulating around the surrounding peaks - very spooky! We arrive
Puma in the rocks
Takes a bit of imagination... or Coca leaves...in to our camp for the second night, Paqaymayu, in the early afternoon. This camp is at 3600 metres above sea level.
Another early 5am start to day three. This is the longest day on the trek and also the most enjoyable. It takes about 8 or 9 hours to hike the 16Kms and cross through two more passes. The scenery is varied as we move from mountainous terrain with views of the Urubamba range in the distance with its glaciers, to a trail that winds along the ridge through the cloud forest. This is also where we experience a number of Inca tunnels and see some more examples of Inca ruins - Sayaqmarka and Concha Marca further below in the valley as well as Phuyupatamarka just after the third and final pass. Lunch is at a site called Chaquiqocha, between the second and third passes. We have been exceptionally lucky so far with the weather. Nights have brought down terrential rain with thunder and lightening storms while the days have been dry and mainly clear with some cloud cover being the worst of it. True to our form of luck, a light drizzle begins while we are having
Famous 12 sided stone
These walls were part of the Palace of the 6th Inca Roca. Cusco lunch under the cover of our group tent. It all but stops by the time we are done and ready to start hiking again but not before we have dressed ready for the rain. This is where we are introduced to our friends the 6ft5 Irish leprechaun and ´yellow pants´! Our camp on this third night at Wiñay Wayna is close to Machu Picchu. There are hot showers here which some people make the most of. We figure that one more day can´t hurt! There is also a bar/restaurant here serving some well deserved alcoholic beverages to enjoy while taking in the view over the valley.
The fourth and final day of the Inca Trail hike is what we have been working towards, our focus and goal for the whole experience. This is the day that we reach Machu Picchu and explore the ancient site. Because 5am is just not early enough, our wake up call comes at 3:45am this morning. No messing about, we get packed up in the dark and drizzle and begin to hike - in the dark and drizzle! By torch light we make it to the control point quickly enough and wait there in
Llama family
San Blas, Cusco line with all the other hikers for about 30 minutes until 5:30am when they open the gates. The pace is fast and furious as we all try to be the first ones to reach Inti Punku, otherwise known as the ´Sun Gate´. The reason to be the first ones here - well, we´re not really sure but it´s hard not to get caught up in the race atmosphere. We think that it might be in order to get one of the precious tickets for climbing Wayna Picchu later in the day (only 400 people per day are granted access), but this doesn´t add up later on when it´s another couple of hours before we tend to that task. When we arrive at the Sun Gate the cloud is low and thick. We can´t see much of anything at first but then the fog clears briefly and we get the first glimpse at Machu Picchu - amazing! As we descend towards the site, the fog continues to move through the mountains, one minute it´s clear and the next we can barely make out the ruins. It creates quite a mysterious atmosphere actually. We approach the site through the agricultural terraces where
Let the hike begin..
The start, at Km 82.. we meet the resident llamas. These funny looking animals provide us with some morning entertainment and they didn´t seem to mind too much when Jeanne fell on top of one of them! We watched two or three of them chase a dog around before the dog turned on them and chased them back!
It took a while to get our tickets and make our way through the entrance, checking in bags, ditching our hiking poles etc. JC took those of us that were interested in climbing Wayna Picchu later in the day across to get tickets and then we joined back up with the group for a tour with Juve of some of the most important and interesting areas of the site. The only disappointment to this experience is that we were all so damn tired that we could barely stay awake during Juve´s presentation to be able to get anything out of it. Following the tour around Machu Picchu a few of us made our way to Wayna Picchu so we could make the climb to the top. Neither of us really felt like hiking any further but we would have been disappointed later on if we had
missed out on the opportunity. It took between 45 minutes and one hour to reach the top and took just about everything out of us that we had left. It was definitely worth it though as the views were incredible. The trail and steps both up and down were enough to create nightmares.
We spent the afternoon hanging out at a restaurant in Aguas Calientes before our journey back to Cusco. To fill in some time we were wandering around the town when we came across a crowd on the side of the river eagerly peering across the other side. Eventually we worked out that there were two Spectacled Bears moving around on the other side of the river so we spent some time watching them climb up and down the trees. Perhaps Jake will believe us next time!
A comfortable train ride followed by a questionable coach ride had us arriving back in to Cusco around 9pm. This was perhaps the longest day ever but the entire experience was unforgettable.
Inca Trail hike and Machu Picchu - tick!
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Tony Elliott
non-member comment
Coke! - where?
Don't know what you're talking about....I can see the Puma!