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The Team at the Start of the 7 Day inca Trail
From left to Right - Conor, Katey, Alex, Raul, Ann & GordonPop Quiz.....What was the name of the last Inca? (Ans at the end of the blog!)
Well Gordon had this bright idea that the 4 day hike up and over 3
peaks, to a height of 4200m was not challenging enough...so we chose a route that added on 3 days and another peak, this time of 5100m.
Having spent 3 weeks pottering artound at altitude and struggling to
walk up a 5 minute hill in La Paz we weren´t sure we were quite ready
for this and were even feeling a bit fearful. At the breifing meeting
we made sure we briefed the Guide on exactly how slowly we (especially Ann!) walked, just so he could be prepared (with patience).
As it turned out the 7 day walk was not as bad as we´d feared. We
loved the walking and the 5100m peak was not the hardest bit. Ann was the slowest person in the group by far but we did make every stage within the expected time frame (I think that this time frame was maybe set to make us feel good??) and thankfully our guide, RAUL, was fully equipped with more than enough patience and additionally a
head full of very interesting knowledge on the Inca History (all be it very
Cusco centric). Our other team mates (Alex, Katy and Conner) were the
Speedy Gonzales Team....walking at twice Ann´s pace. Luckily they
didn´t mind too much (or were too polite to say) waiting at each stop
for us to catch up.
In addition the porters (and horses for days 1-3) carried everything
bar our day pack, they packed up camp after us, arrived for lunch and
set up camp before us, fed us a 3 course meal, packed up after us and
arrived at sleep camp before us with everything set up and HAPPY HOUR
(choc-tea-popcorn-cake etc!) ready, which then led onto the 4 course
dinner...put us to shame or what! They would run up and down the
mountains with 25k (or even more I reckon for some) on their back.
One day we were even passed by a porter carrying a girl! (yes he was
running and passed us so quickly and yes she was stupid and had
decided to still do the walk after having an operation on her
knee!!.....I only hope the porter got his reward after that).
Each night, alongside the
4 course Cordon Bleu meal we whoofed down (I am still amazed to think of what the chef was able to conjeur up on
a couple of gas rings. and of the origami they did with our
serviettes!), we entertained ourselves with the card game Shithead
(not a rude game just a rude title!) It seems all travellers know it
(G&A learnt it in San Pedro from Tom and Kate) and now so does Raul.
We hope he will share this fun and knowledge with all future
hikers....he certainly seemed to love it. It is very addictive.
The first 3 days were over a path to the SALTANKAY PASS - a pass that
views on the Saltankay mountain, which stands at 6270m and is covered by glacier (we thoughty we´d finished seeing glaciers down south!) The pass was called INCACHIRASKA (chilly Inca!). It was very chilly and so after a few photos and an offering of coca leaves to PACHAMA (God of the earth) we pootled on down in our ascent. On these 3 days we saw no other treckers and met only a few locals and a lot of LLamas/ Alpacas (or other such animals). It really was
blissful.
Until we reached the glacier we spent a lot of time saying "we could
be in Scotland or Wales".
Afternoon of day 4 we arrived at Wayllabamba, a little village at
3000m. We arrived early enough that the boys had time to play a
couple of football matches! It was quite funny to watch the GRINGOs
(us lot..well not Ann and Katy..who had the fun watching) panting and
sweating as they ran round the pitch, and the porters look fresh as
daisys, despite having carried the loads and set up the tents before
we arrived. But the sweating and panting were worth it...the gringos
weren´t put to shame and managed to draw one match each (of course the gringos did have Raul the Guide and Roman the cook´s assistant on their side.......I think Roman scored most goals?!)
Days 5 and 6 were on the Macchu Picchu Inca Trail as most people know
it - and so did we by the number of other hikers we were sharing it
with! We worked our way up to Dead Woman´s Pass, at 4200m (named not because ladies die there, just that the view on the passlooks like a lady lying
down) and then slowly down into the Cloud Forest and finally the jungle where Macchu Picchu sits at 2400m. Here the vista changed a lot and was nothing like home. Orchids and other tropical flowers scattered amongst the bamboo and trees, we listened to birds, frogs and crickets as we stumbled along. (stumble is the correct term to use given the uneven stone paving and steep steps that we had to clambor down).
Night of day 6 was our final camp and was at a campsite that could
have rivalled a festival. There was even a bar (Gordon, Ann and Raul
felt they deserved a beer) and a disco (we were too old and boring for
this). The next day we were getting up at 3.30am and so bed was at
8pm! None of us slept that well..anticipation and the noise of party
goers made for a disturbed semi-sleep.
Day 7.....or still night really.....well adrenalin made it quite ok
(and the porters got up and hour earlier so who were we to complain!).
We had our last breakfast, which included a cake covered in icing and
hundreds and thousands (our chef, Remejio really was a genius...I mean
he
only had some gas rings to work with!). Off we went to the control
gate to wait in line for an hour until opening.......but there was no
line, we were first! So we took the only seats available and settled
down to yet more games of Shithead....fab! The time past quickly and
at 5.30am we got stamped in and charged forward to be the first at the
sungate (about 45mins walk up and down hill)...but why? There was no
sun! Sunrise had happened and mist was so dense there was no sun. On being past by people running (yep sprinting!) to get there and had the clear realisation and slowed down to a much more reasonable pace for the last half of the walk. This meant the Speedy Gonzaleses were lost into the distance (actually they were after 5 minutes even as we went at our own full pelt).
As expected there was no sun at the sungate. The Speedy Gonzaleses
and Raul ran off (sprinting downhill) the make sure they got the
limited tickets to allow them to climb Wayna Picchu (yup another
mountain!! I mean why....were 7 days not enough??). Just as well
they sprinted as they
got the last tickets! Gordon and Ann pottered
slowly (very slowly) down, Ann taking photos of every Orchid possible.
We arrived at Macchu Picchu site at 7.30am, with the mist clearing
slowly. It was going to be a beautiful sunny day afterall (but we
weren´t climbing back up to the sun gate - no way Jose!)
Raul gave us a very interesting 2 hour tour of the site, explaining
about the setup, buildings, rituals and people. We were then left to
our own devices to potter round some more for a few hours.
Brief History if you´re interested...
The Incas rose from Aymara the warrior people from by Puno (Peru-Bolivia border)
There were 12 Inca Kings.
They conquered areas covering Chile, Equador, Columbia, Bolivia and Peru.....
Their capital was Cuzco....this is where the King lived.
You had the Incas (Nobels and chosen people) and then you had the common people.
It was a central rulership with everyone doing what they were told for
the common good.
This meant people gave up freedom (you had to stay in one place and
work as ordered) but resulted in economic stability and food
Yes we made it!
This is the pic at the highest point on our trek at the Inca Chiriasca Pass, 5100m above sea level! for all
in a very harsh environment.
The common people were assigned tasks, farming, building roads etc
The Incas went to school....girls learnt Ladylike things (and were
kept in school seeing noone until they were 18 and married off....They
were called the chosen Virgins of the Sun). Men learnt to be
Engineers, High Priests, Expert Farmers amongst other and were then despatched to the far reaches of the Inca Empire to teach others!.
Land was given to each man (1/2 size to a woman.....hmm!) and on death that land was reassigned to another person...so no land ownership.
50% of food harvested was kept, 25% went to the Inca and 25% to the
Gods. I did ask what the Inca did with 25% of everything but can´t
say I got an answer I understood.
The Spanish came in and killed the last 2 Kings, spelling the end of the Incas. The second last King, Manco Inca ordered all people to abandon their towns (including Macchu Picchu) and retreat to Vilcabamba for their last stand, destroying the Inca Paths on the way so that the Spanish couldn´t find these abandoned towns (hence Macchi Picchu wasn´t found until
1911 and Vilcabamba after this).
So before the final quiz answer we want to give a BIG plug to our guide Raul Colque and the company Llamapath (www.llamapath.com). Definitely worth booking with these guys!
So Answer to the Quiz.......the last Inca is Inca Cola and he´s still alive, well and profitable!
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