The Lost City of the Incas

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The highlight of my trip was always going to be hiking the legendary Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It's popularity has been a curse, so much so that there is a now a limit on how many tourists can do the trek at any one time, meaning that in the peak season (now) there is waiting list of over 2 months. Luckily I booked my place back in April for June 16th, but this has meant rushing around Argentina and Bolivia to get to Cusco in time. After months of anticipation, it's sadly all over.

I arrived in Cusco two days before the trip. At this time of year, Cusco plays host to numerous festivals. Corpus Christi was on 15th and statues of various saints were paraded around the city, followed by musicians, dancers and on-lookers. Part of the tradition sees a street lined with beer stallls. The Peruvians drink all day and the stalls serve traditional Peruvian dishes such as chirriuccu. This consists of chicken, seaweed, maize, fish eggs and roasted guinea pig. Not wanting to upset my stomach before Inca Trail, I planned on giving this a miss, but my stomach and curiosity got the better of me, and I ordered a plate. The guinea pig is roasted whole, head in tact and white buck teeth on display. I quite liked the meat, which was very salty and tasted a bit like tough duck, but I couldn't quite stomach the skin, which was like thick plastic. The Peruvians eat "cuy" whole, which includes eating the head.

I went with a tour company called Wayki, which prides itself on taking only small groups. There were 6 of us in total: Alan, Andy and Matt from the States and Sarah and Kelly from New Zealand; we all got on really well and had a funny few days. I was glad I went with Wayki as it was common to see other groups with as many 20 tourists. Our guide was called Edgar. After doing several tours with Spanish-speaking guides, it was refreshing to have a guide that spoke good English. Our party was supported by Wilber, our cook, and seven other porters. These guys were aged between 21 and 55 and were responsible for carrying all our equipment and setting up our campsites. They carry up to 30kg and run the Inca Trail, as opposed to walk, wearing sandals made out of old rubber tyres. They were incredible.

Day 1 began with a 3 hour drive to Ollaytantambo to the start of the trail. After a filling breakfast and making our way through the checkpoint, we were on our way. This part of the hike took us uphill through eucalyptus forests along the side of a mountain. From a distance we saw Llaqtapata, the first of several Inca ruins along the trail. This one was used as an agricultural site and was also the first resting place for those embarking on the pilgrimage to Machu Piccu. The final stretch to our campsite involved a gruelling steep uphill climb. It lasted only 30mins, but we were all exhausted, and this was just a taster for what was in store for us the next day. At camp, I felt almost emabarrassed as the porters put up our tents and prepared hot drinks and popcorn for us. Most of the group was suffering a lack of appetite from the high altitude, except for me of course, so I was probably the only person to come back heavier after the Inca Trail.

Day 2 was the toughest by far. The classic Inca Trail normally takes 4 days to arrive to Machu Piccu. Our group was walking quite quickly, so Edgar gave us the option to do the trail in 3 days, allowing us to spend 2 days in Machu Piccu, instead of just the one. We decided it would be silly not to, so this meant walking for longer on days 2 and 3. We started walking at 7am and spent the next 4 hours walking uphill. The first part of the walk took us up through a cloud forest. We then sluggishly made our way up Dead Woman's Pass. This is the first pass of the walk and supposedly looks like a woman lying down. The Inca steps were steep and relentless. It was incredible to think that the Inca people had to carry the Inca King all this way on his throne made of gold. Once we reached the top, we began our descent to Pacamayu. The clear, sunny weather was gone and had been replaced by thick cloud, which added to the mysteriousness of the trail. Going down was almost worse than going up, as your knees took a pounding from the neverending Inca steps. Normally we would have stayed at Pacamayu for the night, but instead we had to push on to Sayacmarca, which was another 3 hours away. We hiked uphill for an hour and a half, passing Runkuraqay, another Inca ruin. After seeing another impressive Inca site, we finally reached our campsite, 10 hours after setting off this morning. That night was as cold a night I've experienced in the mountains: it reached -7.

Day 3 was another early start. The morning was clear, although there was thick cloud hovering below us, which gave the impression we were camping in the clouds. As the day progressed the clouds engulfed us again, hiding the incredible views. The weather eventually cleared and the sugar loaf mountain that sits next to Machu Piccu was now in sight. Despite our weary legs, the excitement and anticipation kept us going as we made our approach to the Sun Gate. A final set of steps leads to the Sun Gate. The architecture heightened the sense of anticipation. As I finally reached the top, I stepped out onto to a platform and looked out towards the valley of the Urubamba river and saw my journey's end, Machu Piccu. It was an unforgettable moment. We spent the rest of the day just looking at the postcard view of the the city. The maze of houses, terraces and plazas, built in the middle of a cloud forest, is simply jaw-dropping. The beauty and mystery of the city is, however, slightly scarred by the wart of a hotel that has been built right next to the entrance. We spent the night in a restaurant in Aguas Calientes, a touristy town at the bottom of Machu Piccu, having spent the evening resting our limbs in the local hot springs.

Day 4 was the earliest start of them all, as we got the bus up to Machu Piccu to see the sunrise. Seeing the sun rise over the mountains and illuminate the city was another unforgettable moment. A few of us then climbed the sugar loaf mountain that rises up next to the city. The view from the top was worth the effort. By 11am the city was starting to become crowded with stereotypical tourists (the city receives 2,000 visitors a day), so we began to make our way back to Aguas Calientes, from where we got the train back to Cusco.

I had a few days to spare as I waited for Simon to get to Cusco, so I went on a three day white water rafting trip down the Apurimac river. The river is a monster and boasts having Grade III, IV and IV rapids. The first day was spent mostly driving 4 hours to the river, setting up all the equipment, having a safety talk, learning the basic moves before finally spending an hour on the water. The first section was pretty tame as we practised our commands: "GET DOWN", "HIGH RIGHT" etc... That night we camped on a sandy beach next to the river under a blanket of stars - pure bliss! On the second day we spent a whopping 7 hours on the water, going through mostly Grade III to IV+ rapids. Annoyingly we had to do a few "portages", where we had to get out and walk as the rapids were too dangerous. However, it was probably for the best as a couple of months ago, a rogue company took some tourists out to an untested river, and an Israeli girl drowned. The last day started with my first Grade V rapid which was such an adrenalin rush. We had a few more hours on the river, before jumping off a cliff and arriving at our "take-out". It's been a great few days.

Saturday 24th June saw the climax of the Inca festivals, Inti Raymi. Some people come to Cusco especially for this festival, which sees a re-enactment of the Inca Sun ceremony at the Inca ruins called Sacsayhauman (pronounced "sexy woman"). A lot of tourists pay US$70 to sit on the reserved seats that form an arena around the ceremony. Prudent travellers like myself, sit with the locals on the rocks behind the reserved seats for free, although this doesn't stop business-minded Peruvians from trying to charge you $5 to sit on the spot that they "reserved". The re-enactment was extremely disappointing. I would have been sick if I had come to Cusco just for this and violently sick if I had paid $70. Unlike the Corpus Christi festival, which had authentic cultural meaning, this festival was just for the tourists and was like watching a gaudy tourist show. It was amusing however, when at the height of the ceremony, when a llama was supposedly being "sacrificed" for the Sun (it looked fake to me), the heavens opened and it started to hail.

I spent a few more days in Cusco when Simon arrived. It was great to see a familiar face from back home. Our student days were re-lived, as we lost all productivity and spent the time watching football, eating, playing playstation and going out. We did manage to do a day walk to visit the surrounding Inca ruins, although I got us desperately lost. We found ourselves lost in the mountains with no food, water or torch. Luckily we met some locals who pointed us in the right direction, and warned us to get to the main road quickly, otherwise we risked getting robbed. We learnt from our mistake and decided to stick to football and playstation.

I finally left Cusco on 28th June and got a bus to Lima. I was feeling delicate from the night before, so it didn't help that the bus speeded round consecutive hairpins for 5 hours straight. I thought I was going to vomit on the little girl sitting next to me. I arrived in Lima the next day and stayed in the very westernized Miraflores district. My flight to Iquitos was the next morning at 6am. I had planned on having a quiet night, but I bumped into a friend and ended up staying out until it was time to get my flight. I'm now in Iquitos, which is in the Peruvian amazon. It feels good to have finally left the cold weather until I get back to London. I am planning on staying here for a few days, depending on England's progress. Travelling during the World Cup is not easy. I may or may not venture into the Peruvian jungle for some more trekking. The plan is to take a slow river boat, hammock class, up the Amazon river to Manaus in Brasil. The journey should take 4 days in total. From there I'm hoping to fly to Salvador to meet Janie on 18th July.

Until the next installment........

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Photos

Camping in Peru
At 3,500m

Plaza de Armas, Cusco
Cusco is full of religious festivals at the moment. This was Corpus Christi. The biggest one is the Inca Sun festival on June 24

White Water
Rafting on the Apurimac River

Peruvian Delicacy
Chicken stuffed with roasted guinea pig (cuy). This was supposed to entice the customers.