Advertisement
Published: January 30th 2006
The Inca trail to Machu Picchu
Day 1 Monday 16 January 2006 we were picked up at dawn from Hostal Qorichaska in
Cuzco by our tour operator. After about 2.5 hours of busriding through
the Sacred Valley, we reached
Ollantaytambo for breakfast and to stock up. Chocolate, snacks, and water were high on people´s lists, as well as coca leaves and walking sticks. The locals in the Andes have been chewing coca leaves for centuries in the belief that it aids against altitude sickness. Of course, there was only one way to find out, so we bought a bag of leaves. Coca leaves are used to produce the drug cocaine, however (and this is to calm down those worried parents out there), it takes about 2.5 kg of leaves to produce a single gram of cocaine, hence chewing some leaves will lead neither to getting high nor to addiction.
After breakfast we drove to
Km 82, the place where the Inca trail starts. Km 82 lies at 2600 metres above sea level and is 82 kilometres from Cuzco, the
Inca capital. From Km 82 it is about 44 kilometres to Machu Picchu, a walk that passes some 10-15 Inca sites on the way,
two Inca tunnels, waterfalls, stunning views, and three mountain passes, the highest at an altitude of 4200 metres. No wonder our tour operator forced us to check-in in Cuzco (3326 masl.) two whole days before departure for acclimatisation purposes.
Although January is rainy season, we had great weather and sunshine at the start of the walk. Worrying about getting burnt on top of my head I bought a ridiculous-looking hat for your viewing pleasure (see photos) before we headed off. First day was supposed to consist of about 12 kilometres approximately flat, easy walking. After the first hour, we had probably only walked 500 metres because our guide had stopped every five metres to tell us about the vegetation and some Inca anecdotes. Most memorable were a plant that locals used as lipstick and another plant that was dried and smoked. By the latter one would reach Machu Picchu by
flying instead of walking, however, our guide recommended that we´d walk.
Later the same day we stopped at a magnificient viewpoint overlooking the Inca town
Llactapata. It used to house a few hundreds of people and, typical of the Inca, was very hard to capture because enemies would
Km 82
Km 82 is the starting point of the Inca trail. It lies 82 km from Cuzco, the Inca capital, and the remaining 44 km to Machu Picchu are for us to walk!have to pass the river, the terraces, and finally, the town walls. Ingeniously, the Inca made their terraces above the river turn in and out like a snake along the riverside in order to accomodate floods during the rainy season. The sharp turns would then force the waterflow to slow down.
When we finally reached the campsite the sun quickly disappeared and it started raining. Luckily the porters, who carried all the camping gear and food as well as sleeping bags and personal belongings for those of us smart enough to pay the USD 25 for a personal porter, had finished setting up all the tents. After a change into dry and warm clothes, we ate a great three-course dinner in a large tent seating the entire group of 16 hikers. The trip had started perfectly apart from the rain but our guide said that it often rained during the nights but that it stopped during the days. How wrong he was...
Day 2 The next day we ascended 1100 metres from our campsite at 3100 metres to the
Warmi Wanusca Pass, or
Dead Woman´s Pass, at 4200 metres, a walk of only 8 kilometres. Thus, for those
Aashild at Km 82
Aashild getting ready for the walk, unaware of the paparazzis around... mathematically inclined, such as myself, we ascended 137.5 metres per kilometre on average, which is quite an incline. We truly felt the altitude this day, with the lactic acid burning through our thighs for every step. How pathetic we must have looked, struggling up those stairs like some 80-year-olds, stopping at every 30 metres sometimes. Although none of us got any altitude sickness, we definitely felt the lack of oxygen during physical exercise. When finally at the top, the breathtaking views were all covered in fog. We had a quick break and started on the remaining 3 kilometres with a 700 metres descent (an amazing 233,3 metres drop per km). Many in the group were surprised how strainful this part of the walk was, having forgotten that walking down an eternal staircase kills your thighs! We were pretty exhausted when we reached the camp site but satisfied knowing that the worst part of the walk was over.
Day 3 The rain continued on the third day. We left the campsite early and reached
Runkurakay, an old Inca stop-over fort after a few kilometres. Here, the Inca messengers would stop to rest before going further, or if in hurry, pass
Off we go
Finally on our way to the lost city. on the message to another messenger. It is interesting to note that the world record on the 44 km Inca trail is only 3 hours 45 minutes, a hike that we would use a little more than three days to complete! However, the Inca, in their imperial madness, would have many, many messengers run only for some kilometres each before passing on a message to the next messenger. This way, an important message from the Inca capital Cuzco could reach Machu Picchu 126 km away within perhaps 10-12 hours.
After Runkurakay, we went through two more mountain passes at about 4000 and 3700 metres as well as an Inka tunnel. Most likely, nature shaped this tunnel, with the Inca only enhancing it a little, however, the tunnel was widened later by explorers in order to get mules and horses through.
We reached the campsite at
Winay Wayna, 5 kilometres away from Machu Picchu. It had now been raining more or less continuously since the afternoon on Day 1 and our guide could tell us he had never experienced anything like it during his ten years with the tour operator. Some people within the group started to worry when
Quick stop to enjoy the view
We quickly ascended several hundred metres. the guide continued to talk about landslides occuring at the very camp site where we were camping just a few weeks before our arrival. It would turn out that people had reason to worry... That night one of the tents had mud sliding down on it from above. It was never dramatic as it was only a couple of metres up to the next terrace of tents, so the amount of mud was limited, but still pretty scary for those involved. Before we went to bed I insisted to Helene, like I had been doing since it started raining, that we would end up with sunshine on our final day at Machu Picchu. I wasn´t too sure though when the rain started hammering down on our tent like crazy but we were too tired to care and were soon fast asleep.
Day 4 On the final day there was no rain. We got up at 4am to eat breakfast and to line up at a checkpoint for ticket control. It didn´t open until 5.30 but we queued up a little before in order to be one of the first of the many hiking groups to pass through.
After
The girls
Aashild, Helene, and Astrid at one of the many river crossings. 1.5 hour of walking, including a 150 metre staircase that went almost straight up, we reached
Intipunku, or the
Sun Gate. This is the first place on the trail where one can see Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, the weather was foggy but at least it didn´t rain. Far below, we could see
Machu Picchu with sawtooth mountains surrounding it and eerie clouds slowly rising out of nowhere. A truly fantastic sight, and in hindsight, knowing that the rest of the day would be sunny, I am very happy we got to see Machu Picchu this way too.
We walked on and reached Machu Picchu a little later. Whenever there was a little clearance in the fog people snapped away photos frantically, worrying that the fog would never disappear. We walked around for a couple of hours with the guide before we were free to walk around for ourselves. Now, the fog had completely lifted and the sun started shining. It was nothing less than perfect. In addition, the site was not overcrowded with the daytrip people yet, who normally arrive around midday by train and bus.
Just when we were about to walk to the top to do the
Helene
Helene catching her breath after a steep ascent. Notice the Inca trail in the background. postcard photos, poor Astrid felt a sudden urge to go the toilet. It seemed her luck of never being sick (well, apart from her incident in Arequipa) had run out. She started down the path toward the cafe but was suddenly stopped by three llamas blocking the way! Desperately she called for some tour guides to hush the animals off the path. However, the daytrip tourists that had just arrived naturally wanted to take their photos and told the guide not to scare the animals. Red in the face, teeth cutting, Astrid finally managed to squeeze through and run to the cafe where she ran past the toilet officer who demanded his 50 centavos. He seemed to understand the situation though (probably not that unusual with foreigners) and let her through. To add to the comedy, Helene got the same urge just five minutes after, and chased after Astrid, leaving me to take some photos. She had better luck with the llamas, though it was in the nick of time she also skipped paying the toilet man to avoid total disaster. I bailed them out later.
Calming down the girls gastrosystem with coca-cola we went back up to the
Inca ruins
Enjoying the view of Llactapata (Patallacta) after 5 km of walking. Although only a couple of hundred people used to live here, they were still able to defend themselves well thanks to the curly walls next to river. The reason for curling the walls and terraces along the river was to slow down the waterflow in case of river floodings. top and completed our postcard photos. I even climbed down a couple of terraces and managed to approach a llama. As llamas are known for spitting at people I wasn´t too happy for my "voluntary" mission but I did my duty with the girls as an eager audience.
In the afternoon we took the bus to nearby
Aguas Calientes (Hot waters) or
Machu Picchu Town. The keen ones walked some kilometres to the hot thermal springs that have given the town its name but we had had enough and simply rested at a restaurant. After a lovely dinner (I had ceviche truche, a kind of sushi meal with raw trout in a spicy lemon sauce, simply marvellous) we caught the train back to Cuzco. It took the train about four hours to complete what we had spent four days on. However, the true way to experience Machu Picchu is definitely the Inca trail, and I cannot recommend it high enough.
And the coca leaves? Well, I chewed like crazy until my cheek was completely anaesthesized but not sure if I gained anything from it. I do know that I didn´t get altitude sickness but I still got a
lot of lactic acid in my blood from what would have been effortless steps at sea level. The conclusion must be that if the leaves took away some pain and acid, it means I would have been completely wasted without them!
We were very happy with our tour operator, apart from the guide. The guide is the most important person on such a trip. Ours failed to provide the desired information and didn´t answer our questions properly. However, everything else, such as the meals and tents/equipement, was excellent, and surely the company must have other and better guides. Among other things, I especially like the fact that the company promotes eco-tourism. They are supposed to pay and treat their porters well and they help with community work in Cuzco (part of the income goes there). Finally, they were very professional in their communication before we arrived, answering our queries quickly and clearly. The trip cost USD 295 + 25 for a porter. For information about our tour operator, see
Peru Treks.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0339s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
