Cuzco and the Inca Trail - Peru

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Arrived in Cuzco in time for the England Vs Ecuador match in the World Cup.... I won't continue with the football thread in this blog as we all know what happened against Portugal.... again!!!

The 4 day 26 mile hike to Machu Picchu (Quechan for Old Mountain), known as The Inca Trail was the highlight of South American for me. For those interested in a detailed itinerary of the trek use the following link which provides the 4 day breakdown.
http://www.andeanlife.com/incatrail_itinerary_day_1.htm

Due to our amazing guide Freddie, our Inca Trail involved longer Day 1 and 2 hikes and as a result a shorter Day 3 than described in the itinerary. See for yourselves if you can be bothered reading it all.

Day 1 - Woke up early to be outside Hostel Loki at 5am, however the bus picking us up didn't show up until just before 6am! Breakfast when we arrived at the town of Urubamba was a dodgy spanish omlet. Day 1 was fairly straight forward although the gorgeous weather and getting use to lugging my main pack for hours at a time made the trek feel a lot harder. At this stage the trail seemed crowded with groups immediately ahead and behind you. Day 2, notoriously the hardest for the ascent to 4,200 meters would change all that.

Day 2 - Woken up at about 6:30am by the porters who brought tea or coffee to your tent. After breakfast began the arduous hike to Abra de Huarmihuañusca or 'Dead Woman's Pass'.
The hike started through cloud forest and steepened throughout the descent above the treeline and a meadow known as Llulluchapampa (3,680m). Surpisingly myself Gary and Joe 'Pancho' Harper completed this section well ahead of the rest of the group, but believe me it was tiring and the tag of 'the most difficult section of the trail' is well deserved.
Before lunch we had to descend to 3,600 meters which was a lot easier than the ascent.
After lunch we had to climb again to the ruins of Runkuracay (3800m), which provided the Incas with an excellent early warning look out point for anyone entering the Pacamayo valley through Dead Woman's Pass. After completing the ascent to Abra de Runkuracay (4,000m) we descended into the next valley for the second night camp, which was freezing!

Day 3 - Following another early wake up call we began the ascent to the 3rd pass (3,700m) which took us through an Inca tunnel..... I'm a bit vague on the rest of this day so please refer to the itinerary link provided earlier!!! ... sorry
Spent the third night in a row in the tent camping at Wiñay Wayna, but at least the nearby trekkers hostal had showers (had to pay for hot but worth it!!) and a bar.
Before the evening started we visited Wiñay Waina (Quechua for Forever Young), which was used by the Incas as experimental agricultural terraces.

Day 4 - Probably the earliest start of them all but worth it as we hiked to the Sun Gate in time for sunrise. You ask yourself what you are doing trekking on a mountain path before daylight, but when you get your first glimpse of MP you know it was all worth it. Following the classic vista photographs our guide Freddy gave us an excellent tour of MP. As if 26 miles on foot wasn't enough a select band of us decided to climb Wayna Picchu (Young Mountain) for a birdseye view of the ruins!
After MP we had lunch at the Feliz Gringo in nearby Aguas Calientes where we said goodbye to each other and our guide Freddy. Then we caught the backpackers train back to Cuzco which was a long journey but aided by the fact they served beer on the train. After a couple of ales interesting conversation was in full swing with Megan and Tristan (Atlanta, Georgia) and the journey passed in no time.... well almost!

The following evening in Cuzco we met up with Dennis, Tom, Alex, Joe and Julia from our Inca Trail and later that night in a bar called Mama Africa encountered a worse for wear Freddy.

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Photos

Plaza De Armas
Hub of gringo activity in Cuzco

Cobbled Streets
Not good for the ankles

Hiking Inca Trail
Lugged my main pack for the full 26 miles... Lungs and back both suffered

First sight of Inca Ruins
Day 1 alongside the Urubamba river

Freddie The Guide
Pointing to a doorway to an Inca cemetry... see if you can spot it.

Camping on the first night
Spent 3 nights in total under canvas; the 2nd was by far the coldest!

Porters taking well earned break
Day 2 At the summit, Dead Woman's Pass

Phuyupatamarca
Day 3 Town in the clouds (Quechua)

Winay Wayna
Ruins of the Inca's agricultural laboratory

Machu Picchu
Awesome sight!

Carrot Porter
Don't know who made this but hats off to them

View from the Top
Yes that really is Machu Picchu over my shoulder.

Don't step back, Wayna Picchu
Gary, Alex, Myself and "Pancho" Joe