Footsteps of the Incas

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I got back from the Ica Trail late yesterday very tired and smelling like a month old football kit. Very satisfied though; it really is all its cracked up to be. Let me dispell a couple of myths straight off. Contrary to some reports, the Inca Trail is not easy. I consider myself pretty fit and I´ve done some tough hikes before in my time. It is only about 35km over 4 days and there are porters to carry the food and tents. On that basis I approached the trip with a certain nonchalance. Two things make the trail a challenge: 1) the altitude and 2) the fact that you are mainly ascending or descending over uneven terrain. There isn´t much flat stuff and the Incas weren't to worried about layying an even surface. Now, I don´t want to put anyone off. In fact, I would encourage anyone who can to do the trail. The scenery is fantastic and it is well worth the aching muscles. I also enjoyed the challenge. All I would say is, if you aren´t used to hiking, you may want to consider investing in an extra porter to carry your stuff. I think Sophie is regretting the decision to tick the ´no´box on that one. Myth number 2: The Inca Trail is packed with people. Utter nonsense. The final day´s hike (about 2 hours) to Machu Picchu is busy but you still reach the site before the throngs of tourists arrive from Cuzco. The earlier parts of the Inca Trail are relatively quiet; you do bump into other groups along the way but it doesn´t detract from the overall enjoyment of the walk.

On to the detail. We did the tour with Andean Life who - stuffing up our jungle trip aside - did a sterling job this time around. I can recommend them. We did the trail as part of a group of 15. There were two Canadian couples, 3 Aussies, another English couple and 4 assorted Euros. It was a fun group. Soph described them as 'odd' and I suppose a lot of them were, but it was an interesting mix. One of the Canadian guys, called Junior, was a'blaster' i.e., he blows stuff up. In mines. Cool job. The other Canadian guy was a fiftysomething pilot. He was a funny guy; he had lots of stories about flying to weird places and moose hunting.

We got a coach to KM 82 (the start point) early on 21st Oct. We stopped in this little town en route for breakfast and our guide Romulo (who I cannot praise enough) told everyone they could get final nick nacks for the trip, including walking sticks. Now, I don´t mean to sound degrading in any way but walking sticks are bloody useless. They get in the way. I learned to walk circa aged 2 and haven't needed any any assistance since. Ok, aside from a couple of saturday nights out. Undeterred, most of the group invested; the Euros even bought two each! Within about 200 yards of setting out, they realised the error of their ways. It was like watching baby giraffes trying to stand up for the first time. Most were carrying their sticks by their sides by the 400 yard mark and I was chuckling smugly to myself. Those sticks were monkeys on their backs for the next four days.

The first day´s walk was the flattest of the lot, although it was mainly up hill. We passed some nice Inca sites and we started to move up into the moutains. At lunch, we had the first taste of the cooking on the trail. It was fantastic. It was a four course lunch!! Quite frankly, I haven´t eaten better whilst in South America than I have on the trail. We got a hearty breakfast, snacks in the morning, lunch, tea and more snacks when we finished our trekking for the day and another massive meal in the evening. If we hadn´t been walking during the day, I would have put on about a stone. There was a chef who travelled with the group and about 18 porters who, aside from doing everything from helping prepare food to setting up the tents, carry about 25-30kgs of stuff each. Not only that but they jog the trail in order to arrive before us pampered tourists. These guys are tiny little things; they're like little imps running about the place, always busy. Amazing people. ...and they didn´t need sticks.

One of our porters was a local cult hero. I don´t know his real name but everyone called him Ironman. He is 45 years old and about half my size. They used to have an Inca Trail marathon. The path is pretty damn treacherous to walk on let alone run. And as I say, it is up and down all the way. This guy won the marathon twice in 2003 & 2004 beating people half his age. His time: 3 hours 45 mins. In sandles (no kidding).

We camped the first night in a nice valley. There were some local ladies on hand to sell beer, chocolate etc which was great. The campsite had toilets (i.e., holes in the ground) but, like most on the trail, they were the most disgusting things I have ever smelled. Even worse than me on day 4. I'm not to fussy about these things but a bush was an infinitely preferable option. We gorged ourselves on the nice food in preparation for the second day, which was the toughest we had to do. We got up early (about 5) and set off up a lung bursting hill rising from about 3200 metres above sea level to 4300 masl. It was a tough two hour climb. It was followed by a knee-jarring descent to our lunch spot, then another steep climb to the second pass. The pace was easy and you could take your time about it but it was still tough. Nevertheless, as a group, we were beating our guide's estimate for each stage of the hike.

The secenery was fantastic, the sort of views photos never really do justice to. We were quite high up and there were mountains and steep valleys all around. The clouds charged through the valleys and cloaked the mountains above and below you (as well as drifting right over you at times - pretty chilly). We also passed old Inca ruins 2-4 times a day which were cool to explore.

I think we were all glad to get to camp on the second day. The hard work was out the way. Our guide had frontloaded the hike so we did most of the walking on the first two days leaving much shorter hikes for the last two. The second night was spent up in the cloud forest which, you may recall from my previous blog, is the mountainous part of the jungle. I had no idea that part of the Inca Trail was through jungle but it was a nice surprise as the plants and animal life changed dramatically as we went along. An unfortunate down-side of being in the cloud forest it that it has a tendency to rain. A lot. It absolutely chucked it down the second night and I spent a good proportion of the night waiting nervously for water to start dripping through the tent. We were lucky and got away with damp roll mat. One of the Canadian couples were bailing out water by the cup full. One of the Aussies had a virtual river running underneath him. In the morning, the plucky little porters grabbed all the wet gear and raced off to the third campsite in order to dry it all for us.

The third day was easier (although it still involved some steep descents). It was the best day so far for scenery and Inca ruins. I saw about three hummingbirds whilst walking along. We arrived at our camp for night three around 1 in the afternoon. There was a hostel on site with a bar, running water and proper toilets (no seats; they wouldn't want to spoil us). We were glad the hard work was out the way as we sat outside the bar, which has possibly the greatest pub view in the world, overlooking the mountains and valleys surrounding Machu Picchu. The lost city itself was hidden elusively round the next mountain. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever had a more satisfying beer. About 8 of us passed the afternoon chilling there, resting our aching limbs. Just as well; the final push to Machu Picchu began at 4 the next morning.

After breakfast, we shuffled along with the rest of the people at the camp site to the checkpoint for Machu Picchu. This was the only busy part of the trail. We still had about a two hour trek once inside. About an hour in (and after another hefty climb) we reached the Sungate which is the first view of Machu Picchu and the place where most photos of the city are taken from. Unfortunately, it was a misty morning and we couldn´t see a thing. We stuck around and were teased with glimpes of mountains through the cloud but it wasn´t to be. We trundled on. We finally reached the end of the Inca Trail, which finishes above Machu Picchu with a view of the whole site. We were in luck. As we arrived, the cloud finally shifted and we were treated to an amazing view.

Its difficult to describe the place itself. I couldn't do it justice. It is possibly the most magnificent man-made thing I have ever seen. If you´ve never seen a picture, Google it right now. It was made all the more pleasurable knowing that we had worked to get there.

Machu Picchu itself was discovered by the famous Inca explorer Hiram Bingham in 1915. He wasn´t an Inca himself obviously; he just studied them. Which was a pretty tough task seeing as the Incas left no written records as such and the Spanish destroyed everything they could lay their hands on. Anyway, Bingham was trawling through the area looking for old Inca ruins and in particular, the last Inca capital where the final Inca fled before being eventually captured by the dastardly Spaniards. Bingham´s task was pretty tough; in the jungle plants grow pretty fast and the Inca buildings, not to mention the trail itself, were literally part of the jungle. It was all totally overgrown. Anyway, armed with a machete and a local guide, off he went. When Bingam found Machu Picchu, he was convinced it was the last Inca capital. A lot of money was pent reclaiming the site from the jungle and a couple of years later Bingham realised it wasn´t actually the last capital. I imagine there were a few choice words at the time, but off he gamely went again in search of it. He eventually found the last capital (the name escapes me) but it was a bit of a let down compared to Machu Picchu, both in terms of archetecture and simple beauty. Quite honestly, Machu Picchu would be pretty hard to top. It turns out Machu Picchu was most likely the capital or mountain retreat of the ninth Inca (of 12), built around 12th Century. However, no one knows for sure and no one has the foggiest why it was deserted or when.

We got a good tour round the site and our guide Romulo filled us in on all the important information. The guy is a natural storyteller and he really made the Incas come alive. After our tour (it was still about 10am) we grabbed a drink and checked out the site for ourselves. Our legs were wrecked after 4 days walking so we took our time exploring the different builings. Some of the site has been reconstructed but you can tell what is original and what is not; quite simply, the Inca stonework is far superior. Nevertheless, the reconstruction work is necessary to give you a flavour of the buildings. The Incas were ingenious builders. Aside from the meticulous carving of stones (they fit in without need for any cement) they made use of the natural surroundings. Where there was a rock to big to be moved, they simply carved stairs into it or built passageways arround it. They must also have carted tonnes of rocks to build the city. I should point out that Machu Picchu is on top of a mountain and the Incas had NOT invented the wheel. Maybe they hired our porters.

Once we had our fill of looking around, we took the bus down the mountain to a little tourist town called Aguas Calientes. We met a restaurant to chucks our bags down then, whilst some of the group wandered around town, we sat with our guide, a couple of the porters and the rest of teh group, having some well deserved drinks. By the time we got on the train, I for one was ready to get back to Cuzco in order to have a long shower and incinerate my clothes. Unfortunately, the train was rubbish and took forever to get back. It didn't really matter. I'd had a great few days. I just felt sorry for the people sitting near me.

We are off to Lake Titicaca tomorrow. I spent the day sorting out bits and pieces, haggling and negotiating for bus tickets, taxi rides and other items. Never pay full price over here. Right now, I'm going to get a burger and some beers. I think we've earned it.

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