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Published: August 7th 2007
Hello again everyone
Well I finished my last blog worrying about whether I could go on the Inca Trail with diahorrea and nausea after my dogdy night out in Cuzco. Of course, nothing but a major problem would keep me away from doing the trek - I woke up on the morning of the trek at 4.45am feeling slightly better after all my medication. I got all my stuff I needed together in my rucksack and put everything else into storage at the hostal. I took a brisk 10 minute walk to Plaza Regocijo and our 5.45am bus to take us the start of the trek at Piscacucho, also known as Kilometre 82.
Everybody on the bus was half asleep, and the hour and a half journey to the start of the trek gave everyone a chance to get an extra bit of shuteye. Nobody reallywas in thew mood to chat at thattime in the morning! We stopped for breakfast at Ollanta, which also gave us a chance to do some introductions and see who we were going to be spending the next four days with. Claude and Amy were two medical students from North Carolina (though Amy was
originally from Arkansas), Nic and Jacquie were from Florida working as optometrists - they were to university with Suzette, another optometrist working in Colorado. Wes and Adrienne were from Berkeley, California, and were good fun. Shang-Zhi was a surgeon working in Chicago - another girl, Geeta was also from Chicago. John and Chris were two brothers travelling together from Boston. In case you were worrying about the number of Americans in the group, we also had Rick and Nicky from Central Canada, and Reeta from Stuttgart in Germany! Our guide, Hilbert was great fun, as was his assistant Caeser, and made sure that everyone bonded togetherfrom day one.
Day one was a steady 13km uphill trek along the Urubamba river to our first camp at Llulluchapampa (try saying some of these Inca names after a few beers!). The viewsalong the way were fantastic, with deep verdant valleys surrounded by snow capped mountains. The first major Inca ruins we came to were those at Willkaraqay. They were remarkably well preserved, with layer after layer of terracing that the Incas used to use for growing their crops stretching out far below us like some grass staircase. Along the way on the
first day, there were lots of small villages selling all the provisions you could possibly need for the trek - Gatorade, water, energy bars, fruit, Snickers and Mars bars. It was quite funny being chased up the path by little girls trying to thrust bottles of Gatorade into your hands! I was still taking it easy on the fruit and sweets on strict instructions from my doctor, and had to settle for cheese crackers and biscuits!!
When we finally got to our first campsite around 5ish it was a big relief for me. I didn't doubt I could make it, but after my sickness I was really running on empty by the end of the day. As there were 15 of us in our group, and we were sharing two man tents, one of us would have a tent to themselves. I think Hilbert took pity on me in my condition, and let me have my own tent - I was more worried about somebody else having to share the whiff of my walking socks!!!
It was such a pleasant sight to get to camp with all the tents already set up by the porters, a bowl of
hot water waiting by your tent, and the smell of freshly cooked food in the air. It made a big difference from the Torres del Paine trek - setting up our own tents in the freezing cold and wolfing down instant pasta and chessy mash! Hilbert declared a happy hour in the dining tent - no alcohol, but coca tea, hot chocolate, coffee and as much popcorn and cookies as you could eat! All this before dinner! When the food arrived around 7 it was like a banquet - vegetable soup, chicken, rice, potatoes, salad, eggplant, pasta...it just kept coming! I don't know how they managed to present such a feast in the middle of the jungle! The cook who was looking after us was a star!
The second day was another early start, with a porter shaking our tents at 5am in the morning to get us up for what was to be the most gruelling day of the trek. To entice us out of our warm sleeping bags, the porter also produced a piping hot mug of coca tea through the flap in our tents!
There were 22 porters in all looking after us for the
duration of the trip, and these guys really were complete legends. Not only did they set off after us each day after packing up the campsite, but they overtook us carrying all the provisions for 4 days (tents, food, tables, chairs, mats, cooking gas etc) on their backs, and have our lunch and evening camps set up and ready for us on arrival. At lunchtime they would be waiting for us with a mug of ice cold corn juice, and in the evenings there was always our happy hour of hot chocolate, popcorn and cookies. And the food we ate during thre trip would not had been out of place in any restaurant - it really was out of this world. To top it off, they would be there giving us a round of applause when we made it to camp. I felt a bit embarrassed that these guys had worked twice as us to get there - if anyone deserved the hand claps it was them! They were a great bunch of lads though, very humble at first, but quick to share a joke and join in a bit of banter. We were introduced to all of them by
Hilbert on the second morning before setting off - it was good to know who our "guardian angels" were!
Hilbert had warned that the second day was tough. A steep three to four hour 4 km climb gaining almost 1500m in altitude to the top of Dead Womans Pass at 4200m - the highest point on the trek. From there it was down steep stone stairs to our lunch camp 3 km away. Then it was up another 2km pass to Runkuracay - an Inca lookout post, past a small lake to another summit, then down 4km to our camp for the evening near Sayacmarca, another Inca archaelogical site. All in all, eleven hours walking, and Hilbert thought that I should give my pack to a porter to carry. I really didn't want to do it, and felt that I could carry my 25kg pack easily, as I had carried more on the Torres del Paine trek earlier. In the end though I succumbed to my guides better judgement, and was pleased that I did. I was still not 100% and with the air being so thin at that altitude, the uphill slog up Dead Womans Pass was tough
enough for me without a pack. I think I may have toppled backwards over the edge on the way up if I was still carrying it!
Dead Womans Pass is so named because from a distance the mountain range vaguely resembles a womans face in profile laying down, along with an upwards pointing breast. We came to the conclusion that the Incas must have had a fixation with breasts,as Hilbert pointed out various mountains on the way up that "look like ladies boobies"!
It was a great feeling when we reached the top of Dead Womans Pass - a real sense of achievement. I rewarded myself with a Gatorade and a Snickers bar...the stomach was beginning to feel a lot better now! The views from the top were incredible - mountains as far as the eye can see on one side where we had just walked, and a steep stone path leading down to the high jungle and the river below on the other side.
After a steep walk down to our lunch camp (great on the knees..I was pleased I had invested in some walking sticks!), we visited Runkuracay (an egg shaped look Inca outpost) and
climbed up the second pass, passing a small lake where Hilbert told us each to collect a rock. At the second summit, we used our rocks to make a small cairn, and Hilbert told us all to make a wish. I wished for blue skies and good weather for the rest of the trek!
From there it was another downhill walk to Sayacmarca, another beautifully preserved Inca site - this one probably used for important Inca ceromonies. The views out from here were amazing, with jungle covered peaks surrounding us on most sides. All these extra ruins we were seeing on the Inca Trail really added to the whole experience - especially as they were so isolated and miles away from civilisation.
Our campsite near Sayamarca was truly magical - surrounded by mist shrouded, jungle covered steep hills and snow-peaked mountains, I felt like an extra in Lord of the Rings! As this was our highest, and therefore coldest camp on the trip, Hilbert went to the effort to make us a warming rum-infused local drink as a night cap after our dinner. It was strong stuff, and before long Rick, Hilbert, Nic and I were having a
dirty joke competition, with each joke being slightly mre disgusting than the previous one! Rick told a brilliant Tarzan joke that I'll have to repeat on my return - I certainly won't type it up here!
Day three was decidedly easier than the previous two days, with a few uphill bits puntuated with lots of downhill bits. It was another early start, but Hilbert wanted us in our final campsite by lunchtime as it was a place every single person doing the trek would be staying ahead of the final assault on Machu Picchu the following day. We had to walk through a number of Inca tunnels that had been carved into the rock - impressive considering the equipment they would have had to have used in their day to make the tunnels. Another Inca ruin was passed - this time Puyupatamarca, with many of it's walls still intact, and a beautiful series of ceromonial bathes with water runnng through them.
We made made it to Wiñaywayna around lunchtime, and were pleased to find we were among the first people there. Unlike the other basic camp sites, this place had a bar, shop and restaurant, and much to
our delight - hot showers! At 6 soles (about a quid) for 5 minutes it was a bit punchy for the area, but beggars can't be choosers - especially after 3 days without washing! The showers themselves were electrically powered through the shower head, which meant that a 6 foot 5 bloke like myself got a mild electric shock every time I bumped my head on the shower head! Luckily I had rubber flip flops on otherwise it could've been nasty!
The tents were pitched up facing an beautiful cloud coveredmountain range, and the view from my tent was sublime. We took advantage of the bar in the afternoon and sank a few beers. It was the 4th of July - American Independence Day - and our sizable American contingent belted out a commendable version of "The Star Spangled Banner" to celebrate. I was getting plenty of stick - with the US guys saying how great it is to be free of British tyranny and all that rubbish! I gave as good as I got though, saying their country wouldn't be as f***ed up as it is today if the Brits had stayed in charge!! With a 4am wake
up call the following morning for our last ascent to Machu Picchu, everyone went to bed early in preparation for the next day.
The wake up call at 4am had me out of my tent in a hurry. I couldn't wait to see Machu Picchu, and with the added bonus of leaving our sleeping bags and rollmats behind for the porters, our packs were going to be much easier to carry. It was a solid hour and a half walk through think jungle in the dark though, and I was pleased I had my head torch with me to see where I was going. The last twenty minutes or so are up a very steep set of stairs known as "The Gringo Killer" by the local guides. Once we got to the top of those though, and up to The Sun Gate, the view in front of us made it all worthwhile. It might have been twilight, and the sun may not have risen, but the sight of Machu Picchu stretching out below us was truly awe-inspiring.
Fair enough, there were around 400 other gringos around us, all trying to take pictures, and it was slightly chaotic, but for
a few moments I just stared at what was ahead of me and went into a world of my own. What an amzing place.
We spent the next hour or so clambering down to the Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock, where you can get the best pictures as the sun hits Machu Picchu for the first time. It was such a great feeling just being there - I couldn't take the smile off my face. It was just how I expected it to look - but also so much more. For me it was deeply moving gazing down on this hidden city in the middle of a high altitude jungle - I just felt happy to be alive and happy to be in such a magical place.
Hilbert took us down to the main entrance, and after leaving our bags and getting our passports stamped with the Machu Picchu stamp (had to be done), he took us on a guided tour around the ruins. We walked around the terraces, the Temple of the Sun, The Temple of the Condor and the Sacred Plaza. There was so much to see. Around 10.30 Hilbert had finished his
talk, just as the first hoards of tourists started to arrive by the coachload from nearby Agua Calientes.
The energetic ones among us decided to climb up Huayna Picchu - the steep jungle covered mountain that forms part of the backdrop of Macchu Picchu. It was hard work, but after Hilbert said he had done the 45 minute climb in 23 minutes, that was the kind of challenge we felt like trying! John was mega fit and made it up in 25 minutes -allowing for the narrow staircases and the downward flow of tourists that was pretty good going! I was more than pleased with my 27 minute time, considering I felt like death just days ago! Claude, Suzette and Amy were all up soon afterwards in hot pursuit! Great views at the summit though - even though it was a bit hairy on a few of the rocks looking back down!
So - that was the Inca Trail - one of the most rewarding things I 've done on my year away - the memories will stay with me for a long time. Thanks to everyone I went with for making it such a fantastic experience !!
Right - now I'm off to meet Marnie at Cuzco airport. Three weeks of great adventures ahead!
I'm going to stop typing here - this keyboard is a nightmare (and the internet has a rather strange smell of wee!)!!
Bye for now!!
Doogs xx
ps - the photos are nearly all in chronological order - so some of the best ones are at the end! be patient!!
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pop
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phew !
seany boy, you'll be down to 2 stone soon....mind out you do not become vulture bait ! ha ha. next stop everest, eh ?! good luck to you . lv pop x