MACHUPICCHU and the INKA TRAIL


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South America » Peru » Cusco » Machu Picchu
March 16th 2011
Published: March 17th 2011
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One of the new 7 wonders of the world, so it was. Do it if you can before they close it, which is what might happen in the future to protect this beautiful countryside and historical sites. But meanwhile 2500 people visit Machupicchu by train and bus daily whilst only 500 (300 porters and 200 guests) are permited to walk the Inca trail to Machupicchu, which takes 4 days over 47kms. This is what we did, and made it, phew!, all that walking has paid off. We've agreed that this was the highlight of our RTW trip and certainly one of the most challenging, and very very worthwhile.
It started in Cusco at 6am with a pick up by bus with the other 11 people in our group. There was 2 Americans,6 Brazilians,1 Spaniard,1 Dane and 1 Frenchman plus our two guides Jair and Guido. On our way we picked up our Chef and his team of 11 porters. These guys carry all the food and tents for the 4 days but only a max. of 25kg each! The food was amazingly good considering the locations they were cooking in. Everybody ate heaps as we needed to keep our energy levels up to enable us to walk 8 hours up and down mountains for 4 days.
The first day was a relatively easy climb up to Wayllabamba campsite passing the Inca site of Patallaqta. The next day we were awoken at 5.00am with coco tea served in the tents and then a cooked breakfast at 5.30am before the hardest(they say)climb of 5 hours up 1500m vertical to the col of Warmiwanusco at 4215m. After which down the Inca steps for 2/3hrs to the campsite at Pacamayu. This is where our guide served rum tea and popcorn, also hearing speeches from the porters about their families,where they're from and how long they'd been working as porters etc. Very shy and many children to summarise! that night it poured and we woke at 5.30am with damp sleeping bags and mats.
The third day is the longest walk to the last campsite before Machupicchu. It was also the most interesting as we had the opportunity to visit 3 other Inca sites on the way. At the last campsite there was hot showers and a bar. Everybody ate inside the building(500 inside) which gave it a great atmosphere. But the problem was everybody had to get to bed early as we were getting up at 3.30am! This is so we get to Machupicchu at about 7am before the crowds arrive by buses etc. So it was an experience walking in a long line of head torches up to the Sun Gate,the entrance to the city. Unfortunately it was cloudy so there was no views from there,but after a while it started to clear up. The mist certainly made it feel mystical and special. We spent about 3 hours with Jair touring the ancient city,by late morning the hoards of tourists had arrived, so we bussed down to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes for a group lunch/beer and then train back to Ollantaytambo,then bus to Cusco arriving 8.30pm to our hostel for a hot shower and a mattress!



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17th March 2011

amasing !!!
what a hyke !!! i would love to go there it looks soooooooooooooo amasing !!!!

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