The Inca Trail and Macchu Picchu (Cusco, Peru)

Our Inca trail group with our fantastic team of porters

After a short drive from the porters' village where we had spent the night before, we arrived in Ollyantambo, a village at the start of the Inca trail, which gave us a last chance to stock up on supplies and get a second breakfast, just to be absolutely sure we had enough energy for the challenge ahead. From here onwards, our porters would be carrying all of our equipment (barring a small day bag each) so we watched on slightly guiltily as the porters divided up our equipment in to the maximum 20kg they are each allowed to carry on the trail. By way of comparison I'd carried 15kg on my back on the W trek in Patagonia, but that wasn't at altitude and I was going at a much more leisurely pace than the porters who charged along the trail each day in order to get to camp ahead of us and set everything up.

A fully laden porter (note the sandals!)

After taking a few photos at the start of the trail and getting our passports stamped with a special Inca trail stamp at the admin building that marked the start of the trail, we were off. Initially the path followed the path of the Rio Urubamba and the railway line that runs alongside it all the way to Macchu Picchu, with the sound of the passing trains reminding us that many people take a far more comfortable and quicker route....but where's the fun in that!

Our group at the start of the trail (spot the professional with the walking poles)

Chris and I at the start of the trail

The first day's walking was relatively gentle and although we gained a little altitude, it was only a couple of hours before it was time to stop for lunch. Here we got our first taste of the porters sterling efforts as we'd arrived at the lunch stop to find a dining shelter already pitched with table and chairs inside to make ourselves comfortable around while a delicious hot meal of several courses was brought out to us - we immediately decided we could get used to this!

It was only another hour or so's walk to our campsite for the evening, but on the way we reached the first of the many Inca sites we would be passing during the trek. Our guide Roxner was always on hand to explain each site as their uses varied between fortresses, lookout points, storage rooms and agricultural sites, as did the extent to which they had or hadn't needed some rebuilding (depending on whether the conquistadores had found them). The fact the trail we would be walking was the main route between the important Inca cities of Cusco and Macchu Picchu meant that there are many Inca ruins along the route, which in their own way, proved to be as interesting as Macchu Picchu itself.

Patallaqta

Chris at Patawasi

On arriving at camp, we were quickly presented with our 5pm snack, aka 'Happy Hour', which included plentiful supplies of coca tea, popcorn and biscuits, which we hungrily wolfed down. No sooner had we finished gorging on popcorn than a huge dinner was brought out for us, which many of us struggled to do justice to given how much we'd eaten not that long before. We quickly realised we wouldn't be going hungry on this trip!  After a few games of cards (which helped to pass most of our evenings on the trail) it was time for bed as we would have an early start the next day.

Our tents ready and waiting for us

Although the weather was reasonably dry on the first day, we awoke to rain the next morning. I asked our head porter Balero whether he thought it would rain for the next few days and his response was 'yes, it always rains on the last days of the month'. While I rather doubted the meteorological basis of this view, the fact that today was the 28th March suggested we were in for a wet few days, but I decided not to demoralise the rest of the group by passing on Balero's hunch, which as it turned out was a pretty accurate forecast!

The second day of the trek saw us tackle the highest point of the trail, the Dead Woman's Pass, which at 4215m is quite a serious altitude. Most of the morning was therefore spent following the path steadily uphill in the rain, with the rising altitude meaning we had to take things slowly. 

Chris takes a breather on Day 2

On the path up to Dead Woman's Pass

Chris struggles up the last few metres of the climb

Having spent the last couple of weeks at or above 3000m, I didn't have too many problems with the altitude but made sure I walked with Chris and the others from our group who were newer to the altitude so that I didn't push myself too hard - or at least I did until the final hundred metres or so when I couldnt resist pushing on to be first to the top!

Our group at the top of Dead Woman's Pass

4215m!

The view from the top probably would have been stunning were it not for the thick cloud surrounding us so we had to make do with taking a few photos and savoring the sense of achievement that came from reaching the highest point on the trail, before we descended into the valley where our campsite for the second night was located.

A new friend on Day 2

Chris relaxes after a tough second day

The third morning saw yet more wet weather, which wasn't ideal considering this would be the longest day of the trek, but there were a number of Inca sites to along the way which appeared mysteriously out of the mist every few hours. 

Runkuraqay

at Sayaqmarka on day 3

Lunch on Day 3

The second half of day 3 was largely spent descending, and by now Chris and I had learnt a fantastic technique for overtaking some of the slower walkers from the other groups. Everyone walking on the trail had been advised to keep out of the way of the porters to allow them to push ahead and get to the next campsite, so we quickly learnt that by slipstreaming the porters after they passed us we could overtake dozens of other slow walkers - providing we could keep up with the ferocious pace set by the porters! We did get a few comments from the people we overtook, including a couple of people who thought we were competing in a race, but it was worth it as it got us to the next Inca sites well ahead of the hordes.

At the end of Day 3, we arrived at the two most impressive Inca sites yet, Intipata and Winawayna, two agricultural sites with huge terraces that were truly mindblowing. With little or no flat land for farming in the Andes, the Incas were forced to undertake huge feats of engineering to create these terraces upon which they could then grow potatoes, quinoa, and other crops. As we were now well ahead of the rest of the group, we were able to spend an hour exploring Intipata and taking in the spectacular views of the surrounding valleys. 

Initpata

Intipata

Chris is a little slow in getting in the self-timer shot

That's better!

Once the rest of our group had arrived, we just had time to pop down to Winaywayna before it got dark, an equally impressive Inca site that also included a spectacular set of terraces and a small urban area that would have been home to around 50 Incas.

Winaywayna

That night things took a slight turn for the worse when something I'd eaten disagreed with me and I was forced to dash to the rather disgusting campsite toilets several times during the night. Our 3.30am alarm call the next morning was therefore rather unwelcome and it was only by taking some antibiotics and a few other drugs that I even felt well enough to undertake the two hour walk to Macchu Picchu. I couldn't believe I'd managed to get sick on the morning I was visiting Macchu Picchu, something I wanted to do for years, but luckily the drugs kicked in and I was just about able to survive the day!

Not enoying the early start on Day 4

After a couple of hours walking we reached the Sun Gate, where the Inca trail reaches Macchu Picchu and on a clear day gives you stunning views down on to the city below. Unfortunately, this was anything but a clear day and we couldn't see anything beyond thick cloud. After four hard days of walking this was hugely demoralising, but there was little we could do but trudge down the path in to Macchu Picchu and pray for a change in the weather. Fortunately, within a couple of hours, the clouds did begin to lift and before long we began to see what we'd walked all this way for. As great as all the Inca remains we'd seen so far had been, Macchu Picchu was on a completely different level in terms of the size, scale and completeness of the remains. Added to this is its stunning location on the top of peak overlooking a bend in the Urumbamba river, which became more and more apparent as the cloud lifted.

First views of Macchu Picchu as the cloud begins to clear

Temple of the Three Windows

The sun dial

Inevitably, we didn't exactly have the place to ourselves as in addition to the two hundred or so hikers who had trekked with us along the Inca trail, another two thousand or so tourists had arrived via the train from Cusco. It was hard not to feel slightly resentful towards these clean smelling, fresh looking tourists who had just stepped off the train and yet were struggling to walk up a few steps within the city given all the effort we had made to get here, but we could at least feel slightly smug at having earned the right to be there through sheer effort and for the fantastic few days we'd had getting there. 

Macchu Picchu with Huayna Picchu behind

Our group at Macchu Picchu

After spending a couple of hours wandering around the city with our guide Roxner, Chris, Caroline, Joanne and I set off to climb Huayna Picchu, an imposing mountain that towers over Macchu Picchu. Although a very steep and narrow climb, if you can make it to the top you are rewarded with fantastic views over the Inca city and a real sense of perspective as to its position in relation to the valleys around. Although by now I was feeling pretty rotten and the clearing of the cloud had made it a little too hot for tearing up a mountain, I decided I had to go for it and somehow managed to drag myself up the mountain in only thirty minutes. 

View of Macchu Picchu from the top of Huayna Picchu

Before long, it was time to leave Macchu Picchu and take a slightly hairy bus ride down the hill to the nearest settlement, Aguas Calientes, where most people stay when visiting the city. However, we had a rather tight schedule in order to fit in everything we wanted to see while Chris was in Peru so had planned to catch a train straight back to Cusco so that we could catch a night bus on to Puno, our next destination, that evening. Unfortunately, there had been some sort of mix-up with our train tickets and Wayki Trek (who other than this slight hiccup had been absolutely excellent) didn't have any train tickets for us to get back to Cusco! Thanks to the sterling efforts of Roxner we managed to blag our way on to train that afternoon, but it did mean pretending to be called Emma and Sofia (as they had some spare tickets in those names) and somehow getting through three security barriers undetected! It was rather like the end of the Great Escape as we tried to look cool and act normally as we passed the guards on each occassion (I half expected someone to say 'Good Luck' in a German accent), but somehow we did it and it was with great relief that the train pulled out of Aguas Calientes and set off on its journey back to Cusco. 

Relief at catching the train back to Cusco!