So the highlight of our South American odessy arrives and turns into a tale of two stories...
Darren`s story:
The bus arrived at 7am on Sunday to take us to the start of the 4 day, 46km trek to the famous Machu Picchu inca city. We were both very excited and the whole group had been banging on about the trek for weeks. Half an hour before the bus arrived so did Montezumas revenge choose to arrive in my belly! Despite the bad case of diarreah I decided that I had to do the trail whatever the cost and hoped that it would clear up overnight. So I set off on the trek with a hopeful heart, copious amounts of bog roll and clenched cheeks. We started our trek along the valley heading up into the mountains with me making frequent stops and beginning to doubt the wisdom of my choice, but Machu Piccu awaits I thought... must.press.on.despite.severe.diarreah... after 3 hours and 9km of arduous trekking (not made any easier by the altitude which can leave you breathless after climbing 3 steps) we arrived at the lunch stop.
By this stage I felt like death warmed up, left to cool and then warmed up again. I found a shady spot to lie down and tried to relax. That`s when the bug kicked in. I had the chills, a fever and felt really, really rough. However I still thought I might be able to continue the trip if I could just.get.some.sleep. Our guide had other ideas though and after taking my temperature decided that there was no way I could continue and that I would have to go back! The thought of walking the 9km back didn`t thrill me, but the thought of being stuck in the mountains in my present state made me feel that I best do as he says. He got his assistant guide to walk back with me as I also had the 7kg duffle bag with all my stuff in. The walk back was one of the longest two and a half hours of my life, fortunately Oswaldo was good company and I just got stuck into the walk. Eventually we arrived at the base area and I got bundled into a taxi van (along with a load of schoolkids) and one hour later (after a suitably bumpy off-road journey) I arrived in Ollyantambo, got to the hotel and asked for the doctor. They directed me to the hospital and I eventually got to see a doctor. He was the guy who looked like a builder, not the guy who was in his trackies, he was just the orderly who took my details. Luckily there was an American nurse hanging about with the doctor who translated my symptons. They were very helpful and the whole thing, inc pills, cost me less than half a pint. I took my medicine and collapsed on the hotel bed for the next 14 hours.
My next concern was would I be able to get a train ticket to Machu Picchu. As luck would have it I got hold of our tour guide the next day in Cuzco and she sorted it all out for me. Now all I had to do was chill out till I could meet up with Angie at Machu Piccu.
Angie`s story:
Darren leaving happened so fast that I was left feeling a bit lost, sad and worried. This soon evaporated though when the reality of the afternoon's walk started to kick in and I had more pressing things to think about. On reaching that evening`s campsite, 2.5 hours and 5000 steps (up) later, everyone agreed that Darren did the right thing to turn back. It was a punishing climb even for those people in tip top shape. But the good news was that we had got a good portion of Dead Woman`s Pass under our belts. 90 percent of Inca Trail trekkers stop for the first night much further down the mountain and therefore have much more climbing to do on the second day.
Our campsite was high up in the valley on steeply sloping ground but the view back over the mountains behind was fantastic. When we arrived, our tents were already up, courtesy of our entourage of porters, and within half an hour we had hot chocolate and popcorn, courtesy of our 2 cooks. For a group of 11 trekkers, we had 14 porters, 2 guides and 2 cooks which sounds an unnecessary amount, but they made the trek bearable and at some points, possible. We carried our daypacks and could only just manage to struggle up the trail with them. The porters carry 25kg, are generally about my height, run past you on the path, and wear sandals. They are amazing. The oldest porter in our group was 40 and looked about 60.
During dinner on the first night, we quizzed our guide about the annual Inca Trail race that most of porters take part in. He confirmed that the fastest time was set in 1997 at 3 hours 45 minutes. When you`ve walked any distance on the trail that time is just unbelieveable. It took us about 17 hours to complete. Our guide`s fastest time was 5 hours 50 minutes, and it is getting onto his 500th time of walking the trail.
In the middle of the first night I woke up and immediately knew that I had caught the bug Darren had. I spent the next endless hours expelling undigested food from both ends all over the campsite (thought you`d appreciate the detail!) and finally fell asleep at dawn. An hour later the 6am alarm went off and I felt terrible. Not the best way to start the second and hardest day of the trek. The trail starts climbing immediately to scale Dead Woman`s Pass (4200m). Believe me, I understood why it is called that! Struggling far behind the others I stuffed glucose tablets down my throat and walked on the short bursts of energy these gave me. The top of the pass is visible from the start of the day and seeing the ant-like figures miles ahead and realising how far you still have left to climb did not help at all. Each step required immense phyical effort and mental concentration.
But I made it, and once at the top it was time to descend down the other side of the pass. Most of the Inca Trail is made from stone slabs with the occasional wooden bridge, but the steps are up to half a meter in height which makes then exhausting to climb up, and jarring to climb down. We lunched in the next valley (I slept while the others ate) and in the afternoon climbed the second pass (Round Ruin) at 3950m. Arriving at the campsite I managed a little food and then collapsed into my tent for a long and uninterrupted night`s sleep.
Being the start of the rainy season, I was concerned that low cloud and rain were going to obscure the amazing views. We had heard about a group who did the trail the week before us and had constant rain for the whole 4 days. So far, we`d been really lucky with sunny weather in the day and the rain, thunder and lightning being consigned to the night. However, on the third day I woke up to see the valley filled with cloud and within minutes the campsite was surrounded with swirling mist. However, that day`s walking was through cloud forest, with delicate bamboo and moss hanging languidly from the branches of the trees, so there was enough flora and fauna to be seen close up to make up for the fact that we missed the amazing view from the top of the third pass. Our guide pointed out orchids (there are over 1000 species just in this area), fungus, ferns, bromelids, hummingbirds and BIG hairy spiders, and we could hear parrots flying overhead. We were told that Peru contains examples of 75 percent of the ecological niches on earth, because the climate and terrain is so diverse, from desert to mountain. The Inca Trail alone passes through an enormous variety of landscapes from alpine to jungle.
The third day is just a few hours walking to the campsite at Winaywayna ruins (meaning forever young, and named after an orchid found in the area that is constantly in bloom) and once below the cloud level, we had great views over the dark green forest-covered mountains, the River Urubamba (which is one of the tributaries of the Amazon) and the train track which leads to Machu Picchu. I watched quite a few trains wind their noisy way along the valley, hoping that Darren would be in one of them, and ready to meet me the next morning at MP.
As you progress along the trail, you pass Inca ruins that increase in size and importance as they near Machu Picchu. In the afternoon, we took a tour of Winaywayna and saw the 16 springs carved into the hillside that are still flowing after 500 odd years, and the impressive terracing that covers huge areas of the mountian side and meant they could cultivate the land. All the ruins we saw along the trail have been uncovered since, and because of, Machu Picchu`s discovery in 1911. They were completely overgrown by jungle obscuring the terraces and the stone buildings, but once it is cleared away the original structures are still firmly there.
As this was our last night on the trail we tipped and said thanks to our porters and cooks. The food had been amazing - cooked breakfasts, 3 course lunches and 4 course dinners all served in a marquee like tent at a long table.
On the final morning, we were woken up at 4am and the race was on to beat other trekking groups to the check point down below the campsite which causes a bottle neck. The porters were actually taking down my tent around me while I was getting up! So, after a rushed breakfast we set off still in the dark for the last 2 hours of the trail. We had camped in view of the mountain Machu Picchu (after which the city was named by its discoverer - no one knows what the Inca name for it was) and knew that the great ruins lay just behind it. As the sun rose over the snow capped mountains and I moved ever nearer to Machu Picchu (and Darren!) I began to feel pretty emotional. It felt unreal to have worked so hard and to be so close to somewhere I`ve wanted to visit for so long.
Then suddenly, we reached the top of a hill and we were there, at the sun gate, at sunrise! The sun gate is the first point on the Inca Trail from which you get a view of Machu Picchu. Or it should be! All we had was a white abyss. We stopped for a rest anyway and were amazed by the number of trekkers aready there, who must have got up at 10 to 4! After a while the cloud started to shift and we could begin to make out the valley below. We waited and waited and the sun got high enough to start burning off the cloud cover. Soon the whole view was clear... except for Machu Picchu itself, which was covered in a stubborn sheet-like layer of cloud that was not moving. We let the suspense continue and carried on down the path towards the site entrance. At the various viewpoints on the way down, patches of cloud move to uncover one part of Machu Picchu, just as another part would be covered up again. It was like a very frustrating jigsaw! Finally when we were much lower, the cloud lifted and we were rewarded with the view and photo opportunities of the great ruins. They are huge and in such an amazing location that seeing them in the flesh is quite overwhelming.
When we entered the site itself though, we were overwhelmed by the number of people already there and felt quite vitriolic towards anyone who looked like they had just arrived in an air conditioned bus and not spent 3 days of hard slog to get there. Still, we managed to clear a small area of tourists (which we were not of course!) and got the classic end of the trek photograph with the ruins behind.
Reunited:
We finally met up and spent the rest of the day exploring Machu Picchu - the city itself with all its temples, tombs, sun-hitching posts and steps; the Inca Bridge which clings to a vertical cliff face about 15 minutes walk from the main site; the surrounding hills that reward the hard climb with fantastic views over the city. All in all a fantastic end to a few hard days slog (for both of us). See the pics to understand why so much fuss is made about this famous place...
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Machu Picchu Hotels
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