Inca Trail - Day 4

  Machu Pichu, Peru
Thursday, September 14, 2006

We woke up at 4am with very sore feet and legs! We were also feeling very greasy and tired, but today was the big day - after walking 39 km we only had 6 more until we reached Machu Picchu!

We attempted to hike the first hour with poles in one hand and a small mag light leading the way in the dark in the other hand. The torches were only needed for a short while because as we waited to get let into the last leg of the trail the sun began to rise and we could see the path ahead. We were amused at the length of the queue at the final check-point at 5.30am!



We arrived at the sun gate after another nice part of the trail and it was a beautifully clear day - we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather!



Of course, whilst we both marvelled at the scene laid out before us, other trekkers had more pressing concerns to attend to:



For the record, the guy is a Brit!

We were enjoying our victory of making it there and the beauty of what lay before us when from behind came an American voice complaining "It's not as big as I expected! It's not as nice as I had thought! Why do people make such a big deal out of this? It just doesn't compare to the the Grand Canyon". Being that we were up at 4am, were tired, had walked for 4 days and were very impressed with what we saw, Steve couldn't handle this comment and turned around to tell them it was a stupid comment to make. The guy then floundered a bit and responded with "The grand canyon is at least natural, Machu Pichu is man made!" Stupidity abounds. We're sure the grand canyon offers 4 day hikes, they should have signed up for one of those! In the end it worked out well, Steve didn't get into a full blown argument on the Inca Trail and the people behind us were quiet for the rest of the hike so we could enjoy our accomplishments!

After another half an hour downhill we finally reached the ancient city of Machu Pich



Our guide gave us a 2 hour tour. He took us through many of the buildings, and one thing that stood out was the near perfect Inca stonemasonry used on buildings of importance (temples, palaces, etc.)



We also got to have a look at one of the few remaining intact examples of Intihuatana left in Peru. Not many survived unscathed because they were destroyed by the conquistadores as part of their stamping of authority on the Incas. Well, I say that the one in Machu Picchu was intact - if you look at the following picture you can see where the top right hand corner has been chipped off by a crane during the filming of a beer advert!



We have been trying to think of new words to use, you can only say amazing, beautiful and stunning so many times. www.thesauraus.com came up with "stupefying".

After the tour Tara's body had had enough and couldn't manage the sight of another stair so she went to sit and relax in the shade while Steve explored the ruins for an hour more to get some great views from the path on the way to the Inca Bridge.



Watch a video of the view by clicking here ->

After we had our fill of magnificent ruins, we got the bus down to Machu Picchu town (often known as Aguas Calientes) to meet up with the group and have some food. We didn't hang around for long and got the train back to Cusco, but we were amused by the fact that the the (still in use) train track rus right down the middle of one of the main streets!



We both have to say that thee Inca Trail and Machu Picchu is the highlight of our trip to date! The experience was amazingly, beautifully stunning!