The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu
Trip Start
May 18, 2007
1
5
43
Trip End
Jul 28, 2007
Machu Picchu,
Peru
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Saturday morning in Ollantaytambo started with a few merchants busily carrying their goods to the entrance of the ruins, where tourists would start rushing around 9 or 10. Even at 6, the merchants were setting up shop, cleaning the area where all the stalls are located, and laying out colourful scarves, hats, sweaters, long shawls - all in an effort to attract the attention of passing tourists.
A short distance up the hill towards the town square, I found a group of men hosing down the pavement with firefighter hoses -- as we say in French, "lavant ŕ grande eau" -- scrubbing with brushes, making sure that every speck of dust was, well, elsewhere... Sitting on a bench in the middle of the square, I realized an old native man, who looked like a real live Inca - correction, who WAS a real live Quechua - was just a few feet away, dressed in a striped colourful poncho, with a wide-brimmed hat, and skin like leather. He was just there, absently watching the towns people washing the street.
I walked back down the hill towards the ruins once again, and the water from the town square started slowly running down the hill as well, allowing crews of women expertly managed by "the boss" (a very energetic woman who was taking her role very seriously) to sweep and clean the side streets along the way.
A last look at Macchu Pichu for me
Curious about what else was now happening at the square, now that the sun was just up, I walked back up the hill, and saw dozens of people, men, women, children, milling about, busily preparing for something... Three flat-bed trucks were parked by the sidewalk, and women were dispensing breakfast to the locals who were loading all sorts of goods on the back of the trucks. A cute little boy of at most 2 or 3 was standing there, barefoot and crying, but once in a while, his mother would come by and reassure him, and then return to work loading and preparing things on the trucks. I asked where all these people were going, and was told they were driving to another town to take part in the weekend market activities, sell their goods and bring back supplies the next day.
The sound of laughter and happy shouts permeated the morning air, and people's faces were covered with bright smiles. I felt really lucky to witness this - I even filmed a lot of it, and people either ignored me or smiled at me. It started the day on a great note!
After breakfast, we finally got going towards the Inca Trail. For the common tourist, the starting point is KM 82, where the Checkpoint is. We got our passports stamped, photos taken, and then watched in amazement as porters loaded way more than the "regulated" 15kg on their backs. These guys are strong and work hard - but have a short life expectancy...
Our first day's walk was pretty short and straight-forward. Not too challenging! Some parts uphill, some downhill - always surrounded by great landscapes.
Archeological site along the trail
Lunch was a feast - soup, fish, rice... G.A.P. does things in way similar to what I have seen in Nepal or Africa with KE Adventure, except for the full lunch (I'd been expecting a packed lunch). Another couple of hours of walking after lunch and we were soon in camp for the night. And that's when I acknowledged to myself that my stomach didn't feel right...A quick trip to "the loo" confirmed that everything wasn't right. Then - nausea and vomiting. Oh boy... Yes, all this on the first day of the Inca Trail, with the second day reputed as a real tough one.... No dinner for me that night.
I woke up feeling a bit better the next morning, well enough to eat some breakfast. We started walking around 7.30-8am -- while the nights were chilly, the days were quite warm, and a t-shirt was more than enough, and a hat and sunscreen mandatory!
The second day on the Inca Trail culminates in the infamous "Dead Woman's Pass", which at 4200m, is the highest altitude reached during the trek. We had been told to expect about a 4 hour uphill hike that day. Less than an hour into the walk, I was throwing up -- my stomach felt much better for it, but my energy level went down to zero... So I did the only thing I could do: summon every ounce of mental energy I could find, and kept walking. Our assistant guide Ingrid was quite good to me, staying with me the majority of the day. Our main guide Humberto also came back to check on me periodically, as the rest of my friends forged ahead at their own pace -- all of them feeling the effects of an uphill hike at altitude.
Dead Woman's Pass - I made it...
I did eventually reach Dead Woman's Pass, about 45 minutes or an hour after my friends. The only thing sustaining me was Gatorade (bought at a serious premium on the trail!), so I took a nice long break at the Pass and chatted with the two guides. When I finally reached camp, at 3.45pm, the porters all applauded. Ah, the embarrassment...! My friends were happy to see me, and I was happy to hear their stories as well. It was not easy for most of them - and the Inca Trail shouldn't be discounted as an easy trek! I've been higher (Nepal, Kili), but this somehow felt just as hard.
Day Three was a bit better health-wise. I was able to eat more, so felt a bit more energetic. I didn't go much faster for it, but at least I felt good. We saw more ruins during the day. Humberto, despite his 20 years of experience, was not the most effective at explaining what the ruins were, so we were a bit frustrated with that. Nonetheless, I very much enjoyed the walk again that day. I can't even describe the landscape - vast, lush, daunting - I don't have enough words to do it justice.
Our campsite that night was a bit "dodgy" - about 2 feet of space in front of the tents and then a 20 foot drop! And the toilets in the restaurant (yes, there's a permanent structure here) were less than appealing by the next morning. But all in all, we of course made the best of it! We had a great last dinner as a trekking group (forgot to mention that only 6 of our original group were together, mixed with 6 other people for a different GAP group) and gave the porters and guides their tips.
First camp on the Inca Trail
Kudos to those porters - they work damn hard for their meager wages and tips. We increased their share of the tips, as we felt they were more deserving than the guides.4am yesterday, we were up and at it! On the trail by 5.30, our goal was to reach Intupuku, or the Sun Gate, by sunrise. The only problem was, it had rained during the night, and as a result, it was foggy. So - we reached the Sun Gate and had a great view of... fog. No long distance shot of Machu Picchu for us. :-(
We chose to wait another 30 minutes - "just in case" - but it never cleared. So we started the last 45 minutes of the hike down to Machu Picchu itself...
...Wow...
What surprised me the most was how vast, how meticulously manicured, and how precariously-perched the whole city was. All around the city itself, mountains of more than 4000 m stretching to the heavens, and way down to the Urubamba river 2000 m below. We all stopped to take pictures and mainly, to take it all in. It is an absolutely awesome site, well-deserving of the title of "New 7 wonders of the world" (www.n7w.com).
After going through the very modern control post and getting our passports stamped, we walked around inside the ruins and got a "guided tour" (again, not very satisfying) from Humberto. Since the Incas did not have a written language, much of their history has been passed only through oral tradition, and much has been lost along the centuries, especially after the Spanish conquest of Perú. As a result, much speculation and conjecture are heard regarding the purpose of various temples, buildings, stones even, within Machu Picchu. What is for certain, is that the Incas were master engineers who could deal with earthquakes, aqueducts and terrace farming at altitude. Some of the stonework we saw is impressive simply by the fact that the stones are so meticulously cut that there is no space at all between them - no mortar, and no room for even a sheet of paper!
We walked among the ruins a bit more, and were happily reunited with Chris, Harriet, Mary, Brian, Keith and May Nah, who were not on our trek. We swapped stories over lunch in Aguas Calientes.
We capped off our Inca Trail adventure with a fun train ride from Aguas Calientes back to Ollantaytambo, and then a (private) bus ride back to Cusco. The celebratory beer was flowing (open container laws in Perú, I think not! No, the driver was NOT drinking, no worries...) - but I ended up sleeping most of the bus ride!
Slept well -- got ALL my laundry done by 12pm today for a measly $6, and spent today relaxing...
It was at times painful - but wow, was it ever worth it!
Comments
Dead Woman's Pass
How well I remember this, I called it Dead Dan's Pass. The night after we made it up to the top is when we were introduced to Gato Negro. Janel, Michael,Maggie and I waited the fog out but I think it was noon before it cleared. I stayed about a week in Aguas Caliente and visited the ruins daily. Do they still have little kid running up and down the hill for tips? Love your commentary, feels like I am there.
Puma