The Inca Trail
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2005
1
21
65
Trip End
May 11, 2006
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Machu Pichu,
Peru
Thursday, November 17, 2005
We left our hostel at 8am and boarded the mini bus at the top of the hill. There was 14 of us in the group that were to do the Inca Trail: 4 Australians, 3 Swedes, 2 Dutch, 2 Brits, 2 Ecuadorians, and a German. We reached the start of the inca trail by about midday, by this time it was quite hot.
After passing through the first check point and crossing the Urubamba river we followed the river and climbed gently uphill for a couple of hours. Just before lunch the track sloped steeply uphill. We were told we had to bring enough water for the first couple of days, but I realised I had gone over the top with the 5 litres I had in my bag. It was far too heavy. When we stopped I gave away 2 and a half litres to lighten my load a bit.
While we walked I got chatting to some of the Australians, the Dutch, and the British girl who is married to one of the Aussies.
After lunch we passed the first Archeological site, Llactapata, down in the valley below us. Our guide took out his flute and played us a tune while we looked at the site. After Llactapata we turned left out of the Urubamba valley and walked up a valley following one of the Urubamba tributaries. It had rained a lot the night before and the river was raging and brown with mud from the surrounding hills.
We reached the camp at by about 6 o´clock. I was knackered. I had been ill just a few days before and hadn't fully recovered. Mark, one of the Australians, had been ill the night before we left and was in a really bad way the whole day.
01-Llactapata
His mates had to carry his stuff as he could barely stand.After dinner the guide got everyone in the group to introduce themselves and talk a bit about ourselves. After introductions we all had to sing our national anthem, I was glad to have another Brit there as I was pretty sketchy. Everyone in the group was fairly young. I think the oldest were the Ecuadorian couple who were both 42, they were known as the mother and father of the group and soon got the nick name Madre and Padre.
It rained a lot during dinner. We all went to bed around 9. I was having a relapse of my illness and had bad stomach cramps all through the night and therefore didn't sleep very well.
Day 2
We were told day 2 would be the hardest day. They were not wrong. We woke at 5.30am and were walking by 6.30am. Wayllabamba, where we spent the night, is at a height of 3000m, the pass we had to reach before midday, Warmiwanusca or Dead Woman's Pass, is at a height of 4200m. It's all up hill and it's all very steep. A lot of the way is stairs made by the Incas out of stone. From camp to the top of the pass took us 4 and half hours. Towards the end I had to rest regularly to get my breath back. Conversation was nonexistent. I think it was one of the most physically challenging things I've ever done. By the time I reached the top I was void of all energy.
The climb down to the camp was steep and really hard on the knees but we reached the camp by around 1pm and had the rest of the day to relax and recuperate.
Day 3
Day 3 was started with another climb but luckily nothing as bad as the previous day's.
02-One of the Urubamba tributaries
We climbed to another archeological site, Runkurakay, then past two lakes higher up. I spotted a deer drinking on the other side of one of the lakes. At the top of the second pass our guide played a tune on his flute and gave us some coca leaves to use in an Inca ceremony to mother earth. Our guide in particular was really in to Inca traditions and ceremonies - so it didn't just feel like something they did for the tourists.We left the 2nd pass and climbed steeply down past a lake and visited another archeological site, Sayacmarca, an Inca army centre. The Inca buildings are really impressive and it's amazing how well they are built and how huge some of the rocks they used are. They've stood there for 600 years.
After walking along flat path around the mountain side and passing another archeological site we had a 2 hour decent to our final camp, it was stairs all the way down. By the time I reach the bottom my calves were really sore and I it felt like my knees were going to explode.
After showering we visited Winay Wayna, an Inca administrative centre. Winay Wayna means forever young and is also the name for one of the Peruvian orchids that flowers all year round. I really like Winay Wayna, it's a terraced village built into the almost vertical hill side. We were the only ones there and it was so quite and peaceful.
Day 4
We woke at 4am to the sound of rain. The weather so far had been really good. We ate breakfast and left by 5.30. I had to keep stopping to put things in and out of my bag and ending up losing my group. The mountain was covered by cloud and all I could see when I looked through the trees was white. I enjoyed walking on my own in the rain, it was very quite and the trees had an eery look set against the white background.
I caught up with my group and we reached Machu Pichu by about 10am. It's an amazing city. The effort that must of gone in to building it all from the surrounding rock. Some of the buildings sit on top of rock outcrops and almost look like the natural rock. Dead straight walls everywhere. The Inca's built channels to distribute water throughout the city and after 600 years there's still water flowing through them.
I was a bit too tired to fully appreciate it all. Me and the Aussies decided to call it a day and head down the hill to Aguas Callientes and jump in the hot springs.
Everyone in our group was really nice and really good fun. Everyone got on really well. For the last couple of days I've been hanging out with the Aussies in Cusco. They're really good laugh and always having a joke. We went out last night got home at 6 this morning. They left to catch a bus at 8am and I am catching a bus to Bolivia this evening.
