Inca Trail Day 3 - The Last Supper
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
37
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Aguas Calientes,
Peru
Sunday, November 4, 2007
As we walked down into the campsite, we could see the path that we would have to walk for Day 3, and it was pretty much up, up, up. We were all thrilled after the stairs of yesterday. Victor had told us that most of the trek was little ups and flats, and that the first part would be the worst, and the last part would be pretty much straight down. Honestly, I was having a really good time. It was just the really big ups and downs that made me cranky. But then we started walking and once back in the swing it wasn't so bad
getting ready to go
. The up was very up, and I ran out of breath a couple times before we reached the destination Inca ruin of Runkuraqay. It was also rather cold. Sweat and cold again. Great combo. But the view was, as always, absolutely spectacular. These mountains were really something to look at, and I hope our photos can do the landscape some justice.
Runkuraqay means "egg-shaped," and the structure was indeed that. There were only two rooms that would have had roofs, with an open central area. The two theories about this place was that it was a military checkpoint on the road between Machu Picchu and Cuzco, or that it was a resting point for the couriers. It was situated on an outcropping and had an excellent view of the road and the valley. We collectively decided that it was a military checkpoint, due to the strategic location. Really, though, I don't see why couriers couldn't have slept there as well. It's not as though they were living there.
Then up we went again. By this time I was employing pretty much every trekking tip that Travis had given to me over the past two days and I finally found my stride. For the rest of the hike I was hardly ever out of breath
see all the people?
. And I learned that one stick is better than two, so if you don't know how to use trekking poles only take one, because if you take two you will use your arms too much and get more tired than ever. I also stopped caring about where our teammates were because there was absolutely no way that I would ever keep up with them. The walk was really quite relaxing. Perhaps the only slightly frustrating thing was that Travis was never ever out of breath, not only because he was so experienced, but also because I was so horrendously slow. But we took lots of pretty photos, and I was very grateful that he stuck with me, because I think I would have lost heart all on my own. I would also like to state that Travis and I were the only ones usually carrying full packs. Everyone else seemed to have day packs. I don't know how they did it. It was magical. Also, I saw many of the couples where the man carried the giant pack while the woman carried the day pack, and I thought to myself that I wouldn't like Travis to do all the work for me, although he did offer to carry a little more weight and most of the water. Good man.
After a bit more walking and sightseeing (we crossed the 2nd pass...it wasn't exciting as the first one, but it was still good, and we could look back and be impressed by the height of the first one) we arrived at the Inca ruin of Sayacmarka. This place had only two entrances, one of which was completely overgrown. We admired the structure and the well built stairs and aqueducts. Those crazy Inca were quite astute builders. The site may have been a city, but no one really knows what it was for. Hiram Bingham found it, as well as Machu Picchu and all the other ruins along the Inca Trail, which he also discovered
our guides
. We heard a lot about Hiram Bingham. Travis crawled around taking pictures, and we learned a bit more about Inca architecture. Then glorious lunch! It was our last one, and sort of bittersweet. So glad to eat, but sad to think that the cameraderie that we had developed over the past three days was about to be sliced and diced. They made us pudding for dessert. It was delicious. We made a game of guessing what we would eat. It was pretty easy because it was always soup, meat with rice and veggies, and tea. The things we did to entertain ourselves...
We crossed the third pass and saw Aguas Calientes. It really wasn't that exciting.
We had one more ruin to visit before beginning the descent the rest of the way to the campsite. It was called Phuyupatamarca, which means "city in the clouds," and it was rather up there. Here we admired the beautiful view and the architecture. Then we learned about the Andean cross. A picture would be the best way to describe it, but I haven't got that ability. There are essentially four quadrants with three terraces in each quadrant, and each terrace represents a quality. The first set stands for the sacred animals: condor, puma, and snake
egg-shaped resting place
. I can't presently remember the second, but when I do I'll amend this sentence. The third represents the astrology with the sun, moon, and stars. The fourth represents the three prized Andean qualities: don't lie, don't steal, don't be lazy. Cut crosswize the quadrants represent the four Inca regions, while the circle in the middle represents Cuzco. Spiffy. Finally we walked down the horrid zillion (and I'm not really exaggerating) stairs and then arrived in the campsite with the hot showers and the beer. Everyone was exstatic. We had our last happy hour with delicious hot cocoa and popcorn and chatted all the way till dinner. Victor told us to meet back at the same tables for dinner when he left happy hour, but the rest of us never left, so we never had to return.
We had a particularly sumptuous dinner and then went to meet and tip and thank all our porters. We had ten, and I think half the time we never even knew who they were. And they did everything for us. Truly amazing guys. And they weren't so much older than those of us in the group, but they looked ages older. Life's not so easy in Peru. We were very grateful to them.
Then to bed late in anticipation of an early morning and a charge to see Machu Picchu first. We were pretty excited. But the trek itself was more than enough to make me happy. I think everyone who wants to see Machu Picchu should do it.
Okay, Pumas, let's go!
Erin
