Mystic trekking on the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

Without trying to sound too dramatic, my trip thus far had pretty much been a build up to this moment. I say this because the Inca Trail was the only thing I booked before embarking on my travels. After this the pressures and timelines disappear and I can afford to take a more flexible approach to my last few months (only 3 left!!!!).

So.... after a night spent micro-managing my backpack to ensure minimal weight, Britters and I were set to go. I had set my pack to around 11.5kg whilst Britters was upset that he had to carry 5kg. We met up with our group near the SAS offices at 6am and boarded a big tour bus headed into the Sacred Valley. We had a brief stopover for breakfast and bought a few essential supplies (walking stick, chocolate and a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label... all essential) before moving to the start of the trail. It was here that we saw our porters. These chaps maxed out at about 5ft and carried packs that dwarfed them totally. When the Inca trail was still a relatively new tourist destination, porters would carry up to 70kg on their backs but today were only legally allowed 30kg... very very impressive for guys who looked like they weighed around 50kg themselves. A brief spat of group pictures and some psyching up took place at the start before we began our quest to find our spirit animal on the mystic trail of the Incas.

Kitted out and psyched to go

Most of the team (introductions to follow)

SAS porters. Coca leaf-chewing machines

The weather started off warm and sunny and we indulged in some witty banter as we all got to know each other in the group. Our group was fairly international and consisted of the following fine individuals:

Orlando and Danny (our guides)

Rebecca (Ireland)

Franklin and Jacquelin (father and daughter from Alaska)

Elin, Gro and Snorre (all from Norway)

Melanie, Joanne and Veronica (all from Wellington in New Zillund)

Ethan, Shelley and Lisa (mother, daughter and aunt from California)

BRITTERS!

and Me

The walk was mild and barely uphill... great success so far! We arrived at nice viewpoint where we could see our first Inca ruin which I cannot recall the name of. It was at this moment that the wind and rain rolled in and we donned our ponchos and other rain related paraphernalia. The rain was light so didn´t cause too much of an issue at first until I realised that my ancient rain jacket and rain pants had lost all form of rain resistance and leaked more than a Peruvian drainpipe, leaving me thoroughly soaked. I was forced to put on a cheap poncho I bought in Cuzco that was far too small and also not terribly effective. Nevertheless we all battled on to our lunch site where we were treated to warm soup and a delicious buffet all prepared by our group chef.

Inca site number 1. Can´t remember the name but will update when I do

Lunch under a blue light shelter

The rest of the day was pleasant with a few rainy situations. The path was quite pretty... many different species of colourful orchids and hummingbirds were seen. Our first camp was set overlooking the valley we had climbed and was quite spectacular. The porters had setup our tents and prepared another warm meal for us (spoilt brats we were!). Orlando conducted a small welcoming ceremony with the porters where everybody introduced themselves followed by a group picture. All we had to do was dump our roll matts and sleeping bags inside our tents and put on warm clothing. Even with all this, it still wasn´t easy for me to sleep on a matt in a tent. I managed to sneak in a few hours in between the loud snores coming from our neighbours´ accomodation.

Peruvian mountain shops were equipped to handle the most demanding of credit tourists. VISA and Mastercard.... yeah right

Orchids

Llama crossing

Camp on night 1

Full team pic. Trekkers, porters, guides and cooks

The next day was the infamous "Dead Woman´s Pass" section which is the toughest day on the trail. It involves a steep upward climb from around 3300m to 4217m. We were woken by our porters and handed some coca tea to warm up. In addition most of our group had brought coca leaves to chew to combat the altitude and provide a bit more energy.

The day was tough. The weather was constantly changing as clouds and rain swept through the valley. Despite this it was completely exhilarating to be taking this trail and there was definitely a unique (I could almost call it spiritual) feeling about it that I had not experienced on any trek before. Britters, Melanie, Snorre (66 years old!) and myself led the pack and emerged at the top in triumph. We celebrated with a couple of shots of Johnny Red Whisky as we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. At the pass, Orlando took us through a Incan offering ritual to Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) where we built a small stone pile and offered booze and coca leaves. Although it felt a bit put-on and I was a bit upset with the waste of alcohol, if it meant we would have good weather along the way then it was fine with me!

Coca power made this easy

A break in the valley just before the final ascent

Snorre, Britters and myself nearing the top

Victory!

A deserved treat from Johnny Walker. DO IT

Us at the top of the pass with me pulling a funny face

Moving down the pass on the other side, the weather turned pretty nasty. Lots of rain, wind and cold battered us as we moved down the steep and slippery path into the next valley. I was very very relieved to hit the lunch camp and where I could nurse my sore feet and shoulders. After indulging in another delicious lunch we sluggishly and reluctantly put our packs on again to start the climb of yet another pass. Halfway up we stopped off at Rucurencay ruins which are thought to be the remains of a watch tower that overlooked the entire valley. There were certainly beautiful panoramic views from up there.

The long stumble down wasn´t fun but our spirits were kept up by cute little hummingbirds in their nests

The watch tower of Rucurencay

Keeping watch

A fair way up pass number 2 with the watch tower in the background

These lads didn´t know the word "Quit"

The second pass was almost as much effort as Dead Woman´s! We all pretty much collapsed at the top, panting and groaning about how we hadn´t been warned about this second stretch. Following this was another steep downhill section and we emerged at another fairly large ruin called Saqyamarka. This is said to be the site of a religious community that was closely linked with Machu Picchu. Our campsite was a short way up the valley and it was with considerable relief that we sat down and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Our hardest day was done and Orlando turned up with a bottle of rum to assist us in celebrating this fact.

Saqyamarka ruins

The main temple at Saqyamarka. The rock is coloured to show an Incan figure

Very tired feet at the end of day 2

We were treated to a well deserved sleep-in the next day and I actually got a surprisingly good rest. This next section was meant to be a cruise. The surroundings had changed a fair amount by this stage and we were making our way through a fair amount of thick rainforest and jungle. We still had not escaped the rain and I had completely run out of dry clothing!! Damp t-shirts and pants did not make for the most comfortable walk. The rain and cloud made us all a bit frustrated as it blocked out a lot of great views. However we were made aware of the fact that the camp for that evening had warm showers and even a bar! This put a huge amount of motivation into the group and we marched on with singular purpose. Orlando, Snorre and myself competed in an entirely reckless race downhill for the last 30mins (which I won narrowly).

Lunch on day 3. No views due to the intense fog

I was willing to go to any means to gain some sunshine... including sacrificing Melanie on an Incan ritual table

The Winayhuayna camp was situated right near the Winayhuayna ruins. This place was clearly built for tourists as it had extensive camping facilities, electricity, functional toilets, a bar and of course... hot showers. The nearby ruins were the largest we had seen so far and were really impressive to look at as the sun set over the valley.

Civilisation!!!!

Winahuayna ruins

The showers were not as hot as we had been told and there was much to be desired about the water pressure, but despite this it felt pretty amazing to be clean again. Dinner was pizza and all sorts of Italian food followed by several beers! It was also the time to say goodbye to all our porters and provide them with a tip for their services. Shelley (USA) organised all the money and then talk moved to who would give the speech. It went a bit like this:

Shelley: ¨Ok, so who can speak Spanish as we will need somebody to do the speech¨
Melanie (I think): ¨Oh yeah Adam can¨
Joanne: ¨Yeah he can do it¨
Heads turn to Me
Adam: ¨Huh? I think you have the wrong person. I can´t really speak Spanish¨
Shelley: ¨Oh it would only be a few words and I´m sure you will be fine. If not we can just get Ethan to do it all.¨

--Now Ethan is Shelley´s Spanish literate 10 year old son. Pride and dignity obligated me to take up this dubious role instead of teflonning it onto a minor--

Adam: ¨Ok, I suppose I could do it but I will need a tra.....¨

Shelley promptly dumps a huge wad of Peruvian notes into my hand and smiles away. I consider making a run for it. I could live off the tips for a while at least.

In the end the speech went ok. It involved a fair amount of me speaking English followed by a translation from Orlando. As soon as money was exchanged, the mood grew festive.

Post ceremony group picture

We met up with some friends from other tours (Beth, Julie and Sebastian) and enjoyed some more whiskey. We only had a 2 hour walk the next day but in order to beat the tourist busses we needed to be up at 4am to rush to the site. The reason for this is that the tours from the nearby town of Aguas Caliente start early and a lot of people want to climb the Huayna Picchu mountain at the site which only allows admission for 400 people a day. No problems. After 2 hours of sleep we all awoke and put on our dirty clothes for what we hoped was the last day. We joined a long queue that stretched back from the site gate. There was an atmosphere much like the starting line for a marathon. Everybody had made an effort to wake up extra early in order to be at the front of the queue. We were miles back but were determined to make up for it when the hike started.

It was 4am and dark so we needed to start off the trek with headlamps

The checkpoint opens and people started moving through. I started a light jog and easily moved past people. After 30 minutes I arrived at the Sun Gate (the viewpoint which overlooks Machu Picchu and is where all the postcard pictures come from) only to see thick rainy mist in front of me. Bit of a bummer. I also realized that Orlando had my park ticket so I couldn't sign up for the mountain climb either. Double bummer. I sat at the Sun Gate and sulked until the rest of our group caught up. We all moved down together and even though the fog was still thick we saw signs of it clearing.

At the Sun Gate. Couldn´t see a bloody thing

The courageous amongst us moved to get our admission to the Huayna Picchu climb and then returned to the group to take the tour of Machu Picchu. Slowly the fog lifted and we were all left collectively stunned by what we saw. The ruins are situated on a hill with sharply descending valleys on every side all covered in lush green rainforest and jungle. The mist and fog moves through the valleys constantly as it if is in a hurry to get somewhere. The site is much larger than anything we had seen before and the construction seemed to be far more immaculate. Orlando took us through some of the important structures including the Inca nobility housing, Sun temple, water temple, quarry and sun dial right at the top. Llamas and Alpaca grazed amongst the ruins and even though they were most likely introduced there for the tourists, they still added another quality to the place. The construction was incredibly precise and one could see the huge amount of care that had been taken on some of the more important buildings. We wandered around a bit more before deciding to take the hike up Huayna Picchu mountain.

WARNING: There are a LOT of pictures now

Machu Picchu supposedly in the background. The mist did begin to clear right after this

Voila! Machu Picchu (with Huayna Picchu mountain in the background)

Llamas grazing calmly

The Sun Temple. The vertical and horizontal "step" shape represent first the winter solstice (longest night and shortest day) followed by equality and followed by the summer solstice. These Inca chaps were pretty sharp in their day.

The Water Temple with the sundial pedestal in the background. If it weren´t for all the damn tourists this would be a great picture!

On top of the sundial mount. The main rocky outcrop that can be seen was the Inca quarry where they worked on their building stones.

The Sun Dial

Our guides Orlando and Danny helping me rest my weary legs

This hike was very steep! We got up to the top in an hour and were just in time to see the clouds part completely, giving us the view of Machu Picchu in its entirety. We were an additional 360m up on a sort of pointy topped mountain surrounding by spectacular valleys. Apparently this place was used by the high priest as a residence shared with a bunch of local virgins (dirty bugger). They would hike to Machu Picchu EVERY morning to greet the rising Sun. At the top it was difficult to catch my breath considering the amazing views we had. It really was incredible just sitting up there and taking it all in. Very soon however, the mountain became totally crowded and we were forced to head back to catch our bus. We were all filled with massive amounts of exhilaration by what we had just seen. It really was that great.

A good view of Huayna Picchu. We had to climb that 360m beast with only 2 hours of sleep.

Steeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!

Pretty sweet hey!!! Machu Picchu way down below us

This place was literally built on a cliff face

I didn´t mean to pull out a "Christ the Redeemer" pose but there it is.



Coca leaves had gotten to me and Britters

The steep trek down again

Post- Huayna Picchu. Norwegian hike machines, Melanie and myself all very very sweaty but happy too

Getting back to the base, we got on a bus taking us down to the town of Aguas Caliente (literally meaning "Hot Water"). It gets its name from the hot springs that originate there. We stopped in for some lunch at the Viajeros restaurant and then went onto bathe in the hot springs which was very relaxing.

Hot springs. A bit dirty but at least we were warm

We also did a small presentation to Orlando and Danny, handing over tips before getting on the train back to Cuzco. We arrived back in time for a shower, dinner and a rendevous at a local bar called Mythology where we enjoyed a few farewell drinks.

No rest for the wicked they say. We had to be up early again the next day to fly to Lima and then onto Piura where we would taxi to the beach at Mancora!!!