Adam in Australia: The Inca Trail

Before I begin, just something to note: try viewing these pics on a bright monitor.. I´ve been uploading them on a laptop, but I´ve just viewed them on our hostel monitor (which is pants) and they are quite dark.

We booked the trip back in March, thinking "cor, that's a long way away". All of a sudden, it was upon us. Everyone we'd spoken to had said the trail was hard, and day two was horrific, so I was pretty much dreading it. One guy even went so far to say that it was harder than the Torres, and considering my body shut down on that hike, I was pretty nervous.
BUT, and I say this in good spirit, those people were talking shit. It's not that hard. In fact, day two is what I'd call moderately difficult. I'm not pretending to be Chuck Norris here, because Chuck doesn't have a spare tyre around his waste. The most difficult part about the whole trek is the steps. Why the Incas thought it made more sense to have steps instead of gentle gradients is beyond me.. maybe that's why they're no longer around. Sore legs.

Anyway, from the beginning.

The day before we left Cusco, we met with our group for a briefing at SAS' office (not that SAS, this one). We quickly went through the itinerary for the next four days, paying careful attention to all the details of day two. We were then given duffel bags to put our stuff in for the porters to carry.

Day 1

We met at a square near SAS at 5:45am, to begin the three hour journey to the town of Ollantaytambo. This is where the trail kicks off. The park rangers check your passport against the booking list to make sure you aren't trying anything funny, you cross the Bridge of No Return, and then it begins.

The group at the start of the trek

Crossing the Bridge of No Return

We started with a gentle walk, staying at 2,400m amsl and having a chat amongst ourselves; getting to know each other a little better. When you spend 24/7 with a bunch of people, you want to make sure none of them are convicted murderers or something similar. Thankfully no one was a convicted murderer. Maybe they just hadn't been caught.
Anyway, we walked for a few hours to our lunch spot, being passed along the way by porter after porter. 400 people per day are permitted onto the Inca Trail, including the porters, and it's utterly amazing and hugely embarrassing seeing these guys sprint past you, carrying 25kg and not uttering a word of complaint.

The ruins of Patallacta

By the time we arrived at our lunch spot, the porters had set up two huge tents - one for the chef to cook in (yes, we had a chef, and an assistant chef) and another with tables and chairs for the lazy gringos to rest in. We were even given bowls of warm water to wash our faces and hands in... C'mon, this isn't trekking! But I'll take it!
And then food was served. Dear God, the food was incredible. We all stuffed ourselves and sat in the sun afterwards for half and hour. Eating is hard work you know.
After that, we slowly climbed to our campsite for the night, passing through a small village at the foot of the mountain we'd have to assault the next day. The mountain pass is known as "Dead Woman's Pass". It's so named, not because there's a dead woman up there but because the pass looks like a dead woman. You really have to use your imagination, and forget anything you know about female anatomy. I'll leave that there.

Llamas and humans cautiously keep distance. These things spit and kick, and so do the llamas

Camp that night was the same. Awesome food, all the tents pre-set up for us, and an amazing view of a huge mountain in front of us.

Day 2:

We were woken at 5am to get an early start on the climb. The porters knocked on our tent with cups of cocoa tea, which supposedly helps with altitude. Fran and I have been at altitude since the start of June, so luckily we were acclimatised. One poor woman in our group had just flown into Cusco the day before the trek, and today the altitude was going to really hit her.
After an amazing breakfast, we started the climb. This section is not that difficult. There are a few stairs, but mostly it's pretty straight-gradient walking. The trail is also in good condition. We started out as a full group but soon began splintering off into smaller assault teams. I find it difficult stopping on hikes, so I went up front. The climb to the pass was supposed to take 3.5 to 4 hours, but your truly made it in 2 and a quarter. Jamie, I hope you are proud. I even beat the porters to the top, though I know that means diddly squat considering they were carrying 25 kay gees and I was only carrying an empty camera bag. Fran had the camera. I planned that well.
The rest of the group dribbled it's way uphill, with the last few appearing at the 4 hour mark. We all congratulated each other on a job well done. Those people who elected not to use porters were given extra congratulations. One guy took 17kgs to the top. Hardcore.
This was to be the highest point of the trek. At 4,200m amsl, it's no push-over, but still doable.

Children in the village of Wayllabamba

The view on the way to the top

SAS porters ascend to Dead Woman's Pass

The view from Dead Woman's Pass. We were at the base of that mountain the dazy before

The group at the top of Dead Woman's Pass

porters head down the mountain from Dead Woman's Pass

On the way down from Dead Woman's Pass

At the top we posed for a group shot, and then made our way downhill to 3,000m amsl. Again I decided to go it alone up front, but was sometimes joined by a young giant American named Greg. Cool bloke, who was also carrying his own gear. Another excellent lunch later, we then had to hit another mountain pass. This one I found more difficult, because of the bastard steps. After 5 minutes of it I'd had enough. But we all pushed on for 45 minutes before reaching the ruins of Runkuraqay. Here we stopped and our guide Javier (one of two guides, the other a botanist named Ramiro) explained about the function of the site.

Javier explains the purpose behind the ruins of Runkuraqay

20 minutes later we were off again, and again splitting into little groups. We reached the top in another 45 or so minutes. This pass is at 3,950m amsl, so a little lower than before. But the day was wearing on and it was fairly cold up here. So we started going down again, before finally reaching the ruins of Sayaqmarka. And this place is awesome. The ruins are huge, and it was here we started seeing first hand evidence of just how important the sun was to the Quechua Empire. We got to watch a really nice sunset and learned more about the peoples who lived here. From there, it was a short walk to our camp for the night, which was to be the coldest night yet. But not cold enough to ward off the bastard mosquitos and sand flies, and I was viciously attacked by a gang of marauding vampire bugs during the night. It was traumatising.

Through a window at Sayaqmarka

Sayaqmarka

Day 3.

Far easier than day 2. We awoke at 6am, and the plan was to walk just 3 or 4 hours to the lunch spot, where we'd have the afternoon to ourselves. After yet another hearty breakfast, we walked for an hour to another ruin - this one being an important stop along the Inca Trail for the Quechua peoples as they made their way to Machupicchu. And then we descended 3000 steps, taking about 1 and a half to two hours, and finally reached our camp. Along the way we walked through cloud forrest and rain forrest micro-climate, and saw beautiful plants and flowers. No spectacled bears though. Gutted.

Phuyupatmarka - meaning City in the Clouds

Me and Ramiro

Camp at day three is more like a small town. You can even have hot showers (timed and not free) and it was brilliant to get into relatively clean clothes after a shower. We went as a group to another ruin that evening before saying good bye to our porters, as we were on our own for day 4. We all got together, and an Irish woman named Lorraine in our group gave them a Michael Flatley performance, which was reciprocated by our chef taking her through a Peruvian dance of his own. No, not like that.

Right near the main campsite on Day 3, are the ruins of Winaywayna

Pano of the Andes

Same spot, different time

Sunset over the Andes

Sunset over the Andes

So we went to bed early that night, as we had to get up at 4am to hit Machupicchu for sunrise.

Day 4

Up at 4am, with the porters waiting by our tents to take them down as soon as we stepped out. They had to pack everything up and run down the mountain to a waiting train at 5:45. Insane.
So we had another brilliant breakfast, with everyone excited about the final day's trek. It was only two hours and luckily for us, the sky was clear, with not a cloud in the sky. The walk was gentle and the last 2 minutes involved climbing some steps before finally arriving at Inti Punku: The Sun Gate! On the December solstice, the sun peaks it's way through the narrow gate and shines down into the Temple of the Sun all the way down the trail to the city of Machupicchu itself. The Quechuas mastery of the heavens was incredible. Another example later.

Anyway, from the Sun Gate, you get your first view of "The Lost City of the Incas" - rediscovered by the American Hiram Bingham in 1911. It's still fairly far down the valley (which makes the sun trick even more neat considering the distance), but beautiful nonetheless. The sun at this time hasn't hit the city just yet, and we took a walk closer to watch the city gently awaken to the kiss of the sun. A beautiful site.

Machupicchu from a spot near the Sun Gate

We finally arrived in Machupicchu proper about half an hour later, where we took loads of shots. It was pretty surreal to be there as the Inca Trail and Machupicchu is pretty much the number 1 destination in South America, and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It was also time to reflect on the whole trip and realise just how much we've done in our time here.

The mountain of Putucusi, which we'd planned to climb the next morning

Putucusi amongst the other mountains

The group as we arrived into Machupicchu. Turn your head sideways to the right, and enjoy the fantastic Inca Face in the mountains.. completely natural

Sunrise at Machupicchu

The trek finished with a tour through the city, where we learned more about the Quechua people. There's a giant sundial in the city, that (when it worked - more about that here) casts a shadow on a particular piece of rock just once a year to make the eyes of a puma. Too cool.

Archaeology still goes on at Machupicchu

That afternoon we said goodbye to most of our tour group; five of us were going to stay at the town of Aguas Calientes (so named because of some hot springs around the area) at the base of Machupicchu. Myself and Fran, Giant Greg and two awesome Canadian girls. We had planned to climb another mountain at 4.am the next morning to watch the sun hit Machupicchu from a different angle, but after going out for some food and a few cheeky drinks, it turned out that was never going to happen. By the way, a word of advice: if you ever do the trip, take advantage of the hot springs in Aguas Calientes. After 4 days of hiking, it's a god send.

Jen, Alicia, Greg and myself cross the bridge on the way to the village of Aguas Calientes

King of the llamas, or so he told me

Sunset at Machupicchu

Overlooking Machupicchu

Me at Machupicchu

Same

rainbow

Anyway, I could go into so much detail about the trek and the entire experience, but I'll leave it there. It was an amazing trip, and please don't believe everyone who says it's hard. It's definitely not easy, but very doable.

Remember, more shots are here on my Smugmug site. Much love to everyone :)

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