The Inca Trail - Lotsa Pics

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 :)

Random shots:

Two lovely Canadian lasses, Jennifer and Alicia

Alicia nurses a tree log.. street art is the same weird stuff the world over

Cusco's Plaza de Armas square

Need more zoom

Greg and a beaten up looking pig

Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, and PERU!

When I left you last, Fran and I were on our way to famous Lake Titicaca, which straddles the Bolivian/Peruvian border. As mentioned in a previous blog post of mine, Lake Titicaca is the remnant of ancient Lake Ballivián, which once covered the entire Altiplano. What's now left, is still an enormous body of water, covering an area of 8,372 sq km, South America's largest lake, which has had a huge impact on the Altiplano cultures that encountered it. The Tiwanaku culture flourished here, from approximately 1,200 BC to just a few hundred years before the Inca arrived in the area. According to Inca creation mythology, Titicaca is the spot where the Empire was created - the Sun God causing the first two Inca rulers to emerge from the lake, and they narrowed it down to a specific location on the north of the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), which juts out into the Lake from the Bolivian side.
On a personal note, I'd long wanted to see the lake, after reading a book called Trail to Titicaca a few years back. Reading about a place before you get there always makes the experience a bit more personal.

So we left La Paz one chilly morning, saying goodbye to an awesome city.

La Paz, and Illimani sits above it

Taken as we left La Paz. This woman was waiting for the right time to set up her stall (packed away under the blue covers)

Chaotic streets of La Paz

One of Fran's pics whilst I was in bed sick. Great shot I think!

Another one of Fran's

The bus travels across the last of the Altiplano for about three hours. Along the way, you are offloaded onto a boat, and the bus itself crosses a narrow straight on a barge.

Buses cross on barges.. people take small passenger boats

From there, it's a short drive to Copacabana. Touristy, yes, but one hell of a cool town. For the first three nights we stayed at Hostal Las Olas, which has easily the nicest view of any hostel in South America... big call, I know. And yes, I also know we've only been to three countries! The comment still stands. Our private "cabin" had a small kitchenette, hamocks inside, two small gardens, also inside, and the pièce de résistance, gas showers! No more electric shower heads!

Our "hostel" room. That bed on the left is big enough to fit a tank on. We even had hammocks inside!

The view from our room. The funny shaped building in front is another cabin of the hostel

See what I mean?

Copa is also reknowned for it's fantastic sunsets, and we were greeted on all our nights there (bar one, more later) with such a view. We climbed a huge hill next to the hostal to watch the sun set into Titicaca.

Sunset over Lake Titicaca

Sunset over Lake Titicaca

As the sun sets over Copa. Hiking to the hills around the town is hard work!

A few hours later

The big Cathedral in Copacabana

By the way, Stu: I finally managed to track down a copy of the Solaris album.. watching the sunset and listening to that music? Well, you get the drift.

On our third day in Copa, we took a boat ride out to the Isla del Sol, and visited the ruins. The boat drops you in the north of the Island, and from there it's a 45 minute walk to the ruins, and then a three hour walk to the south of the Island where the boat waits to take you back. Remember, Titicaca is at just over 3,800m amsl, and the hike is easily two hundred meters above that. Hiking through this terrain was HARD. You take a few steps and your body screams for oxygen. But we made the walk in just over two hours so we were pretty chuffed. Cath and Jonesy are probably laughing at us right now, seeing how super-fit they are, but that's good work for us guys!!

The trail on the Isla del Sol

Cordillera Real, from Isla del Sol

Locals having lunch

Cordillera Real again

On the boat trip back, a huge storm came in off the lake and hit Copa. The boat had to drop us in a cove near Copa and we then had to walk back to town. The storm stayed with us the whole night, and the wind for a few more days. Wind coming off that enormous lake is both cold and very powerful.

A storm brews on the lake. It was very powerful when it hit, and rolled all the way to La Paz

The next day we were due to leave Copa for Puno; a journey that would take three hours by bus. We arrived at the Peruvian border and got some bad news. A series of rolling strikes that have plagued the country for several months was in it's latest swing. The road between the border and Puno was blockaded by locals. Farmers had set up baricades and were charging anyone coming through, asking for quite a bit of money. Some people even reported that if you tried to walk around the baricades, you would be pelted with rocks from the locals, and potentially worse. So we had to turn back to Copa and stay there another two nights, waiting for the strike to stop. Luckily, after moving to a new hostal (similar to the previous one, and situated right next door) we ran into Craig and Laila again! Great stuff. We had dinner with them that night. The price for a curry, black forrest cake, bottled water, and drop of Chivas' finest? 67 Bolivianos.. just on six pounds.

The penultimate day was a chill-out day, where I spent a bit of time putting the blogs together, and Fran went and shopped.

Finally, 6 days after we arrived in Copa, we made the border crossing! 6 and a half weeks in Bolivia in total. When we were still in Chile and Argentina, I'd honestly though we would struggle to fill four weeks in Bolivia and that we'd be in Peru around 8 July. Well balls to that. Bolivia has so so much to offer. It's good and bad sides are equally charming, and Fran and I will very much miss that fantastic country. Do yourself a favour... visit Bolivia!

P.S. I know I'm really quite far behind in responding to emails and such, and my apologies for that. I'll get to them all hopefully by the end of the week.