Sunshine, rain, freezing temperatures, joy, pain, blisters and relief, these are just some of the sensations and conditions we experienced on the Inca Trail. The 4 day hike took us through one of the most busiest yet incredibly isolate trails in the world. With up to 500 people setting out each day, it's hard to believe that there are times you can find yourself completely alone, taking in the breathtaking sceanery wondering where your group is. The final destination, Machu Picchu, on the other hand is quite the opposite, but more on that later.
So early, and I mean really early, on the first day we left the warmth of our hostel beds and headed out to start the trail, with 6 other equally enthused tourist. Having very restless sleep the night before, the 1.5 hour bus ride to our starting point was spent mostly with our eyes closed. Still feeling slightly weary we all trudged off the bus for a group photo in front of the famous KM82 sign before starting our 42km trek. Not long into the journey our guide conveniently pointed out the rail line which goes to Anguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu, which is only a short 2 hour ride on the train or 6 hour hike. A little confused as to why we chose the 4 day over the 6 hour, we quickly shook off our confusion realizing it was too late and set in for our long walk.
The first days trekking was fairly easy, consisting of approximately 8 hours walking along what the guide like to call Inca Flat terrain, basically a lot of up and down walking. There was much to see along the way as we passed through small villages with friendly locals, viewed different forms of flora and explored just a few Inca ruins that are along the trail. The most impressive ruin on the first day was Llactapata, an ancient city which is believed to be an important rest stop of the inca en route to Machu Picchu. After a surprisingly good 3 course lunch awaiting for us in the dining tent, we set off for our first nights camp another 500m verticle. Fortunately the weather held out for most of the first day and we only required our jackets for a few small sun showers in the late afternoon. Upon reaching the camp we were pleasently surprised with the view of the surrounding mountains and the fact that the porters had already set up the camp site, had dinner underway and supplied us hot water and towels for a a very brief camp shower.
Having read a little about the trail before hand, we were well aware of what laid ahead of us on day two but not sure if we were prepared. Day 2 which was not only to be the longest of our 4 day trek, but also the most draining as we had to pass 2 mountain peaks. Setting off early again we left our porters to cleanup breakfast and pack the site whilst we started to attack Dead Woman's Pass, the highest of the 2 peaks at 4200m. Taking our time we took each step very cautiously keeping in mind the serious possibility of altitude sickness, which neither of us wanted to experience. Nearing the top we weren't really surprised to see our porters - the red army - closing in behind us, although we were a bit shocked to see them jogging up the trail. After reaching the top and catching our breath, we did the touristy thing again and got our photo with another sign before starting the 700m knee jarring decent down to Papaymayu camp site for lunch. Again the porters were already set up and ready to serve us lunch as well as congratulating us with a slightly embarrassing clap into the lunch site. After lunch we all set out again to conquer the second pass, this time slightly smaller at only 3950m, and get to our camp site for the night. Whilst the climb was slightly easier on the second pass, this was only to be short lived as the heavens decided to open up and show us the fun side of the trail. So donning on our rain jackets and recently purchased (which I must say best decision ever) ponchos we continued to trudge through the mud and rain in anticipation of reaching our camp site before nightfall. Along the way we stopped at more Inca ruins to catch our breathe and learn a little about the local history, but we didn't loiter long as the temperature was uncomfortably cold. After reaching the second camp site, we were both quick to change out of our wet clothes, have another brief warm towel shower and sit down for an impressive dinner. As before with the previous meals we were amazed yet again to be provided with a 3 course meal with more than enough food to feed us (our entire group except for us were experiencing altitude sickness). Feeling very content with our warm full bellies we made for our tent to get some well deserved sleep and along the way we were pleasently supprised to find the clouds had parted and basking in the moon light off on the horizon was the snow capped Andes. A great end to a very long day.
Day 3 was a breeze after day 2, we started out with a nice sleep in till 7am and a slow and relaxing breakfast before heading off on the trail. Because of the mammoth effort the day before, day 3 was planned as the fun day with a short 5 hour stroll along another Inca flat section filled with some of the most impressive ruins of the whole trail. Initially we were greeted by rain in the morning but as we cruised along, so to did the clouds, which made for a great day of exploring. The first ruin and smallest of the 3 that day was Phuyupatamarca, which means city in the clouds. The next was Intipata which comprised of numerous terraces and was a major agricultural site along the trail. Finally the last ruin Winay Wayna, which was only a short stroll past our day 3 camp site, was the largest and easily most impressive of all the sites along the trail. Again comprising of numerous terraces, which historians believe helped supply Machu Picchu with food. However it wasn't just its size and terraces that made this ruin so impressive, it was the fact that a majority of the buildings and structures were still intact and working today. An example of this was the hand carved natural spring fountains, that not only were constructed for ceremonial and purification purposes but also supplied water to the entire city via carefully constructed aqua ducts, which still worked today.
After exploring the ruins and learning a little more about their construction and purpose we headed back to camp for our final dinner and goodbye ceremony with the porters. Having been impressed every day with the quality of food and sure that they must be running out of fresh ingredients, we all weren't too sure what to expect for this final meal. However we were all to be awed yet again, as we were not only delivered another delicious 3 course meal which contained a pizza but for desert the chef some how managed to cook, ice and decorate a goodbye/congratulation cake for us. We are still a little unsure how he managed to prepare it on his small 2 burner gas portable stove.
The last day had finally arrived and we greeted it very early, at 3am, to be one of the first groups at the gate. Unfortunately that wasn't early enough and we arrived fourth, just missing out on the last seats, meaning we had to sit on the cold wet ground and wait until 5:30am. This wasn't that bad though as it did give us a bit of time to catch up on lost sleep and we were already dirty anyway. So as 5:30am came around we gathered our backpacks and started off for the final 2hr leg of the trail to reach the Sun Gate, for the perfect sunrise view of Machu Picchu. With adrenaline kicking in, the weary feeling from the last 3 days of early starts and tiresome climbs started to fade and we grew more and more excited with ever footstep. Approaching the final climb, and possibly steepest, to the top of the Sun Gate you could see in the other hikers faces the look of anger and dispare as they thought, 'not a nother bloody set of steps', or maybe that was just me. But slowly and steadily we took each step until we reached the top and be greeted with this glorious view infront of us...
Yes that slightly mountainous shaped thing poking out of the dense cloud is Huayna Picchu (the mountain behind Machu Picchu city) and yes the city is down there somewhere. Feeling very mixed feelings at this point, mostly relief and anger, we made for the final knee jarring experience down to the not so anymore lost city of the Incas.
Whilst we were all tired, dirty, smelly but certainly not hungry this didn't matter as we had reach Machu Picchu and it was amazing. Walking around the city with our guide, learning about the past and present history of this ancient city, was such an incredible experience none of us cared we had blisters the size of Peru on our feet. As we continued to explore the city a feeling of great accomplishment passed over us all, especially when you passed another hiker from a different group and shared the silent head nod signifying that 'whilst I have no idea who you are I know what you have been through and we made it.' As the day continued on we were treated to some better weather and with the clouds parting we were finally able to get the famous postcard shot of Machu Picchu that we walked 4 days to get.
Obviously a trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu wouldn't be complete without also exploring the ruins around the surrounding areas and Sacred Valley. Having already seen numerous ruins this did not matter as the architecture of the buildings and ingenious design of the terraces was amazing to see time and time again.
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