We began our journey early on Sunday 25 October. I am so excited we are really doing the Inca Trail. We join a bus full of other tourists and porters along with the guides. The bus ride is about 2 ½ hours. I thought perhaps I might doze off, but no chance. The scenery is absolutely fabulous as we head up and out of Cuzco. The Andes are spectacular.
We make our way to Km. 82 (Piscacucho) with a short stop in Ollantaytombo for supplies (coca leaves) to begin our trek. We are a small group of 6 tourists, 1 guide and 5 porters. We go through the checkpoint, our tickets and passports are stamped and we are off. We begin by crossing a rickety bridge (not my favorite thing) and posing for a group photo. Our first day was an easy 5 hour hike that follows along the Cusichaco River with only a slight elevation gain of 840 ft. We had a bit of rain on the trail today, but our ponchos/garbage bags kept us dry. The ponchos also kept us quite warm, which we didn’t really need since it was not cold out. The porters carry everything except our personal packs with clothes, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cameras, snacks, water bottle and in mine and Jeff’s case, computers (don’t ask). That means the porters carry the tents, food, cooking pots and pans, burners, gas, plates, etc. They have a limit of 25 kilos (110 pounds) per person. Our porters were amazing! Hernan was our cook. Jerson was our guide. Lucenzo, Filimino, Jose and Roderigo were our porters.
Our porters always seem to be ahead of us even though they depart after us. They had lunch cooked and ready for us two hours into our hike at Llaqtapota. Then again when we arrived at our first nights camp Wayllabamba, they already have the tents up and prepared coca matte tea for us. Our first night was a bit chilly and we were on a slight slope so we kept sliding to the bottom of the tent. Wake up was at 5:40 am. They come to the tent with Coca Matte Tea. We then have 30 minutes to pack our stuff and be out of the tent for breakfast.
Day two is the “difficult” day, so they feed us a hearty breakfast. We are on the trail by 7:00 am. Today, there is no break for lunch because the majority of the hike happens before lunch time. We hike the first five hours and gain 3,886 feet in elevation to “Dead Woman’s Pass”. They give us a snack of an apple and a “granola bar” (actually packing material) to get us through. To say this was a difficult day is an understatement... Jeff and I took turns with the kids as their pace was slower than ours. I took the 2nd part of the ascent to the pass of Warmiwanuscca and heard all sorts of utterances from the kids. Some of the most memorable were: “whose idea was this anyway”, “In hate you” and “I am never going to hike again”. Then we made it to the top 13,800 feet (just below the summit of Mt.Rainier). Although it may not have been fun at the moment, both Jess and Tim pushed on to the top and should be very proud of themselves.
Amazing, awesome, everyone at the top cheers as they know what it takes to make it to the top. As we made our way to the top, we met a lot of people. Some were young (20’s) and some were older (60’s). Jess and Tim were the youngest on this particular day and we fell somewhere in the middle. After a nice rest, snack and group photo on top of the pass, we began our decent. Our descent, down stairs! Took almost 2 hours and our knees were aching. We reached camp after 2pm and were greeted by a lovely lunch. We were hungry. This campground was quite large and all the groups were in close proximity. Dinner seemed to follow not long after dark (6pm) and soon all we wanted was our sleeping bags. Our bodies ached and the cold night at altitude didn’t help, but we slept.
Day three is yet another5:40am wake up, and this is to be our long day (8hrs). We began with a steep uphill climb for 45minutes en route to Runkurayqay ruins. Okay so we all that we were going to die as were not recovered from yesterday. Oh but it was beautiful at the ruins and the break in the climb much needed. Another 45 minutes and we were at the next pass. The rest of the day is without steep inclines. A delicious lunch of pasta, chicken/veggie stir fry, yucca with onion and cheese sauce and quinoa was waiting us at 11:00am, Yummy! We still had quite a day ahead of us, more downhill on a cobblestone set of steps. Jeff and I took our time and stopped along side the trail in a cave during a passing shower. Our porters were there also and we shared our cookies with them and took photos. We made it to camp around 5pm just barely enough time to hike the short path to Winaywayna. Winaywayna is an amazing ruin on a very steep hillside. I have been really pretty much at ease here even though the heights are terrifying. The campground for our last night was pretty fancy as there was a restaurant, bar, hot showers, and massage available. We opted to take advantage of the bar only. I think we had our best nights sleep on the trip!
Our best night was also our shortest as wake up was at 3:50am! A quick breakfast and time to pack, so we would be ready for the checkpoint when it opened at 5:30am. Everyone is excited and ready to go. We see Tim for the first 10 minutes and not again till we reach the Sun Gate around 6:45am. Tim is waiting for us and the fog to rise. We enjoy a snack and company of new friends as we watch the fog move about the valley where Machu Picchu is supposed to be. Our group decides to carry on. On our descent the fog lifts every so briefly, so we get our first glimpse of the prize Machu Picchu. Wow! I am awestruck at the enormity and beauty of Machu Picchu. We are actually here! A wonder in this world. We are given a 2 ½ hour tour and then are on our own for several more hours to explore. Words to describe are very hard for me….Stones larger than me are perfectly set together like they were always meant to form the temple walls. The irrigation system brilliantly set as to give water to all parts of the city. The views from the differing points, amazing at the distances that can be seen in all directions. The terraces built for crops, ingenious in their construction and ability to get from one level to another. So many photos! And so many tourists!
Finally at 1:30pm we must make our way to the bus that will take us to Aguas Calliente so we can catch our train (1 1/2hrs) to Ollantaytambo and the collective van (another 1 1/2hrs) to Cuzco. We arrive back to our hostal around 6:00pm. It felt really nice to have a hot shower and put on clean clothes once again.
Machu Picchu, I want to return someday to your beauty and mysteries.
Karen
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