Inca Trail - Peru
10/5/05 - 1st Day
The first of four days of walk through the ancient Inca Trail was the easiest one. Our guide picked us up at the hotel around 8 a.m. Our transport was a small bus that had also two other groups, at first we thought we would be part of a bigger group but in fact we were only four, Angie, Danny, Doris and I, the other people had other guides. The bus drove for about one and a half hour from Cuzco to the starting point of the trek.
The place is known as Km 82, but before we got there we made a stop at a small village (which I can’t remember the name) near Km 82. Whatever you might have forgotten, can be bought at this last stop. We bought more water, snacks and ponchos . Then the bus brought us to the beginning of the trail, by then it was already almost noon. We got off the bus in an area with many other groups and our guide introduced his support team: a cook, a cook assistant and a porter. We had our first lunch right there, spaghetti with tomato sauce.
After lunch the guide started walking with us and left behind the three other guys. Within a few minutes of walk we crossed the first check point, which is quite rigorous by the way. We had to present our passports, the guide had to prove he was a guide and had a permit for the whole group. From the check point the walk was fairly easy. The trail led to a farm ...
... where we had a break.
From the farm the trail became steep and climbed up a hill where from we saw the first Inca ruins, the terraces of Patallaqa.
Since there was not much more ground to cover, we made another break here, enjoyed the view of the valley and the stories told by the guide.
We reached the first campsite, in Huayllabamba at 3,000m around 4:30 p.m. Somehow the three guys we left behind were already there, with our tents set and with tea and pop corn waiting for us. The place was also a little farm where we got to meet the locals living there.
Inside the house they raise guinea pigs, a delicacy in the region.
10/6/05 - 2nd Day
The second day was very different from the first one. We started early with an awesome breakfast prepared by our cook. First tea, coffee and hot chocolate, hot bread and then omelets. All the food was not in vain, the guide described the trail and prepared us for the hardest day of the trek, 6 hours of walking up hill, from 3,000m to 4,200m and then one more hour down to 3,600m.
Again we left the three other guys behind, they still had to unset the tents and wash all the dishes while we headed to the trail. The first surprise was the amount of people we found competing for a spot to step, the trail resembled to a procession.
The Inca Trail is the world's most popular trek in the planet. Each day 500 new trekkers gain the trail, and that is because the government limited the number of people to 500 by selling permits and installing checkpoints on the way, otherwise there would be much more.
Other sights, though, can easily make you forget the number of people.
Not to mention how much fun it is to walk with friends.
Angie and Doris were always a head, while Danny and I were always eating dust behind.
The last hour before reaching the pass was the most difficult one. Believe me, when you walk only uphill, and uphill only, each step seems heavier, the backpack seems heavier and a minute lasts an eternity.
Here is the valley ...
... and a close look on the trail just before reaching the pass.
Here is our hero, Danny, fighting to win over the last steps to reach the 4,200m.
We were walking on the beginning of the raining season, so the sky was clouded and at the top was a little bit cold. Doris didn't have enough by climbing up to the pass and decided to go a little further.
On the way down to Pacaymayu, the campsite at 3,600m, we had rain and we had to cover.
10/7/05 - 3rd Day
The third day was somewhat easier than the previous but made of up and downs. Right after we started, going uphill, we reached Runkurakay at 3,800m.
The funny thing is to see how porters handle their job, with HEAVY (I mean it) load, wearing simple sandals or sometimes even flip-flops shout from the back asking for room to pass. They go really fast uphill ...
... and literally run downhill. As if it wasn't amazing enough this particular one plays a happy melody with his flute while carrying the massive load on the improvised 'backpack'.
Then we reached the first of two passes of the day.
From that point we went down through a cloud forest, dense and humid, the ultimate test for the knees.
The scenery in which we walked through was green, cloudy, wet and above all beautiful.
On the second pass we were higher then the clouds, that made a window for us to observe the range of snow caped mountains.
Further ahead we passed by two other archeological sites, Sayacmrca at 3,580m ...
... and Puyupatamarca at 3,640m with many water channels ...
and finally finished the day in Wiñaywayna camp site at 2,650m.
10/8/05 - 4th Day
The last day was the most interesting, the day we entered Machu Picchu. We started around 5:30 a.m, even before the gates of the last checkpoint was open. People line up because everyone wants to be the first one there. Why? Because at 11:00 a.m. the train coming from Cuzco carrying a load of other 500 tourists arrives, so after 11:00 a.m Machu Picchu gets kind of crowded and the enjoyment is fairly reduced.
So we went early. The walk almost became a race. After two hours we got to the Sun Gate, the place where from is possible to have the first sight of Machu Picchu.
It is one more hour from here to the actual Machu Picchu. The mountains are quite unique.
The arrival on the city couldn't be better. The first thing you see is the most classic picture of Machu Picchu.
Then we started exploring the city.
We passed the guard houses ...
... and walked through the maze of stairs and corridors that gives access to the different areas of Machu Picchu.
Their work with the stones were really amazing, millions of stones were carved to perfection, ...
... each block was tailored to fit a specific spot, every one!
Llamas are freely walking among the tourists and don't seem to bother.
Wayna Picchu is the small mount you see in the picture bellow and can be climbed up, if you still have energy, via stairs with help of cables and handrails. We didn't do it.
What you see now is from Machu Picchu looking down. The road to the nearest city, Aguas Calientes, flows the river and goes around the mountain, it is possible to take a bus there but it costs 6 extra bucks. We (meaning Angie) decided to cover it by walking, so after so much up and down inside Machu Picchu we had an extra hour and a half to get to Aguas Calientes.
There, we went to a restaurant for lunch and to celebrate our trek with our guide.
From Aguas Calientes we took a train back to Cuzco.
The first of four days of walk through the ancient Inca Trail was the easiest one. Our guide picked us up at the hotel around 8 a.m. Our transport was a small bus that had also two other groups, at first we thought we would be part of a bigger group but in fact we were only four, Angie, Danny, Doris and I, the other people had other guides. The bus drove for about one and a half hour from Cuzco to the starting point of the trek.
The place is known as Km 82, but before we got there we made a stop at a small village (which I can’t remember the name) near Km 82. Whatever you might have forgotten, can be bought at this last stop. We bought more water, snacks and ponchos . Then the bus brought us to the beginning of the trail, by then it was already almost noon. We got off the bus in an area with many other groups and our guide introduced his support team: a cook, a cook assistant and a porter. We had our first lunch right there, spaghetti with tomato sauce.
After lunch the guide started walking with us and left behind the three other guys. Within a few minutes of walk we crossed the first check point, which is quite rigorous by the way. We had to present our passports, the guide had to prove he was a guide and had a permit for the whole group. From the check point the walk was fairly easy. The trail led to a farm ...
... where we had a break.
From the farm the trail became steep and climbed up a hill where from we saw the first Inca ruins, the terraces of Patallaqa.
Since there was not much more ground to cover, we made another break here, enjoyed the view of the valley and the stories told by the guide.
We reached the first campsite, in Huayllabamba at 3,000m around 4:30 p.m. Somehow the three guys we left behind were already there, with our tents set and with tea and pop corn waiting for us. The place was also a little farm where we got to meet the locals living there.
Inside the house they raise guinea pigs, a delicacy in the region.
10/6/05 - 2nd Day
The second day was very different from the first one. We started early with an awesome breakfast prepared by our cook. First tea, coffee and hot chocolate, hot bread and then omelets. All the food was not in vain, the guide described the trail and prepared us for the hardest day of the trek, 6 hours of walking up hill, from 3,000m to 4,200m and then one more hour down to 3,600m.
Again we left the three other guys behind, they still had to unset the tents and wash all the dishes while we headed to the trail. The first surprise was the amount of people we found competing for a spot to step, the trail resembled to a procession.
The Inca Trail is the world's most popular trek in the planet. Each day 500 new trekkers gain the trail, and that is because the government limited the number of people to 500 by selling permits and installing checkpoints on the way, otherwise there would be much more.
Other sights, though, can easily make you forget the number of people.
Not to mention how much fun it is to walk with friends.
Angie and Doris were always a head, while Danny and I were always eating dust behind.
The last hour before reaching the pass was the most difficult one. Believe me, when you walk only uphill, and uphill only, each step seems heavier, the backpack seems heavier and a minute lasts an eternity.
Here is the valley ...
... and a close look on the trail just before reaching the pass.
Here is our hero, Danny, fighting to win over the last steps to reach the 4,200m.
We were walking on the beginning of the raining season, so the sky was clouded and at the top was a little bit cold. Doris didn't have enough by climbing up to the pass and decided to go a little further.
On the way down to Pacaymayu, the campsite at 3,600m, we had rain and we had to cover.
10/7/05 - 3rd Day
The third day was somewhat easier than the previous but made of up and downs. Right after we started, going uphill, we reached Runkurakay at 3,800m.
The funny thing is to see how porters handle their job, with HEAVY (I mean it) load, wearing simple sandals or sometimes even flip-flops shout from the back asking for room to pass. They go really fast uphill ...
... and literally run downhill. As if it wasn't amazing enough this particular one plays a happy melody with his flute while carrying the massive load on the improvised 'backpack'.
Then we reached the first of two passes of the day.
From that point we went down through a cloud forest, dense and humid, the ultimate test for the knees.
The scenery in which we walked through was green, cloudy, wet and above all beautiful.
On the second pass we were higher then the clouds, that made a window for us to observe the range of snow caped mountains.
Further ahead we passed by two other archeological sites, Sayacmrca at 3,580m ...
... and Puyupatamarca at 3,640m with many water channels ...
and finally finished the day in Wiñaywayna camp site at 2,650m.
10/8/05 - 4th Day
The last day was the most interesting, the day we entered Machu Picchu. We started around 5:30 a.m, even before the gates of the last checkpoint was open. People line up because everyone wants to be the first one there. Why? Because at 11:00 a.m. the train coming from Cuzco carrying a load of other 500 tourists arrives, so after 11:00 a.m Machu Picchu gets kind of crowded and the enjoyment is fairly reduced.
So we went early. The walk almost became a race. After two hours we got to the Sun Gate, the place where from is possible to have the first sight of Machu Picchu.
It is one more hour from here to the actual Machu Picchu. The mountains are quite unique.
The arrival on the city couldn't be better. The first thing you see is the most classic picture of Machu Picchu.
Then we started exploring the city.
We passed the guard houses ...
... and walked through the maze of stairs and corridors that gives access to the different areas of Machu Picchu.
Their work with the stones were really amazing, millions of stones were carved to perfection, ...
... each block was tailored to fit a specific spot, every one!
Llamas are freely walking among the tourists and don't seem to bother.
Wayna Picchu is the small mount you see in the picture bellow and can be climbed up, if you still have energy, via stairs with help of cables and handrails. We didn't do it.
What you see now is from Machu Picchu looking down. The road to the nearest city, Aguas Calientes, flows the river and goes around the mountain, it is possible to take a bus there but it costs 6 extra bucks. We (meaning Angie) decided to cover it by walking, so after so much up and down inside Machu Picchu we had an extra hour and a half to get to Aguas Calientes.
There, we went to a restaurant for lunch and to celebrate our trek with our guide.
From Aguas Calientes we took a train back to Cuzco.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 8:50 AM
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