After 3 days of altitude acclimatisation in Cusco, it was time to tackle the Inca Trail. Our guide Freddie picked us up from our hotel and we joined our group of 16 to make our way to the start of the trail at a rickety wooden bridge over the Urubamba river. I ran over it, being the namby pamby that I am when it comes to anything high; while Dave posed for a lovely 'start of the trail' photo.
The first day of trekking consisted of 12kms of undulating paths, nothing too strenuous and a nice way to introduce the Camino Inka. It also gave us chance to get to know our fellow trekkers who were a lovely bunch; bar one whining American! We got our first glimpses of the amazing scenery which we would be surrounded by for the next 4 days, as well as a few sups of the local corn brew, Chicha.
We arrived at our campsite for the night and Dave was immediately drafted in to the Chasqui's (Quecha name for the porters) football team. The high altitude soon took its toll on the non-Peruvian members of the team though and substitutes were quickly sought! After a cosy nights sleep in the warmest sleeping bags I've ever known, we enjoyed a spectacular open-air breakfast looking out onto a glacier - very special!
We were on the trail by 7am and immediately climbing towards the highest point on the trail, Dead Woman's pass. Passing through beautiful cloud forest and stopping occasionally to admire the ever increasing distance down below dulled the pain of the constant climb.
The group reconvened for a 'second breakfast' at Llulluchapampa, already at an altitude of 3680m and then with renewed energy set off to conquer the highest pass of our 4 day trek. 600 metres higher and an hour and a half later we staggered to the top (sorry I staggered, Dave skipped). Feeling elated, but sweaty we took the obligatory photographs, congratulated each other and then cheered our fellow group members up the last few steps of the path. Once we were all at the top our guide produced a bottle of Rum with which to thank Pachu Mama (Mother Earth), we all toasted her and each other and generally felt rather pleased with ourselves.
The good news was that the rest of the day was down hill and we reached our 2nd campsite to the cheers of our team of chasquis, who had been waiting for us for the past few hours; what amazing men they are!
The next morning was wet and murky as we climbed the last pass of our trek, Abra de Runkuracay, a breeze at a mere 4000m! Yesterday's rum sacrifice to Pachu Mama paid off though and the weather cleared as we descended steeply towards the ruins of Sayacmarca which means 'inaccessible town'. For 'inaccessible' read 'nasty, breakneck stone staircase'. I overcame my wussy nature and climbed up to the ruins surrounded on 3 sides by sheer cliffs and was rewarded with fantastic views over the valley below.
After lunch some kind of madness descended in to the group and 3 of the men accepted the offer of taking a Chasqui load instead of their own relatively puny backpacks. Dave was one of these madmen and proceeded to carry 25kg for the next hour, through the impressive Inca tunnel, carved in to the rock and up to the next pass at a height of 3700m. A major Inca trail incident was narrowly averted as a 6'3" Englishman was wedged in to the Inca tunnel with a heavier than normal load, creating a blockage and a backlog of several hundred trekkers! As you can see below Paulino, who normally carries this load, isn't quite as tall as Mr Temple!
After that excitement it was time to make our descent of the 'gringo killer'. A sequence of around 2000 steps which have a reputation for turning the knees to mush. Our patellas survived and we were rewarded with awe- inspiring, camera-twitching views around every corner.
We reached our last campsite and enjoyed a couple of celebratory beers and another excellent meal prepared by our genius cook. He even managed to conjure up a cake for our last night on the trail.
Day 4 was an early start at 4am to ensure that we would be some of the first people up to the Sun Gate, which would afford us our first view of Macchu Picchu. The last obstacle between us and our goal were a set of 50 'monkey steps' which we scrambled up, elbowing slower people out our way as we climbed (not really!) And then there it was, a glorious sight down below us, Macchu Picchu!
A fantastic feeling to be looking down on to the 'Lost City of the Incas' after 4 days of trekking.
We descended into Macchu Picchu itself, where our brilliant guide, Freddie gave us a tour of the ruins which really bought the place alive.
Dave and another member of our group, Paul then managed to gain places to climb Waynapicchu, which is the mountain you see in the background of all Macchu Picchu pictures. These two suckers for punishment raced up this steep and slippery climb in 30 minutes.
On our return to the town of Agua Calientes, below Macchu Picchu, they rewarded themselves with a fat and juicy (!?) cuy. With not enough meat on the poor Guinea pig's bones to feed a small child it did provide plenty of amusement and a whole array of distasteful photographs.
An amazing 4 days was bought to an end with a train journey and a wet bus ride back to Cusco; where we waved goodbye to new found friends to embark on the next leg of our journey.
The first day of trekking consisted of 12kms of undulating paths, nothing too strenuous and a nice way to introduce the Camino Inka. It also gave us chance to get to know our fellow trekkers who were a lovely bunch; bar one whining American! We got our first glimpses of the amazing scenery which we would be surrounded by for the next 4 days, as well as a few sups of the local corn brew, Chicha.
We arrived at our campsite for the night and Dave was immediately drafted in to the Chasqui's (Quecha name for the porters) football team. The high altitude soon took its toll on the non-Peruvian members of the team though and substitutes were quickly sought! After a cosy nights sleep in the warmest sleeping bags I've ever known, we enjoyed a spectacular open-air breakfast looking out onto a glacier - very special!
We were on the trail by 7am and immediately climbing towards the highest point on the trail, Dead Woman's pass. Passing through beautiful cloud forest and stopping occasionally to admire the ever increasing distance down below dulled the pain of the constant climb.
The group reconvened for a 'second breakfast' at Llulluchapampa, already at an altitude of 3680m and then with renewed energy set off to conquer the highest pass of our 4 day trek. 600 metres higher and an hour and a half later we staggered to the top (sorry I staggered, Dave skipped). Feeling elated, but sweaty we took the obligatory photographs, congratulated each other and then cheered our fellow group members up the last few steps of the path. Once we were all at the top our guide produced a bottle of Rum with which to thank Pachu Mama (Mother Earth), we all toasted her and each other and generally felt rather pleased with ourselves.
The good news was that the rest of the day was down hill and we reached our 2nd campsite to the cheers of our team of chasquis, who had been waiting for us for the past few hours; what amazing men they are!
The next morning was wet and murky as we climbed the last pass of our trek, Abra de Runkuracay, a breeze at a mere 4000m! Yesterday's rum sacrifice to Pachu Mama paid off though and the weather cleared as we descended steeply towards the ruins of Sayacmarca which means 'inaccessible town'. For 'inaccessible' read 'nasty, breakneck stone staircase'. I overcame my wussy nature and climbed up to the ruins surrounded on 3 sides by sheer cliffs and was rewarded with fantastic views over the valley below.
After lunch some kind of madness descended in to the group and 3 of the men accepted the offer of taking a Chasqui load instead of their own relatively puny backpacks. Dave was one of these madmen and proceeded to carry 25kg for the next hour, through the impressive Inca tunnel, carved in to the rock and up to the next pass at a height of 3700m. A major Inca trail incident was narrowly averted as a 6'3" Englishman was wedged in to the Inca tunnel with a heavier than normal load, creating a blockage and a backlog of several hundred trekkers! As you can see below Paulino, who normally carries this load, isn't quite as tall as Mr Temple!
After that excitement it was time to make our descent of the 'gringo killer'. A sequence of around 2000 steps which have a reputation for turning the knees to mush. Our patellas survived and we were rewarded with awe- inspiring, camera-twitching views around every corner.
We reached our last campsite and enjoyed a couple of celebratory beers and another excellent meal prepared by our genius cook. He even managed to conjure up a cake for our last night on the trail.Day 4 was an early start at 4am to ensure that we would be some of the first people up to the Sun Gate, which would afford us our first view of Macchu Picchu. The last obstacle between us and our goal were a set of 50 'monkey steps' which we scrambled up, elbowing slower people out our way as we climbed (not really!) And then there it was, a glorious sight down below us, Macchu Picchu!
A fantastic feeling to be looking down on to the 'Lost City of the Incas' after 4 days of trekking.
We descended into Macchu Picchu itself, where our brilliant guide, Freddie gave us a tour of the ruins which really bought the place alive.
Dave and another member of our group, Paul then managed to gain places to climb Waynapicchu, which is the mountain you see in the background of all Macchu Picchu pictures. These two suckers for punishment raced up this steep and slippery climb in 30 minutes.
On our return to the town of Agua Calientes, below Macchu Picchu, they rewarded themselves with a fat and juicy (!?) cuy. With not enough meat on the poor Guinea pig's bones to feed a small child it did provide plenty of amusement and a whole array of distasteful photographs.
An amazing 4 days was bought to an end with a train journey and a wet bus ride back to Cusco; where we waved goodbye to new found friends to embark on the next leg of our journey.
6 comments:
What an entertaining and well written blog!!
Well thank you for your comment 'anonymous'-
Why does an annoying and whiney American always turn up to spoil the atmosphere??
Can anonymous please reveal themselves? that is identity not naked!!georgie
And not a Starbucks in sight - gutting.
Where are the pictures of Dave in his Copacabana thong?
Great I've actually managed to put a comment on, you've just got to write a book about all this when you get back
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