Inca Trail Day 4 and Machu Picchu - Post #5

I stayed awake almost all of our third night on the trail, listening to the rain and making silent pleas to Mother Nature to stop it. I finally drifted off when the rain slowed to a drizzle but I didn't sleep long because our wake-up call came at 3:30 a.m. The ground was damp but the sky was dry. The early hour didn't lend itself to breakfast, but our chef had baked a cake (!) overnight which wished us luck on the final leg of our journey to Peru's Wonder of the World and we ate it while we drank tea. The porters had our tents down in no time and were practically packed up before we were because they had to take a different path down to Aguas Caliente to catch the porters' train.

As for us, we ate and hit the trail. We could feel the sense of urgency in our guides and took off in the dark for the checkpoint which marked the end of the Inca Trail and the entryway for the path to Machu Picchu ... which we ran into in less than five minutes. We had no idea we were so close. It was 4:30 a.m., and we were the second group in line (behind another Llama Path group).

Fifteen minutes before the gate was set to open, it began to rain. Not just any rain, but big, bulbous rain drops. Chaos reigned (rained?!) until 5:30 as everybody tried to squeeze into the covered shelter.

At 5:30 the guides sorted things out, the first group pushed through the gate and then the six of us took off ... and I mean, we booked it. Forget the altitude sickness, forget the sore muscles, forget the exhaustion and fatigue. The fire to reach the Sun Gate first and the excitement of seeing Machu Picchu took hold and we took off at a ridiculously fast pace. The rain sloshed, our pants soaked through (lesson learned: never wear cotton pants in the rain), our feet slid across the rocks and our poles struggled to hold us upright. My headlamp bumped the bridge of my nose every time I took a step and I tore it off before the sun came up. I also felt my passport turning into a soggy mess in my pocket and I transferred it to an inside pocket of my rain jacket (another lesson learned: keep passport in a Ziploc bag).

Three individuals passed us before we reached the monkey stairs, a set of extremely steep steps that almost require the use of hands and feet to climb. As we ran up the stairs, we passed the group in front of us. The six of us hiked like we hadn't hiked in the previous three days.

And then we reached Intipunta - the Sun Gate - the first place where you can see Machu Picchu. We were the first full group to reach the Sun Gate that day. Unfortunately, as you know from my first post, the weather was not cooperating and our view was completely obstructed by fog. As disappointing as the situation was, it was sort of funny too. We'd come all this way and it was pouring rain. We took the obligatory picture anyway.

There was no reason to hang around at the Sun Gate, so we took off on the final leg of our journey ... this time at a significantly slower pace. We had achieved our goal of reaching the Sun Gate, but now the hikers began to mingle with tourists who had gotten off the bus at Machu Picchu and were hiking up to the Sun Gate for a view. There was a clear difference between us and them. Us: Wet, dirty, stinky, bundled up. Them: Pressed khakis, bulky video cameras around their necks, sandals, umbrellas.

When we reached Machu Picchu, it was so foggy we could barely see anything. We walked down to the entry gate and found an umbrella to huddle under as we ate our snacks. Alex told us that he'd just found out that it rained at Machu Picchu the entire day before. "Do you think it will burn off?" we asked him. And as optimistic as Alex is, he shook his head ever so slightly.

I looked down into the parking lot where buses were dropping people off and already picking up people who had given up on the weather. We stood near the site's cafe, which served up coffee and candy like a stadium. And then I looked out toward where Machu Picchu was supposed to sit, sprawling down the mountainside, and all I saw was fog. A heavy disappointment fell on me, and despite the amazing journey of the last few days and the achievement of hiking such a challenging trail, I had to fight back a few tears of frustration.

Alex suggested we take our tour of Machu Picchu in the drizzling rain, and we all hoped that in that time the weather would change its mind and the sun would burn the clouds off. Despite the situation, Alex and Eddie did a great job sharing the story of Machu Picchu with us. They led us into rooms and explained the significance of why certain windows and fountains had been placed where they were.

The higher class lived on one side of the site (about 200-300 people) and the workers lived on the other side (600-800 people). When Hiram Bingham found Machu Picchu in 1911, only two families were living there. The important buildings and the buildings at the top of the site (vs. the lower buildings) were made of perfectly fitting rocks which were rubbed smooth by the workers. Everything on the site was created from rocks pulled from three on-site quarries.

I thought the most interesting room was the Sun Temple, which was sort of located in the middle of the site. It has two windows, and on June 21 the sun shines directly in one of the windows and on December 22, it shines directly in the other. It's easy for me to believe that those buildings were built with the summer and winter solstices in mind, but the Inca history wasn't written down so it's hard to know for sure how much of the Inca story is true versus not, but it's a wonderful story of cross-mountain routes, spirituality, energy stones and levels of leadership spread out across the Andes anyway.

Once our tour had ended, the rain had let up a bit, and though the fog still came and went in waves, we began to see Machu Picchu in all its larger-than-life glory.

We wandered out to the old Inca bridge, a rickety structure that had been used by people on the Inca Trail. Apparently they used to let visitors walk across it, but someone fell off and died a few years back, so now people are held back with a simple "Prohibited" sign in Spanish. In the United States, there would have to be a guard stationed on the path, signs in a million different languages and a big ugly chain restraining people from wandering out to the bridge. But here, people just know and respect the trail.

When we returned to Machu Picchu, the clouds seemed to lift like magic and we eagerly took the moment to take in the massive, expansive civilization before us. The buildings escalated down the mountainside and the greenery of the surrounding mountains and terraces drew out an astonishing array of color from the site. I was so excited to be there at that moment. Despite the cool dampness, wet boots and pants, dirt and sweat, everything about the previous three days now seemed completely worth it.

From our vantage point high on the hill, we began wandering around the rest of the site. Machu Picchu is huge. We spent a couple hours peeking in the rooms, walking up and down stairs, looking through windows, feeling stones and gazing in awe at the fountains and flowers ... and yet I feel like I could have spent several more hours peeking, walking, looking, feeling and gazing and still not fully comprehend the enormity of this structure.

The sun never fully came out and we still had a few moments of light rain, but we definitely enjoyed Machu Picchu in all its glory.

One Wonder Down, Six To Go ~

JoAnna

Inca trail day 3 - A walk in the rain

When we awoke on day 3 we were greeted with a great view (below) and a sick group member.
Matt had apparently spent the night rather ill and was not looking to good first thing in the morning. To make matters worse, Matias was also feeling ill. I was feeling much better and was able to give Matt our extra bottle of Gatorade to help him through the morning. Matt and Matias were both fairly lucky; where day 2 was a flat out test of endurance, day 3 was a gentle stroll through the cloud forest above Machu Picchu. Day 3 was all original Inca Road. Every stone we stepped on was laid by the Inca Civilization.
As you can see, the road was beautiful. It was a bit damp the entire day, with intermittent moments of heavy rain. Our first Inca site of the day required a small climb to reach the ruins of Phuyupatamarka. It was misty and a bit eerie to sit atop the ancient site. Alex taught us about the ritual sacrifices that the Incas did and Matt managed to purge his system while being respectful of the site. Eddie and Matias decided to skip the site and head straight to camp to give Matias a chance to rest and be ready for Machu Picchu the next day.
After Phuyupatamarka we had another 45 minute walk or so to our next Inca site, Yunkapata. Klaas took his usual trail blazing pace while Jo, Matt, Bethany and I strolled casually with Alex. We walked through hand carved tunnels(below) and Alex stopped and showed us every different orchid he could find, of which there were dozens. It was a beautiful little walk and quite a difference from the day before. When we reached Yunkapata we were all feeling a lot better and the mist had (mostly) lifted. We breezed through Yunkapata because we were running behind schedule due to our botanical bliss. On our way to camp we saw a bit of wild squash.
We headed down to camp to have lunch, and I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't spend more time at Yunkapata. However, our 3 minute walk to Winaywaya after lunch totally made up for it. After Machu Picchu itself, this is the most amazing site we saw.
Winyawayna is a monstrous concave set of terraces that run up a very steep hill. The site had a beautiful room with seven windows, meant to represent the 7 colors of the rainbow. It also had a complex system of fountains that ran down the side of the buildings. We had a lot of time to explore the site and really got a feel for the architecture and skill of the Incas. We returned to camp just as it started to rain and were treated to happy hour (popcorn and cocoa) and a few card tricks from Klaas. This 3rd camp had a small cantina/restaraunt and there were a ton of people enjoying cold beers for most of the evening ( Kenya friends, it was a lot like the little bar at the campsite on our Nile trip). Matias was feeling better and he joined us for happy hour and dinner. After dinner we had our formal goodbye with our porters. Matias really saved our bacon by giving our respects in Spanish to the porters on our behalf. One of the tragic bits of information we learned at dinner was the fact that none of the porter had ever seen Machu Pichu. They take a different trail down to Aguas Calientes and do not go through the city of their ancestors. It is roughly 80 U.S. dollars to visit the site and none of them can afford it. We had an early dinner and the Chef went all out for us (I'll do a whole post on the food, no worries). We headed off to bed around 8 a.m. due to our 4 a.m. wake-up call. We all slept soundly, dreaming of then next day and our first view of Macchu Picchu.

Inca Trail Day 2 - Post #3

We awoke on our second day feeling not nearly as sore as we expected, and, for Cory, much better than the night before. Thank God for altitude sickness pills! We were greeted by a stunning view of the world and were both excited and apprehensive by the day before us (promised to be our hardest day on the trail).

We had already had a chance to get to know the people in our group on the trail the day before, but in the morning we got to meet our eleven porters, one of whom was also our chef. They all only spoke Spanish or Quechua (the native Andean language), so we were lucky to have two guides and one person in our group who were able to translate for us as needed. We'll write a post specifically about the porters later, but suffice to say that this incredible group of guys were our lifeblood on our trip and without them the second day would have been significantly more difficult than what it was.

Luckily for us, we had started the uphill ascent the day before. Cory and I are fairly seasoned hikers and aren't afraid to push ourselves when it comes to a challenging climb, but this was much more strenuous than just about anything we'd climbed before. Most of the path is made of ancient stones, so going up the path isn't just about climbing uphill. We actually had to climb ancient, uneven Incan stairs. One hiking pole in front of the other, we forced our legs up the steep, narrow steps. It was a day of halfways: We were halfway to the halfway point, then halfway up the hill, then halfway past the halfway point. Our first break was halfway from our campsite up to Dead Woman's Pass, the highest peak of our trip at 13,782 feet (4,201 meters) in elevation. This picture is us at our morning break point. You can see Dead Woman's Pass behind us. It is so named because it looks like a dead woman with her head and nose on the left side of the picture and her breast on the right side. The pass is through the saddle between the two (essentially where her neck would be).

The goal of the second day's hike was just to get past the hard part, but we were encouraged to take our time. At such a high elevation, it was not just the challenge of the hike but the exceptionally high altitude that made the climb difficult. It took us most of the morning to reach the top, but once we did, it really felt like we were on top of the world. This picture is the six of us and our two guides at the top of Dead Woman's Pass as the fog started to roll in. It was so cold we could see our breath and had to put on hats and mittens. This photo is looking back at where we'd just come from. You can see people coming up the trail on our right and the path we'd just climbed trailing down the hill behind us.

The other side of the trail was a lot different. Steep steps, lush green foliage and waterfalls that fell down the cliff sides. It was almost more difficult going down than it was going up, and I fell once on the way down. No worries ... only my pride was hurt. Cory and I took the slow, gentle footing way down the hill while our friends Klaas and Mathias made like the porters and ran down the steps. I'm glad we took our time because Alex and Eddie pointed out all kinds of fantastic flora and fauna, including a golden hummingbird and her tiny nest of even tinier baby birds.

We were met with a huge lunch once we reached the bottom of the hill, but the day wasn't over once we finished our meal. We had to climb again, this time to 11,876 feet (3,620 meters). We passed by Runkuraqay, one of the ruins, before we reached the crest of this climb. One of the things I enjoyed most about the Incan ruins was the ability to wander through them. We were often either one of two or the only group at any given site, so we could poke around in the ruins, look out the windows and enjoy the amazingly green and luscious views. There is so much rain that the stones are overflowing with moss and brilliantly colored flowers. Some rooms are so overgrown we couldn't even walk into them.
Just past the "false top" of the second pass, the sky cleared just a bit and a rainbow opened up behind us. Spread across the backdrop of the Andes and the Inca Trail, it felt a little bit like being in a dream. Even though we were tired and damp (from rain and sweat), we were so excited to be in this place, experiencing this moment. We had so many moments like this on our hike, where, even though we felt uncomfortable or worn down or stiff or cold or wet, we still felt so lucky to be in such a beautiful place.

We crested the pass and continued on down the Inca Trail, tired and accomplished. Day two had been a tough one, but not one that took us down. It only led us closer to our ultimate destination ... Machu Picchu.

Beautiful violet flowers and crystal clear waterfalls,

JoAnna

Inca Trail Day 1 - post #2

Our first day on the trail started in Cusco at 5 a.m.  We met our guide, Alex, and our porters outside of the Llama Path offices to catch the bus to Ollyantaytambo for breakfast.  Our bus was crowded with our group of 6 and a larger group that would be hiking a two day trail called the Larges Trail.  I slept most of the bus ride to the trailhead for the Larges group, once we deposited them and their porters we headed 20 minutes down the road to Ollyantaytambo.  We stopped at a little hotel for breakfast which was really the first time we all met each other.  Our group consisted of Jo and me, Matt and Bethany (from CA), Klaas (from Holland) and Matias (from Argentina).  We had a light breakfast and got to know one another.   Matias was not originally part of our group, but his company had booked too many hikers for his group and so he and another guide, Eddie, was sent to join our smaller group.

After breakfast we left Ollyantaytambo for Kilometer 82(2570 meters/8431 feet in elevation), the starting point for the Inca Trail.  At KM 82 our porters packed up their goods (and ours) and headed down to the scales.  They can only carry 29 kg (roughly 64 lbs) each.  This weight limit is a wonderful recent development as Alex recalled stories of carrying 40 kg (88 lbs) on the trail when he was a porter. 

While the porters were weighed, we waited in line to get on to the trail.  After getting our passports checked and stamped we crossed a small bridge and headed slightly up hill.  Jo and I quickly took to the back of the pack although the first half of the hike was pretty easy.  The trail is pretty much all uneven and cobblestoned, which provides a separated challenge all together; and one none of us had prepared for.  Getting footing tended to be difficult and the danger of twisting an ankle or slipping was very real.  Alex and Eddie took their time to point out flora and fauna on the trial including tobacco plants, agave cactus and a small parasite, cochineal, that the Incas used to dye fabric.  When crushed the cochineal produce a deep red (carmine) color.

 

We also got a look at our first few Inca sites.  Q’Anabamba(to the left) sat across the river from the trail and was visably being restored.  It was nice to see our trail money going toward restoration of these amazing sites.  Out first close-up view was of Wilkarakay.  We sat on a grassy patch and Eddie explained the timeline of Incan civilization as we stared at this amazing ruin.  From Wilkarakay we walked on a flat, even path toward Patawasi, our last ruin for the day.  After Patawasi we had lunch.

 

Lunch (the view from the camp to the left) was amazing, spaghetti, marinera sauce, alfredo mushroom sauce, garlic bread, and an iced, corn-based, tea called chicha morada that was very refreshing.  It was around lunch time that I started feeling a bit ill, almost like I was hung over.  We left the porters after an hour to finish our hike to the 3^rd available campsite for the day.  This last 2.5 hours of the hike was fairly uphill.  Alex called it “the beginning of the climb” which was a touch disheartening, as it was harder than heck.  I lagged well behind, the mix of feeling ill and the uphill causing me to move slower than expected.

 

After a solid slog uphill, all of us needed a break (except Klaas, he flew up and down hills as if on a Sunday stroll.  He had recently climbed to a much higher altitude and felt pretty good at our “lower” elevation).  When we got to camp we were all visably tired and I retired to bed for the night, no dinner.  Jo said the dinner was amazing; the chef actually carved a mouse out of a radish to garnish a rice dish.  Bethany, who became the group’s pharmacist, gave Jo some Diamox (altitude sickness pills) which helped me sleep.  I was glad for the meds and by the end of Day 2, glad for the sleep. 

A Sneak Peek at Peru - Post #1

Hola!

We arrived home from Peru last night and have hours of stories and stacks of pictures to share with everyone. We had a spectacular time - words can't begin to describe the challenge of our hike, the beauty of the cloud forest, the amazing people we met, the culture we experienced and the memories we have. Right now we are unpacking, doing laundry, wading through email and settling back in. We promise to tell you all about our trip, but to make it a little easier, we've decided to share our stories and pictures with you in shorter posts over a period of a few weeks. I won't reveal anything this evening, but I will share with you our very first view of Machu Picchu from Intipunta (the Sun Gate) as a teaser:

Stay tuned ...

Mysterious fog and ancient ruins ~

JoAnna