Trekking to some place called Machu Picchu...

The early starts seem never-ending! Our 4-day Inca Trail trek, which started on Saturday 11^th September, involved us getting a bus at 4.30 from Cusco to the start of the Inca trail, some 82kms from Cusco.  We met the rest of our group over breakfast en route to the start – Simon and Julie from Edinburgh and Rob and Kelly, from York.  Simon and Julie had cycled from Arequipa to Cusco over two weeks – impressive stuff. Must remember to check out the company they used called Red Spokes – they have used them many times for cycling trips around the world, including most recently in Laos and they had nothing but good things to say about their experiences.

With the obligatory group photos out of the way, we set off at a reasonably quick pace from an altitude of 2720m heading for our first campsite, a place called Ayapata at 3,300m.  Everyone in the group seemed to be coping with the altitude OK as we passed the first Inca ruins on the trail, at Wayllbamba (3000m). That night, however, Rob and Kelly began to suffer quite badly from altitude sickness. The next morning, it really did not look good for them (especially as we were to climb that day to the highest point on the trek, Dead Woman’s Pass, at some 4,200m) but in true British never-say-die, stiff-upper lip, I’ve paid $450 for this trip so I’m damn well finishing it style, they decided to carry on, which was crazy and impressive in equal measure.

The facilities at the campsite on the first night were, to put it mildly, basic. The “toilets”, which were the hole-in-the-ground type we were expecting, did not even flush! Still, our tent was fine, sufficiently far from the toilets and snuggled up in our new sleeping bags which are designed for use in temperatures as low as -15 Celsius, we slept very well.

You guessed it, the next morning involved another early start in preparation for the longest day of the trek.  In the distance we could see the Dead Woman’s Pass (it should be clear from the photo above why the pass has been given this name) and set off knowing we would climb around 1,000m in around 4-5 hours. The scenery was spectacular and jungle-esque – a marked contrast to the dry and dusty conditions on the first day of the trek. We were surrounded on the way up by large numbers of hummingbirds and butterflies – I don’t think we have ever seen so many butterflies of so many sizes and colours! We also saw the world's smallest orchid (see below).

The climb was very tiring and slow-going but, to be honest, not as tough as the Colca Canyon climb. Rob and Kelly’s efforts to reach the highest point were particularly impressive, although unsurprisingly they did look a little bit sheepish when they reached Dead woman’s pass!

From Dead woman’s pass, we had a fairly rapid descent to Pacaymayu (3,580m) where we stopped for lunch.

This blog would definitely not be complete without mentioning the amazing efforts of our porters and the chef. We had 11 porters (who were known as the ‘Red Army’) for our group of 6 and over the four days they did an absolutely incredible job of carrying everything that we needed, from the tents, food, gas stoves, tables, chairs, gas cylinders. They would leave after us at breakfast and lunch having packed everything up with military precision and timing before promptly overtaking us and ensuring everything was ready for us when we reached our next stop!

The food was delicious and varied with so much flavour which, given the fact that the chef only had one stove to work with, was pretty incredible. Not only were we treated to delicious fresh dishes (trout, steaks, soups, avocado salads etc) but there was always a plentiful supply which meant that you did not need to worry about your energy levels. We were also treated to a daily 5pm snack after we had finished our walking for the day (its amazing just how much popcorn you can eat and still have room for supper!).

Once we had finished the second day, it was mostly downhill all the way to Macchu Picchu.

The scenery seemed to get better and better, culminating in the most impressive Inca ruins that we had seen to date, Winay Huayna (2,680m). We were allowed to explore the ruins on our own and in the evening sun with blue-and-white swallows flitting around, they seemed particularly stunning.

We got a very early night at the end of day 3 in preparation for the next morning when we would be up at 3.30am in order to get to Machu Picchu for sunrise. We were first in the queue but it came at a price – we had over an hour to wait in the dark before we were allowed in to the Machu Picchu site. We were all wide awake and raring to go (particularly after Rob had told us about the scorpions and tarantulas he saw when he waited at the same place when he did the trek 5 years ago!) and when the doors opened, with the day breaking and the dawn chorus in full flow, I set off like a man possessed (with Sarah not too far behind!), determined to get some photos of Machu Picchu before the hoards of tourists arrived.

 

The cloud was just starting to break at Sun Gate (2,730m), where we would get our first glimpse of Machu Picchu.  It was an awe-inspiring site and larger than I imagined it to be. As we arrived at the main ruins it was still fairly quiet and tourist-free so we managed to take some good photos as the sun rose and the cloud began to clear.

A lot has been said and written about Machu Picchu but, as our guide pointed out, a lot of it remains hypothetical.  There simply aren’t the adjectives to describe how fabulous and inspirational the ruins are, especially having trekked the Inca trail to get there – hopefully the photos we took below will do it justice.

Another highlight was being able to climb Wayna Picchu. We were lucky enough to get tickets in the morning (they limit it to 400 people per day).  It was quite a hair-raising climb, very steep and narrow in places but the views from the top were spectacular and really allowed you to appreciate Machu Picchu and its surroundings in all its glory.

 

Having spent around 5 hours at Machu Picchu, we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes where we grabbed lunch as a group and reflected on the last 4 days over a few well-earnt beers.  It was by far the best hike we have ever done.  As the adrenalin wore off, Sarah and I both realised we had been absolutely bitten to bits by the flies at Machu Picchu - maybe with the excitement we simply didn’t notice them but the bites were everywhere.  And I thought the midgies in Scotland were bad!

Shattered and smelling pretty unpleasant but nevertheless thoroughly exhilarated, we got what has to be the slowest train ever from Aguas Calientes to Cusco and got back to out B&B at around 10.30pm. Needless to say, it was a very good nights sleep...