Breakfast was brief, once that was done we waited in the hall of the Winay Wayna campsite - waiting for the opening of the final track of the Inca Trail to Maccu Piccu. The wait was uneventful - plenty of tired faces about. As the opening time drew closer we all started to gather at the checkpoint (as the path was shut at night) and continued to wait.
The moment the gates opened a small cheer went out and people began to stream through the checkpoint. The pace wasn't exactly cracking as there were several people along the way wanting to be first, yet were far from quick. For those that wanted to blitz their way to Maccu Piccu they simply reverted to calling out 'porter' and bolting through as people made room. Efficient.
The first hour of the walk was mostly uneventful, the scenery from the prior day was tough to beat. Eventually I made it to what has been labelled 'the gringo killers'. Though I didn't realise it at the time. For those that are unaware the gringo killers is a series of steep stairs that only last a few minutes... so long as you're able to keep going. I powered up the 50-odd steps, passing countless people along the way (who were clamouring up using their hands and knees). I was totally focussed on getting to Maccu Piccu that I didn't realise the obstacle was over. Continuously moving is the key!
Just past the gringo killer steps lay the Sun Gate - the first place that you can get a panoramic picture of Maccu Piccu. I didn't really know how large Maccu Piccu was going to be, so I was somewhat surprised at the awesome size of the complex. Unsurprisingly, plenty of people were milling about taking their photos of Maccu Piccu. It wasn't actually the easiest to take photos of the complex as clouds continually rolled in and out (just like the Cloud forest, the day before).
Another half hour or so later we were at the outer terraces of Maccu Piccu. We were allowed to take a few happy snaps overlooking the main complex before we were instructed to head down to the official Maccu Piccu ticket gates to check-in with the authorities - another immigration-like checkpoint.
Speaking of immigration we were all entitled to a Maccu Piccu passport stamp. Awesome, just what I wanted! Quite a few tourists had lined up to the little office behind pseudo-immigration to get the coveted stamp. One of the ladies in the tour managed to get a hold of the stamp and provide her own imprint... albeit with one major exclusion... the shillouette of Maccu Piccu (the top half of the stamp). That's bad luck. It was soon my turn - as opposed to doing it myself I had to give my passport up for it to be stamped. I pointed to where I wanted my passport stamped. Boom, boom. Maccu Piccu stamp, followed by a date stamp. I was pleased... until I had a look at my passport. Problem. The text below the Maccu Piccu shillouette was missing. Nooooo! All this way, all of the kilometers walked, all for a fail stamp. The minor consolation was that the two imperfect stamps could join to make one whole stamp. Frustrating!
There's much to learn about the Inca by examining the site of Maccu Piccu. Furthermore, there's much more that's left to learn about the Inca... as nothing has been recorded in writing. Throughout the morning we heard about how Maccu Piccu was left undiscovered by the conquering Spanish centuries ago. We learnt about how an American came to find the site of Maccu Piccu (Bingham) in the early 20th century. In addition to a history lesson we also got a spiel about the Inca themselves, their beliefs, and their architectural achievements.
One of the more interesting things that I took notice of was the statement that Maccu Piccu was only built a century before the Spanish arrived. Bizzare. I would have though that Maccu Piccu was around for ages. Just makes you think what made the Inca disappear considering that the Spanish never found the place.
Another interesting tale that was mentioned through the morning was that there was an Inca civil war immediately prior to the Spanish arriving in the region. More tidbits of information that i'm sure most of the general population wouldn't be aware of!
All of the above was mentioned on the tour provided by the trail leader Liborio. However, not everything was so smooth in the complex as a whole. As we were walking past the entrance to Huayna Piccu (a tough hour or so climb that affords an alternate view over Maccu Piccu), a man collapsed. As soon as the man collapsed a woman (perhaps his wife?) cried out. People suddenly rushed to the incident and started crowding around. As the tour group continued on - I was at the back - I left the scene to rejoin the group.
Upon the conclusion of the guided component of the tour, capped off by a group photo, we were left to our own devices. Before the guides headed off they left a few notes on how to get to lunch in the town below. Several of us were quite tired after all of the activity over the past few days so we chilled out on the terraces.
There was more to see in and around the Maccu Piccu complex, such as visiting an Inca bridge, but relaxing on the terraces was what we did. The more hardcore trekkers would have trekked up to Huanu Piccu for an additional challenge. Not this time. Nothing wrong with chilling and snacking.
As for my favourite bits of the complex itself - the view from Funerary Rock (although I didn't go to the rock, just took a photo from a rough approximation), Intiwatana (a rock pillar that pointed to the four cardinal directions... showing that they knew of astronomy and could predict solstaces), and the Sacred Rock (putting on display some of the finer features of Inca architecture... with the principal temple being nearby).
One of the stranger things about the local Peruvians was their interest in Asians. At some point during my time at Maccu Piccu I needed to use the bathroom. There was only the one. Upon leaving the bathroom and about a minute into my journey back to the group I was stopped by a pair of Peruvian girls. They beckoned me over and showed their digital camera to me, and one of them asked "photo?". I assumed that they wanted me to take a photo of them. Wrong. Once I reached for the camera the girl holding her camera shook her head pointed at her friend and said "No. You there". I obliged. (It's not like I haven't asked to be in a photo with others before!) The girls swapped - another photo. Totally bizzare. It also happened to some other asians in the group as well.
Back at the terrace, munching away at some Peruvian Chocolate. Inca Chocolate, I think it was called. Yuck. Wasn't quite for me. That's probably because it was too rich... or just too bad. Hard to tell. To pass a bit more time there was a quick photo session of "Whrere's Mark", where i'd run down to a crowded area in my yellow Gore-tex jacket mingle into the crowd and photos were taken. Nice.
Whilst we were on the terrace we got a glimpse of the fate of the man who had collapsed earlier in the day. It was not good. A stretcher was being carried by four gentlemen with the man that had collapsed (or at least that's who I thought it was) resting on the stretcher with a white blanket over him. Whilst the stretcher runners jogged through back towards the entrance an arm popped out and flopped about. The prognosis looked grim indeed.
Once our time was up it was time to start our long journey back to Cusco. First up it was a bus ride down to Aqua Galientes town, where we had our last lunch with the trekking guides. Followed up by a several hour train ride (which consequently took us back through Kilometer 82) to Ollantaytambo. The last leg back to our hotel in Cusco was by coach. The major drawcard for coming to Peru had now been conquered! Some well earned rest this night, that's for sure.
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