Inca Highlands Day 8 - Maccu Piccu in all it's glory!

An extremely early start this morning, after a rainy night. 3:45am was the wake-up tim to ensure that we were packed up and ready to go by 4:30am. A difficult start to the flagship day. The reason for the early start was due to the fact that the porters needed to catch their only train out of Maccu Piccu town. Ensuring that we were fully packed and ready to go by 4:30 would enable them to load up, run to town, and catch the train with a little bit of time to spare. Missing the train would mean that the porters would have to stay overnight in the town - not exactly the most desirable result for them.

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.

Inca Highlands Day 7 - Inca Ruins Galore

Waking up and extracting myself out of the sleeping bag on the morning of the third trail day was tough! Tough because of the ardurous day prior, and tough because it was early in the morning - 5:30/6am start. Some advice for people doing the tour... stretch. It really helps in the long run.

We were told that today was going to be another long day, 16 kilometers horizontally, wildly differing altitudes - "Peruvian flat" one of the tour guides joked. This was mostly true. Long, yet definitely not as tough. The great thing about the third day of the trek was that there was quite a bit to see!

The journey to the third and final peak began after another solid breakfast. The first sight of the day was only a short stroll away, the Inca guardhouse called Runkuraqay. As it was relatively early in the morning still, it was a quick fly by. That decision was primarly driven by the promise that there was plenty more to see.

The journey up to the peak of the second pass at 3,800m was steep due to the fairly large steps on the way up. Whilst the stairs were steep, the journey up to the summit seemed significantly easier. It's possible that the body was getting used to the tough inclines.

After a short stop with a bunch of the tour group it was time to move onward. The section to follow was the one between the second and third pass - this proved to be one of the most fun parts of the trail. The section consisted of a significantly steep descent, a block of Peruvian flat in the middle, followed by a moderately steep incline up to the third pass.

This section of the track was quite beautiful. The main reason for this being that it is the section that provides a view of the majestic Cloud Forest. Lush, fertile jungle speads ownwards as far as the eye can see at the bottom of a valley, accompanied by a fluid rolling mist that hovered just above. Photos that I took definitely couldn't capture the majesty of the place.

Along the way there was a significant Inca landmark for us to view, Sayacmarka. Sayacmarka was a large monestary-like building that was dominantly perched overlooking the cloud forest. As the mist was quite heavy I decided to skip the detour up to the ruin and continue onward.

Travelling down to Sayacmarka was highly entertaining as some of us were trying to get down at pace. Skipping through sections of steps seemed to be what the porters were doing, so this is what some of us attempted to do - with varying degrees of success. At several points along the trail I would let a porter pass through and I would attempt to follow them down as far as possible. One attempt of mine was even caught on video! As I had a yellow windproof jacket tied to my backpack I looked like a bit of a chicken waddling down the Inca trail.

After passing Sayakmartha we descended down lower into the Cloud Valley. Along the way, approximately 5 to 10 mintes onwards, there was another small outpost. Perhaps another guard post. Perching up on top of the walls of the little guard post proved to be an interesting rest point, as I could observe the other members of the group pass by the trail path just underneath.

Lunch was served just prior to the Phuyupatarnarka Inca site, at approximately 12:30pm. Originally we were meant to eat earler at the Chaquicocha campsite, yet this was moved further on as we were progressing quite well as a group. Lunch was another pleasant one... salad, soup, a particularly satisfying chicken drumstick, Inca version of fried rice, and a few salads. Yum, yum.

After lunch it was time for another Inca lesson, this time at the Inca site Phuyupatamarka. Here we learnt about the fundamentals of the Inca religion and the level of knowledge that the Inca had of astronomy. Impressive considering that the Inca had no formal standard of writing. Unless of course the whole talk was BS. Hah.

The cloud forest walk continued, not terribly difficult. The walk was quite leisurely with the guide Liborio accompanying us for a fair section of it - highlighting particular flora and fauna of the region along the way. Very interesting, although I struggle to recall much of it!

From Phuyupatarnarka there was approximately an hour or so descent followed by a choice marked by an electric power pylon. The quicker path lead to the Winay Wana campsite, the other would lead to the same campsite via the awe-inspiring views provided by Intipata. The Intipata route was chosen.
Plenty of mischevous snaps were taken at Intipata - including the Jestar starjump, a machete fight, and contemplative seated yoga poses. Intipata provided sweeping views of the river below and the towering land masses perched on each side.

Once we were over taking photos it was finally time to check into the campsite at Winay Wana. Campsite 2 to be precise. There was the option to do a further walk (not too far away) but just about everyone decided to stay at camp. The reason for this was that the rare commodities of hot showers and cold beer were available at the campsite!

I decided to make the 10 minute trek down to Winay Wana itself, rather than kick off my boots at the campsite. Unlike the some of the concave terraces seen along the Inca trail so far, the terraces of Winay Wana were convex. Not only were there terraces to be seen, but there were also well preserved buildings on display (missing their thatch rooves). Very green and very neat. The third trekking day was definitely jam packed full of visual treats.

I thought that the line to the showers was long, wrong! Once I got back from my trip to Winay Wana there was an extensive queue. As disgusting as it may sound, I avoided the shower for one more day. Instead, I opted for a cold water head bath - alternatively known as putting my head under a cold water tap.

Dinner was quite a feast - consisting of pasta, lasagne, jelly, and a birthday cake for one of the trekkers in the group. The chef came out with quite a nice orange zest cake. Impressive given the lack of proper utilities out in the middle of nowhere.

There was much entertainment to be had next, with regard to the cake. In a strange turn of events the birthday boy was tasked with cutting his own cake. Unfortunately for him the knife and the scoop were in the wrong hands. The result of this were diabolical pieces of cake. Admittedly the cake was on the crumbly side, so it was probably inevitable anyway.

To make matters worse (or funnier, depending on your perspective) a female member of the group offered to cut the remainder of the cake. Made sense. However, one of the other guys in the group decided that it would be a good idea to affix a headlamp to the girl cutting the cake. Fail. The headlamp fell onto the cake. Haha! A true comedy of errors.

The third evening would prove to be the last one on the trail. The next day would see us on the grounds of Maccu Piccu itself! As it was the last evening for all of us (i.e. with the porters and the chef) it was time for us to present a few gifts and say a few parting words. A sad evening.

Inca Highlands Day 6 - Steep Climbs on the Inca Trail

After a rainy evening with a reasonable amount of rest I was awoken at approximately 5am by roosters. Yes, roosters. This was the surprise that the tour leaders alluded to last night. Roosters were milling around the campsite signalling the dawn. It was actually quite entertaining hearing them cluck and crow as they waddled around just outside of the tent.

Hot cocoa tea was brought to our tents shortly after the roosters quietened down. The delivery of the tea set the clock ticking. We had thirty minutes to pack our bags and be ready to leave the tent. Quite the struggle for me as i'm generally quite a slow packer of bags - evidenced by my near-miss with the initial flight down to South America.

One of the frustrating things that I realised in the morning was that I left my pants resting against the side of the tent, as I had changed to shorts for the evening (sleeping bag). The side of the tent became moist overnight as a result of the evening rain. This meant that I had the pleasure of starting the day with wet pants! Not the best start to the day, that's for sure.

This morning was a bright and lovely one. As it was such a nice morning the mess tent was put away so that we could have breakfast with the blue sky in clear view. Breakfast out in the open was hearty and refreshing. Omelettes, banana pancakes, bread with jam - much needed fuel for the day ahead.

After everything was packed away it was time for a meet and greet - where all of the trekkers, porters, and guides would all say hello to eachother. A good idea since we would all be spending several days with eachother. This greeting was quite a large affair as there were 13 trekkers, 3 guides, 1 chef, and 18 porters!

This would have normally have been an event free affair, yet for this trip the introduction proved to be very entertaining. The porters went first, and it was clear that most of the porters had come from the nearby Sacred Valley - the Anta region, to be specific. The porters weren't all young, with ages ranging from the early 20s right up to the late 40s. Unexpected for some. The usual occupation of the porters, their day-job, was farming.

Thanks to the introduction I got a good sense of the organisation required to ensure that we would all have a resonably comfortable trek to Maccu Piccu. Each day porters would have to carry cookware, cutlery, tents, stools, our duffel bags, food, supplies, and their own daily items (clothing, toiletries, etc). Not a trivial logistics operation!

It was the trekkers to introduce themselves after the porters had done theirs. When it was my turn I tried my best to inject some Spanish into the introduction. I didn't manage much - most of what I could come up with was something like "Hola, Buenos Dias Muchachos, mon nombre es Marko". Don't even know if that's correct.The rest of my introduction was in English - which was subsequently traslated by one of the trekking guides.

The most entertaining segment was to come. It was time for one of the ladies in the group to perform her introduction. After a brief introduction she was asked if she was single or attached (a question that all of the younger ladies was asked). She stuttered and eventually answered that she was single. The porters all seemed entertained and one of the younger single porters was being ridiculed by the other porters. The trek guide grabbed the single porter and I grabbed the single girl and we brought them together. The porter passed on a peck on the cheek and that was it. After the incident I was politely told "Mark, i'm going to kill you". Hillarious!

Onto the trek itself. The second day of the trail walk was said to be the hardest by the guides, and there was no reason to dispute this. The journey from Wayllabamba to Paqaymayu was indeed ardurous, as it had involved a particularly steep and extensive climb of 1200m in its first phase before a shorter yet equally steep descent.

The uphill leg was tough, yet the previous day's walk helped me understand how much weight would be ideal for carrying. I carried much less on my back on the second day of the trail than the first - dropping at least a litre of water and a couple of items of clothing. It was not as cold as some claimed that it would be!

The experience of the climb changed as the altitude increased. The initial phase of the climb was mostly warm and humid, with trees and foliage providing a shade from the sun. The climb was made more difficult thanks to the heat and humidity, yet the streams that ran close to the stony path upwards provided a useful cooling function.

The latter parts of the climb to the peak of the second pass were quite different. Vegetation was sparse, the stream was nowhere to be seen, and the sun was able to bear down on me with no problems - having said this... it was cool. Not cold, just cool. The steepness of the climb was similar, the environment was quite different.

By the time I made it to the peak of the second pass I was a little tired. A break was in order. The peak provided a sweeping view of the climb just completed with snow capped mountains as a backdrop. I took the opportunity to rest up,take some photos, and chat with som members of the tour group. More importantly, I was starting to get hungry and lunch was nowhere in sight. Lunch was to be a couple of hours further on, at Pacqaymayu.

Half an hour passed and it was time to move onto the last segment of the day - the descent leg. I felt that the descent leg was tougher than the ascent leg. Why? Most likely because I was hungry, I wasn't fresh, and nature was calling. Having said this, the descent was much easier after making a slight detour off the well warn track. I wasn't the only one who made a temporary diversion though, everyone does it!


Through the second day I noticed something different with the Maccu Piccu trek when compared to the Everset Base Camp trek in Nepal - the method in which the group as a whole travelled. In Nepal we effectively had 2 groups, a fast group and a slow group, and stops every 30-45 minutes or so - regrouping at key places. In Peru, people are allowed to go at their own pace with guides towards the back and someway towards the front. An interesting contrast.

At 3pm I stumbled into Pacqamayu Camp #5, lead to the specific campsite by our chef Cesar. Boy, was I glad to see camp. After quickly selecting a free tent it was time to head to the mess tent for some well deserved lunch! I was starving! Lunch was fantastic, although that could have been because I was very hungry. Cevice (fish) salad was the starter, followed by a prawn soup, finished off by an alpaca, plaenta, and rice dish.

Pacqamayu camp was the site of the evening camp, so thankfully no more trekking was planned for the day. Due to the lateness of lunch, it was only an hour and a half or so left remaining before afternoon tea was scheduled. There was the option to stay and have some afternoon tea... but I passed. I took the opportunity to rest up and napped until dinner time. Popped out for dinner and a quick chat before it was back to bed again (with nothing leaning against the side of the tent).

Inca Highlands Day 5 - The Trek Begins!

Today marked the first day of the Inca Trail leading to Maccu Piccu! Exciting. We departed from our hotel early in the morning. The group was hearded onto a coach bound for a place called Kilometer 82. Now I don't know why someone would call a place Kilometer 82, but at least it's a unique name!

First up, a bit of administration was required. The morning was a bit of a rush as we had restrictions on what we were allowed to bring along to the trek. A 5kg duffel bag (which was weighed) and whatever I could carry on my back was all that was permitted. The rest of the luggage would have to be left at the hotel.

Initially I thought that it would be quite warm and therefore packed light - only using up just over 3 of the 5kg allocation. Others in the tour used up their entire allocation, citing the extra clothing that they intended to pack. Taking this on board, I threw in some warmer clothing... bringing my duffel bag up to 5kg.

We arrived at Kilometer 82 by the mid-morning and it was a bustling place. Coaches, minibuses, porters, guides, trekkers, and locals filled the little bus compound. After a quick introduction to our trekking guides Liborio and Tina we were handed a little snack pack. Some biscuits, a few little sugar lollies, and a banana. Then we were off! We had commenced our our 4-day journey to Maccu Piccu.

The first stop of the trek was literally two minutes away by foot - a group photo under the "Welcome to the Inka Trail" sign by the railway line. Everyone looked quite happy and excited. I remember thinking that it would be interesting to see both the before and after shots! Once we had taken a good set of photos (as everyone had a camera) we were off to passport control.

Why is there passport control? Now that would be a very good question. Technically speaking the whole Maccu Piccu National Park area is another country, or so we were told. Perhaps something was lost in translation there... maybe it's akin to the Vatican and Italy.

All of us needed to provide our passport and entrance pass before being allowed though the checkpoint and across the footbridge on the other side. The interesting thing about the whole process was that we had to line up in particular order - simpler administration. No matter, one more stamp on the passport and away I went - at a start altitude of 2450m.

The late morning consisted of a nice gradual walk towards our lunch stop - a 2 hour walk away. It was a pleasant walk. We passed along the Urubamba river and observed a track section of the recently rebuilt railway line that connects Cusco to Maccu Piccu.

On the way to lunch we came across a very well preserved Inca settlement called Llactapapa. The distinguishing feature of this particular Inca site was that it seemed to follow the undulating stream as it snaked through the valley below. Furthermore, many of the structures remained intact (minus the thatch rooves). Something that I wasn't expecting!

Unfortunately for us it began to drizzle as we were peering down at Llactapapa, getting an explanation of the importance of settlements like Llactapapa for the Incan economy. The rain wasn't too heavy at this point. The 3 soles poncho that I bought the day before was well worth it!

Lunch. I knew that we were going to get food made for us along the way but I didn't quite know what to expect. Pleasantly surprised is one term i'd use for the lunch provided, excellent is another. First up, the trekkers and guides were all seated in a large mess tent.

With the rain progressively getting heavier we were served both our first cup of hot munja tea (munja being a herb) and a fantastic guacamole entree. Next was a hearty chicken and vegetable soup. The series of dishes was rounded out with an apacca, corn puree, and rice dish. The series of three dishes were easily some of the better meals that i've had so far in Peru! If the chef were to publish a cook book, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

A few more hours of gentle walking under light drizzle brought us to our first evening campsite - Wayllabamba, situated at 3,000 meters. It was fairly obvious that we reached our campsite as there was a row of bright red domes set against a lush green backdrop.

As soon as we entered the campsite we were told of the location of the toilets and then were assigned our tents. One thing i'll say about the tents provided are that they're quite spacious. The tents can quite comfortably fit 2 people. The tents were also provided with air matteresses for extra comfort. Handy!

At approximately 5:30pm we were called out for a treat at the newly erected mess tent. The surprise was afternoon tea! Cocoa tea and popcorn. Yummy. Definitely something unexpected. We were warned not to spoil our dinners, yet the two platters of popcorn were finished.

Dinner was served shortly after afternoon tea, 6:30pm. With people given free time to either sit in the mess tent or head back to the privacy (or relative privacy) of the sleeping tents. Another fantastic meal was served up by the chef before we all went to bed. On the way out we were promised a special surprise in the morning, and with that idea in our minds we went back to the tents to snooze.