October 18-21
Trekking the Inca trail was one of the major highlights of our trip to Peru. Nicole and I had trained for this (though we had to abandon any hiking on the last two weeks before our trip). Mount Tam, Mt. Hoffman in Yosemite, the Claremont canyon behind our house (umpteen number of times). Nothing could have prepared for this four day adventure. Pretrek, we had a debriefing meeting at our tour company, Llamapath, where we met our two guides and the rest of the members of our group.
The group was big. 13 trekkers, 21 porters of whom, two were also cooks and two guides. Compared to the DIY hiking in the US this was defenitely more comfortable, since the porters were carrying most of the tents, grear, etc. more about the porters later...(Nicole writes: we lived like kings and queens while camping along the Inca trail!!).
We had to make it to the pickup point at 4.30 in the morning. Nicole and I were staying in a hostel, Mama Simona, that was about 10 minutes by walk from the meeting point. We underestimated the time required for the preparation and had a nice morning jog with our hiking gear to make it in time. Were both given a duffel bag each into which we could pack in 7kgs of gear and clothes. These duffel bags would be hauled by the porters while we carried our day packs with us. We left Cuzco at 4.45am in the morning after a cup of hot coca tea.
Our first stop was Ollyantantambo. On the way here, the views were remarkable. After the first hour of the dry highlands around Cuzco, out of nowhere, these majestic snowcapped peaks appeared. This was something straight out of a picture postcard. Miles of dry highlands with snow capped peaks in the background. I was already liking it.
We had breakfast in Ollyantantambo. After the initial experience in colca canyon, I had learnt my lesson amd was not shy in my eating. I loaded myself up well. I also bought a pair of woolen gloves as this was recommended for the trek and I did not have a pair of gloves. At 5 soles, I could not refuse.
The beginning of the trek is known as km 82. I am guessing that Km 0 starts somewhere near Cuzco. Anyway, since the trail is highly regulated (only 500 people allowed daily, and this includes the porters and guides), we had to go through passport control....and get a stamp for the trail!!!!
The beginning part of the trail is actually very easy. You gain altitude from time to time, but nothing that difficult. The trail is fairly muddy, since the original Inca path here is destroyed. The Spanish were using the trails to hunt down the Incas. The Incas, started destroying parts of the trail so that they would not be followed. We saw our first Inca ruin, which was an old village establishment. The design of the village was great. The agricultural steps were oriented to the east, since the Incas wanted to maximize sunlight for their crops.
Listening to our guide Roger, along the way was fascinating. He is a very very funny guy from the highlands, but when he spoke of the Inca history (or his ancestors as he put it), there was a seriousness in his tone that made you stand up and listen. His passion for the history came through and it was something I could connect with. Lots of controversy, too. Listening to history from a local is interesting because there is some emotion involved and its not just dry facts.
We got to try dehydrated potatos for lunch on day one. It does not taste like regular potatos. People in my group were not big fans of this. I guess the cook masked it with sauce, or put them into soups, from then on.
Day one was a really easy hike. We hit camp just as we were beginning to feel the arduousness of the first uphill. Nicole and I had bought walking sticks for our clinb and this was very helpful. (Nicole writes: Once we arrived at camp, all tents etc. were already set up. We chose our tents and as we were settling in, the porters distributed a small basin with hot water and a towel to each of us so that we could freshen up - these were provided every morning/afternoon and evening!).
Day two started at 5.30am. (Nicole writes: like every morning, apart from the last, we had tent-service - a cup of hot coca tea!). We had a quick breakfast and started the climb up. It was the toughest day in terms of the climb. First 6 hours was a steady climb up reaching a peak elevation of 4200m. The landscape changed dramatically on the climb up. We went from a somewhat arid landscape through highland forests and then out into alpine meadows. There were a ton of people on the trail at all times. I saw many porters stopping at various points, jumping into the bush to pluck out a few leaves and chew them/use them in mate tea. I asked one of them to show me what it was. It was a star shaped leaf with 3 wings. upon further inquiry, they told me that they use it to help their kidneys. The highest point is known as the ``dead woman´s pass`` because of a female shepherd who was found dead here.
The climb back down on day two was really really hard. By this time, we had started walking on the stoney Inca trail. The walking sticks were helpful in minimizing the impact on the knees (though they somewhat slow you down). We passed by a couple of Inca ruins on the way. The views were ofcourse great. We reached camp late in the evening by 6.30pm. We were all so very exhausted. One other couple in the group, did not even make it to dinner......(Roger kindly took some food to their tent).
Day 3 was nice. We went through the cloud forests which have an incredible ecosystem. The moss that grows on the ground, absorbs water from the cloudy environment around and supports the rest of the flora and fauna around. Roger picked up a handfull of moss and squeezed it to show us the quantity of water this moss holds... impressive. This environment of course encourages orchid growth and we saw plenty of these. Day 3 also involved steep descents on steps made for shoe size 5 (infact all Inca steps are like this).
Roger also gave one of the longest lectures on the Spanish conquest of the Incas and the discovery of Machu Picchu. Lots and lots of controvery here. Were the warring Inca kings so easily brought down by a handful of the Spanish warriors, or, did the downfall happen differently? Was there gold found by Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu?? Do you really discover some new place if you were told about it by the locals?? Do we really live in a post colonial world, when native treasures are still held hostage in other countries??
I did not know about the Yale Inca treasure controversy until I came here.
On day 3, we passed by a few wild llamas, some birds in the forest. We caught a glimpse of the Urubamba river from way high. We reached camp at 2pm in the afternoon. Short day of hike. very nice. After lunch, we went to the site of Winay Wayna. This Inca ruin gave us a flavour of what was to come .... The stepped walls for agriculture are truly amazing. There is a lot of jungle around this place. Parts of the ruin is covered up by the jungle, and apparently the peruvian government doesn't have the resources for excavating all of this out. Close to this ruin, there was a waterfall from the glacial waters. Nicole and I ventured out there. Here it really felt like I was in the Tomb-Raider video game : )! The water was really really cold, but I braved it and had a bath... It was great to have a wash after 3 days of hiking. (Nicole writes: I had hope to brave it, but after not even a minute of putting my feet into the pool of water, they practically went numb. I decided it wouldn´t be a good idea of going any further. I got out and my feet still felt a little numb while hiking back to camp...that´s how cold it was. I was envious of Rakesh, who looked like he was having the time of his life...in heaven, truly! I don´t know how he did it!).
On the last night, we had a tipping ceremony for the Wykis (porters). I cannot say enough good things about these guys. Running up and down the Inca-trail with 25kg packs is no ordinary task. No walking sticks, or bionic backpacks for these guys. Or hiking shoes or mosquito repellents for that matter. They wear sandals (infact all highlanders have just one model......). Big duffels with home-made straps for a backpack. No matter what kind of terrain; flat, uphill, downhill, up the stairs, down the stairs, they are running all the time. In many instances we would catch up to them during their break and think that we could keep up. But, in minutes they would be ahead of us and then disappear into nowhere. Our tents and campsite would be setup for us by the time we got there. How do they do it?? they should include mountain running as a sport in the olympics and these guys will definitely get gold. I did learn a couple of things from them. Going uphill, they always land on their toes, and on their heels for downhill. In case you were to trip, you will always hug the mountain. Also, the Wykis never waste a step going uphill or downhill. With each step, they are either gaining altitude or losing it.
Day four - on the final day, we had to get up at 3.30am in the morning. We had to hike down to the entrance of the gate, for the trail to Machu Picchu. The gate opens at 5am. The various hiking groups had gathered here. Michael from our group, entertained us with non-stop playing of "Baby baby", by Justin Bieber (ofcouse, we went "groan" when he started playing it for the 10th time....). The trek to the "sun gate" took us about 3 hours and it was pretty quick. We had to get through one section of very steep stairs (around 80 steps). We did it by going on all fours. When we arrived at the "sun gate", we just caught a brief glimpse of Machu Picchu. The rain clouds were strong and had pretty much blocked the view : ). So much for a four day hike .... Anyway , 15 minutes later, as we were walking down from the sun gate, Nicole, Roger, Vijay & Veena (fellow hikers from London), and myself blew at the clouds for them to go away. 20 minutes later, everything cleared up and we had the postcard picture of us in front of Machu Picchu!!! Now that is what I call that the butterfly effect : ).
We had arrived. We now joined the rest of the lazy tourists (This was Rogers description of those who had taken a train and bus to Machu Picchu) in exploring the site. Roger as usual gave us an excellent tour. At 11am, Nicole and I with a few others from the group headed of to climb the Wayna Picchu. This is the conical hill behind the Machu Picchu site. We just did not realize how hard and steep the climb up was. I think the Incas were crazy people with small feet and no fear of heights. The ruins at the top of Wayna Picchu is crazy. If you have vertigo, it is not the place for you. It is hard to explain in words, but when you see this place you wonder about the motivation to build such a place. Some say, it was a vantage point from where the architects could oversee the construction of Machu Picchu, others say it was to be close to the gods (if you miss a step here, you can defenitely end up with the gods). Whatever the motivation was, it is definitely a great feat that they built these structures all the way up here.
By 1.30pm, we were back in Machu Picchu. Karl (from America), was holding a spot for a few of us in the bus line, to get back to Aguas Calientes. We got yelled at by an older German couple for breaking the line. I usually don´t like breaking lines, but we had a train to catch at 2.30pm and after 4 days of hiking in the Andes, none of us could care less (especially from people who took a train). We just let the couple step up in front of us and that seemed to quiet them a bit (even though the guy said something about Germans and Americans not being able to get along)....whatever...
The ride back to Cuzco was very peaceful and quiet. The entire group was letting it all sink in , or maybe we were all a bit tired. At the end, we all exchanged goodbyes and thanked Roger and Ronnie (our second guide, who patiently always stayed at the back). We had completed the trek on the Inca trail.
Hasta la vista Machu Picchu.......(Nicole writes: you are beautiful!!)
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