Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

And so on to one of the highlights of South America - Machu Picchu. But first four days of sightseeing in the Sacred Valley and trekking through the Andes.

Day 1 was spent doing visits by coach to the Inca ruins at Sacsaywaman and Pisac. The first is a big fortified hill overlooking Cusco, the second a settlement that covers an area greater than that of Machu Picchu itself.

Also managed to squeeze in a visit to a third ruin - Q´enqo - but only because the coach stopped their for a pee break. Had trouble getting a photo of the ruins because the local Inca "king" insisted on being in the shot. And then back on the coach to the start of our Inca Trail at the village of Quishuarani.

Our trek was an alternative to the classic Inca Trail laid on by Dragoman and a local tour company. The aim of it is to avoid some of the wear and tear to the Classic and to provide more interaction and income to the local communities (in terms of trade, work {porters, guides, cooks}, and donations). The main disappointment of doing it that way is that we missed out on a lot of Inca ruins that you would see by walking the Classic trail. The benefit is the look on the faces of the local schoolkids when they get presented with goodies by the visiting "gringos".

Either way, the scenery is quite spectacular and the walking strenuous. The trail we walked climbs even higher in to the Andes than the Classic - the highest point being over 4800 metres. Day 1 of the actual trek saw us walking steadily uphill for most of the morning at a very slow (almost unbearable) pace with very frequent breaks for everyone to get their breath and the group to get back together. A break for lunch was followed by a short downhill walk to another local village for out overnight camp. This was handily situated on the edge of a football pitch, so obviosuly a game had to be played between us trekkers and the porters/guides/cooks. The result of the big match was 2-0 to the visiting team (1st goal set up nicely by yours truly, the 2nd a hopeful punt downfield by one of our defenders that found the opposition goalie had gone awol). Honour satisfied, we then visited a local family in their home just up the hill from the campsite. The owner is apparently aged just over 100 and lives with several generations of his family, a few dogs, chickens, and loads of guinea pigs in a very cramped space. A very humbling experience.

Day 2 was another steep climb to another ridge. I had learned from day 1 by this time, so walked at the back of the group.

This meant I could walk at a pace I was more comfortable with and just catch up with the rest when they were taking a break. Pattern of the day was very similar to day 1, the morning being spent walking uphill, before a short downhill stretch to lunch, followed by an hour´s walk downhill to another beautiful situated campsite (probably the best of the 3 - mountains either side and a small stream running down past the tents). The final day was the easiest of all. Group photo time first of all, then we followed the stream down the valley for a half day walk to our waiting coach. Lunch in Urabamba, then onto Ollantaytambo and another amazing Inca ruin.

Well rested overnight, we then caught the train to Aquas Calientes early the next morning. Then onto a bus up the hill to Machu Picchu itself and a very busy day. Views of the ruins, from the very first to the very last ones were amazing. Early on in the day, 7 of our group decided we wanted to see as much of the site as possible (who knows when we´ll visit again?). This meant a hurried tour of the main part of the remains and some explanation of the history of their use, discovery by Hiram Bingham, and conservation (did you know they suspect that there is a geological fault running right through the middle of the main area that is slowly pulling the hill apart?). After the tour our next target was Huaynu Picchu mountain for the view back down on to Machu Picchu ruins. This is a very steep and (when combined with the heat that day) sweaty climb. However, the views from the top are spectacular, allowing excellent views of the whole of the Machu Picchu site and also the mountains all around. Then it was a quick walk down to get right across the site to the Sun Gate (Intipunku). A few of our grup of 7 were beginning to wilt in the heat but we all made it across and a view of the site from the other direction. Then a quick (almost) run back down to catch the 15:30 bus so that we could get back to Aguas Calientes in time to catch the train back to Ollantaytambo. Even managed to grab an omelette before getting on the train (day had been so busy, we forgot all about lunch). To complete this entry, loads of photos from Machu Picchu.