The group arrived in Cuzco which is a beautiful colonial town with cobble stone streets and a very lively atmosphere. Most people will come to Cuzco to help them acclimate to the altitude before they embark on the Inca Trail, so there are lots of backpackers around the town. Coca leaves and coca tea are something that really helps with the altitude and we were frequent followers of ‘packing a chew’ during our trip. It is rather cold up at the altitude and there are lots of people selling alpaca and lama scarves, gloves, and sweaters. We stayed in Cuzco for a day to adjust to the altitude and to see the Scared Valley of the Incas. It is a lush green region that supplies produce to Cuzco. We do some hiking and you can really feel the altitude as we would get out of breath going up even the smallest hills. We also stopped at Ollantayambo, which is a fortress strategically situated over the valley helping the Incas guard the village. This was the first taste we got of the amazing planning and engineering that the Incas were capable of. Looking at the huge boulders that created the fortress, it was hard to believe that the Incas were able to get them from the mountain side to this area. We would be more impressed with the Incas as our adventure continued.
Early the next morning we began the four day hike on the Inca Trail that would lead us to Machu Picchu. We each had one duffel bag containing our clothes and toiletries for the next four days. There were ten of us in the group and we had 14 porters, 2 chefs, and one guide traveling with us. Our oldest porter was 55 years old and had been a porter for about 30 years. These porters would carry our bags, all our food, tents, tables, and everything else we would need on their backs. One porter was even responsible for carrying the propane tank on his back. Each day they would wake us up with breakfast prepared. We would head out on the trail and they would pack up our tents and run by us on the trail carrying all OUR stuff on their backs. When we arrive for the spot for lunch, it would already be prepared and waiting (and the food was yummy and there was lots of it). The same thing would happen in the evening, but our tents would be setup and snacks would be waiting for us before dinner was served. These men were our heros.
On our first day walking the Trail we were at an altitude of about 2,500m. All along the Inca trail we would walk by Inca ruins (destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors). On our first day we saw the ruins Llactapata and Wallabamba (the place where we camped our first night). When we thought there could not possible be any more stairs there always were. The trail was so tough because we were going up and down mountains at such a high altitude. The second day was one of the hardest because of Dead Woman Pass, it is called that because the side of the mountain looks like a woman. The Pass was at an altitude of 4,215m and was painful to get up. It was very hard to breathe, but at the same time amazing because you were struggling with all these people who felt the same way, pushing themselves with the same goal in mind, Machu Picchu. Mary and I did a little extra climbing at the top of the Pass, climbing the ‘boob’ as we referred to it. We also got to see Andrew's naked pose, which we would not be the last time we would see that naked bum shot. On the third day, the longest one walking 16k, we walked by several Inca ruins, some of them served as villages and others as fortresses. All of them were very impressive with the stone work and the sheer size of the boulders. We walked Runkuraqay Pass which was a beautiful stretch of jungle. Our last night was very cold because we were sleeping at 3,000m. We woke up at 4am to start our trek to Machu Picchu. We had a quick 2 hour hike to the Sun Gate that overlooks the peaks that surround Machu Picchu. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy and we couldn’t see much, but luckily the fog cleared later that morning.
Finally after four days we arrived at our destination… Machu Picchu. And it is truly an amazing archeological site. The site was not “discovered” until H. Bingham in 1911 put it on the map for all the world to see. There is not much known about the Village because it was never discovered (or destroyed) by the Spaniards. In the village there were areas where agriculture was grown, areas of prayer, temples, staircases, windows, and sections for the rich and sections for the poorer people. There was a sundial that counted the passing seasons and gutters to collect the rain water to distribute it throughout the village. There was also a sacred rock that if you hold your hand over you can feel heat come off it. We spent several hours just walking around this wonder.
From there we took a train back to Cuzco, although we were tired we had to accept the ’24 Hour Challenge’ which meant that we all had to stay up until 4am that night. Luckily, Cuzco has an amazing nightlife with lots of clubs and we partied until the early hours of the morning.
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