Inca Trail to Machu
Picchu 2008
Classic trip in search of the lost
city of the Incas
The
land of the Inca and the spiritual site of Machu Picchu have long been near the
top of our travel wish list. In the spring of 2008 we finally got around to
plan and book a 2 week trip to
Contents
Day 1 (Wed, 24-Sep-08) – km 82 to
Huayllabamba
Day 2 (Thu, 25-Sep-08) –
Huayllabamba to Pacamayo Camp
Day 3 (Fri, 26-Sep-08) – Pacamayo to
Phuyu Pata Marka
Day 4 (Sat, 27-Sep-08) – Phuyu Pata
Marka to Machu Picchu
Inca Trail
After
flying from Miami via Lima to Cusco
we are spending 4 days in Cusco and the nearby Urubamba Valley to acclimatize a
little bit. Cusco is at an elevation of 3300m (11.000ft), which initially makes
walking up the stairs at the hotel a heart-pounding exercise for us Floridians
who live at sea-level.
Here
is how the lonely
planet guide to Peru describes Cusco:
“Cuzco – pop 322,000 / elev 3326m
The high-flying Andean city of Cuzco … is the uneasy bearer of
many grand titles. It was once the foremost city of the Inca empire,
and is now the undisputed archeological capital of the Americas, as well as the
continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city. Few travelers to Peru will skip
visiting this premier South American destination, which is also the gateway to
Machu Picchu.
Although Cuzco was long ruled by an inca (king) or a Spanish conquistador, there’s no
question who rules the roost in the 21st century: city life is
almost totally at the whim of international tourists. These days nearly every
building surrounding the historic Plaza de Armas
seems to be a tourist hotel, restaurant, shop, travel agency or busy internet
café.
While Cuzco has rapidly developed infrastructure to at least partly
cope with the influx of tourism over the last few decades, its historical past
retains a powerful grip on the present. Massive Inca-built walls line steep,
narrow cobblestone streets and form the foundations of modern buildings. The
plazas are thronged with Quechua-speaking descendants of the Incas, and ancient
treasures are carefully guarded inside colonial mansions and churches.”
We
visited a couple of local Inca sites (Sacsaywamán, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay,
Pisac, Ollantaytambo,
Moray), took a one-day horse-back riding excursion and on Day 5 of our trip we
were ready for the Inca trail.
Nowadays
graphical details about the trail can easily be found via Google search. For
example, here is a graphic from AndeanTravelWeb (spellings often slightly different,
yellow circles added to indicate our 3 camp sites):
Another
great source of information is from InkaNatura,
the local travel agency our iExplore agency worked with and that all guides
belonged to; see the Inca
Trail Map from InkaNatura.
Day 1 (Wed, 24-Sep-08)
– km 82 to Huayllabamba
We
meet with our tour guide Wilbert in Cusco and drive in a small bus from our
hotel near Urubamba to km 82 of the train line to Aguas
Calientes. This is the official entrance gate for the
Inca trail.
It
feels a bit again like at the beginning of last year’s Kilimanjaro trail
with meeting cook and porters: I find that at the trail-head there is often some
mix of nervousness and excitement about the next couple of days. Nervousness
due to being away from the trappings of modern day life with electrical power
and infotainment, with hot showers and meals always conveniently available in
just a few minutes… Excitement because there is the great outdoors, the
star-studded night-sky away from light-pollution of the cities – and all the
more fascinating at high altitudes – the walking on the paths of 500+ year old
history. All that combines to the great adventure of such a mini-expedition.
The
5700m high Veronica Peak is visible from here – a steep and glaciated peak. It
rises more than 3000m above us (trailhead is at 2450m) and above the clouds,
which makes me feel insignificant and small. Here are some additional peaks we
saw on the first and last day of the trail (Veronica Peak and Salcantay) as
well as from the airplane flight:
The
Alpinist in me is longing for a challenging mountain like these ones - but we
have our sights set on the trail ahead…
We
register with the park service and pay the fees. Then we cross a suspension
bridge across the Urubamba River which symbolically marks the beginning of the
trail.
The
trail leads along the river for the first couple of km parallel to the train
tracks on the other side. This helps us with acclimatization, as we don’t need
to climb a lot of altitude today.
Several
porters pass us by with heavy loads. Unlike the African porters in Tanzania,
the local porters here seem to be better equipped (boots, backpacks, clothing),
and they strike us generally as a bit smaller in stature than their African
counterparts. The loads are limited to 20kg per porter, and the strength of
most of them is simply astonishing.
After
only about 2 hrs of hiking we reach the lunch spot, a nice place with running
water and some green terraces. We certainly are not alone on this trail – the
number of people (trekkers, guides, porters included) is limited to 500 people
per day.
After
lunch we continue by crossing a 100m steep ravine and then coming upon the
extensive ruins of Patallacta (some maps depict it as
Llactapata).
While
we don’t cross over the little river and visit the ruins up close we still get
a sense of the scale of this place. The highlighted small spot on the right
side is a circular temple, as can be better seen using the zoom lens of Jill’s
Olympus SP-570 camera:
(Note
the cow for size!) I didn’t know about the many ruins along the way, much less
the size and extent of the path and fortification system the Inca had built in
the 14th and 15th Century. This will be just one of the
many interesting sites, making the Inca Trail such a great way to get to know
the Inca culture.
We
turn to the South and follow the Rio Cusichaca
upward, leading away from the Urubamba. After another hour and a half or so and
about 400m of elevation gain we reach the first camp-site at Huayllabamba at an elevation of ~3000m.
A
few rays of sun paint a warm, yellow light on our tent as well as the ruins
just a few hundred meters behind our camp-site. We relax and get served hot tea
after washing up with warm water and soap.
After
sun-down the air gets cold quickly; the stars come out and the milky-way is
clearly visible. At 7:30 it is dinner time: We are treated to a delicious
four-course meal prepared by our cook Aquilino, who
together with his team definitely set a new high bar of culinary excellence on
trails. We know that we won’t be hungry at any time on this trail!
After
dinner and brushing our teeth I step outside in the cold and clear mountain
air, star-gazing and marveling at the clear display of the milky
way – something we don’t get to see very often in Florida… I try to take
a night time picture, but don’t have much success with finding the right
settings…
Day 2 (Thu, 25-Sep-08)
– Huayllabamba to Pacamayo Camp
After
a quiet and restful night we wake to the first light around 7:00am. The porters
always start our days by bringing hot water and soap to wash as well as tea or
coffee to wake up. We are a bit stiff fter our first
night in the tent, but we quickly warm up over breakfast, which is a real feast
this morning (and will stay that way for the rest of this trip).
After
a little while we pack our large duffle bags which the porters will take and
ready ourselves with just the small daypack. It is very relaxed this morning.
It is almost 9:00am by the time we are ready to depart.
Today
we will have to cross the highest pass on this trail, so we are hoping to have
achieved enough acclimatization to get across without any trouble or headaches.
We start slowly – Pole Pole, as they say on
Kilimanjaro J
After
about an hour and ~400m elevation gain we get to some terraces and a nice rest
stop. Here locals offer soft drinks, fruit and other snacks to the trekker.
Local farmers make do with what little land they can make use of by terracing
it off the steep slopes. Many of these sites have been terraced many centuries
ago, quiet witnesses of enormous manual labor done over many generations.
Here
we are also entering a beautiful patch of cloud forest, reminding us of the
jungle at lower elevations on Mt. Kilimanjaro. The dense forest provides a
cool, almost mystical stretch of hiking. Thick mosses hang from the trees and
large flowers mix with old trees.
The
trail leads up like a stairway to heaven. It is generously wide in most places,
and must have taken a lot of work to have been built 500+ years ago. It also
holds up quite well, despite up to 500 people passing on it per day in the
modern times…
After
this short stretch we reach the lunch spot called Llulluchapampa.
At 3600m it already provides a great view down the valley we have hiked up this
morning. Here we also see some domesticated llamas, the famous South-American camelids:
We
have lunch and relax a bit more. There is a chilling wind which requires us to
put on jackets, and some clouds are forming and draped over the peaks, forming
a vertical ceiling for our views of the surrounding mountain peaks.
At
1:00pm we are getting ready to continue and tackle the pass. Again we walk very
slowly, so as to not “run out of (oxygen) gas”. On this stretch we pass a group
of German trekkers, who either have less acclimatization or who started too
fast. They are in stop-&-go mode and one of them describes the slow going
as “hellish”. By contrast, Jill and I get into a good rhythm, and slowly but
steadily climb watching the altitude increase on our wrist-watches.
Soon
we climb above the 4000m line and the pass is less than 200 vertical meters
above us. A great feeling of contentment rises up when Jill and I walk the last
few steps jointly up to the Warmiwańuska pass.
Our tour guide Wilbert catches up with us after a few minutes – he had let us
go ahead after lunch, figuring he would catch up along the way… He takes a
picture of us at 4215m.
My
friend and former work colleague Sencer had shared his pictures of the Inca
trail from last year. He experienced some snow, but also clear views from this
very same spot:
We
won’t have a view like this today, and the cold wind on the pass forces us to
keep going anyway. For a short stretch we walk down through drizzle and don’t
see much. Soon we drop below the cloud base, though, which opens up the view.
We marvel at the width and high quality of the Inca trail in this section.
As
we also carry our video camera, I frequently switch back & forth between
still and video camera. Here I explain to Wilbert how to take a shot of Jill
and me.
The
clouds are at times pretty low-hanging and dark; they rise up from the steep,
green flanks of the mountains, which gives this range
a mystical quality. After less than 1 hr we can see our camp site for the day
at Pacamayo (3600m) as well as the slope up left for
our continuation and next pass tomorrow.
We
get down and are happy to see our tent already set up by the porters. It is
just so much easier with porters, especially when the weather is not as good.
Just drop in the dry tent, have a cup of tea and relax until dinner is served!
Well
not quite: It is about 4:00pm and we still have plenty of daylight. So I decide
to go for a little walk to explore. I climb up the steep stairs toward
tomorrow’s pass to get a different view of the camp site. Without backpack I
feel almost weightless and remarkably well, given that just two days ago I lay
in bed a couple of hours with a brief bout of fever! So I keep going up until I
reach the site of the next ruins, Runkurakay at
3800m. I need to climb up a bit higher to get some good pictures. At times the
clouds lift and allow the sun to paint stark contrasts of yellow light.
Suddenly
I figure I might as well climb past two small, picturesque lakes all the way up
to the second pass at 3950m. I’m almost running up the ~400m and feeling great,
not bothered by the 4000m altitude. Unfortunately the view at the top isn’t
clear, so I can’t see the high mountains in the distance our guide had been
talking about. However, the bright and dark contrast on the way back down to
camp come to live in a panorama picture with the Runkurakay
ruin and our Pacamayo camp:
After
a little more than 1 hr I’m back in camp. It’s pretty full here with maybe
200-300 people in camp. But I find there is a relaxed atmosphere with most
people just taking in the view and waiting for dinner.
We
have a four course meal for dinner, and we chat with our guide about the Inca
culture and the issues of modern day Peruvian life and politics. It was a long
day in pretty remote scenery. The cold is creeping into our bones and we need
to bring out the down jackets while sitting at the dinner table.
Afterwards
we brush our teeth and crawl into our sleeping bags almost immediately after
finishing with tea in the dining tent.
Day 3 (Fri, 26-Sep-08)
– Pacamayo to Phuyu
Pata Marka
By
now we are getting used to the routine of early morning wash, tea, packing,
breakfast, and departure. We are almost the last group to leave the camp site,
which looks very different when we leave due to all the tents from the day
before being packed away. Here is a view of the camp site the evening before
(left) and the next morning (right):
Soon
we arrive at Runkurakay, an old Inca ruin which is
believed to have been a rest-stop along the way as well as a watch tower due to
its excellent vistas.
Here
is what “The Inca Trail” guide by Richard Danbury has to say about Runkurakay:
“The
small circular site of Runcu Raccay
was discovered by Hiram Bingham when he was searching out the entrance roads to
Machu Picchu. He considered it to be a fortress, dominating the highway. It was
explored in more detail in 1940 by Dr Paul Fejos, who
thought it was a tambo, a rest-place for passing travellers. In design it’s a transitional building, a
bridge between the practical styles of the Cusichaca
river and the more elaborate designs of Machu Picchu and the Cedrobamba sites (Cedrobamba [=
Cedar Plain] is the name given to the areas around Machu Picchu).” (p. 192)
After
another ½ hour we reach the crest of the Second Pass. The view is even more
cloudy than yesterday evening, so we will have to make do without the glorious
panorama of the distant 6000m peaks (which our guide keeps telling us are
there…) As there is another group resting up here we just keep going and start
the descent West-ward down towards the Aobamba river
valley.
Here
we encounter the large number of trekkers who left the Pacamayo
site earlier than we did. At one spot there is almost a traffic jam behind a
large Dutch group. With all the different languages one overhears here on the
trail it becomes clear that this is a classic trail with visitors from all over
the world.
Our
next stop is the ruins of Sayac Marca
and Concha Marca.
The
dramatic setting of Sayac Marca
is built at a fork in the old Inca road. Today’s Inca Trail follows one fork to
Machu Picchu, but the other fork descends to the Aobamba
Valley. There is only one steep flight of stairs leading into the fortress.
Despite its precarious location it had permanent fresh water supply – one can
still see the various water canals in the walls and rock formations. Here is a
360 panorama from the highest point:
A
little below there is Concha Marca,
a much smaller outpost surrounded by some farming terraces. There are competing
theories about the purpose of both these ruins, including fortress, tambo (rest-stop) or religious center. It still seems to be
a mystery as to the exact purpose of these buildings!
We
descend a bit further through lush cloud forest again. We soon arrive at a
large camp site called Chaquicocha. Some groups have
lunch here, but we decided to continue on to our overnight camp site and just
have lunch there. So we just rest a little bit, use the facilities and keep
going. This may also help us avoid rain, which it looks like we could get late
afternoon.
After
a little while we get to a highlight of the trail, the Inca tunnel:
It
is an astonishing accomplishment to have built this tunnel some 500 years ago!
The path stays high up on the ridge between Urubamba and Aobamba
river. And before long, we step out on the ridge with
views on both sides:
Only
a little further and we reach the Third Pass, a high point on the ridge with
stunning views on multiple sides. This site is just a hundred meters above the
ruin called Phuyu Pata Marca. Here is also an exposed camp site, our highest place
to stay overnight at 3700m.
The
following panorama shows another German group’s tents in the middle and our
tents on the right (yellow tents for us and tour guide, as well as square
dining and round kitchen tent):
Since
it is only about 3:00pm we still have plenty of time for an excursion down to
the ruins of Phuyu Pata Marca. Our guide knows a small path – somewhat overgrown
and hardly visible – to get to the top of a small dome above the ruins. From
there we follow another steep path down to the ruins.
The
terraces are set in very steep terrain, and it is just remarkable to have these
stone walls and buildings sitting up here on the ridge. Here is what “The Inca
Trail” by Richard Danbury writes about Phuy Pata Marca:
“Phuyu Pata Marca’s
function, like that of Sayac Marca,
is unclear but the fountain or baths suggest that the site was associated with
the ritual worship of water, and perhaps it was a place for ritual cleansing on
the final leg to Machu Picchu. It could also, of course, have been a guard
settlement, or a remote hunting lodge.” [p.196]
This
evening we are treated to the most special dinner, with four courses and some
chocolate banana crème that is flambé in the cold night right outside our tent.
No effort is too much for our cook and his crew - very nice touch!
After
brushing our teeth I step outside one more time around 8:30pm. I can see the Milky
Way again in its full glory and hope to be treated to a morning with clear
skies and view to the high mountains.
Unfortunately,
less than 3 hrs later we experience torrential rain up here. I hope there will
be no thunderstorm with lightning, as this would be dangerous on this exposed
spot. It rains and rains, I am concerned about walking tomorrow’s last leg of
our trail in full rain gear…
Day 4 (Sat, 27-Sep-08)
– Phuyu Pata Marka to Machu Picchu
The
loud noise of heavy rain paltering on our tent woke us up several times over
night. At least at daybreak around 6:30am the rain seems to have abated and we
did stay dry in our tent. Clouds are still floating around and fog is rising
from the lower ranges. We’ll see how this will evolve.
Today
on day 4 we need to descend a long way, as our camp site lies ~1300m above
Machu Picchu. After breakfast today we get the porters together. We thank them,
cook Aquilino (left) and our tour guide Wilbert
(right) for their efforts over the last couple of days and give them a tip of
approx. 1 extra day’s worth of income.
Then
we say Goodbye to the porters as they will head down much faster and take a
short-cut down to the Urubamba river to take the next
train back to Ollantaytambo or Cusco. Wilbert stays
with us of course, and our first stop is the Phuyu Pata Marca ruin just a few
minutes below the camp site. We take a few more pictures and then start the
long descent.
At
first there is a 500m steep slope with all stairs – 2400 steps or so. That’s
one and a half times the Empire State Building descending via its stairs! Good
thing to have the walking poles here… Again we are marveling at the effort it
must have taken to construct this trail so many centuries ago.
After
about an hour of descent the path levels off a bit and we can see the next
destination, some steep terraces facing North with lots of sun called Intipata.
Until
just a few years ago these terraces had not been discovered yet as they had
been completely overgrown by the forest. Makes you wonder how many other
structures are still to be uncovered! Our trail passes by this structure,
entering near the top and descending right to its bottom.
We
stroll down the path and linger among the steep terraces and stairs. It’s an
eerie feeling to just sit there and imagine the farm work and comings and
goings of the Inca at this site. The sun comes out and we just enjoy the day.
From the bottom one gets a good feel for the size of this site.
15
minutes after this stop we reach the Trekkers Hotel, a camp site with a small
group of concrete buildings and a restaurant. Now the tour guides don’t have a
lot of good things to say about this place as it’s usually quite crowded and
dirty. However, we’re having lunch there and it’s the first time in four days
that we’re sitting in a building with electricity and normal infrastructure. I
don’t mind this as a first reminder that we’re getting back to civilization
today…
Just
prior to lunch we undertake a little side trip to the nearby ruins of Huinay Huayna. The name means
‘forever young’ in Quechua, and the place is named after a pink orchid of that
name that grows there.
The
size of this place and the magnificent series of 10 baths suggest that this was
some religious center with ritual worship of water playing a big role. The pink
orchid and other yellow flowers grow on the stone walls of this site. There is
a trail coming up from the Urubamba valley below which allows for some day
trips – most of the people coming up here are struggling with the altitude,
though, and need to take their time going up the many stairs.
These
last two sites – Intipata and Huinay
Huayna – are another good example of the for me unexpected number and size of Inca ruins along
the trail. There is definitely more to see along this trail than just Machu
Picchu at the end…
We
have lunch at the Trekkers Hotel, and then leave in the early afternoon. The
level trail traverses the flank of Machu Picchu Mountain, about 500m above the
Urubamba river. The thick forest occasionally gives
way to open views down to the river with its hydro power station and the
jungle-like forest all around.
After
about 1 hour of walking we finally reach Intipunku,
which means ‘sun gate’. This is the first time we will see the ruins of Machu
Picchu, and the last couple of days have built up our anticipation. Jill
accelerates her final steps, and the view coming around the corner is truly
breath-taking.
There
are many more people here, most of which have walked up from Machu Picchu. Jill
and I pose for our guide Wilbert to take a picture.
We
literally just stop and stare, taking in the exquisite view, probably the most
famous and definitely most anticipated of our trip. Jill leverages the zoom
lens of her Olympus SP-560 camera and takes a few wonderful pictures:
The
size, history and grandeur of this place are breath-taking. One feels a bit
like an explorer on the brink of discovery. After a little while we continue to
walk towards the ruins. Dark rain clouds are building all around us now, and
the occasional sunlit spot makes for dramatic views:
We
actually experience the first sprinkles of rain just as we walk onto the
grounds of Machu Picchu. We first walk to a small hut seeking shelter from the
short rain shower. After a few minutes the sun breaks through again and creates
a rainbow over the Urubamba valley below. Then we continue walking around the
site, more or less oblivious to the residual rain. We have arrived.
Machu Picchu
A
lot has been written about the legendary discovery of Machu Picchu by American
explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911. In fact, he wrote a report about this discovery
and subsequent expeditions sponsored by National Geographic and published this
under the title “Inca Land – Explorations in the Highlands of Peru” in 1922.
You can download a free electronic copy of this original document from www.gutenberg.net (direct link is here). I downloaded this while
we were in Peru and read excerpts from it, very fascinating! Here is a copy of
an image from this report, taken almost 100 years ago from Machu Picchu Mountain,
above the sun gate:
Note
the few terraces – all of what we can see today was overgrown by the forest
back then and needed to be cleared through subsequent expeditions. Of course,
there was also no switch-back road, no restaurant, and no 2000 visitors per
day. It is undeniable that the half million people walking the grounds of Machu
Picchu every year have some impact. Back in 2003 UNESCO considered to strip
Machu Picchu from its status as a world heritage site unless Peruvian
government would enact some reasonable restrictions (which it partially did).
We
spend the rest of this afternoon with a 1 hr ‘abbreviated’ tour of the grounds.
Then we descend via bus down to the little town of Aguas
Calientes. There we will rest in the fine Machu
Picchu Pueblo hotel, taking our first hot shower in four days and enjoying the
warm atmosphere of several open fire places and candles over dinner.
We
get back the next day and spend another ½ day up here, including a hike up to
the Huayna Picchu peak with its Temple of the Moon
perched near the top on the steep citadel. What follows is a collection of some
of the pictures we have taken up here. A separate photo collection can be found
on our Web Gallery here.
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