Cusco and the Inca Trail

Chewing Coca leaves.....yummy
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Our flight from Arequipa to Cusco was delayed due to bad weather in Cusco. Cusco is nested in between a few mountains and that combined with the altitude can result in some wild weather. However after 2 hours we got clearance and headed off. On arriving in Cusco we immediately got ready and headed out to see some ruins called sacsayhuaman (sexy woman). As usual there isnt much left at this site as the spaniards stripped it almost bare using the rocks that they were able to move to build their own buildings. Its funny though that the  Spaniards were not able to move the largest rocks but the incas were.

Here we go
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The Incas designed Cusco in the shape of a Puma, Sacsayhuaman was the head with large zig zag walls being the teeth.

trek was definitely worthwhile and we would recommend it to anyone

We also went to two colonial churches which the Spaniards built on top of Sacred Inca sites. After an earthquake in the 50´s the inca foundations of one of the chuches was exposed and is now protected.

The next day Sheree was sick again, Luckily the doctor was already there to see others in the group and saw her for free and gave us more pills. Once she was sorted out we headed out to the Sacred Valley. The Sacred valley was very important for the incas and the whole area is terraced and farmed still to this day. In the valley is the town of Pisac where we went to a really good market and picked up some bargains.

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Later we went to the ruin of Ollantaytambo which was really impressive. We walked all the way up to the top which was a good precusor to the trail showing us just how hard it is to climb at altitude.

That night we packed for the inca trek and had a quiet dinner in the room as we had to wake at 430am to go to the trail start point.

Inca Trail.

DAY 1 - 12km

top of dead womans pass
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We were picked up by the bus at sparrows fart and headed to Ollantaytambo to stcok up on ponchos, walking sticks and snacks. From there we drove on further to km82 the starting point of the inca trail.

Here we had our passports checked and stamped and off we went. We started on a gradual uphill followed by "Inca Flat" which just means up and down. We walked for about 5 hours and then stopped for lunch. The porters were running a bit behind at first as one of them had forgotten their papers so they then had to cover the ground we covered in 5 hours in less than two. These guys are amazing. On arrival the porters somehow managed to whip up a quick 3 course meal of salad, soup and trout all 5 star quality. We then headed uphill for about 2 hours to the first campsite. During the 12km of walking we climbed approximately 700m.

Poncho luvin
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DAY 2 - 16km (Rees bday on deadwomans pass)

We woke up at 5am bright and early for the hardest day of the trek. The walk that morning was a steep climb of 900m upto the first pass (dead womans pass). The walk was granite steps of different shapes and sizes. It was raining, we were in the clouds and it was freezing. Dead womans pass is actually named after the mountain which locals believed looks like a woman laying down, not because women die on the walk.

The pass was followed by a steep decent 700m down for 2 hours to the lunch point. It was freaking cold and slippery and killer on the legs. The hard decent was rewarded with another excellent feed and a hot drink before heading onto the second pass.

grub tent
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The second pass was steeper than the first pass but not as long a walk. Half way up the pass was a cool ruin with a great view of the lunch stop and a waterfall. The pass was a difficult climb up 400m altitude followed by many kilometers of decent to the next campsite. near the campsite was another really cool ruin which has a really steep set of steps to get upto it.

All in all we covered 16 km going up and down and arrived at the campsite first in about 10 hours the others followed about an hour later.

Porters
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That night as usual the porters cooked an amazing 3 course meal followed by a big suprise for Ree. They managed to cook an amazing birthday cake in their tiny gas camp oven which one of the poor buggers carries on his back. They even wrote happy birthday sheree in spanish on the cake.

Day 3 10km

Had a sleep in until 6am and then started out on the shortest day of the trail. We walked 6km to the campsite but dropped 1000m in altitude thus at times it was pretty steep and hard on the legs. This section is all original inca trail and it is amazing that they actually built the thing so well that it is still here today.

night 3
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We arrived at the campsite after about 3 hours walking and settled in for some cards and chilling out. That afternoon we went to the Winay Wayna ruin which is the best ruin next to Machu Picchu. The ruin is well preserved and has a cool backdrop of a few waterfalls.

Day 4 6km

Day four began with a 4am wake up following a solid nights rain and threat of landslide. Everyone starts at 4am on the last day so that the porters can pack up and run down the mountain to Aguas Callientas to catch their train to cusco. The walk begins in the dark with evryone lining up at the checkpoint which opens at 530. Once the gate opens it is a brisk hike in order to get to the sungate first. After about an hour we reached the cats wall which is a steep climb up to the sun gate. The previous nights rain turned out to be a blessing as all the clouds had cleared and we were greated by a perfect view of Machu Pichhu from the sungate. Apparently this is very rare as it is a Cloud forrest and usually the guide just says Machu Pichhu is over there in the clouds lets keep walking.

Made it
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After many a photo we headed down from the sun gate to Machu Pichhu where we had a tour with out guide Juan who was a real champ.

The trek was definitely worthwhile and we would recommend it to anyone. It really wasn´t too hard. We hung around Machu Pichhu until lunchtime and then headed down to Aguas Callientas to have lunch and catch the train back to Cusco. However due to that rain the night before the train was delayed 2 hours due to a landslide so we didnt get back to cusco until late.

Jerry at Machu Pichhu
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Cusco - Had a quiet day on our last day in Cusco. Ree had a massage and I tried to catch up on this blog. That night we went to the best resturant in Cusco the "Fallen Angel" which is run by gays and has a pretty wild decor. It was really cool and they cooked the most amazing steak and ree finally found some good wine. After dinner we headed to a club for a Salsa lesson. The lesson itself was pretty lack lustre but it turned out to be a big night getting back at 3am. Unfortunately we had to get up in 3 hours to catch the bus to Puno.