Enigmatic Inca Trail
From Journals of Latin America in Machu Picchu, Peru on Apr 05 '07
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No smelly feet have ever been unwashed for so long for fear of losing the memories the food the cultural rollercoaster and a truly unforgettable experience that was the little trek to Machhu Picchu....
fancied a new beginning instead of ´so,after´
It started at an idle 4am on Good Friday...Josh was not in a trekking state he was drunk and had no sleep however I do recommend this as makes you great mates with the porters if you start the trek by sitting in the bus with them and a bottle of Jamaican ´Ron´instead of the white tourists...
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To try and tell every detail of the 4 days is just not going happen you can see the pix and if your lucky ill tell you the tales once or twice if your not so lucky maybe 13 times over when I´m drunk..
We started the trek 2km from the start as the road was blocked. I sadly had a 12kg bag....Confusion over what porters would and would not take...got me kudos with them as most had 2kg and i had half what the porters had good for an ámigo´! I was shitting it as originally I had said I was a student but couldn't blag an ISIC card so then back tracked to say I was an adult and avoid not being allowed to go thankfully i was down as an Adult so it went fine! Don´t mess around with this bit kids they always tend to check students!
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Our guide and now known as ´Chief´was Edgar bloody star use to be a porter and one of the few Quechua speaking guides so much respect and the guy can run it in 8hrs...more respect!
We decided to hit the first day hard best idea if your having a hangover and had no sleep....so we trekked up to 3600m in the first day, we had one casualty...36 Mike, couldn't´t carry on our thoughts with mike...Anyway despite my disabilities I remained group leader still think there should of been an award ceremony at the Sun gate but no one thought so...
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the first day takes you past trekking locals on donkeys little mud shacks rushing streams and amazing mountainous landscapes, and notably the steepest part of the trek which kills the weak. Also got to taste some interesting corn beer which the porters live on to get them to the top and coca leaves vital for energy and altitude!
After a grueling day we got to our camp 400m from the highest point on the trek to settle down to stand up loos and the most amazing views from my tent of the mountains...note the feet in the pic!
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I could go on about how bloody awesome the food was but it was continually and totally out of this world from stuffed peppers to grilled trout to souffles!Hyman the cook bloody legend!
Every night was freezing so wrap up! our second day was a short but grueling hike to the top filling one with much achievement and knowing the highest was done but 2 more passes to reach. What goes up must come down and for 20 minutes I kept`t speed with the porters down 600m over uneven Inca terrain. Great fun and an iPod moment!After lunch brought a torrential storm alerted prior by the singing frogs...you hear them rains a coming!!
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We trek to our second pass to see a sentry post that guarded the valley and relayed knotted rope messages to the Inca royalty.
THe nest area of interest was an amazing astronomy post built into the hillside with irrigation from 1km away earthquake proof walls and star gazing mirrors...Unbelievable people ahead of their time and truly educated shame they got wiped ut by small pox and a greedy spaniard. Some amazing sunny views from this point, Ill add the names but thought I would update as a priority!
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The third day was pretty easy a nice albeit treacherous trek through the cloud forests along 40m high Quechua wakways and through inca tunnels to get to our vantage point. Running down the ´gringo killer´stairs was interesting and notably dangerous as hell one slip and your a gonna, just aswell I was on my own...it tests the nerves lets say!All this makes the first glimpse of Macchu Picchu all more worthwhile, she lay before us in the distance a mere 2hrs away the quest of our trip lay behind her in the shape of the Macchu Picchu City. That eve after some vino celebrations we saw an amazing site terraced up incredible angles a place to sit and loose yourself with a drink or clear your head sadly our peace was broken by the SAS yanks crew...sigh!
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After tipping the lads and sharing out my Ron with me mates we got up at 4am to make the final hike to Macchu Picchu...it had been thundering and lightening all night but sadly there was still stubborn clouds lingering.
We had to battle past obnoxious old men with sticks trying to kill us and avoid falling over the edge to reach the sun gate. sadly it was a tad misty but it cleared for 5 secs for me to get my first glimpses of the enigmatic city.
We then trekked further to notice the torrential rain had caused landslides preventing the tourist buses from reaching macchu picchu...Know what that means...no yanks!! until its cleared anyway!!
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So we got some pix but the mist was lingering and then we descended closer and it cleared with sunshine so i legged it back to the phot graph spot to get my poncho free pix! Was absolutely breathtaking such a mystical place and the cloud added to its enigmatic being lingering around truly making it a special and breathtaking place. Hard to explain but when you stand at 2500m and look at a city in the sky then you will understand!(not empire strikes back city in the sky mind).
the Chief gave a top tour but sadly the rain ensued and afterwards we retreated to Aguas Calientes. This entry does not give the grueling and rewarding trek and justice but the pictures might start to.
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Do it, but please without bloody walking sticks!
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