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| Emily and Bryan "The B Man" with us at the start. |
The night before the trail we had all our stuff organised and went for a meeting at our tour operator's offices. There we met our guide Ernesto and waited for the other members of our team. It turns out that we were going to spend the next four days with Bryan (B-man) and Emily, who had the combined personality of a wet alpaca blanket!
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| Beginnings of the trail |
The bus trip to the start of the trail at Kilometre 82 takes around 2hrs and by 9am we had crossed the raging Rio Urubamba and were on our way. The first day was spent trekking through valleys and we reached our campsite at round 5pm. Dinner was delicious with fresh made herbal teas, soup, vegetables, meat, chicken or fish. The chef, Alejandro, could produce absolute miracles in his makeshift kitchen/tent.
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| Alejandros masterpiece thoroughly enjoyed by Ernesto. |
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| One of the many valleys on the way. |
For a group of four there is a ridiculous 8 porters/cooks! These tiny guys weigh around 60kilos and carry massive bags weighing half their weight. They literally fly up and down these massive mountain passes in shorts and a pair of sandals, making us look silly in our thermal fleeces and hiking boots.
The boys blazing the trail up.
Day 2 was a tough day covering 18km and marks the highest point on the trail, Dead Woman's Pass, at 4215m. It was strenuous at times but we were kept entertained by our American counterpart, Bryan, who felt it was necessary to use a military issue camel pack rigged to counteract chemical bombardment and whose epic comments have kept us entertained for weeks since!
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| At the top of Dead Woman´s Pass |
The trail is 49km long and consists of the steps that the Incas built over 500 years ago. This is only a small portion of the 40 000km of trail that the Incas built in their kingdom. Some of the steps are carved straight into of the rock face. There are many Inca settlements/towns throught the four days and Ernesto explained the names (that all sounded like Eros Ramazotti lyrics) like Wakamaka or Takawakamaka, their purpose and their tactical locations. He was a great source of information as well as a genuinely nice guy to chat or have a laugh with.
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| Takawakamaka. Behind are the terraces where the Incas herded their guinea pigs. |
At the end of the third day we were able to have some well deserved beers at our camp. The following morning we would leave at around 5am to reach Macchu Picchu two hours later. As we got to the famous Sun Gate to the lost Inca city we were greeted with the view of a massive cloud that filled the entire valley! As we descended further into the valley, the cloud cover lifted and we were treated to the sight of one of the 7 Modern Wonders of the World. It truly is an amazing place with sheer cliffs all around and the Urubamba river 400m below. It is no wonder that it was unknown to the rest of the world until 1911 when Hiram Bingham led his expedition there.
Blackouts after reaching the end of the trail
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| The city of Macch Picchu |
After a guided tour of the city we headed back by bus to the closest town, Aguas Calientes, then from there got on the train back to Cusco for a well earned night in a comfortable bed.
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| View along the way. |
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