Checking Off the Highlights

If anybody remembers back to when Brad and I started planning our South American trip, pretty much the only concrete item on the list of things to do was a visit to Machu Picchu, hopefully after hiking the 4 day, 3 night Inca trail to the ruins. Now, since we weren´t going to plan a single day of the trip, we adamantly refused to heed the recommended advice to reserve a spot on a trek at least 6 weeks in advance in order to snag 2 of the only 400 Inca trail passes that are handed out each day since the government started regulating access to the trail a few years ago. We decided that since we would be in Cuzco during the low tourist season, and since our schedule was so flexible, we could probably manage to tag along with a tour group even if we had to wait several days to do so.

We arrived in Cuzco at 5:30am after yet another overnight bus trip and we wandered, bleary eyed and sleepy through the early morning, rain soaked streets, not realizing that we were passing through the Plaza de Armas and many important historical landmarks. Finding the Hostel Samay Wasi in the hilly neighborhood of San Blas whose super friendly owers fed us breakfast and put us up in a lovely double room, we rested a bit before tackling the daunting task of visiting the multitude of tour companies that litter the streets and allies of Cuzco. We visited at least 5 different tour companies after the initial positive discovery that there were Inca trail passes still available starting on the 29th of November, just 4 days away. Getting different price quotes and a sense of the vibe of each company, we decided on one and that afternoon we had booked a trail trip with the ridiculously named X-treme Tourbulencia company. We learned from them that the same regulations that limit the number of tourists on the trail per day, also have strict guidelines for what gear the tourists can carry and also, fortunately, how much weight and what items the required porters can carry. Brad and I had hoped that by carrying our own tent, sleeping bags and mattresses, we could get a discount on the trail price, but the rules will not allow tourists to even carry tents. Since I am so used to backpacking with all of the necessary items strapped to my own back I had serious reservations at the prospect of using human pack animals to do my job. But setting those thoughts aside until the trip, Brad and I had several days in which to discover Cuzco and the Inca ruins that stand just outside of the city.

Walking through the streets of Cuzco, you have to avoid, or better yet, appear to ignore, the constant barrage of vendors peddling their goods directly in your path, women shoving flyers for massages in your face and then pursuing you with verbal solicitations, and little boys pouting on the street corners when you walk by without letting them shine your shoes. It is an overwhelming scene to say the least but despite these little annoyances, I thouroughly enjoyed the time I spent marvelling at the modern structures built directly on top of the original Inca stone foundations that have lasted impeccably for 500 years through invasions and earthquakes. Just outside of Cuzco, in the Sacred Valley, we visited 5 Incan ruin sights that are easily explored with the purchase of a Boleto Turistico, which is yet another expense that must be paid in order to do the important once in a lifetime historical tours of the area. Saqsaywaman (pronounced sexy woman), Qénqo, Tambomachay, Pukapukara and Pisaq were important ceremonial, military fortresses, and residential communities that are wonderfully preserved. However, reading the brochures and listening to guides makes you realize how little historians really know about the Incan culture despite the fact that there are so many living descendents.

At 6am on November 29th, our Inca trail guides, Russell and Freud, picked us up at our hostel, loaded us onto a bus with 7 other tourists and 10 porters and drove us 3 hours to the starting point of the Inca trail, km 82 in the Sacred Valley. After getting our passports stamped, we headed off on a relatively flat trail for several kilometers in a sprinkling of raindrops that I feared would be a constant during the full 4 day trip since it is the rainy season in the mountains of Peru. My unease at having porters to carry much of my gear was brought out when we stopped for lunch only to discover the porters were already there having set up a giant dining tent inside of which was a cloth covered table, plastic stools, and a 4-piece silverwear set for each person. This was followed by a 4-course lunch of stuffed avocado, a vegetable soup, a meat, onion and rice dish for the main plate, and hot coca tea to finish. Such luxury is unheard of when I hike by myself and being catered to was uncomfortable. The rest of the hiking day was a gradual uphill to a campsite (of course already established by the porters so that all of us lazy tourists had to do was choose a tent) in a beautiful valley at the end of which, when the clouds finally cleared, we could see a snowy mountain and an almost full moon. On day 2, we hiked in sunshine to Dead Woman´s pass at just over 4,200 meters. It was a challenging but exciting hike up many Inca made stone stairs and then down the other side into a waterfall fed river valley where we found our campsite and sat down to 2 elaborate meals seperated by a tea time. In the middle of that night, the rain started and didn´t stop until we reached the third campsite at 1pm. Day 3 is supposed to be the most scenic hike as you climb over 2 passes, walk along a sharp ridgeline, explore several Incan ruins, and crawl through a couple of tunnels. We couldn´t see the snowy mountain views and we got completely soaked but it was still an enjoyable day and the misty scenery that we could see was beautiful. The last campsite on the trail is pretty silly to most hikers who are used to roughing it a bit more. See, there´s a restaurant on the site that plays club music and offers hot showers for a fee. You can also buy candy bars, beer, toilet paper and many other items. I do admit, a beer was pretty refreshing especially after the rain stopped and the sun came out in this edge of the Amazon rainforest section of the route to Machu Picchu.

The final day on the trail starts with a jolt at 3:45am as the porters literally start taking the stakes out of the tents while you scramble to pack your gear, eat a pancake and rush onto the trail only to be stopped in line at the control station and a locked gate that doesn´t open until 5:30am. Brad and I and a Canadian member of our group named Peter, scrambled to arrive at control as early as possible to establish our place in line. There were 3 groups ahead of us and as we waited at least 200 people lined up behind us. There was a lot of anticipation mounting as we waited, almost like the start of a road race. And when the gate opened, people literally started running down the narrow, rocky stairsteps that make up the majority of the trail. Brad, Peter and I are strong hikers and we soon passed every other person on the trail as we sped the 35 minutes to arrive at the Sun gate, the original official entrance to Machu Picchu. All of this rushing was only necessary on that morning because we wanted to acquire a ticket to climb the famous mountain, Huayna Picchu, that appears in almost every picture of Machu Picchu. There are a limited number of passes available to climb this mountain due to the fact that 3-5 people disappear each year while summiting. As we skidded to a halt at the sun gate to regroup, 3 dudes without backpacks sprinted past us onto the traverse that leads to the city of Machu Picchu making us the 2nd group from the Inca trail to appear at the ruin. Even with this mad dash, none of us procured tickets because they had been given out to the tourists who had come on the buses early in the morning. We were disappointed but only for a moment because we had before us the stunning city of Machu Picchu to explore. Early in the morning, there were some sprinkles and the mist obscured much of the view of the city but as the day progressed, the sun made an appearance and it got quite warm and we enjoyed fantastic views of the Incan stonework, the many temples, the famous sun dial, and some llamas that live at the sight! And in the end, we were able to climb Huayna Picchu, a hike that took us up the steep, slippery stone stairs of the mountain to the ruins at the top from which we had an incredible birds eye view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding hills that make up the impossible site where the ruins are located.

Even though there were hundreds of other people on the Inca trail, it was still a stunning introduction to Machu Picchu and I´m thrilled that it worked out so well for us to obtain a pass even without making reservations months in advance! We spent a day recovering back in Cuzco after taking the train back into town from Aguas Calientes in the Sacred Valley. And today I am in Puno, Peru, on the edge of the high altitude Lake Titicaca, yet another highlight of South America. We are on the verge of hopping over into Bolivia where, after spending way too much money in Cuzco, we will be able to live very cheaply for as long as we want! I´ll put pictures up soon.
Happy December everyone!
Love,
Anika