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No one seemed too bothered about the early start (4am) on the final day.  We were all too excited and had been unable to sleep properly anyway – our dreams of seeing Machu Picchu were about to be realised.  For almost the first time in four days it was not raining and the sky was full of bright stars.  It was only now that it became apparent how many other people had been actually walking the Inca Trail.  Joined by extra groups who were on a shortened two-day Inca Trail there suddenly appeared to huge numbers of walkers heading towards Machu Picchu.  Looking in front and behind us along the path was a torch lit procession snaking along the side of the mountain through the woods.  We walked in almost complete silence for a couple of hours, getting more and more excited.  The hair on our heads stood on end from the anticipation, and not the fact that it had not been washed for 4 days.  Heading towards Intipunku, the Sun Gate, we became agitated by slower walkers.  As the sky became lighter and lighter, the whole valley below us was revealed to us as the sun started to rise from behind a mountain in the distance and we were anxious we were going to miss our first view as the sun rose up over Machu Picchu.  We virtually ran up the steep steps to the Sun Gate.  As we walked around the corner and looked down on the ancient citadel, our hearts dropped.  The valley in front was filled with a mass of swirling cloud.  We tried not to be disappointed, but after 4 days of walking in the rain to be greeted with fog was not what we had planned on.

Joe, an American in the group, chuckled to himself.  He had not really been prepared for the walk, wearing jeans and trainers that got soaking wet on the first day.  His attempts to carry all his kit did not last and he had resorted to hiring a porter by day two.  He caught a cold and looked like he had not enjoyed the trek.  It was also very disturbing when he spoke, because his slow drawl sounded just like the character played by Billy Bob Thornton in the Oscar winning film, Sling Blade.  At any moment we expected him to say, “Ah, Huh, I Rekkun”.  If he could see the funny side of the situation then we had no reason not to either.  There was nothing else we could do about it, but laugh with him.

   We hung around at the Sun Gate, waiting for the fog to clear, but it was not looking very hopeful.  Our guide told us that he probably only sees Machu Picchu from that spot once or twice a year.  That is something they don’t bother to tell you in the guidebooks or at the tour agencies.  Of course we had to take some photos, it was after all our first view of Machu Picchu.  We thought we might be able to use it for a game, a bit like pin the tail on the donkey.  As we descended into the clouds we glanced behind us to admire the valley and mountains from where we had come from which were now bathed in early morning sunlight.

After 30 minutes walking down through the fog we finally reached the photographers vantage point, known as the ‘Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock’.  If you have ever received a postcard of Machu Picchu, it is likely that it was taken from this spot.  The fog started to lift and we got our first glimpse of the ruins.  There were the obligatory wisps of clouds clinging to the hillside making it looked really mystical.  An ideal photo opportunity, the only noise was from the clicking of cameras.

Maybe it was the angle that the photos had been taken at, but we imagined the ruins to be a lot bigger.  It is the location of the ruins that make them so important and not it’s size.  The beautiful natural setting of Machu Picchu at 2,430 m above sea level, set amongst tropical mountain forest, is extraordinary.  The site lies in the middle of a saddle shaped ridge between two mountains.  No one knows what the Incas called their city, which has adopted its name from the mountain that rises behind the ruins, Machu Picchu (literally meaning ‘Ancient Peak’).  This mountain is just one of four ancient peaks that surround the ruins, the other three being Huayna Picchu, Putukusi and Pumasillo.  From the centre of the site, each peak points towards a specific direction, North, South, East or West.  Blending in naturally with the landscape, its giant walls, terraces and ramps could easily be mistaken for the rock escarpments that it is built on.

It is easy to understand why these ruins went undiscovered for so long, it’s remote location and its concealment ensuring that the Spanish did not know of its existence.  If they ever did know, it was probably too inaccessible for them to have bothered with.  For whatever reason, it luckily escaped the looting, plundering, burning and destruction that most Inca sites were subjected to during the Spanish Conquest.  As a result, this has become the most significant and famous archaeological site in South America.

It was not until 1911, when a Yale University expedition led by a chap called Hiram Bingham, that the ruins at Machu Picchu were ‘rediscovered’.  Bingham paid a local Quechua man one sol (things haven’t changed much since 1911), who told him that on top of the hill, out of sight was an archaeological ruin.  He assumed it to be the site he was looking for, Vilcabamba (one of the last Inca strongholds), and so he actually discovered Machu Picchu purely by mistake.  The site was totally overgrown with vegetation and although it had been abandoned by the Inca centuries before, a couple of local peasant families were living there.

The search for Vilcabamba continued for many years, until 1964 when Gene Savoy (an American archaeologist) unearthed the site at Espiritu Pampa.  Hiram Bingham had already made it there not long after he had discovered Machu Picchu but had left it alone thinking he had already found the last Incan stronghold.  In his excitement he forgot to log the exact location, and therefore it became ‘lost’ again.  More recently, Peruvian and British explorers have discovered a number of other lost Inca cities all in the same area.  Lying only 40 kilometres from Machu Picchu are one of these sites, Corihuayrachina.    These ruins are even more sophisticated than Machu Picchu, suggesting a well-developed settlement.  Included in the site are ruins of circular homes, storehouses, cemeteries, funeral towers, roadways, waterworks, farming terraces, a dam and a truncated pyramid.

Obviously, there has been a lot of archaeological exploration since the discovery of Machu Picchu and new things are always being excavated.  In total, about 150 skeletal remains have been exhumed; the vast majority of these are females, with only about 20 males and four children.  The large number of female remains was quite curious and has led to various theories, the most popular being that the last inhabitants of Machu Picchu were women, left by the men who had gone off to fight the Spanish, selected to stay to continue important ritual ceremonies.  The theory of it being a glorified brothel is a great suggestion but, unfortunately, very unlikely.

The mystery surrounding Machu Picchu and its precise function is one of is greatest attractions and huge numbers of people believing it was a particularly important centre of worship and ceremonies come searching for a spiritual experience.  Maybe it was the two dogs copulating in the main grassy plaza that distracted us, but it did not really feel that it was a particularly sacred place.  Neither of us felt compelled to sit down and meditate, or take off our clothes and run around naked for that matter.

The majority of the site is split between agricultural terracing and buildings to accommodate about 500 people.  Even though there are a number of temples and the usual stone alter that is illuminated by the sun during one of the Solstices, most of the buildings are very functional consisting of not just houses, but also workshops, storage areas and baths.  Built at the height of the Inca Empire it was probably one of the most amazing urban centres, not the biggest, but certainly one of the most dramatic.

Machu Picchu is an exceptionally well-preserved archaeological site, with some fantastic granite stonework, locking together like a huge jigsaw puzzle (one stone had 34 interlocking angles cut into it).  Anyone who has ever worked with granite will know that it is not only a very heavy stone, but also very tough and is takes a great deal of skill to cut it accurately.  There are 3 granite quarries within the site, which must have been working full time to provide a constant supply of stone during the city’s construction.

 Our guided tour only took an hour and a half and by 10 am we were left to explore on our own.  Vicky decided to climb up Huayna Picchu (Younger or Lesser Peak).  This is the hill that is the backdrop for most of the photos taken of Machu Picchu and is almost 400 metres higher than the ruins.  We had been warned it was not the easiest hills to climb and those with a fear of heights, including Caius decided to give it a miss.  The route clings to the side of the mountain and there is an almost vertical stairway of about 50 metres carved into the rocky face.  It was not too scary and there was a handrail much of the way to support and pull yourself up.  The final climb to the top was with the aid of a rope, which someone had apparently recently misjudged and had tumbled to their death.  The panoramic view from the top was worth the tiring climb, with Machu Picchu, the Urubamba Canyon and the snow-capped peaks in the distance.  There were too many people hanging around at the top, determined to try and find the highest and most precarious rock to conquer.  The walk back down was a little more disconcerting and from the top of some mini terraces we realised how steep it really was.  The set of tiny steps we had come up now seemed even smaller and steeper and we realised there was nothing at the bottom to stop us from falling right to the bottom if we had slipped.

By the time we had reached the bottom, the ruins were crawling with tourists.  Caius had managed to spend a relaxing hour wandering around before the train from Cusco had arrived.  Even though there are restrictions on the number of people walking the Inca Trail, there are none on the number that can visit the ruins.  From a height it looked like someone had been painting the ruins in splodges of white, blue, red, green, yellow and black.  What we were actually looking at was a load of tourists wearing ponchos, shuffling around in their organised tour.

It had been a good idea to walk in shorts, while it was raining, but now we were lower down and it was warmer we were the prime targets for sand flies again.  We were too engrossed in the excitement of going to Machu Picchu we had forgotten to put on any mosquito guard that morning.  They were particularly attracted to our bare legs, which were soon covered in small, weeping wounds.  Our early start had been worth it, but sharing the ruins with a couple of thousand other people (and sand flies) was not enjoyable, so we made our escape just as it started to rain – again.

Article taken from Inca Hoots by Caius Simmons & Vicky Brewis.

Technorati Tags: Inca Trail Peru, Machu Picchu Tours, Peru Holiday, Peru Travel Deals, Peru Vacations

 

 

These travel writings capture the excitement and spirit of the South American Andes.

Our journey starts at the equator and takes us south through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Wherever possible we leave the beaten track to get a true feel of the cultural, geographical and historical diversities of this inspirational continent.

Highlights include a tour of the mysterious Galapagos Islands, walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, a humbling trip to a working mine (in Bolivia) which has claimed the lives of millions and being robbed at gunpoint.

Technorati Tags: Inca Trail Peru, Machu Picchu Tours, Peru Travel Deals

Technorati Tags: cusco peru, gringo bills, Inca Trail Peru, machu picchu, machu picchu hotels, Peru Holiday

The time had come to start walking the famous Inca Trail.  You can now only walk the Inca trail as part of a pre-booked group with a guide.  Only 500 people are allowed to start the three-day trail each day, including guides and porters.  We thought that the trail would be packed with walkers, jostling for position along the path, but it was only when we stopped for a break or lunch did we realise that there were other groups on the trail.

The porters were all wide-eyed and fired up when we collected them, their cheeks bulging with coca leaves.  There were 11 porters and 2 guides with us in our group, almost one porter each.  They really appeared to enjoy their jobs, and were having a great laugh together.  They do get a relatively good wage, compared to them working in the fields, but its still bloody hard work.

A couple of years ago, porters used to carry about 50-60kg each.  Regulations now in force have improved their conditions considerably.  At each checkpoint their packs are weighed, to make sure they are not carrying too much.  Their maximum weight now is 30kg, which is still a hell of a lot but they all seemed to be coping okay.  It was amazing to watch them run past, with sacks, food, pots, pans, sugar bowls, napkins, stools, tables, tablecloths, tents and cooking gas on their backs, which was all covered in a large piece of plastic that trailed behind them like a cloak.  Having been along the path so many times, they were very sure footed.  Watching them run down granite steps, two steps at a time, was quite nerve racking.  They didn’t bother with wearing boots, opting for sandals or no shoes.  Quite often they are given boots by people who have finished the trail and have no further use for them, but they prefer not to wear them.  We guessed that they probably wear them down the pub on a Friday night instead.

We had opted to pay a small amount extra to have our stuff carried by a porter.  This sounds like a bit of a cop-out but we thought we may as well take advantage of it and had sound reason to do so.  Most of the people were carrying their own stuff out of pride – it was the Inca trail after all.  By the second day most of them were struggling and got a porter to carry their stuff for the rest of the walk.  After all we were at about 3000m asl and no matter how fit you are, altitude does have an effect.  There were a couple of people who managed their packs all the way, mostly without any complaints, but the others who insisted on carrying their rucksacks all the way were totally exhausted and had not enjoyed the walk at all.  They had spent all their time and energy concentrating on walking and had not had time to stop and appreciate their amazing surroundings.  All their stuff had got soaking wet, but the porters made sure ours were kept covered and everything was bone dry when we opened the sack each evening.  It was definitely worth it.

The porters took great pride in everything that they did.  Running ahead of us, they would be ready for when we stopped, with a large tent set up with either popcorn and hot drinks for elevenses and afternoon tea, or hot bowls of soup for lunch.  We don’t think we actually saw anyone use them, but they also laid out bowls of water with soaps and towels for us to wash with.  When we arrived at the campsites, the tents were ready, and our dry belongings lying in the tent.  We could quickly change into dry clothes and sit admiring the views.  The whole trip is designed so that the tourists only needed to walk and look at the scenery.

In the mornings our guide would wake us up at 6.00am with a cup of coca tea being passed into the tent.  We were fed constantly throughout the day and were even given snacks just to make sure we did not starve.  By the end of the fourth day we were stuffed and we could not even manage to eat a fabulous banquet the porters had prepared for us.  The thank you presentation on the final evening was fantastic and the porters all looked really pleased with themselves.  At the end, the porters very shyly received their well-deserved recognition and tips.  It is this extra bit of cash that makes all their hard work and leather soled feet worth their while.

As the Inca Trail is mostly within cloud forest, we should not have been too surprised to find it raining most of the way.  Lobo buying a poncho had been the only indication of what weather was going to be in store for us.  The rain we experienced on the first day continued on and off (but mainly on) for two days.  Waterproof trousers had been great when we had been stuck halfway up Cotopaxi, but it was a lot warmer on the Inca Trail and although the trousers kept the rain off they trapped just as much moisture.  Peeling off the waterproof trousers after the first day we decided that we were better off without the waterproofs as our trousers were so wet underneath.  Shorts were a much better option and at least it meant we had dry trousers to change into each night.  Some may have questioned our sanity as we stood on top of the Abra de Runkuracay pass (3800m asl) with heavy lumps of snow falling around us and our legs covered in goose pimples.

There are a number of other ruins along the way; ancient checkpoints, guards houses and small agricultural centres.  Everybody in the group were so wet they couldn’t be bothered to visit any of these ruins.  We were already soaked and it didn’t make any difference to make a detour for an hour or so to look at them.  A few of us made it up the stairs to Sayamarca.  It was so foggy we had not even realised that it even existed, and the view from it was not much better.  We both said we could have been standing at any ruined site in Cornwall on a foggy day.  By the time we made our way back down onto the main trail, the clouds cleared and the beautiful cloud forest materialised before us.  The peaks that we had just walked down from were covered in a dusting of snow.

With clear skies came another menace – sand flies.  They got into our hair, making our scalps irritatingly itchy.  If we stopped for any reason, like to admire the view, take a photo, or have a drink of water, within minutes we were scratching every bit of exposed flesh.

The Inca Trail from Ollantaytambo is only 27 miles (43Km) long, which spread over three and a half days means it is not too strenuous and we had plenty of time to relax, take in the views, read, play cards and explore.

The trail is mostly stone paved and had been constructed as a royal highway to reach Machu Picchu.  It is just one of the numerous paths built by the Incas that cross remote parts of the Andes.  They had done a great job in constructing the route all those years ago and even though it has undergone restoration it was in excellent condition.  There seemed to be little erosion, the restrictions on the number of walkers seemed to be working.  One of the sections of the path was amazing, snaking around the edge of the mountainsides, through tunnels and over bridges.  We took our time, enjoying the views of the snow-capped mountains of the Vilcabamba range and Salcantay.  Standing on the watershed separating two mountain ranges, we felt the cold air of the Vilcabamba range on one side of the path, whilst on the other side of the path we experienced the warm air rising up from the valley below the Urubamba mountain range.  It was a particularly strange phenomenon.

Not everyone who does the Inca trail are athletic, keen hikers.  As long as you are relatively fit and can walk, then you would probably manage it.  The most important thing is probably to take a few days to acclimatise to the altitude before starting.  The trail crosses over three high-altitude mountain passes; the highest is “Dead Woman’s Pass” at 13,440ft (4,200m).  We had been warned that it was a tough climb, and we saw a number of people collapsed on the way up being administered oxygen.  It was a long slog, but we all managed it to the top.  The second pass was just as tough, shorter but steeper and we had to walk it first thing in the morning when our bodies were still struggling to warm up.  It was interesting to see that the people who made it to the top of the hills first were the people who had not just flown into Cusco, but had been at a high altitude for a few weeks or more.  Even though we were not running alongside the porters, our walk the previous week in Huaraz had definitely helped us to acclimatize to the altitude.

If going up the hills wasn’t going to wear us out then the going down them would.  We passed down hundreds of granite steps, some of which were carved out of the rock face.  This was just as tough as going up hill and no one seemed to escape getting sore knees by the time we reached camp.

Debbie and Lucy, two Brits, who had been travelling around the world for a year, introduced us to their marking system for the toilets.  Each toilet experience was marked out of 10, ten being the best.  Marks were knocked off for dirtiness, lack of toilet roll, seat, door or even toilet.  Their worst ever toilet was in Thailand – ours was yet to come.  They rated the toilets on the trail quite low, but we thought they were being a bit harsh; at least there were some toilets to use.

Part of the new regulations mean you have to camp at assigned campsites, which usually have rudimentary facilities.  This all seems a bit of a cheat and some of the sites even have showers, but it means that people are not going to the toilet wherever they feel like it, or washing in the streams.  One of the toilets did have a number of points knocked off for the worst ever design; rather than having just a hole in the floor (which would have sufficed) a box had been thoughtfully built around the hole.  Unfortunately it was too high and the hole set so far back that you had no option but to sit down.  Squatting is the preferable option, and everyone before us had obviously felt the same.  They had climbed onto the box and squatted either side of the hole, leaving their muddy footprints all over the loo seat.

Article taken from Inca Hoots by Caius Simmons & Vicky Brewis.

Technorati Tags: Inca Trail Peru, Machu Picchu Tours, Peru, Peru Holiday, Peru Vacations

From Urubamba we caught a collectivo to Ollantaytambo, a few miles up the road.  Famed for its extensive Inca terraces and ruined temple-fortress, Ollantaytambo marks the lowest end of the SacredValley.  Whilst in use, its function is thought to have been an administrative centre, but following the Spanish “invasion” it was also used as an Inca stronghold after the fall of Cusco in 1536.

The village itself could be referred to as ‘quaint’.  A high proportion of the buildings are built on huge granite Inca foundations, with the distinctive, closely-knit, stonework that we became accustomed to seeing.  The layout of the village still retains characteristics inherited from the Incas, including the notion that if you look at it from the air it supposedly resembles a piece of maize.  Although Ollantaytambo is quite small it is really geared up for the tourists and is full of extortionately priced cafés, restaurants and shops.  It is the nearest village to the start of the Inca trail and it is also a popular place to catch the train from to go to Machu Picchu.  The number of hostels far exceeded those in Urubamba, as did their costs.

A couple of minutes walk from the central plaza we were wowed by an incredible set of grand terraces.  The tall stone terraces probably acted as protection from possible invasions, but their primary function was most likely to have been agricultural.  Like huge steps, they led to a temple/fortress construction on the top.  One of the amazing things about these ruins were the massive red granite megaliths that were located way up the hillside, about 80 metres from the level of the village.  It looked like the Incas had grand ideas for Ollantaytambo and were in the process of building a temple before the Spanish scuppered their plans.  The smoothly cut stone faces imply that the temple would have had a significant religious status – the rule of thumb being, the better the stonework, the more important the building was.  The huge slabs, weighing at least 100 tonnes each, originated from a quarry about three miles from the village.  It would have taken some manpower to move them, but the Incans weren’t stupid and supposedly diverted the river to help them get the slabs across the valley.  How they got them up the hillside to the top of the site was probably not so easy.

On reaching the top of the terraces we sat and enjoyed commanding views of the whole village and up the Sacred Valley.  It was easy to distinguish the smaller terraces along the valley and hillsides, many of which are in very good condition and still in use.  We didn’t get a chance to visit the salt terraces, which are still used today, or the nearby experimental agricultural terraces that form an amphitheatre, but the terraces were enough to show us that this valley was important agriculturally.  The Incans developed complex irrigation schemes, setting up drainage systems and canals to help expand their crop resources.  The highland areas today produce little more than potatoes, wheat and maize, but the Incans added to this list tomatoes, cotton, peanuts and coca among the many crops they grew.

Perched high on the hillside opposite the fortress are even more ruins.  Bearing in mind that prisons during the Incan rule were of no use because their punishment usually consisted of death, the theory that they were used as granaries rather than prisons is more feasible.  In fact the Incas had a particularly violent punishment system.  If someone stole, murdered, or had sex with a Sapa (high priest) wife or a Sun Virgin, they were either thrown off a cliff, hands cut off, eyes cut out, or hung up to starve to death.  “Ama Sua, Ama Quella, Ama Lulla”, “Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be lazy” was the philosophy of the Inca Empire, where laziness was a capital offence punishable by death.  Funnily enough, this excluded priests and royalty.  This philosophy is still apparent and despite being very poor, begging on the streets was not a common a sight as we had expected.  It seemed to be restricted to very old, wailing women, all of whom were totally ungrateful of any gifts of food or money.

Unemployment was non-existent during the Inca rule, everyone taking part in building roads, fortresses, temples, drainage and agricultural systems.  Rather than paying taxes, each Inca citizen was required to spend 7 weeks in the service of their Lord.

We clambered up the mountainside to try and reach the other ruins, but the main route was mostly impassable as most of it had slumped down the hillside many years ago.

Huge amounts of grain would have been collected from the along the valley and stored in these buildings.  Kept well away from the river would prevent it from getting wet and being so far up the mountainside meant there was little chance of it being stolen either.  From this point we could see back across the village and to the ruins, which looked even more imposing.  Our guidebook suggested that the terracing formed the image of a mother llama, with one of its young.  If we squinted hard enough we could make out some agricultural terraces with a fortress/temple on the top and came to the conclusion that the author may have been under the influence at the time.  This theory was more than possible and our reasoning was not unfounded.

Article taken from Inca Hoots by Caius Simmons & Vicky Brewis.

Technorati Tags: Cusco, Inca, Inca Trail Peru, Machu Picchu Tour, Ollantaytambo, Peru, Peru Travel, Urubamba