camino inca
the rest of our time in miraflores was spent finding some shoes for sally in the out-of-place shopping centre, and perusing the aísles of the huge supermarket to the tune of jingle bells for panpipes. we didn't do much else here, as miraflores turned out to be a fairly mundane place. our hostel was nice, however, though incredibly quiet. sally and i had an 8-bed dorm to ourselves.
we took a bus from lima to cusco the next day. it was halfway through these 22-hours spent in one seat that i would suddenly appreciate how much i´d underestimated altitude sickness, as i was awoken with the sudden need to run to the coach's bathroom and throw up. i was later consoled to find out that there was little i could have done to prevent such a reaction, since altitude sickness can affect anyone, regardless of health. this consolation was shortlived, however, and replaced with the overriding feeling that i was still on a bus for the rest of the day. the change from sea level to 3300m above seemed to have taken its toll.
i began to feel better over the next 4 days that we'd designated for acclimatising in cusco prior to the inca trail, but i still found myself running out of breath after an enthusiastic bout of laughter, and the fact that i tend to speak very quickly in very long sentences didn´t help either. regardless of this, i greatly enjoyed looking around cusco - one of my favourite places on this trip to date - and was glad to be spending so long here.
we took a couple of days out of our do-absolutely-nothing-so-as-to-acclimatise-effectively schedule to visit the nearby sacred valley and some of its ancient ruins. probably the most interesting of the 4 archaeological sites we visited was that of moray. moray comprises a series of concentrically circular terraces that descend some 30 metres into the ground. the difference between the top and bottom levels is said to be around 15 degrees celsius, due to the whole design working as a 'suntrap' of sorts, sheltering the lower levels from the cooler wind and thereby trapping in the sun's warmth. it was raining when we visited, however, so the only phenomenon we were able to experience was that of a reduced breeze.
the other two sites we visited - ollantaytambo (still haven't cracked the pronunciation of that one yet) and chincerro - were both at fantastic cliff-edge/hilltop settings, and both displayed textbook examples of incan stonelaying, where stones of vast measurements and often numerous dimensions are fitted together with truly remarkable precision (less than a hairline crack between them) and with no use of mortar, unlike in the rather less impressive spanish efforts that were to follow.
these two days of visiting inca sites served as a nice introduction to the inca trail itself, which we began the next day. i kept some notes over the ensuing 4 days:
day 1
"we walked 12km today, starting at 9.40am at a bridge over the surging rio urubamba. we walked until about 4.30pm, ascending from 2600m to 3300m in the process. i feel that allowing 4 days to acclimatise has been a huge help, but the steep inclines of much of the pass coupled with the altitude still leave me gasping for air and clutching my knees.
tomorrow, by comparison, will be much harder, and is generally considered to be the most difficult day of the trek, with an ascent through two passes of 4200m and 3900m respectively.
we have a good group with us - australians all - and our guides (andy, martin and luis) are great. the porters are otherworldly, carrying impossibly huge packs of 25kg, containing our tents and food, all at a jogging pace. i feel comparatively pathetic.
the food is excellent, especially so considering it´s made in tents by the same porters who lug our stuff up the trail at double our pace. they cook us breakfast in the morning, and then pack everything away whilst we set off. they then overtake us at some point during the morning, and we meet them at the campsite with our lunch ready and waiting. i am truly in awe of them.
my last point of note before i go to bed (i was up packing till 12.30 last night, and we were up at 5.30 this morning, so i´m suitably shattered and happy to be going to bed at 9pm) is that we have to call out 'porter, porter!' to the group to let everyone know that porters are about to pass. i've never heard my name said so much in one day."
day 2
"today has been right up there with the most physically demanding days of my life. we were woken at 5.30am by the porters, who brought coca tea to our tents. we had breakfast at 6 (porridge, an orange, biscuits and tea, and a pancake with papaya and pineapple) and were on our way to dead woman's pass by 6.30am.
we ascended through cloud forest - so-called due to cloud getting trapped up against the mountains and engulfing everything in cold humidity, resulting in a huge and very complete covering of moss. it´s like nothing i´ve ever seen before.
we carried on, ever upward, up what would be normal steps at sea level, but what are monumentally epic climbs at this altitude. i can´t decide whether it´s more tough on the knees or the lungs. after about 30 seconds of climbing, i´m breathing more heavily than i ever have before.
we finally reached the day´s first summit at 4215m, and were greatly pleased to hear that we´d done it in half the usual tourist time. i was slightly disheartened to hear that the record time for the entire inca trail is 4 hours and 22 minutes, but i´m still happy with our progress.
the downhill section felt more like my domain, and i soon found myself jogging ahead of the pack into profound silence, spoilt only by my undeft footsteps and heavy breathing. it´s probably worse for my joints, but it feels a lot easier to let my legs pedal naturally rather than exhaust my muscles by trying to go at a steady pace. i also much prefer to bt the pace-setter, rather than bringing up the rear. i think doing the latter for the first ascent today contributed to my struggle this morning.
our lunch was a huge mass of pasta, mashed potato, lasagne and vegetables. i ate way too much and felt very heavy for much of the afternoon.
our second ascent and descent felt easier, passing through a mere 3900m, and by 4.30pm we were at our next campsite. the scenerey is absolutely stunning here when the clouds pass for long enough enough to be able to see it. the sunset this evening was cast over snowy peaks.
we´ve all turned in for the night now, and i´m writing in my journal huddled in my fake north face sleeping bag next to a sleeping sally, amidst the brilliant flashes and unabated rumbles (the last one measured 56 seconds by my count) of a circling thunderstorm. it´s cold - about -4c -but i feel cosy here protected from the noisy storm.
tomorrow should be a shorter and therefore easier day compared to today´s 9 hours of hiking. looking forward to seeing our quarry on tuesday!"
day 3
"today has gone so quickly that i wonder if it´s actualy happened yet. perhaps i´ll unzip the tent door tomorrow morning to find that we´re still at this morning´s campsite. most likely not, though, and i´ll find at 3.20am - tomorrow´s start time - that we´re at our 3rd and final site, nestled neatly against the mountain edge at winyawayna, overlooking the orange rio urubamba way below, ourselves being overloked by an inexhaustible number of magnificent peaks.
i was a little disappointed to find that the site here has a big restaurant and a bar with proper showers. it doesn´t seem to fit in here, and i find it irritating to think that people can´t wait just one more day before returning to the luxuries of hot water, cold beer and toilet bowls.
nonetheless, machu picchu is less than 6km away, just around the corner from us (literally - one mountain), and i´m excited to think that we´ll be seeing tomorrow what has been so tantalisingly out of reach this past 3 days.
today´s progress was mostly downhill, which i enjoyed. we passed through a lot more cloud forest, and saw some incredibly colourful birds and caterpillars. still no condors yet, though.
tonight´s bout of thunder has just commenced, and it´s already 9.40pm, so i´d better retire if i´m to have any hope of rising before the sun tomorrow. ah, yes - it´s the summer solstice tomorrow, which fits in quite nicely with us aiming to reach machu picchu in time to watch the sun rise over it. buenas noches!"
we'd been abnormally fortunate with the weather for the previous 3 days of trekking, considering it´s wet season. despite the fast-moving clouds that would in a matter of minutes engulf that which had only moments before been a spectacular snow-capped skyline, it had only rained during lunch - when we were in tents - or when we'd gone to bed. not unlike clockwork, in fact. on the morning of our 4th and final day, however, we awoke in the midst of a fairly full-on thunderstorm.
humanity was apparently thrown to the wind (and rain), as everyone hurried down to the gate that would allow us access to the the last 6km of hiking, and machu picchu beyond. it was amazing how prepared people were to push, shove and cut their way to the front of the queue, but our (although perhaps not my) patience was rewarded, as somehow andy and luis managed to get us through the gate before nearly everyone in the queue ahead of us. i'm not entirely sure how they managed it, but it was a good feeling.
the last 6km was probably the most intense stretch of the whole inca trail - not necessarily the most difficult, but definitely the fastest-paced. rather than purely uphill or down, this part was neverending peaks and troughs. had we gone much faster, we would have been running. we passed gasping men and fresh landslides - stopping only once for a jimmy - over undulating slopes, and finally up 'the gringo killer' - a series of 50 impossibly steep steps - which actually proved to be an anti-climax, perhaps due to the andrenaline we´d built up with our determined pace. the rain by now had stopped, and as we finished our ascent up the last of the steep steps, we stumbled upon the sun gate - the first point at which one can view machu picchu from a distance, weather permitting. despite the looming clouds and saddening absence of sunlight on the summer solstice, we had a perfect view of that which we'd been seeking for the past 4 days.
as if the previous 42km of trekking hadn't been enough, drew (a rip-snorter of an australian bloke) and i (me) decided to climb wayna picchu, which looms ominously over machu picchu like some sort of crumbling precipice. this meant another 2 hours of climbing that was possibly yet more difficult than the rest of the inca trail. the slippery steps were, in places, as wide as one foot, and so steep that one had to use all four limbs to ascend without risk of falling off one of the sheer drops to one side.
added to this was the problem of traffic - vast loads of tourists who arrive at machu picchu on the day BY BUS! the fact that only 400 people per day are allowed to climb wayna picchu, coupled with the fact that the buses arrive at machu picchu way earlier than the trekkers - those who have spent the past 4 days dedicated purely to reaching that site - ever could, bothered me greatly. i understand that not everyone is in a position to be embarking on a 4-day trek at altitude, but i say that if you're fit and healthy, and have bothered spending enough money to get to peru in the first place, then do the trek!
nonetheless, andy clearly understood how important it was to us to have the opportunity to climb wayna picchu, as we were the first non-bus-travellers to reach the ruins that morning. in fact, andy said that overall, out of his 10 years of being a guide on the inca trail, we were the second fastest group to complete it (the fastest was a group of professional runners - there's always one).
drew and i imagined the amazing view we would have had of machu picchu had it not been covered in cloud, and even glimpsed the odd stone in the distance as the clouds cleared a minute amount. we sat at the top of wayna picchu for half an hour or so, before reluctantly beginning our undignified descent on all-fours plus bottom. we finished the day at nearby aguas calientes - so-named for its thermal baths - and greeted warm water for the first time in days.
we spent our last day in cusco with a well-earned lie-in, a bit of mundane-but-necessary admin work, followed by an amazing dinner in a british pub with our fellow inca-trailers. sally and i had both been saying that we didn't really see the appeal of going to a british-themed establishment when travelling the world specifically to experience foreign cultures. but one taste of the pie and mash at this place instantly changed all that. we celebrated further with a big game of monopoly, in which time i discovered that communism has no part in such a board game.
it's becoming increasingly more difficult to update this journal with any regularity, so i've taken to collecting my thoughts by hand and then backdating typed-up entries at such a time when a good internet connection is available.
we took a bus from lima to cusco the next day. it was halfway through these 22-hours spent in one seat that i would suddenly appreciate how much i´d underestimated altitude sickness, as i was awoken with the sudden need to run to the coach's bathroom and throw up. i was later consoled to find out that there was little i could have done to prevent such a reaction, since altitude sickness can affect anyone, regardless of health. this consolation was shortlived, however, and replaced with the overriding feeling that i was still on a bus for the rest of the day. the change from sea level to 3300m above seemed to have taken its toll.
i began to feel better over the next 4 days that we'd designated for acclimatising in cusco prior to the inca trail, but i still found myself running out of breath after an enthusiastic bout of laughter, and the fact that i tend to speak very quickly in very long sentences didn´t help either. regardless of this, i greatly enjoyed looking around cusco - one of my favourite places on this trip to date - and was glad to be spending so long here.
we took a couple of days out of our do-absolutely-nothing-so-as-to-acclimatise-effectively schedule to visit the nearby sacred valley and some of its ancient ruins. probably the most interesting of the 4 archaeological sites we visited was that of moray. moray comprises a series of concentrically circular terraces that descend some 30 metres into the ground. the difference between the top and bottom levels is said to be around 15 degrees celsius, due to the whole design working as a 'suntrap' of sorts, sheltering the lower levels from the cooler wind and thereby trapping in the sun's warmth. it was raining when we visited, however, so the only phenomenon we were able to experience was that of a reduced breeze.
the other two sites we visited - ollantaytambo (still haven't cracked the pronunciation of that one yet) and chincerro - were both at fantastic cliff-edge/hilltop settings, and both displayed textbook examples of incan stonelaying, where stones of vast measurements and often numerous dimensions are fitted together with truly remarkable precision (less than a hairline crack between them) and with no use of mortar, unlike in the rather less impressive spanish efforts that were to follow.
these two days of visiting inca sites served as a nice introduction to the inca trail itself, which we began the next day. i kept some notes over the ensuing 4 days:
day 1
"we walked 12km today, starting at 9.40am at a bridge over the surging rio urubamba. we walked until about 4.30pm, ascending from 2600m to 3300m in the process. i feel that allowing 4 days to acclimatise has been a huge help, but the steep inclines of much of the pass coupled with the altitude still leave me gasping for air and clutching my knees.
tomorrow, by comparison, will be much harder, and is generally considered to be the most difficult day of the trek, with an ascent through two passes of 4200m and 3900m respectively.
we have a good group with us - australians all - and our guides (andy, martin and luis) are great. the porters are otherworldly, carrying impossibly huge packs of 25kg, containing our tents and food, all at a jogging pace. i feel comparatively pathetic.
the food is excellent, especially so considering it´s made in tents by the same porters who lug our stuff up the trail at double our pace. they cook us breakfast in the morning, and then pack everything away whilst we set off. they then overtake us at some point during the morning, and we meet them at the campsite with our lunch ready and waiting. i am truly in awe of them.
my last point of note before i go to bed (i was up packing till 12.30 last night, and we were up at 5.30 this morning, so i´m suitably shattered and happy to be going to bed at 9pm) is that we have to call out 'porter, porter!' to the group to let everyone know that porters are about to pass. i've never heard my name said so much in one day."
day 2
"today has been right up there with the most physically demanding days of my life. we were woken at 5.30am by the porters, who brought coca tea to our tents. we had breakfast at 6 (porridge, an orange, biscuits and tea, and a pancake with papaya and pineapple) and were on our way to dead woman's pass by 6.30am.
we ascended through cloud forest - so-called due to cloud getting trapped up against the mountains and engulfing everything in cold humidity, resulting in a huge and very complete covering of moss. it´s like nothing i´ve ever seen before.
we carried on, ever upward, up what would be normal steps at sea level, but what are monumentally epic climbs at this altitude. i can´t decide whether it´s more tough on the knees or the lungs. after about 30 seconds of climbing, i´m breathing more heavily than i ever have before.
we finally reached the day´s first summit at 4215m, and were greatly pleased to hear that we´d done it in half the usual tourist time. i was slightly disheartened to hear that the record time for the entire inca trail is 4 hours and 22 minutes, but i´m still happy with our progress.
the downhill section felt more like my domain, and i soon found myself jogging ahead of the pack into profound silence, spoilt only by my undeft footsteps and heavy breathing. it´s probably worse for my joints, but it feels a lot easier to let my legs pedal naturally rather than exhaust my muscles by trying to go at a steady pace. i also much prefer to bt the pace-setter, rather than bringing up the rear. i think doing the latter for the first ascent today contributed to my struggle this morning.
our lunch was a huge mass of pasta, mashed potato, lasagne and vegetables. i ate way too much and felt very heavy for much of the afternoon.
our second ascent and descent felt easier, passing through a mere 3900m, and by 4.30pm we were at our next campsite. the scenerey is absolutely stunning here when the clouds pass for long enough enough to be able to see it. the sunset this evening was cast over snowy peaks.
we´ve all turned in for the night now, and i´m writing in my journal huddled in my fake north face sleeping bag next to a sleeping sally, amidst the brilliant flashes and unabated rumbles (the last one measured 56 seconds by my count) of a circling thunderstorm. it´s cold - about -4c -but i feel cosy here protected from the noisy storm.
tomorrow should be a shorter and therefore easier day compared to today´s 9 hours of hiking. looking forward to seeing our quarry on tuesday!"
day 3
"today has gone so quickly that i wonder if it´s actualy happened yet. perhaps i´ll unzip the tent door tomorrow morning to find that we´re still at this morning´s campsite. most likely not, though, and i´ll find at 3.20am - tomorrow´s start time - that we´re at our 3rd and final site, nestled neatly against the mountain edge at winyawayna, overlooking the orange rio urubamba way below, ourselves being overloked by an inexhaustible number of magnificent peaks.
i was a little disappointed to find that the site here has a big restaurant and a bar with proper showers. it doesn´t seem to fit in here, and i find it irritating to think that people can´t wait just one more day before returning to the luxuries of hot water, cold beer and toilet bowls.
nonetheless, machu picchu is less than 6km away, just around the corner from us (literally - one mountain), and i´m excited to think that we´ll be seeing tomorrow what has been so tantalisingly out of reach this past 3 days.
today´s progress was mostly downhill, which i enjoyed. we passed through a lot more cloud forest, and saw some incredibly colourful birds and caterpillars. still no condors yet, though.
tonight´s bout of thunder has just commenced, and it´s already 9.40pm, so i´d better retire if i´m to have any hope of rising before the sun tomorrow. ah, yes - it´s the summer solstice tomorrow, which fits in quite nicely with us aiming to reach machu picchu in time to watch the sun rise over it. buenas noches!"
we'd been abnormally fortunate with the weather for the previous 3 days of trekking, considering it´s wet season. despite the fast-moving clouds that would in a matter of minutes engulf that which had only moments before been a spectacular snow-capped skyline, it had only rained during lunch - when we were in tents - or when we'd gone to bed. not unlike clockwork, in fact. on the morning of our 4th and final day, however, we awoke in the midst of a fairly full-on thunderstorm.
humanity was apparently thrown to the wind (and rain), as everyone hurried down to the gate that would allow us access to the the last 6km of hiking, and machu picchu beyond. it was amazing how prepared people were to push, shove and cut their way to the front of the queue, but our (although perhaps not my) patience was rewarded, as somehow andy and luis managed to get us through the gate before nearly everyone in the queue ahead of us. i'm not entirely sure how they managed it, but it was a good feeling.
the last 6km was probably the most intense stretch of the whole inca trail - not necessarily the most difficult, but definitely the fastest-paced. rather than purely uphill or down, this part was neverending peaks and troughs. had we gone much faster, we would have been running. we passed gasping men and fresh landslides - stopping only once for a jimmy - over undulating slopes, and finally up 'the gringo killer' - a series of 50 impossibly steep steps - which actually proved to be an anti-climax, perhaps due to the andrenaline we´d built up with our determined pace. the rain by now had stopped, and as we finished our ascent up the last of the steep steps, we stumbled upon the sun gate - the first point at which one can view machu picchu from a distance, weather permitting. despite the looming clouds and saddening absence of sunlight on the summer solstice, we had a perfect view of that which we'd been seeking for the past 4 days.
as if the previous 42km of trekking hadn't been enough, drew (a rip-snorter of an australian bloke) and i (me) decided to climb wayna picchu, which looms ominously over machu picchu like some sort of crumbling precipice. this meant another 2 hours of climbing that was possibly yet more difficult than the rest of the inca trail. the slippery steps were, in places, as wide as one foot, and so steep that one had to use all four limbs to ascend without risk of falling off one of the sheer drops to one side.
added to this was the problem of traffic - vast loads of tourists who arrive at machu picchu on the day BY BUS! the fact that only 400 people per day are allowed to climb wayna picchu, coupled with the fact that the buses arrive at machu picchu way earlier than the trekkers - those who have spent the past 4 days dedicated purely to reaching that site - ever could, bothered me greatly. i understand that not everyone is in a position to be embarking on a 4-day trek at altitude, but i say that if you're fit and healthy, and have bothered spending enough money to get to peru in the first place, then do the trek!
nonetheless, andy clearly understood how important it was to us to have the opportunity to climb wayna picchu, as we were the first non-bus-travellers to reach the ruins that morning. in fact, andy said that overall, out of his 10 years of being a guide on the inca trail, we were the second fastest group to complete it (the fastest was a group of professional runners - there's always one).
drew and i imagined the amazing view we would have had of machu picchu had it not been covered in cloud, and even glimpsed the odd stone in the distance as the clouds cleared a minute amount. we sat at the top of wayna picchu for half an hour or so, before reluctantly beginning our undignified descent on all-fours plus bottom. we finished the day at nearby aguas calientes - so-named for its thermal baths - and greeted warm water for the first time in days.
we spent our last day in cusco with a well-earned lie-in, a bit of mundane-but-necessary admin work, followed by an amazing dinner in a british pub with our fellow inca-trailers. sally and i had both been saying that we didn't really see the appeal of going to a british-themed establishment when travelling the world specifically to experience foreign cultures. but one taste of the pie and mash at this place instantly changed all that. we celebrated further with a big game of monopoly, in which time i discovered that communism has no part in such a board game.
it's becoming increasingly more difficult to update this journal with any regularity, so i've taken to collecting my thoughts by hand and then backdating typed-up entries at such a time when a good internet connection is available.