Two Beers and a Pretzel

Get ready for a long post…

On the 12th I went to the Llama Path office for a pre-trek briefing and met most of my trek-mates.  We were lucky to have a small group of only 6 trekkers, 1 guide, 9 porters, and 1 chef.  Among the trekkers – Rick and Kim from Edmonton, Gavin from Ireland, Kristine (KK) from Chicago.  The last person, Darryl from Australia, was not there but on the way in from Puno after having his wallet stolen in Bolivia.  Our guide, Marco, seemed pretty cool and joked around with us while explaining the itinerary.

Day 1 – Friday, March 13th – Start the Inca Trail.

Gavin and I were both in the Loki hostel, and Marco lives nearby, so he met us outside the main entrance at 5 AM and we walked 10 minutes to the Regocijo Square where the bus was waiting with Kim, Rick, and KK outside and all the porters inside.  Still no sign of the Aussie.  Then a gangly, tall and tan figure came running toward the bus in red, white and blue Nike high-top basketball shoes, shorts and a t-shirt with a full hiking backpack to the bus with just a few minutes to spare.  The staff served us mint tea as we waited to depart.

After an hour and a half ride we stopped in Ollataytambo for a vegy omelet and fresh juice breakfast, then another bus ride to the beginning of the trail at kilometer 82 at around 8:30 AM.

To start the trail, we stopped for the ‘must have’ photo at the entrance sign before crossing the Vilcanota River and starting on the trail.

Gavin, KK, Kim, Rick, Me, and Darryl at the entrance to the trail

Aside from hiking at altitude (2720m/8923ft), this day is relatively easy.  We stopped at an Inca Fortress (‘Huillca Raccay’) and the ‘Llactapata’ (or ‘Patallacta’) site, as we skirted along the Urubamba mountain range that divides the Amazon jungle and the Andes.

We also spotted and the snow-capped peak of ‘W’akay Willca’ (5860m/19225ft), which was renamed the Veronica Glacier after a British woman perished there (going places she wasn’t supposed to go).

Our  first campsite (Ayapata) was at 3300m (9842ft) in the of Wayllabamba valley.  Marco started introducing us to the porters and chef when we found out why they call it Llama Path…

Yes, a herd of angry Llama ran thru our camp.

A short while later, our first dinner really impressed us.  Llama Path has great chef’s and the food was amazing – or first dinner was fried trout, white rice, steamed veggies, fried potatoes, herbal tea.   We confirmed that our chef was the best after meeting people trekking with other companies who ate generic spaghetti all the time.  We had something gourmet for every meal…

After dinner, Marco and Darryl taught us a game called ‘Shithead’ and Kim and Rick taught us a Canuk version of rummy called ’602′ that became our staple card game for the trip.

We went to bed around 7:30ish after Marco told us that we would all ‘Sleep like a baby Llama.’  Gavin was my tent-mate, but that was going to prove short lived, as he complained the next morning about my ability to ward off herds of angry Llama in my sleep.  He called it something…  oorin – esssno – ring…  oh, snoring!!

Day 2 – Saturday, March 14th – The hard day – We go over 2 passes….

After waking up around 6am and having breakfast, we started the steep ascent towards the highest pass (Abra de Huarmihuañusca/’Dead Woman’s Pass’ – 4200m/13779ft).  Marco told us that we were a fast group, so this climb would be ‘easier than conquering a Chilean woman.’

We started our crack habits here – chewing Coca leaves to help give us energy, numb the pain, and increase oxygen absorbtion.  It really works.  You add some ash/fruit mix to the coca as a catalyst, then put a wad in your cheek and let the saliva soak in before you start chewing it like gum.  It tastes like bitter green tea.  Your cheek starts to tingle, then go numb.  Then the burn in your legs fades away and your breathing gets a little easier as your energy level picks up above what it should be.

Dead Woman’s Pass has nothing to do with anyone meeting their maker… it’s because the pass looks like the neck of a woman lying down – on the left side is a group of rocks that somewhat resemble a face looking up, while the other side has a stunning similarity to a female breast.  This poor dead woman is a bit lop-sided, as her other visible breast is a bit smaller.

At the top of the pass the weather turned from cool and misty to all out cold rain.  We had a quick rest and a snack before descending back to the lunch stop at Pacamayu (3550m/11646ft).  Many tour groups were setting up camp here.  Wussies!!!  We went on after lunch to to the second steep climb up to Runkuraqay pass (almost 4000 meters) to arrive in our campsite by 5.  After the near kilometer climb to the first 4200m pass, this one seemed easy.  This was a very hard day, but we were all glad to have made the 2nd pass and gotten far ahead of all but 2 other tour groups that camped with us!

We had officially passed from the high Andes into the upper Amazon jungle, and our campsite had a pretty sweet view back to the mountains…

More gourmet food, more card games, and I ‘had’ to sleep in a tent by myself tonight.  It was pretty cold up there.

Day 3 – Sunday, March 15th – The easy day with more Inca Sites to see.

This makes you realize why day 2 was worth the effort!  Another great breakfast at 6am, and start the day with a gentle climb to visit the archaeological site of ‘Phuyupatamarca’(meaning ‘Town in the Clouds’) and to reach the third highest point on the trail (3680m).  It was foggy and cloudy, but the occasional clear views of the mountains were made all the more surreal and etheral by the foggy mist…

I shot an educational video that shows how adept the porters are at running the trail.  Most porters carry 25 kilos (55lbs) on their backs and go about twice as fast as the average tourist.  I was carrying about 5 kilos in my day pack, and 1/2 of that was water.  After seeing these guys work, we were all very glad that Llama Path actually gives them nice hiking boots and waterproof outfits.  It was also neat seeing that the Llama Path porters all travel together in a group.  We called them the “Red Army” or the “Red Caterpillar”.  Some porters from other companies looked neglected by comparison and rarely traveled together.

The Inca site, ‘Phuyupatamarca’ , is located a few minutes walk from the third pass and after visiting this, we continue walking onwards through the cloud forest, through the impressive agricultural Inca site of ‘Intipata’ until we arrive at our third campsite Wiñay Wayna (2680m/8792ft). We only walked about 4 hours, but I had enough and decided I could jump off a 100m cliff…

After a surprisingly safe landing, we made our way to the campsite – located near the Inca site of the same name ‘Wiñay Wayna’ (‘Forever Young’).  We chilled out playing cards until about 5 PM, then went to Wiñay Wayna.

Another phenomenal dinner, a quick card game, and straight to bed for an early morning…

Day 4 – Monday, March 16th – The race to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu!

We woke up at 3:45, had breakfast at 4:15, and queued up at the entrance gate to the trail for the 5:30 opening.  We were about 40 people back from the gate.  They open at 5:30 because it’s too dark and dangerous before then.

Once the gate opens, the race begins…  Everyone is hauling as fast as they can to get to ‘Inti Punku’ (the ‘Sun gate’) (2730m/8792ft) – for one of the postcard views of Machu Picchu before the sunlight crawls down the mountains to illuminate the site.  Darryl and Gavin were the gazelle’s of our group, so they took off passing people to get to the gate first.  Kim and Rick were a bit behind them, and KK and I held our own, passing a few people, but not in a crazy run (I came damn near to twisting my ankle in the first 5 minutes).

About 1/2 way to the gate, I was surprised to see Darryl on the side of the trail – naked from the waist down, covering himself with one hand and wiping his leg down with a towel in the other hand.  My first thought was that he had a bad fall and was washing a cut, so I asked if he was OK….

“Oh, yeah – ha ha – I shat my pants!!  I’m fine.”  He was laughing about it, and I nearly fell over laughing before resuming my pace toward the gate.  Sorry, no pics of that…  Later in the day, everyone was talking about either the ‘naked guy’, or ‘the guy who shat his pants’ on the Inca Trail.  Oddly, Darryl actually used that story to try picking up girls at the bar on St. Patty’s Day…

Anyway… the last 100m of vertical before the gate are called the ‘Gringo Killer’ steps.  I paused before them and started a 4-legged monkey climb, passing about 6 people as I went up.  Exhausted, you crawl over the top to see your first dramatic view of Machu Picchu (2400m/7873ft) with the sun rising over it!

I also got a time-lapse video of the sun rising and shadows on the mountains over Machu Picchu…

After some time there, we walked down the last part of the trail to the spot where you can take the classic  postcard shot of the ancient city.

Huayna Picchu (2720m/8923ft) is the mountain above the archeological site.  Due to erosion, they only let 400 people a day up there – 200 each at 8 and 10 AM.  The 10 AM slot usually books full of bus tourists, so Gavin, Darryl and I showed up at 8:30 and got slots 119, 120, and 121 for the morning group – as that rarely books full.

It takes about 45 minutes to reach the top, and the last 300m make the Gringo Killers look like a warm up…  there are small steps that are 2 ft wide and 6 inches deep with pretty much nothing on your left and a slippery mud and rock wall a few feet to your right.  I decided that if I didn’t have a heart attack here, between exhaustion and fear of falling, my heart should be OK for the rest of my life.  Since Darryl’s shoes were spoiled, he amazingly did this hike in flip-flops.   The view was worth it…

After hiking 3 days and the race on day 4, it’s gratifying to pass people on the steep climb to the top.  You feel like you earned it all and you own Machu Picchu.  Walking around the site, all the “bus tourists” need to yield to you.

Marco had given the others a guided tour of Machu Picchu while Gavin, Darryl and I climbed, so he gave us the tour when we got back down around 10:15.

The group met back at noon for lunch.  After lunch, we were all tired, so we found a shady spot and started playing cards and relaxing.  It was funny watching all the Japanese bus tourists walk by as we played 602 and they thought we were playing poker.  We told them the buy in was $600.  None of them took the bait…

A bit later, I climbed up to the guardhouse, which was surrounded by Llama’s, and got what may prove to be the ‘money shot’ of my whole trip…

At the end of the day, we got on the bus to Aguas Calientes (the town at the bottom of the mountain) for dinner, and caught the train back to Ollataytambo for the final bus back to Cusco.  You think this would be boring, but the train staff had a freaky cultural show and a fashion show / party on the train.  I have pics and video, but it can’t compare to Machu Picchu…

We got back to Cusco around 11PM – I went to Loki and immediately crashed in bed.