I´m almost half-way through my journey now, beggining to prep for Chile. This entry is dedicated to my 4 day, 3 night Machu Picchu hike, the less traveled route amoung tourists.
It started last Friday evening (4-24) with an info session from our tour guide Jaire in a very cramped room near the center of town, Plaza del Armas. He went over all the details in an hour and by the end, I had made a UK buddy, Govind, and was shopping for last minute supplies. The next morning, Saturday at 6am I was the first to be picked up in the bus that delivered us to the trailhead. We then picked up 10 other hikers and 10 porters or helpers that carried all of the tents, tables, chairs, food, and other essential gear. Three hours later at the trailhead, around 10 am, my small backpack was stuffed completely full and ready to go. Somehow I managed to attach a sleeping bag and sleeping pad to it, i´m proud to say I had the lightest and smallest backpack!
After the checkpoint, we hiked all of Saturday over flat, easy dirt trail covering 12km. We came across the first Inca ruins and small cities, stopping to get explanations from 1 of the 2 tour guides (Edgar was the other one). Most of the time was spent learning names and getting to know the others. My group consisted of a dutch couple from Holland in their mid 20´s, 2 California couples living in LA in their mid to late 20´s, a father and son from the UK, Govind from the UK in his late 20´s, a constant drinker and smoker, outspoken, obnoxious guy from Ireland, and a few mid-30 guys from Lima, Peru. The group chemistry was great, everyone working together very well. We showed up to our camp around 6pm on Saturday with everything all set up including a full meal!
The 2nd day we were awoken at 5am by 4 porters at our tent entrances, serving cocoa leaf tea, a local herbal remedy for altitude sickness. Over the course of the trip, everyone was constantly drinking this tea, more for its excellent flavor than Peru-claimed remedy. After breakfast, we were introduced to the porters and took a group photo. Then we set out for the hardest day, climing 2000 feet to approx. 14,000 feet, the highest altitude I have ever been at, and was very nervous about it. The path turned from dirt trail to stone walkways and steps which remained the theme over the remainder of the trip. It was a very, very tough day and seemed like the pass would never come! By the time I could see the top, nearing the last 200 vertical feet or so, I a little dizzy, but not sick. I felt like I had a few beers in me and wobbling a little bit, but now as I recall, everyone did! In short, I made it to the top, waited about 20 minutes for the rest of the group, made a short video (posted on youtube) with Govind, and continued to the next camp. The next camp was nearly at the pass, making for a very cold night. Thankfully I had packed plenty of clothes and a sleeping bag liner in preparation. Before it got dark, I decided to join only 2 or 3 others opting to try the cold shower. Let me say that I´m surprised that an icicle did not form in mid-shower because it was FREEEEEZING!!! Not sure if it was worth it. I should also mention that up to this point the weather was very nice, partly cloudy and mostly warm.
Again on the 3rd day (monday), we were awoken at 5am to more cocoa leaf tea, rain and heavy fog. I put on all my rain-gear and started with the group to the top of a smaller pass, but still exhausting. It turned out to be our longest day at about 9 hours of hiking. However, after the pass, the weather cleared a bit, and the trek was mostly downhill. Once getting to levels below the clouds, the views were fantastic. Lush green mountainsides hinting evidence of jungles near, enourmous valleys with gushing rivers at the bottom, and of course plenty of flauna and flora. We reached the final camp around dark, 6pm. I proceeded to take a hot shower, but was in a line too long and once again ended up with cold water (grrr). At dinner we decided as group how much to tip the porters, coming to 60 soles per hiker (about $20). Just to show how hard they were working, we never saw them during the entire trip except at the camps. After each meal as we were getting prepped, they quickly packed up (within 5 min!) and sprinted off with sandles and hardly a method of attaching loads to themselves (sometimes just a single roap holding a tarp of stuff around their chests).
On the morning that we were to arrive at MP, it was a 3:45 wake-up call, as morning is the best time to vist the site. After breakfast and clearing a group checkpoint, we were off on the stone trail again. Unfortunately it had rained that night and the clouds remained blocking some views until later in the morning. I hiked mostly with the girl of Holland couple, Neinka who matched my pace.
We arrived to MP at 7:30am and went to try and pick-up hard-to-get tickets to climb Whynapicchu mountain (the big pointing mountain in the background of any MP postcard). Only 400 were given out per day. At the ticket counter, they told us we had to first check our bags at the official entrance of the site, so we asked him to hold the remaining 5 tickets, and sprinted to the entrance! After going there, we checked our bags, stamped our passports, and raced back just in time to pick up the mountain tickets. Then, if that wasn´t enough, had to go back to the official entrance to meet the rest of the group. That was an intense workout! Once the rest of the group showed up, the guide took us on an hour tour, telling us the history and brining us by the main viewpoints. At 10, Neinka and I hiked to the top of Whyanpicchu mountain, proving to be another intense, completely vertical, hands-and-knees crawling workout. The views from here were priceless however. Somehow the Inca´s managed to build another mini stone city on top of this pointy rock, barely visible from the postcard MP pictures (one needs to look very carefully). After being entirely awestruck and snapping another 1000 pictures, I left on as bus as instructed by our guide, to the town below MP, Auguas Calientes. We all me there and had a huuuuuge, trip-ending meal. I ate a cheeseburger, fries, coke, cheesecake, and 2 banana milkshakes (uncle Joe´s daily diet minus a handful of M&M´s). From there, we trained and bussed back to Cusco.
Govind and I met up later to eat another enormous meal, personal pan pizzas and spit an entire plate of spaghetti. Then had a few drinks, hit a bar til 1 am, and then went back to the hotels where I passed out cold.
Overall, as you might expect, an AMAZING experience. I honestly thought it wouldn´t be that much better than seeing it from a photo, but I was wrong. Even after 3 days of intense hiking, waking up at 4 am on the final day, I still got goosebumps when first seeing the sprawling, vast layout of stone structures and terraces.
Today, Wednesday, the day after the trip, I am making my way by bus 9 hours inland to Ariquipa. It is home to the largest canyons in the world which someone mentioned to me. I will explore them for a day, head over towards Lima for a couple days and then onto Chile later this week or early next week.
Please check out my photos and link to the YouTube video below of Govind and me at the top of the highest pass on the MP trail. Thanks again for reading and as usual I will write more next week!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=157os2xgYgA
