The Inca Trail is a mountainous jungle hike that leads to the sacred Inca city of Machu Picchu. The route leads through the mountains above the Urubamba river, following the course of an old Inca roadway built in the 15th century. It combines a stunning mix of Inca ruins, mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest and rich subtropical jungle.
We covered the 45km trek in 4 days, arriving at Machu Picchu at daybreak on the final day. It was an amazing (and pretty exhausting!) experience and one we will certainly never forget.
The mountainous scenery on the hike was spectacular, especially when the clouds lifted to reveal snow capped mountains and the sun reflected off the red granite. April is the end of the rainy season in the area, so the slopes were still lush with trees and grass.
We passed through mountain rain forests where tree trunks were covered in hanging moss and higher up we could see the most magnificent valleys with soaring cliff edged mountains.
The second day of the hike was the toughest by far when we climbed 1300 metres (a non stop uphill hike of 4 hours) to ascend a 4200 metre pass - the "challenge" section in the graph below! We were pretty ecstatic to reach the top. Ally was an absolute Trojan and was the 4th person in our group to reach the summit. We then had to descend 400 metres before climbing yet another pass. Needless to say, we slept very well that night.
Given the big climbs, we felt very lucky to have light packs only. All the food and tents were carried by our personal "chaskis" or porters. There were more chaskis than there were people in our group!
All the chaskis were laden under enormous weights (apparently their loads are not allowed to exceed 25kg but I am sure that they must have weighed more) and were expected to charge on ahead of us up the mountain so that by the time we reached our lunch and evening sports, all our tents were already pitched and our food was ready to be served!
Not that this deterred the chaskis at all. In fact they took a lot of pride in what ever they did whether it was running up steep mountain steps, laying the table or setting up our tents.
What made the Inca trail particularly special for me was that it followed the original ancient Inca road. The road was paved with enormous rocks - how the Incas found the energy to manually lay it all I will never know.
There were also countless steps along the way. At one stage we walked down 2300 steps in about an hour to get to lunch. We all collapsed at the bottom with legs too shaky to stand on.
At one point, the Inca road passed through a 20 metre tunnel that the Incas dug through solid rock without modern tools and equipment. Amazing!
Along the hike, we also saw many Inca ruins. The reason they are so well preserved is that the Spanish did not know about the existence of the Inca trail (or Maccu Picchu) so did not have a chance to loot and pillage it. Having said that, the the American who “discovered” it for westerners (in 1911) managed to pillage all the mummies along the way which now reside in Yale university. Thankfully it wasn´t the Brits who discovered it or much of Machu Picchu would probably now lie in the British museum (like the Greek Parthanon!).
As usual I had my eyes peeled for feathered rarities and got to see some crackers. I was most excited about seeing the torrent duck (bottom photo) which somehow manages to swim and feed in even the strongest rapids. It was an extraordinary site to behold, though I only managed to photograph it from quite a distance. The trojan sighting (bottom right) also caused much excitement. Thanks to Mami for spotting it!
Due to a landslide, we could not finish the Inca trail through the Inca sun gate as is tradition. At the end of the 3rd day, we had to hike along the rail way track to the town of Aguas Clientes ("Hot Water"– named due to the hot springs).
Machu Picchu
As soon as we laid eyes on it, we knew why Machu Picchu is considered by many to be the most spectacular archaeological sites in South America. It retains its air of grandeur and mystery, no matter how many tourists are trampling over it (literally thousands in the high season) and its location, nestled in high mountains falling away to bottomless river valleys, is nothing short of breathtaking.
Machu Picchu was built by the Incas sometime in the 1400´s, not long before the Spanish arrived. It was then mysteriously deserted at the end of the century for reasons we can only guess at. There are many theories which only add to the delicious mystery. The Spanish never discovered it and the city lay unknown for hundreds of years before its discovery (in the "Western sense") by an American in 1911.
We left Agua Caliente at the crack of dawn to climb the 1000 or more steps to the site. The bus was an option but that would have spoiled the significance of the 45 kms we had already hiked to get there. Luckily we arrived before the throngs of tourists, so got to take some photos of the ruins without people. We were also extremely lucky to have a relatively clear day. The mist that swarmed up later in the morning only served to accentuate the mystery and romance of the location. Our friends, who arrived the day after, had rain and thick cloud to contend with which is common at this time of the year.
Another highlight for me was the llamas. They live on the terraces of Machu Picchu fulfilling their purpose as mobile grass cutters. When they are not eating grass, they lie on the terraces and look out onto the ruins, as if deeply contemplating the beauty of the surroundings.
After viewing Machu Picchu up close, energetic Mami persuaded us to climb up nearby Huayna Picchu for a view from on high. Strenuous does not begin to describe the hike!
But well worth it when we reached the summit and enjoyed the amazing views...
We then walked around the mountain to find "The Temple of the Moon" Why it is called this, I am not sure - something to do with the lunar equinox.
No comments:
Post a Comment