Day 66 - Inca Trail, Peru

WOW! What a day. It's a tough competition but this has been the best day so far. Machu Picchu is absolutely out of this world and the first part of the trek was fantastic. We can see why it's one of the seven modern wonders of the world. Apologies for the most amount of pictures uploaded to a blog but there is so much amazing scenery. It's taken about five hours to upload these on crappy wifi!

We get picked up from the hotel at 5.00am this morning by our tour guide Marceleno. We have another chap joining us called Dewalker and randomly he is staying in the same hotel too! We first take a mini bus for one and a half hours then, after a stop off for breakfast we get the train for another hour and a half. 

The route is so picturesque and the train is fantastic with windows in the roof to improve the viewing of the precipitous mountains above. 

The train follows the meandering and roaring river the whole way. 

We stop at kilometer 104 which is the start of our route. You would think there is a station but no. The train stops in the middle of nowhere and we jump off onto the track, much to the confusion of the rest of the passengers (and us!). Of a full train only about seven people get off which is great as we literally have the route too ourselves all day. 

We cross the river which is probably the most ferocious river I have ever seen. It's like someone is dropping bombs in it. So rough and fast.  You could watch it for hours. 

The suspension bridge over it. 

There are actually passport controls on the Inca Trail. We even manage to get another passport stamp which pleases us no end!

After a very short walk we reach our first Inca ruin. Pretty impressive stuff, particularly the scenary. 

From here, we have a walk of approximately 4 hours up to the Inca site Wiñay Wayna ('Forever Young')(2680m/8792ft).  The walk is superb although it is fairly tough going due to long periods of uphill and hblazing sunshine. We are unbelievably lucky with the weather as it is the height of rainy season. This is the reason we opted for the two day with a stay in a hotel overnight as the thought of walking all day in the torrential rain and then camping in it did not appeal. 

The packs on our front are our lunch. They are a right pain to carry but there is no room in our back packs. 

Every now and then there is a dodgy barrier which would not give anyone much protection from the long drop below. 

 

A hydro electric power plant on the river below. Not surprising given the force of this river.  

Our first glimpse of Wiñay Wayna up on the hill. Now for the small task of getting there. 

Killer steps becoming all too frequent. 

A close up of Wiñay Wayna. It's amazing how this doesn't look much from here and yet is so impressive once we get there.  There are terraces on the ridiculously steep mountain to create farmland. 

Our first waterfall.

Shortly followed by the second. The spray is gorgeous. We are so hot now. I never knew my back (and front) could sweat so much. 

The site of Wiñay Wayna is mind blowing. Set high on the side of the mountain, it is a small town with a huge agricultural site set on immense terraces. I can't even imagine how hard it was to build this place.  It's hard enough just reaching it. Definitely one of the most impressive places on the trail. We also have the whole place to ourselves. Not a single person on sight. 

We have to climb to the top of this. It nearly kills us! So steep. 

The terraces were made out of a granite in order to preserve heat during the day which then kept the special types of crops warm during the night. Like a natural greenhouse. This allows then to grow stuff there that couldn't be grown anywhere else in Peru or at similar heights elsewhere. 

A temple at the top too. 

The remains of the old town. 

After we stop for lunch at the last campsite that the four day trekkers use. Lunch is actually delicious. 

Some of the porters that have raced ahead of their groups to set up camp chilling out. I am actually quite disturbed by the state of their feet. They are disgusting as they only wear sandals. They make hobbit feet look good and I will never complain about a cracked heel again!!

Marceleno, our guide, tells us an amazing story about the Inca marathon they do every year. The route is actually 26 miles and winner, a porter, did it in 3.5 hours. Absolutely ridiculous. Our guide did it in 10 hours which is also damn good going. 

The first tents are being out up on at the camp site. On a typical night 500 people stay here. We sample the toilet and it is awful. 

The last stretch to the sun gate. 

We finally reach 'Inti Punku' (the Sun gate) (2730m/8792ft) set high above Machu Picchu. It gives us our first dramatic, panoramic view of Machu Picchu (2400m/7873ft). Absolutely breathtaking. One of those sights you will never forget and even a bit emotional. 

Panoramic view. 

The windy route up from the river. 

The sun gate. 

Amazing how fast the cloud comes in to completely cover Machi Picchu. We are lucky as it is later in the day and typically quite clear at this time of day. Most four day trekkers struggle to see this amazing sight this time of year due to the cloud in the morning when they arrive. 

It soon clears again though. 

We walk down the last part of the trail towards the ancient city itself. We just get a taster of Machu Picchu today, saving the full tour for tomorrow. 

Customary classic tourist pic. 

We finish the day going down to Aguas Calientes where we are staying. We have to get off the bus half way down to change to a different one due to a landside blocking the road. This happened two week ago. 

There used to be a road here. 

We are pretty knackered now. We have walked 12km today, staring at 2100m and rising to 2700m. In total we go 600m up and 300m down to Machu Picchu. 

The town is pretty cool due to the setting in the middle of the mountains. We have a nice shower and get out of our sweaty gear and meet our guide and the other chap who had been trekking with us called Dewalker (which makes me laugh as Dewalker is doing lots of de walking today!!). The meal is OK but nothing special. Nice having dinner with our guide though. He has been amazing. So fun, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and energetic. We highly recommend Llama Path, our tour company to everyone. 

After dinner we have an early night as have a semi early start of 7am tomorrow having opted out of the 3.30am start option! As we walk back it starts to tip it down which makes us so happy we are heading back to a hotel and not a campsite!! (Being the phoney travelers that we are!)

An absolutely amazing day. Can't wait until tomorrow. Everyone needs to see this place in their life time. Truly epic.