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From Ollantaytambo the bus continues about 1 hour till the km.82, the "gate" to the Inca Trail. We had some problems with the road (under repair), so the bus left us 1 hour before km.82, and we had to walk a little to reach the entrance.
In this first stop out of the bus, the guide organises the porters and each one gets ready for the walk. Leave a Comment
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Here is where the trekking really begins. There is a railway station here, so you can reach this point by train from Cuzco.
Here you find a tickets control, and after crossing the bridge over the Urubamba river, you enter the National Park and start the trekking. Leave a Comment
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Right after crossing the bridge over the Urubamba comes the first hard slope. Not really hard, but as is the first one is quite challenging. They say if you pass this OK, you are ready for the trekking. It only takes 5-10 minutes.
Our guide told us that a month ago, a 70 years old man suffered here from a heart attack, and they had to take him back to Cuzco! Leave a Comment
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The main goal of the trail is to visit Machu Picchu, arriving to this sanctuary along the old trail used by the incas. So the 4th day is the most exciting, as you wake up early in the morning to arrive in time to see sunrise over Machu Picchu.
Then you enter the place and have all morning to explore the area.
After lunch you have the train back to Cuzco from the nearby village of Aguas Calientes, and you arrive to Cuzco at about 21:00h. Leave a Comment
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Your Inca Trail will begin early (5am) in the first day, when the minibus of the agency picks you up at the hotel in Cuzco.
From there there are less than 2 hours to Ollantaytambo, where the bus stops for a breakfast, last shoppings (sun lotion, walking sticks, hats...) and to pick up the porters. Leave a Comment
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Huayna Picchu is the beautiful, verdant conical mountain tha forms the backdrop of most iconic Machu Picchu phots. Few people know that it, too, has Incan ruins, and that it is possible to climb up to those ruins in less than an hour.
You will be amazed at the determination and engineering skills of the Incas when you see the slopes of the mountain that they had to overcome to complete this construction. You will also enjoy the unique view of Machu PIcchu (and the road leading up to it) that you get from these ruins. This hike is a must-do for anyone in even moderately good shape. Of course, the better shape you're in, the more you'll enjoy it, so I recommend doing some cardiovascular training starting a few months before your trip. That being said, it is worth all the sweat and breath. Leave a Comment
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As you enter and leave Machu Picchu, you won't be able to miss the Inca terraces. What isn't obvious is that it has recently been discovered that these terraces stretch all the way to the river.
According to the guidebook we have, it is believed that theses terraces were not enough to support all the people that must have lived at Machu Picchu. I don't know if the new discovery changes that thinking at all or not. However, what I do know is that you have to take everything stated by a guide or a guidebook with a grain of salt. There is still amazingly little known about Incan society and much written and said is educated speculation based on only partially uncovered evidence. This is what makes history and archeology fun, but it won't satisfy those looking for hard facts.
For the record, my guidebook insists only 55 people per year could be fed from the terraces, so, therefore, they must have been used for ceremonial foods. But the next excavation could change that. Leave a Comment
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Hiking the Inca Trail is in my opinion, one of the world's greatest adventures.
During the Inca empire, the Trail served as a kind of royal highway, linking the Tawantinsuyo ("Four Ways" in Quechua) empire which stretched from Colombia to Chile and included such famous Andean cities as Quito, Ecuador, Cochabamba and La Paz in Bolivia, and finishing in Tucuman, Argentina. It was a vast and glorious empire that eventually ended, thanks in part to the Spaniards' systematic destruction of the communication links between these important points.
But the trail itself has remained intact just as it was centuries ago, with some of the overgrowth having been cleared for hiking of course. That's what makes it so remarkable - you are actually following in the very footsteps of an ancient civilization. The trail is often paved with tightly laid stones - the Incas were famous for among other things, their stone work - in fact it is still not know today, how the Incas were able to transport the giant stones used to build the city of Machu Picchu. The Incas hadn't yet discovered the wheel - can you imagine?!
You can better appreciate this fact when you're actually standing in the middle of the ruins, looking across at the other mountains alongside, and realizing there aren't even any rock quarries around.
Hiking the Inca Trail gives you the opportunity to see cloud forests, sleep in green pastures where horses are grazing (hearing them whinny at night had a surreal and very dreamy quality to it), explore overgrown Inca ruins never discovered by the Spanish, treat yourself to beautiful vistas of the Urubamba River, and walk along side wildlife, flora and fauna indigenous to the area.
The reward - and the chief motivation - is seeing Machu Picchu at the end of your hike.
This trail and the memories you'll make hiking it, will become imprinted in your mind forever. Leave a Comment
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Of course, once you reach the Huayna Picchu ruins, you are almost at the top so you should keep going. Not just for the view -- frankly it doesn't change much -- but for the feeling of accomplishment and to see one more Incan item. It is shaped in the form of an arrow and it points south -- just like several other similar stones all around Machu Picchu. It's a great place to sit for photos and it also helps with your orientation.
While on the top, you will encounter people from all over the world. There were about ten people lounging at the summit, from places as diverse as Ireland, New Zealand, Argentina, France and Hungary. No matter where you're from, if you wait long enough, you'll probably encounter someone that you can ask in your native language to take your photo. Leave a Comment
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The best thing we did was schedule two and a half days to visit Machu Picchu. This allowed us plenty of time to stand and stare at the wonderful vistas. Since we weren't rushed through on a tour, we could walk at the pace we wanted, duck out of the rain when we desired and enjoy the late afternoon light without stress. We noticed that many people on tour groups arrived at 10:00 a.m., zipped through the ruins and were gone by 2:30. We were happy not to be among them. In fact, we noticed that the crowds thinned out considerably after 3:00.
Especially if you are planning a visit during rainy season (as we did), allow yourself at least two days at Machu Picchu and more time if you want to climb Huayna Picchu. Leave a Comment
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on May 17, 2005
on March 21, 2005
on May 3, 2004
