Matthew & Jen's World Trip: An Inca Trail

At 3,300 metres above sea level, the hardest thing about Cusco was adjusting to the altitude. We were also both pretty tired having not got too much sleep on the bus from Nazca. The windy roads and smelly toilet that we were sitting next too (now we know why the seats we purchased were cheaper than the rest!) made sleep a little hard to come by. So we were both pretty happy to settle for finding a place to stay and to book the train ride to Machu Picchu before turning in for the night.

We got up at 3.30am to watch the All Blacks play France. We were both quite on edge and very nervous given the closeness of the scores, but obviously very proud kiwis when the 80 minutes were up. A short nap was required before setting out to explore the city.

Reminiscent of Quito, in that Cusco was nestled in a valley between mountains. The city’s expansion meant that many houses were situated on steep hills. The city was much more tourist-y than any of the other cities we have visited so far (save for Nazca, which was much smaller). Travel agents, camera shops, restaurants and hotels / hostals were in abundance as we walked the streets. The city centre (the Plaza de Armas) and nearby churches were beautifully presented and there was a great colonial feel to everything.

Plaza de Armas, Cusco

Cusco

Our entrance tickets to Machu Picchu had to be bought in Cusco, which turned out to be a frustratingly slow and inefficient process. Something which should have taken less than 5 minutes was stretched to the better part of an hour, however that would be our only gripe about Cusco. Walking around the streets was easy and fun and the views from higher vantage points were quite spectacular. Late in the afternoon we found our way to the chocolate museum, giving a brief outline in Peru’s fledgling chocolate industry. Our favourite part was the chocolate sampling at the end of our visit - a great way to finish the day.

We had to get up early once again the following day to make it to the train station by ~7am. The train station is situated in a small town about 20 kilometres drive from Cusco and our taxi ride in a run down Daihatsu Charade cost less than US$7 - a real bargain!

The train ride was great, going through farmland and then following a river through a magnificent gorge all the way to Aguas Calientes, the tiny town at the bottom of Machu Picchu. The town is amazing - and really feels like it has been carved out of the most inhospitable landscape. With no cars, there are narrow streets lined with restaurants, hotels and souvenir shops. The town is divided by two rivers, the main river through the gorge and a smaller river coming down from the mountains. All this makes for a stunning little town with surprises around every corner.

Approaching Aguas Calientes by train

Aguas Calientes at night

But of course the real highlight was our visit to Machu Picchu. Yet another early start (4.30am this time) was necessary to ensure our position on one of the first buses up the mountain and views of the ruins when the sun is just climbing up over the surrounding mountains and the ruins are overrun with people. We couldn’t have asked for a better day - there wasn’t a cloud in the sky for the whole morning. After taking the obligatory photos from one of the main vantage points, we had about 40 minutes to quickly look around the ruins before making our way to the beginning of the hike up Waynapicchu (the pointy mountain in the background of the standard Machu Picchu photo).

Waynapicchu which we climbed to the summit of

Waynapicchu is the pointy tall mountain behind the ruins

The climb was nearly vertical for about 45 minutes made slightly more difficult for the altitude, but the views from the top were well worth it. There are ruins at the top of Waynapicchu also (pity the people who had to make those!) which seem to defy belief given their precipitous location! After a snack on energy bars, dried fruit and water we decided to head down the other side of Waynapicchu to the Temple of the Moon. We hadn’t quite bargained on a 45 minute perilously steep descent, well beneath the Machu Picchu ruins. Although the ruins were great and made all the better for the almost complete lack of people there - it was a complete energy draining 45 minute uphill slog back around the mountain to meet the path we had originally used about 1/3rd of the way up. It was almost midday before we finally got back to Machu Picchu and we were both exhausted.

Made it to the top...

View from the top of Waynapicchu, back towards Macha Picchu - using the sweep panorama function on Jen's camera

Temple of the Moon

So, despite the exorbitant prices at the cafe there, we had to treat ourselves to calorific goodness in the form of hamburgers, soft drinks and ice cream. About and hour and a half later we were ready to explore the ruins once again. The ruins are great. Restored to what they might have looked like in their time, we felt like we were exploring an abandoned city, with houses, temples, narrow streets, steep steps, terraced gardens and guard houses. Around every corner was another surprise, including lamas who confidently walked the grounds on their own accord to find long grass to eat. But what really makes Machu Picchu magical are the views from the ruins. Completely surrounding the ruins are sheer cliffs to the river down below and massive mountains towering above (some of the more distant mountains are covered in snow!). The incas really knew how to construct a room with a view!

Ever the suckers for punishment, at 4.30pm we thought we would try to save ourselves US$16 by walking down the path back to town, fortunately all downhill, but nevertheless a descent of 400m over 8km of road. We finally got back to our room at 6pm - both of us were beyond exhaustion, racked in pain from our feet to our knees, legs, backs and heads!

In all, we were very pleased with our achievements and had one of the best days we have had whilst in South America. We were actively walking (climbing or descending to be more accurate) for close to 10 hours in total, took a combined 600+ photos, and burned who knows how many calories!!

So although we didn’t do the actual 4-day Inca Trail (the trail was completely booked for September and October when we looked back in early September), we felt we at least partially made up for it with our efforts yesterday.