The Inca Trail - Machu Picchu

Day One: Met the rest of our group and our guides and porters for the trip. The first day trekking was relatively easy going so we could all adjust to the high altitude. Whilst we walked steadily with plenty of breaks, our group of porters put us to shame as they carried 160 pounds of weight on their backs and ran the route in order to get to the campsites to set up our tents and cook our food. The first night we celebrated with a beer whilst we enjoyed the views of 'Veronica', the 19225 ft snow-covered mountain.

Day Two: Soph woke up feeling sick and felt progressively worse throughout the morning. Despite this we completed the most difficult part of the trek, uphill all the way for 5 hours. Whilst Billy tried out Quinoa soup and freshly caught Trout from the Urubamba river, Sophie laid down in the shade and had a special herbal tea made by the porters to combat sickness. Continued trekking in the afternoon and Sophie left her mark on the trail by puking in the bushes.

Day Three: A day of steady trekking and the opportunity to see two important Inca sites. Chilled out at the campsite that was very much geared towards travellers, complete with a bar and cheesy 80s music.

Day Four: Up at 4.30 am in order to get to the entrance of the final pass of the trail. An easy trek led us to IntiPunku (The Sun Gate) from where we got our first glimpse of Machu Picchu still slightly shrouded in darkness, but beautiful all the same. Close up views we really spectacular, better than any postcard could ever do it justice. Our guide showed us the Temple of the Sun, the royal tomb, the Temple of the Water, Temple of the Three Windows and the Principal Temple. We learnt that an American botanist thought he had discovered Machu Picchu but on clearing the forest to reveal the site he found that a local man had in fact found it, graffitified his name on it, but failed to declare it in order to steal priceless artefacts. Whilst Billy took the full guided tour, Sophie crouched behind a rock feeling sick. She was rescued by a park official and spent the rest of the day in the toilet. (She still thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience).

For pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/trevallion74/TheIncaTrail

For video - http://www.dailymotion.com/trevallion/video/x5qxfk_inca-trail_travel

written by

billyandsophie on June 5, 2008 from Cusco, Peru

from the travel blog: South America

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