Lauriver's Travels: Cusco to Machu Picchu via the Inca Trail

Once the ancient capital of the Inca empire, then the center for colonial Spanish expansion, and now a UNESCO World Heritage site, Cusco is the base for exploring the Sacred Valley of Peru. Nestled high in the Andes mountains, it is a city which thrives upon its past. To call it touristy is to call the Andes high. However, once you get past the cheap souvenirs, constant hawking of massages, and overpriced bathrooms (yes it costs money to use toilet), it has changed little over the centuries. Surviving earthquakes and the Spanish, beautiful Incan stonework lines the center, century-in-the-making cathedrals tower over the plazas, and stone streets climb the hills in breath-taking fashion (as in its hard to breathe at 11,000ft). To get here, we would have to take an 18 hour bus ride through countless switchbacks and stomach-dropping ascents. To give you an idea of the bus ride, it was the only one where they hand out barf-bags to all the passengers. So we buckled up, took our motion-sickness pills, which have the fortunate added effect of drowsiness, and settled in for a windy ride. We arrived in the morning, queasy and tired, but so happy to have made it within a couple hours of our projected time (this route is notorious for washed-out roads, landslides, and bus strikes). Our first mission, after catching our breathe climbing the steep stairs to our hostel, would be to book our trip for the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Responding to ever-increasing popularity and pressure from UNESCO, the 4 day trek through the Andes to the lost city has been limited to only 500 people per day, and only about 200 of those are tourists. In the high season, you´re advised to book 6 months in advance. However, since it´s low season, we weren´t sure exactly when we would be there, and traveling on a deadline in South America is stressful anyways, we decided to press our luck and book when we arrived. Fortunately, after shopping around at the myriad of tour companies available, we found one that gave us a couple days to acclimatize and explore the city before heading out. The city and surrounding area is chock full of ruins and historical sights. Unfortunately, a combination of the change in weather from hot and dry to cold and rainy, recycled air on an 18 hour bus, and a drastic change in elevation caused Oliver to come down with a bug that left him weak and achy the day before we were to leave. But after resting up all day, Laura nursing him back to health with vitaminC and coca tea, we geared up for our adventure.
The first day we were picked up early morning at our hostel by Edwin, our humorous Quechuan guide, and we raced around the city to swoop up our company for the next four days. All in all there would be 12 of us: Us, Edwin, a young Parisian couple, an Argentinan, our chef, and 5 other porters ranging in ages from 18 to 58. Loaded up, we headed into the mountains to the trailhead, a mere 45 km from our destination. After strapping on our packs and taking a picture while we all still looked fresh and energetic, we were ready! The first day we only had 12 km of hiking, mostly flat, where we passed a couple of uninspiring Inca farming ruins, the much more impressive "mini Machu Picchu", all the while Edwin chatted away about the local fauna and flora. It was also our first chance to see our porters in action, with massive packs and wearing mostly sandals, practically jogging up and down the hills which had us panting. Granted, we were still getting used to the altitude and Oliver was still nursing his cold, but these guys were warriors and we would only get more impressed as the days wore on. It was also our first introduction to our chef´s skills and his surprisingly good hearty meals. Since our porters were much faster than us, they always had our camp set up and ready with food cooking when we arrived, wet with sweat. From pancakes with caramel, soup and garlic bread, fresh trout, family-style spaghetti, and a new dessert each night, every meal was tasty and welcome after burning so many calories all day. We even had "tea time" in the late afternoon which was usually hot chocolate or tea, popcorn, and fried banana wontons. So yeah, we were spoiled.
The next morning we were woken up at 6 am by our porters with a piping hot cup of coca tea, a fairly taste-less but incredibly healthy tea made from the coca leaf. While it has a bad reputation as the base for cocaine, coca has many excellent uses, such as warding off altitude sickness, and is like the redbull of the Andes, chewed in massive handfulls by the locals. It has also been one of the backbones of the the Andean economy stretching back to pre-Inca times, and one of the primary reasons the Inca expanded their empire into the jungle, built the road we were hiking on, and created such cities as Machu Picchu. So it was only fitting that we would start off each morning with a cup of this important leaf. The second day was the toughest of them all, and rightly so. The first obstacle would be "Dead Woman´s Pass", or as Oliver called it "Dead Tourist Pass". At 4215m, it would be the highest point of the whole trek and we would feel every step. From here, we had a 2 hour, knee-jarring descent until we came upon the ruined outpost of Runkurakay. This was an important stop for the Inca runners, the ancient Pony Express of the Andes. After exploring this site, we would tackle the next pass where we would be treated with some amazing views. The spectacular scenery throughout the trek would be our constant carrot and stick. Putting our knees back to the test, we headed down from the second pass to the next ruin of Sayaqmarka, a mountain fortress perched on a cliff and like something out of an adventure novel. At cloud level and with a single entrance of incredibly steep narrow steps, it had us wondering how anybody could have possibly conquered these people without deceipt and disease.
The third day would be fairly easy compared with the previous. For one, we had hiked farther than most groups who camp after the first pass. Since we are awesome, we got most of the hard stuff out of the way. We only had 12 km to do, all downhill, compared with 16 km the day before, but those steps are not kind on the knees and we were starting to get bruises on our hands from clutching our hiking poles. Also, the rain clouds obscured our views for the morning and had us worried about the next day at Machu Picchu. Fortunately, we had gotten down to jungle level and we had flowers and hummingbirds to occupy our sights. By the time we arrived at the next ruin of Phuyupatamarca, an awesome complex of dozens of terraces perched on a mountain, the clouds had cleared and we were treated to an amazing view of the whole Sacred Valley. From here it was only a short push to our final campsite, which itself was only 10 min walk to one of the most awesome sights of the whole trek, Winay Wayna. A fantastic city with a temple and terraces towering above, the city is not even compeletely uncovered but still breathtaking. Also, since we were among the first to arrive to our camp, we had the entire ruin to ourselves. If we weren´t impressed with what the Inca could do with stones before, we were now. But even this would pale next to the "Lost City."
Today was the day! All those km´s uphill, downhill, on buses through Cusco, Peru, even South America itself. The crowning achievement of our trip abroad. By lucky coincidence or not, today was almost exactly halfway from the start to home. At the peak of our voyage, we would be privy to one of the greatest lost cities of the greatest empires known to man. But we weren´t there yet. And worse, there was no guarantee we would actually see the city. The previous day´s cloud cover, and the rain which came during the night, had us worried. We woke up at 3:30 am to get an early jump on the other trekkers and by 5:30 when the last checkpoint opened we were racing for the Sun Gate, the first chance to glimpse Machu Picchu. It was only an hour or so, but it was a tough hour as we allowed ourselves few breaks. Finally, dripping with sweat and anticipation, we reached the Sun Gate and looked down at the ancient city. Exhaustion and nervousness gave way to appreciation and giddiness as we drank in the clear sight ahead of us: Machu Picchu. Even at that height, the city looked impressive. We would have no idea, however, at the immensity and complexity until we were actually walking it´s streets. Practically running down the mountain to get there before the rest of the tourists, the city continued to look grander and grander the closer we got. Once inside the city, Edwin gave us a 2 hour tour taking us around all the important temples and sights to see. There have been many books written about the city and most people have been inundated by the iconic pictures. None of these can match the magic and wonder of actually walking the city and taking in it´s size. We didn´t expect to be taken aback the way we were. Fortunately, we would have plenty of time to see every nook and cranny. Our train back to Cusco wouldn´t be until later that night (we think its a scam to get you to spend all your money in nearby, expensive Aguas Calientes), giving us hours and hours at the site. We would take full advantage of this time, exploring the intricate fountains and advanced sewer system (without which the city would´ve collapsed upon itself centuries ago). Our quest for the "unexplored" Machu Picchu would take us down and around where few tourists visit and losing ourselves in the many houses, buildings and terraces. Away from all tourists and sounds of people, we would find ourselves alone, among chinchillas and the "ghosts of Machu Picchu."