Inca Trail (to Machu Pichu)

In the small town of Olyantambo we stop and get out of our bus. We hear from somebody in broken English that this is the last real place where we can do grocerie shopping. On a small market I buy a poncho and a bag of coca leaves.

Because we are back early by the bus we see that our guide selects a number of carriers who have signed up for ourtour. The rest walks away – disappointed for not having a job. We get back into the van and it appears that we don’t have enough seats available with all the cooks and carriers that we picked up.

I count fifteen tourists in our bus. In a lorry convoy we drive on a very narrow bridge over the wild and wide river Urubamba and drive another 15 kilometers on a bad road with gravel. There are many putholes and stones on the way, and the bus is bouncing back and forwards. We drive through the hamlet Chilca and stop a few kilometers away at Piscacucho; This must be the beginning of the true Incatrail because everyone is supposed to step out and grab his own backpack.

We walk with our group parallel to the river to the west across parts of the railways leading to Aqua Calientes. Here we have to register in a small wooden house and pay the entrance fees for Machu Picchu and the national park. Than it’s time to meet up with other members of our group and our guide leads us south to the first hill.

The river is getting smaller (as it seems) as we climb the mountains and the first sweat drops gets out of my forehead. The path is about 2 meters wide and is a mix of  gravel, rocks and sand. Thorn bushes, occasionally a tree and big stones lie kindly side by side against the side of the hillsides. The path goes up and down and we lunch later on some big stones in the shade of some trees.

There are also a number of chairs put down by our carriers, and in the middle is a large table set with bread and bread spreads. Some carriers passed by while others wait and do the dishes and clean up. Lunch is ready and you feel already you’re cranky old bones when getting ready for another walk. Amazing to see how the carriers work their butt’s of while we are complaining after just a short walk. We drag ourselves up a hill while some, that walked faster, are still enoying the view. Our guide tells us to look across the valley in front of us. Our first real Inca remains. This appears to be "Llactapata", or "city against the hill edge" and that's exactly what we see. A number of terraces on which to see ruins of gray stone buildings. 

We will not stay too long because it is another 7 km to the hamlet Wayllabamba where we will stay our first night. The village is built at a height of 3100 meters and I meet a far family member with whom we are coincided within the group. The camp is located near the river where the brown tent, our headquarters, is put up. Our tents are arranged on a narrow ledge of grass. In addition to a cup of tea we get a snack. We see some graves on the hillside of the Nevado Veronica mountain, 5750 meters high, with snowy peaks.

In the village you can buy some things like high calorie snacks if desired. In the evening we talk to the big tent, we dine together and after dinner most of us go to the tent because it was a very long day. Many fall asleep immediately.

We get awake early and meet each other during the tooth brushing, refreshment or in the big tent where we get breakfast. Wayllambamba, the small town we slept last night is on a crossing of the Llullucha and Cusichaca rivers and after we have picked up our stuff we walk via a high suspension bridge over the former river. Now the real work begins - a 3 km long steep mountain that we have to climb.

It's hot here, it's raining sometimes and the bugs are bugging us while we walk the steep hillsides. The area is called Tres Piedras (three stones), but there seem to be millions of them making the walk hard and difficult. The carriers pass by wearing their sandals and despite this harsh walk they walk with bags on their back like it seems nothing. The first day I walked with the friend I’ve planned this trip to Peru.

Because he trains three times a week it is clear that he has a much better condition than I do; today I have decided to stay with another man who walks in the same pace I do. His friend, both from the United States, explained that every step takes energy. By taking smaller steps, don’t get your feet to far up the ground you take them and relax while you do so, you save a lot of energy and walking becomes easier. Despite the steep climb, I seem to have more breath than yesterday. Well, I try - on the advice of the guide - a bunch of coca that gives me a nasty blow.

My cheeks are getting numb immediately.The landscape is one of many forests, almost jungle with high rocks and occasionally a ruin made of stones. Occasionally, a stream of water spills along the Inca stairs along your feet. My feet are still dry luckily because that can get you into a lot of ugly problems. If there is a flock of llamas trying to passyou on these small paths, it is explained to us always to stay in the inside (of the hill) - it will not be the first time a tourist from the edge of the hill is pushed by a group of horses, donkeys or lama’s into the deep and steep valley.

It is time for lunch when we get up the hill; the guys that were in the front of our group are already waiting enthousiastically on their chairs. After a bite, I have the strength to enjoy the view but there are some of us that breath heavily and didn’t enjoy this walk at all. One girl from our group can’t go on and is serious when she tells us she wants to go back.

It’s too hard for her. I’m feeling much bette rafter our lunch but it appears that not one, but two people from our group are decided to go back. They won’t go further with us and will be walking backwords. Their incatrail stops here and now. We climb further and it is clear that this is the hardest day of the whole trail. I really have to swing one leg to another and it seems like those dry coca leaves do not help at all. It is clear that we have come above the tree line; The greenery, the bushes and the trees have disappeared as well as the cultivation.

The wind blows here like crazy  and we see sometimes only some rocks and stones. That’s it. It's late afternoon when we finally arrive on the plateau that’s called Llulluchupampa where we will camp the second night. There is a small lake and a group of tents is set up on both sides. Immediately, the small tent away from ours is the "shithole". This is the official toilet, which is no more than a hole in the ground with which to cover a tent sheet. After dinner, people quickly return their tent - it is now dark and very chilly.

In the early morning it’s getting slowly light and I've slept for a couple of hours, even though I do not feel like great. It's been awfully cold last nights despite my sleeping bag and a thick stack of clothes. Especially my feet were frosty. It's a drama to open the zipper of the tent which means more cold air coming in. One of the problem was that there were no trees and/or other covers to protect the cold and wet for the tent. We do not have a choice – we have to get out.

In addition, we get a hot cup of tea and something toe at This way we can leave this place as soon as possible and hope to sleep more warmly tonight. Not only fatigue plays a big part also a lot of people from our group have some kind of muscle ache from yesterday. A hot shower would do miracles but that’s impossible here and a far silent dream for many of us. Everyone is in the big breakfasttent and everybody has got their own story about last night, the cold and the search for the “shithole-tent” (alias WC). After breakfast we will pick up our items and get ready for a new day of hiking. 

Our guide has already warned us; the path this morning may be less steep than yesterday's, but with yesterday's climb still fresh this will be as hard as the walk yesterday. Unfortunately, he is right - the path is regular and leads us to the highest point of this walk. After 2.5 hours of climbing we arrive at what’s called Dead Woman at 4198 meters altitude. A beautiful panorama is our part; we see mountains full of greenery surrounded by clouds like fog and deep valleys. Our guide explains that the very small Pacamayo river below us, or the "sunrise" river, can be seen from here. In the beginning it feels great – walking down finally.

But very quickly we feel our knees hurting followed by the rest of the body. The Incas have used large stones to build their stairs, and these steps are now costing us a lot of effort. The carriers pass us by and I get more and more respect for these little men who apparently do not care about an extra backpack of 15 kg’s. They ran down on their flipflops. Suddenly the rains comes down in buckets and my shirt turns into a wet puddle of rainwater and sweat. We walk into the jungle again. I now also understand why people prefer to give their big bag to these men, even if I feel a bit ashamed to give my big bag away for a young man as myself.

Look at us, wining like little kids with our expensive shoes, clothes and other equipment these carriers only can dream about.

Eventually we arrive in the valley at the riverside where we have lunch. Never knew how happy I would be with a choco presto, a chocolate melk drink. You can camp here but our guide has decided that we are continue walking. We pass the river by again a suspension bridge and have to climb again unfotunately. Runkurakay is also called the "building like a basket", which becomes clear when you see this ruine from above. Again from this plateau you have a magnificent view of the surroundings which unfortunately starts to become "normal".

We pass, while the inca steps have become slippery, two lakes and climb again a high pass (3950 meters) where a new panorama opens up for us, including the Cordillera Vilcabamba mountain. Now the walk down again where we pass a strange green lake and again an Inca ruin (Sayaqmarka). Most of us think it’s been enough for today but our guide explains that if we don’t want to arrive in the busy rush-hour in Machu Pichu we have to continue walking more today.

We climb again, to the third pass of 3700 meters altitude. On the way we pass an Inca tunnel and arrive soon at a restored edge of stone where we stop to rest. Also here is a possibility to put up our tents but we decide that we’re fit enough to walk more. It would mean a beautiful sunrise but also a dangerous very early morning over the slippery pebbles to arrive in Machu Pichu in time. This means two more hours descending over big rocks and stones. Finally we arrive at our place where we camp.

Everybody – even the biggest hikers among us are happy. It's time to relax and most of us order a beer at the nearby hostel. This is Winay Wayna. Our tents are again arranged on a terrace and ours is almost the last. The temperature is in any case a lot higher than yesterday. It’s feels like a real holiday.

While waking up I feel my muscles and my bones; they feel soar which is not very strange thinking of our crazy walk of yesterday. In the distance I hear far away when people get their tent out and speak softly toe ach other. It’s still very early but we have to get up. Everybody throws cold water at their faces and get to the half open kitchen downstairs. Everyone is excited today because we almost did it.

Today we will see the reason why we walked all those hills and mountains; we will see and visit the hidden city of Machu Picchu. We have to get into our rhythm again and walk our pain in our legs away. It's another 2 hours walk and it's quite frank. We walk through the fog and hope that this will lift the moment we get tot he site. We encounter the first llamas that are living around the Inca site and we stop at a sort of guardhouse built of gray stones.

A beautiful green lawn but still very low clouds which prefend us to see the golden forbidden city. We reach Intipunku, also called the “solar gate” and wait until the fog vapors. And that happens - very slowly - and we see a Machu Picchu without any other people inside. Two rows of ruin cottages on either side on a plateau with a kind of open field in the middle. However, it is a big rock and it is surrounded by high cliffs and mountains.

One moment, I think of how it should have been when the site was completely overgrown by the jungle. It is also not surprising that the Spaniards have never found this city. It's time to go down and enter the real city before other tour groups arrive.

Machu Picchu - History: 

Machu Picchu's main building is the Intihuatana; It contains an edited pillar that is obviously used for astrological purposes in calculating the "sun" days. It is generally assumed that there were numerous pillars in the Inca empire; most of them are therefore destroyed by the Spaniards who worshiped the sun. We take a small staircase and arrive at the main square which was not used for ceremonial purposes, but for residents and workers.

You can see a ruin of a labyrinth of a small-scale cell complex located underground and above ground. The main building here is the temple of the Condor depicted by a stone carved as a head of the bird. After the tour we exit the complex and see the first well (over)dressed tourist come in their expensive tourbusses including guides. They look at us – sweating, dirty and tired and while we look at them perfumed and excited.

All of us go by bus and drive the last 8 km to Aqua Calientes, perhaps the ugliest city of Peru. It is here that we thank our guide by inviting him for a dinner, handing our envelopes for the carriers and the cook and saying goodbye to each other. We made it!