Day 47 - 48 Last 2 days of the Inca Trail ( arriving at Machu Picchu )

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Again there were showers during the night, but fortunately very little during the day other than mistiness, that much I can say about the weather. Really no complain.

Actually the night were not all that cold, with the high clouds around, acting like a blanket.

Again, another round of Coca Tea to wake us up, and we left after a ritual of introducing the porters and ourselves to each other. We had 15 porters, separated into groups of tent organisers, luggage carriers, and cooking team, plus 2 guides, Santiago & his assistant tailend Charlie, Flecher, helping us 11 on this walk. 

Most of them are very young, but one stood out, (unfortunately, his name shall remain forgotten), he of the same age as me, at 62, but already has many grand children, a very impressive accomplishment !  Despite we can not understand each other’s language, we had built a small bond, as we encountered each other many times on the trail yesterday, with him dashing pass me a few times, and I, walking passing him whilst he was resting.

Same age as me, but already has many grand children....!

Our first task was to meander up a 3900m pass, and stopped at a small Inca ruin half way up.  

After conquering the 3900m high pass at Runkurakay, the rest of the hike will be downhill, ending down at 2700m tonight.

Looking back at Pacamayu, our campsite on the 2nd night.

I did not suckle the coca leaves at the start, and to be honest, it did not make much of a difference for me.

Whilst all the younger members of the group arrived there earlier, I decided to take it easy, and taking in all the majestic views around, with the sun slowly emerging, behind the mist.

runku
So, when arriving at the high pass of Runkurakay, whilst everyone was resting, I had the spare energy to go up to a small hill to take in more of the views.

Runkurakay Pass at 3900m

The steep & rocky track after the 3900 m high pass

The descent was another horror stories of steep and slippery rock steps ( or piles, at places ), and even the less steep grounds were so rocky, that it required some care, especially, I was carrying my large and expensive Sony A77.

Some might call these steps, but my knees did not like them.

Before lunch, we reached another ruin, Sayaqmarka, 

which we stayed a little while, and was given a very good explanation by Santiago. It was built for ceremonial purposes.

We were told that, the rest of the trail are all downwards, with some slight climb at places.  But it proved to be no consolation.  There are still many steep and rocky sections to negotiate with my knees.

Fortunately, the knee protector had been doing it s job, and there were no serious discomfort.

When we stopped for lunch, I discovered this mountain wall.

 

for those who had been to Guilin ( China ), would probably had seen a similar cliff wall from the River Ni, called the "Nine Sprinting Horses", can you pick out 9 horses ? 

By 1:40, we reached the last high pass at 3600m, after walking along a long and winding section of narrow paths with steep drop on the side,

Last high pass at 3600 m

and yet another ruin, Phuy Patamarka. 

Now we can start to see the back of Machu Picchu Mountain coming in and out of the mist. But not the ruin itself, as it is behind the mountain.

I then started to use another strategy, at for the less steep sections,  I decided to bounce over them rather than walking, thus gaining speed, and used the agility of my body to balance. And it worked.

When I reached the first power line tower, I forgot to take Santiago’s earlier advise to turn left for a longer but more scenic path, instead, the direct path to our campsite. By the time I realised it, I was too lazy to walk backup....may be next time!! What next time !!

A little over 2 hours from the last high pass, I reached our campsite for the day at Winawayna just before 4 p.m.

There was already a long queue at the showers, just a broken pipe with water splurting out from atop....COLD !  Nevermind the toilet !!

Santiago then took us to a closeby ruin, a very steep one, with plenty of terrace fields, apparently, they interpret it as a agriculatural experimental site for the Inka.  It was so steep, that is not a place for the faint hearted to mud about.

After dinner, we went through a ritual, where we presented our group’s “tips” to each of the porters and guides.  From the hand clapping sounds nearby, it seems all other groups were going through the same.

And we are retired early, for a very early start tomorrow, for our final hike.


Early at 3:30 am, we were awaken to prepare for the last dash to Machu Picchu.  We started queuing up at the control gate an hour before the opening of the gate at 5:30 a.m, in the cold.  

After presenting our permits, we walked in the dark for a while, then dawn broke.

We hugged along the rear of the Machu Picchu Mountain for an hour, overlooking the Urubamba River.  

The terrain were quite flat and easy compare to the last 2 days.

Then after climbing a very very steep rock steps of 50 ft high, we walked right into Intipunku ( “Sun Gate” ). 

A major milestone for the walk, and Machu Picchu appeared right behind it, what a satisfying view!  We walked for 3 days to get this view.

And these pictures tells it all.

I and Santiago, our very knowledgeable guide and helpful guide.

Tourists came in comfortable trains and buses, we paid a lot of money, for a 4 day gruelling walk, who has the most fun !  Of course we did, along the way, we learned the way the Inka people lived, worshipped and developed a very difficult terrain into farmlands. But it was all destroyed almost overnight by 500 Spaniard Conquistors....WHY ?! I am sure there are many philosophers and historians who’s done a lot of researchs and interpretive studies on this subject.

But the pure and simple goal today, was to aborb all that information, and enjoy the majestic views as they presented in front of us.

After a few quick group photos for the first group of our team which arrived at the Sun Gate were taken, we then start our descent into Machu Picchu itself, enjoying the fruit of our 4 day walk in triumph, the view of Machu Picchu.

The first arrivals - Kaz, Tanya, Teresa, Scot, Lacy, Isabel, & I.

The funny thing was, we then have to exit the tourist entrance, and re-checked in with our Passports and one last stamp on our permit and Passport, to say, we were there !

Next  Post:  A walk in Machu Picchu

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