Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
The final leg of my trip to Peru started in the city of Cusco. Located in the mountains southeast of Lima, it is a 24 hour bus ride to get there. 23 hours less and fifty dollars more to fly, our decision was an easy one. StarPeru was offering the cheapest flight and we arrived in Cusco 2 days before our scheduled departure for the Inca Trail. 
The city of Cusco is the most beautiful city that we visited in the country of Peru. There is a lot of history in this region, Incan ruins surround it, and Cusco itself was once a great Incan city. There are many archaelogical museums and sites to visit, as well as lots of old churches. The streets are old cobbled roads, many of which are for pedestrians only. Other than the ever present hassling by street vendors and pushy local business people I'd say this is my favorite city in Peru. The picture above shows the Plaza de Armas in the city of Cusco.
The Inca Trail is one of the most popular treks in the world. For this reason strict government regulations have been put into effect to try and reduce human impact on this historical treasure. 500 permits a day are issued for people to go on this trek, 200 clients, 50 guides, and 250 porters. During the busy season you need to reserve a spot 6 months in advance. We were going in the slow season and we had to reserve our spots 2 months in advance. All clients must have a guide and camp in designated areas. The porters carry your tent and food, and in many cases they carry all of the clients belongings, making for a very easy journey. The photo above shows one of the campsites, a virtual tent city in the middle of nowhere.
The Inca Trail is the classic route that the Inca's used to travel between agricultural and military outposts to and from the city of Machu Picchu. These days it is one of the biggest draws for tourists to the country of Peru and sees 500 people a day pass over its ancient stonework 10 months of the year. The photo above is an example of the masses of people you might encounter on the trail. At times it felt kind of like walking on the sidewalk in the city. The 33 km. (20 mile) length of the trail was easily completed over the course of 4 days. While that may not sound like a great distance to travel, the majority of the first day was spent getting to the trailhead, and almost the entire last day was spent at Machu Picchu, leaving the bulk of the hiking to the middle 2 days. The trail was very steep at times and consisted mostly of steep rock stairs straight up and over a pass at 13,900 feet and straight back down just as steeply. At one point there were 3,000 consecutive downhill stairs. It was not uncommon to hear some of the other trekkers say that this was the hardest thing they had ever done in their lives.
Throughout the course of the trek the trail passes through many ruins and different ancient Incan agricultural or military sites. These ruins are incredibly impressive, most built on the steep side of a remote Andean mountain, completely out of stone and constructed well enough to withstand the passing of 500 years. When you see these sites in person it is hard to grasp what drove these people to live in this place and build these incredible structures. Then, on the fourth day of the trek you pass through the "sun gate" and see the grand daddy of them all. The ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu is such an impressive sight that every ruin you've seen prior to it seems tiny and insignificant. The photo above is Machu Picchu viewed from the Sun Gate. The steep peak behind the city is called Wayna Picchu, and there are huge rock terraces and lookout buildings built on the top of that too!
After a short hike down from the Sun Gate you arrive here. Possibly photographed more than even Emerald Bay the view from this spot is so amazing that it almost seems fake. Built high upon this ridge the ancient city of Machu Picchu was never discovered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas back in the early 1500's. Due to its remote location the city wasn't destroyed like most had been, the city looks exactly like it did 500 years ago, minus roofs and Incas. Having arrived at this spot at 8 in the morning we had plenty of time to check out the city. After a 2 hour guided tour we decided to hike up to the top of the Wayna Picchu (the mountain behind the city) and after the incredibly steep scramble up the nearly vertical trail our minds were blown again by the complete insanity of the structures built on the top of the cliffs. It was at precisely this time that our camera battery ran out of juice, oh well.
The city of Cusco is the most beautiful city that we visited in the country of Peru. There is a lot of history in this region, Incan ruins surround it, and Cusco itself was once a great Incan city. There are many archaelogical museums and sites to visit, as well as lots of old churches. The streets are old cobbled roads, many of which are for pedestrians only. Other than the ever present hassling by street vendors and pushy local business people I'd say this is my favorite city in Peru. The picture above shows the Plaza de Armas in the city of Cusco.
The Inca Trail is one of the most popular treks in the world. For this reason strict government regulations have been put into effect to try and reduce human impact on this historical treasure. 500 permits a day are issued for people to go on this trek, 200 clients, 50 guides, and 250 porters. During the busy season you need to reserve a spot 6 months in advance. We were going in the slow season and we had to reserve our spots 2 months in advance. All clients must have a guide and camp in designated areas. The porters carry your tent and food, and in many cases they carry all of the clients belongings, making for a very easy journey. The photo above shows one of the campsites, a virtual tent city in the middle of nowhere. 
The Inca Trail is the classic route that the Inca's used to travel between agricultural and military outposts to and from the city of Machu Picchu. These days it is one of the biggest draws for tourists to the country of Peru and sees 500 people a day pass over its ancient stonework 10 months of the year. The photo above is an example of the masses of people you might encounter on the trail. At times it felt kind of like walking on the sidewalk in the city. The 33 km. (20 mile) length of the trail was easily completed over the course of 4 days. While that may not sound like a great distance to travel, the majority of the first day was spent getting to the trailhead, and almost the entire last day was spent at Machu Picchu, leaving the bulk of the hiking to the middle 2 days. The trail was very steep at times and consisted mostly of steep rock stairs straight up and over a pass at 13,900 feet and straight back down just as steeply. At one point there were 3,000 consecutive downhill stairs. It was not uncommon to hear some of the other trekkers say that this was the hardest thing they had ever done in their lives. 
Throughout the course of the trek the trail passes through many ruins and different ancient Incan agricultural or military sites. These ruins are incredibly impressive, most built on the steep side of a remote Andean mountain, completely out of stone and constructed well enough to withstand the passing of 500 years. When you see these sites in person it is hard to grasp what drove these people to live in this place and build these incredible structures. Then, on the fourth day of the trek you pass through the "sun gate" and see the grand daddy of them all. The ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu is such an impressive sight that every ruin you've seen prior to it seems tiny and insignificant. The photo above is Machu Picchu viewed from the Sun Gate. The steep peak behind the city is called Wayna Picchu, and there are huge rock terraces and lookout buildings built on the top of that too!
After a short hike down from the Sun Gate you arrive here. Possibly photographed more than even Emerald Bay the view from this spot is so amazing that it almost seems fake. Built high upon this ridge the ancient city of Machu Picchu was never discovered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas back in the early 1500's. Due to its remote location the city wasn't destroyed like most had been, the city looks exactly like it did 500 years ago, minus roofs and Incas. Having arrived at this spot at 8 in the morning we had plenty of time to check out the city. After a 2 hour guided tour we decided to hike up to the top of the Wayna Picchu (the mountain behind the city) and after the incredibly steep scramble up the nearly vertical trail our minds were blown again by the complete insanity of the structures built on the top of the cliffs. It was at precisely this time that our camera battery ran out of juice, oh well. Finally home after almost a month in Peru. Just enough snow on the ground to ruin the biking, and not nearly enough to go skiing.... I hear Mt. Baker is good right now......
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Way COOL!
Description of the amount of traffic the trail receives blew my mind!
Loved the detail about the history and the sites along the way.
Wayna Picchu seems like an incredibly steep trek!!!! Glad you made it up there. . .too bad about the battery giving out!
I am so happy you posted this for all of us who will never be able to make this trip.
Love,
Mom