After getting final supplies, we dashed out to find a place to book into for our return on Leroy´s Birthday, and we found a groovy B&B called Teatro Inka. We were picked up at 2pm to set off to our first camp site; Abu Veronica. It took a few hours to drive to in the minibus, then after a 20 minute walk over a bridge, and up a tight verge we discovered our home for the night..
It was great to get to know our group; an English couple called Hillary and Hamish from Wimbledon, and a Dutch couple Willem and Annelieke from Rotterdam. I was the youngest of our group and we felt our group had a good dynamic.
After dinner we got to use the sauna, recommended to open up our lungs. Being in the wilderness surrounded by snow-capped mountains and lush forest, situated next to the river Ubumba that goes all the way deep into the amazon, was pretty amazing. The campsite is called Abu Veronica because the snow capped mountains across the river is called Veronica. It`s hard to find a better word than amazing, but there`s also: special, wonderful and beautiful. They come some way to describing what yourè seeing.
The challenge of todays walk is 11 km (7 miles). The first half of the day took 5 hours, with a further 2 and a half after lunch. Along the way we stopped off at a few different Inka sights to see and learn about what they were used for.
We saw Piskakuchu, a building once used as an Inka hostel for folk making their way to Machu Picchu, Quanabambam buldings that were used to store food for over 10,000 Inkas at Mavhu Picchu, Willkarakay, a millitary base to control the people coming in and out and Patallaqta, land used for farming. There is now a school in use at Patallaqta and it also gets used as an extreme marathón starting point.
The fastest time from the point all the way to Machu Pichhu (by a local athlete) is 3 hours and 20 minutes. (remember that when we were told this, we were about 3 hours into the trek, on day one of a 4 day trek!) incredible.
Walking through, the vegitation grows much thicker, and the wildlife becomes much more present. Today we saw a few parrots and a green, black long tailed humming bird!
Humming birds look like fairys, FACT. We also started to learn about many different plants and their uses. The orange seed pod in the Tara tree can be used in a tea to heal tonsilitus and the cactus Gignton can heal fever and we also saw the moon flower,.Shamans use it and it can make you hallucinate... If you put too many in your tea you can go blind !! Not very tempting...
The porters are also amazing. They carry such big bags, and most of the time you see them running the trail. The food they manage to make is delicious, and they also pack up and run off to the next spot to get the camp ready and to make the next meal. Our second camp site was at Wayllabamba, a very high up grassy platform, over-looking the valley and the clouds. The peace and the sounds of nature whistle all around.
14th Nov – Say 33 The Dead Womans Pass
Setting off at 7.15 am, we walked two hours to the first rest point. We started the day with maca porridge, fruit and a parsley omelete, it was just what we needed. Just before we set off Leroy decided to pratice his golf swing, with his tribal walking stick. To everyone`s amusèment he swung the stick so hard that it came out of its holster, flying into the air and disappearing into the valley; bloody hilarious! I wish i`d filmed it, as it was definitely worth 250 pounds!
The first section of the walk was four hours uphill, along original Inka path ways to the Warmiwanuska (Dead womans pass) 4215 masl, The reason for its name is because the naturally ocurring rock formation looks like a woman laying down, not because lots of females die here, phew! The final stretch lead us down a steep steppy hill, to our next campsite called Pacaymayu. There was some light rain on the way down, which was fine but it turned really cold. We made a quick decent back to the warm, you seem to spend the day putting layer on and taking layers off, tedious but necessary. Arriving at such a hight was a proud moment. Being in and amongst rolling clouds, you could nearly touch the sun, it was that high up.
In total walking distance 8km (5 miles) up hill. Climbing 1100 meters.
Our lunch stop Phyuupatamarca, was the place above the clouds, it was breath-taking and Leroy even spotted a Hawk. The weather for lunch was windy and rainy and the tent nearly flew away. This only lasted through lunch, so it worked out nicely.
We trekked down further, making our way throught thick vegetaion. We saw more humming birds, the black, the long black tailed, and the red bellied green bodied.. that`s the technical name ¿ We came across some Llamas (not literally), they use them as lawn mowers. Manouvering down the pass, we caught our first sight of Wiñayhuayna. Another impressive Inka site used for agriculture, to aid the growth of plants in high altitude. After some exploring avoiding the over-growth from viper snakes, we made it to our camp site at Wiñayhuayna, our last resting spot before reaching Machu Picchuuuuuuu....!!!
After our final dinner, the porters and chefs came into the tent to say their goodbyes. With an early night due to a horribly early start the next day of 3am, ouch.
16th Nov – Day 35
We waited for just over an hour in the dark.. a torch party and various languages bounced around the queue, was this a strange rave or the Inka trail? Delia taught us `head, shoulders, knees and toes` in Spanish; cabeza, hombros, rodillas, pies. Getting throught was very exciting; our passports got stamped for the final time and we were off!
As light started to break through, so did a little rain. Getting to the Sun Gate was so funny as the view was fogged over. All that amazing journey for a misty view of wet cloud! Our guide said that this was normal for the time of year and that after a few hours it would clear up.
It was very special to be a part of. One of the reasons this particular rock symbolizes Mother Earth is because of her shape. The Inkas saw sacred important symbols, this included ones that humans represented or shared, so they saw the feminine trianglar shape as Mother Earth.
We made it down the pass, through a mall section of Machu Pichhu to the front gate entrance. It was strange to suddenly be amongst touristc who had taken the train and coach to see Machu Picchu, compared to being with the other trekkers that had taken the time to complete the trail.
It was a slight anti-climax, but once the weather had cleared up and we got onto the site it was stunning to see and we explored the rooms and remains. To measure their buildings they used their hands and bodies. The buildings all lean in as they believed this would make for stronger structures. The same as if you were to stand straight you could easily be pushed over compared to if you stood with a strong stance, legs apart. Using their bodies was the base for all things they made.
Once we were satisfied we made our way back down the windy road to civilization, to Aguas Calientes. We celebrated with a great meal beside the rail tracks and a very large beer each. The backpacker`s train took us back to Cusco, it was beautiful and sad to be leaving the mountains. Thinking about the adventure we`d had, what we`d achieved, the difficult moments we`d overcome and feeling very proud. Arriving back at Leroy`s Birthday pad
for a bath and very comfortable bed was the end of our Machu Pichhu adventure.