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Each morning we have an early
wake-up with a cup of hot tea or coffee and a basin of warm
washing water brought to each tent. We pack up our personal
belongings as the camp crew breaks camp, and we eat a hot
breakfast, usually eggs, pancakes or oatmeal. Donning our
daypacks (lightly loaded with sweater, water bottle, and other
small necessities). We're ready to head out on the trail. In
almost no time, the camp staff and porters pass us by, some on
the way to our picnic lunch spot, others to set up the next
camp.
The morning walk lasts about six or seven
hours, then we stop for a leisurely lunch of an hour or more at
a scenic spot on the trail. Lunch is usually a meat or vegetable
salad, along with a cream, drinks. After lunch, we walk for
another three or four hours until we reach our campsite- each
one, it seems, more beautifully situated than the last! Dinner
is prepared late in Peru (around 8 PM), so the crew usually
serves us afternoon tea and a snack to tide us over until
mealtime.
Before dinner, there's free time to read,
relax, or wash hair or clothes in a stream if we're near one.
Dinner is a mixture of continental, Peruvian, and Quechua
cuisines. It's a hearty meal consisting of a delicious hot soup
(often made with the local grain, quinoa), with a main course of
spaghetti, stroganoff or other beef or chicken casseroles, and
pudding or cake for dessert. After dinner, we usually chat away
the evening in the dining tent, perhaps enjoying a glass of
pisco, rum, or wine. Sometimes the lovely and soon hauntingly
familiar sound of a single quena (Andean flute) fills the Andean
with melody, always a fitting accompaniment to our spectacular
setting.
ITINERARY:
First day
At 06:20 we take the train to go to km.88, the trip lasts 2
hours. We meet with all the staff that will escort to us.
We cross the bridge to cross the Panticalla pass leading to the
jungle settlement of Amaybamba. Perhaps this was the only
highway still in use by the time of the conquest, for the
Spaniards never discovered the trail that continued on down the
valley to a point where it is becoming a gorge and will soon be
a canyon. The Incas built a string of settlements onward from
here down the left bank of Urubamba.
Here you pass the ruins of Llactapata
(town-on-a-site), above to the right. Below to the left,
near the banks of the Cusichaca, close to its confluence with
the Urubamba, is the Pulpituyoc (pulpit-having), a great carved
rock, which was the principal huaca of the area. Following the
trail you descend to the river and cross just below a small
ravine, adorned with a Inca buttress. (2 km.).
After crossing a small pass to the left of
the ravine, your route follows an undulating course up the left
bank of the Cusichaca. At first the valley is broad; higher up
it narrows. At the end of this bottleneck you see a tributary
stream, a valley, and traces of an old landslide on the right
bank. Here there is a log bridge over the Cusichaca. Descend and
cross it.
Continue uphill along the main valley, on the
right bank now, until you reach the village of Huayllabamba
(grassy plain) at 3000m elevation.. The trail now leaves the
Cusichaca, turning northwest up the valley of the Llullucha (the
name for a kind of herb). The climb gets steep and unrelenting.
You are ascending toward the first pass. We get to Llullucha and
we have the Lunch time and a relax.
About 1 1/2
Kin. Upstream is the Llullucha. Both valleys are
steep-sided and and densely forested. Follow the trail up the
leftbank fork for roughly 500m beyond the confluence, then leave
this trail to the right and descend to a log bridge across the
stream. With luck you might see a white-tailed deer, or even the
rare Andean taruca (a small barrel-chested deer with spiky
little antlers).
This is the last, hard climb to the first
pass, the Abra de Warmihuanusca (Dead woman's Pass; we have no
record as to the origin of this name). Notice traces of ancient
steps at the head of the pass, the first unmistakable signs that
you are following a pre- Columbian highway. This is the highest
point of the trail at around 4200m. (10Km.)
We must descend to the valley of Pacaymayu
before dark. If visibility is good you can see two high passes
ahead of you. The one on the right is your destination. You can
pick out the two small takes near the pass, and the circular
ruin of Runkurakay below them.
As your near the valley floor you see the
waterfalls of the river Pacaymayo tumbling down the mountain to
your left- The valley floor of the Pacaymayo is an official
campsite. We have the tea time and enough time to relax. Dinner.
Second day
Wake up with a hot
cup of tea. Breakfast. Before the walking we provide you a snack
and bottle of coca tea. We begin the walking from Pacaymayo.
Here you are at last convinced that you are walking an Inca
trail. Up to now the path has been a trail like any other, but
now you find stone steps built into the mountain as your route
zig-zags up its slopes to Runkurakay (5kms).
The circular shape of the main structure at
Runkuracay is unusual for a large Inca construction. The two
concentric walls of the enclosure form two long , curved
chambers and four smallones all giving onto a central courtyard.
The outer walls are massive and solid, and have no windows, but
the eastern quarter of the courtyard is open, giving a
magnificent view over the Pacaymayo valley.
Descend. As you do so trail becomes more and
more obviously an Inca highway. Below lies a long, shallow take,
green with algae. Soon you can see ahead of you, clinging to a
spur the ruins of Sayacmarca (dominant town). A trail to the
left climbs abruptly, via a flight of steps hanging above a
cliff, to reach these ruins, while the main highway toward Machu
Picchu descends almost as abruptly to your right (7kms.).
Sayacmarca was discovered by Hiram Bingham in
1915. He called it Cedrobamba, meaning "Plain of
Cedars" But since it is not a plain, nor are there any
cedars, Paul Fejos, who visited the area in 1940, gave it a new
Quechua name meaning "Dominant (or Inaccessible)
Town." The complex is built at the end of precipitous ridge
commanding a sweeping view of the Aobamba valley, with the
snowcapped Pumasilo (ca.6000m) in the distance. But it would be
wrong to consider it a fortress. It might have served as a
center from which to control travel and cargo along the two main
highways visible from this point.
Descend from Sayacmarca by the same route you
entered. After 100 meters or so the trail cuts down to the left
there's a small campsite here, as you approach the stream. About
15 minutes from Sayacmarca the trail crosses a shallow bowl
known as the Dry Lake (Cha'Kicocha).
The third and final pass is at close to
4000m. Here you emerge onto a stupendous view of the Urubamba
Valley. The ruin of Phuyupatamarca (Cloud-level Town) lie below
you to the left. If the day is clear you will
just see the tip of snowcapped Palcay
(ca.5600m.), Salcantay (6180m). We stop here and we have the
lunch and relax.
Phuynpatamarca was another of Hiram
Bingham's discoveries. His for this one is apt, because clouds
tend to settle wound the ridge below which the complex is built.
There are many agricultural terraces hem possible enough to have
made the site self-sufficient. Once again we find ritual baths
here.
Where the wails exist from the ruins on the
west side you come to two flights of steps pointing downward
into the jungle. The first of them is an incredible granite
staircase that was probably the principal route from here to
Hainay Huayna , the next major site along the Inca Trail. This
trail and staircase is a recent discovery. The staircase is two
meters wide in places.
The trail cuts across the mountainside and
eventually joins a new pathway that descends near a line of
electricity towers. The original Inca trail probably led
directly to Huinay Huayna. The site is named after an orchid (Epidendrum
Crassilabiuma E. Secundrum) with red, violet or yellow flowers,
that was once abundant in this arm and is still to be seen. The
plant blooms year-round, hence the Quechua name, which means
"forever young"
The ruins here were discovered in 1941 by
Paula Feijos, during the last days of the Viking Fund
expedition. He had time only for rudimentary survey and clearing
work. The ruins are built on the steepest of mountains slopes,
flanked by ancient farming terraces. Due east from here the land
plunges into the Urubamba Gorge and then soars upward to the
shining glaciers of Mount Veronica.
We camp in this site. Tea time and relax.
Dinner.
Third Day
Wake up with a hot
cup of tea. Breakfast. Before the walking we provide you a box
lunch for the visit of Machu Picchu.
Leaving Huinay Huayna you are on the last leg
of the trail. The trail traverses fairly steadily across open
mountainside at first, and then enters dense woods, rising and
falling. When you come to a steep, imposing flight of stairs,
you have almost arrived. Soon you reach the top of a ridge,
where the path passes through a ruined gateway flanked by
remains of buildings: Intipunku (Sun Gate)
You have reached the city limits. Walk to the
far side of the ruin and you see the climax of your journey. The
tall peak of Huayna Picchu lies directly ahead.
Before it, spread impressively over the ridge
below you, lies the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu (7 kms.).
We descend to the Citadel. We have a complete tour with our
guide during three hours. As soon as you decide we take a buses
to get down to the train station to take the train to Cusco.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
IMPORTANT:
- All treks are private - just you and your
party, not with a group of strangers.
- All treks have highly experienced professional
guides.
- Tours can be arranged to begin on any day of the
week.
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