Judy G. Walsh: Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Judy G. Walsh

Hiking the Inca Trail
to Machu Picchu

Unable to convince my husband that a weekend trip to see Machu Picchu is perfectly sensible, I seek another activity to lure him to Peru. Four-day Trek on the Inca Trail to First View Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. Perfect! Porters will carry our tents, clothing and food at these high Andean elevations. All we need to carry is a day pack with water. This I can handle. Rather exciting, my first overnight trek and on the Inca Trail no less!

Acclimating to Altitude

While acclimating in Cusco at 11,000 feet, we first explore Cusco proper taking in the Sun God Temple, the Plaza de Armas, the cathedral and the market. We marvel over the Inca construction; it is not possible to slip even the edge of a razor blade between the enormous irregularly shaped stones sculpted to a perfect fit. We learn to drink from the foliage filled cups of mate to quell possible altitude sickness.

Fort Sacsayhuaman near Cusco

On the second day of acclimation we visit the village of Chinchero and the Ollantaytambo Ruins. Chinchero's food market displays some of the 840 varieties of potatoes of Peru, a good selection of different types of corn prepared several different ways, breads and vegetables. We then make our way to the handicraft market where my best find is a finely woven strap depicting Peruvian indigenous wildlife motifs including llama, condor and puma.

The white hat signifies the highest social status

Working the loom at market

Sun God Temple, markets, mate all very interesting but now it is time.

The Trek - Day One

The first hiking day is 11+ miles but at a relatively even elevation of about 10,000 feet. Our party consists of twelve trekkers, our guide, an assistant guide, three cooks and eighteen porters. We hike along a raging Vilcanota River.

The cooks stop and prepare our lunch at a predetermined point. The assistant cook supervises our hand washing with the command of a general. If you are slapdash, then hands must be re-washed or no food. The porters do not want to carry out large, sick North Americans. The food is near gourmet standards and even plated in an attractive configuration with garnishes.

We spend the first night at the Huayllabamba Grassy Plain campsite which is surrounded by a few small inhabited huts. Several women are excitedly speaking to me but it is not Spanish, must be Quechua. Taking the most direct route from my tent to the dinner tent, I merely smile in greeting and stomp through a very large grass-hidden puddle of donkey urine - in my sandals. Thoroughly grossed, I return to my tent to wash my feet in the still hot and soapy hand basin and don my hiking boots, permanently, for the duration of the trek.

I am assured at dinner by the guide that from this point on there are no pack animals and that hidden puddles will not be a threat. Mules, horses, and donkeys all cause damage to the Inca Trail and, therefore, have been banned. The trail was built for human couriers. It is said that the Inca communication system was faster than the current mail service.

Although there are thousands of Inca trails, there is only one Inca Trail. No other trail can offer such a variety of scenery, staggering views and mix of jungle and high sierra. It is also a royal highway leading from one beautifully preserved secluded ruin to another culminating at Machu Picchu.

Everyone retires immediately after dinner as tomorrow is reputed to be the most taxing day of the trek. Nine miles and a 4000-foot elevation gain to Warmiwanusqu Dead Woman's Pass at 14,000 feet. A rather ominous name! It is explained that the trail was not designed to eradicate women, but that if one looked behind during the descent the skyline appeared to be a woman reclining.

The Trek - Day Two

I doubt that I truly appreciated the word "trudge" until this point in my life. The ascent to Warmiwanusqu is a notch above difficult. We hike through hail at times gaining the 4000 feet of elevation in under five miles. Someone had taught me a "Buddhist Breathing" method in the past and it saves me. The landscape is spectacular but I have to concentrate on the breathing. Just keep going --50 steps with 50 breaths--5 breaths resting. Near the top I am down to 7 steps--8 breaths resting. But I make it and of the twelve in the party, I am number five to reach the top! Fantastic! I have 20 years on most of the group. In my euphoria I step on a loose rock and twist my knee. Trekking pole in hand, I crab walk down the steep descent for four miles to Pacamayo Hidden River campsite. Due to my sidewise descent I have an excellent view of Dead Woman Pass and the reclining woman.

The porters carry all supplies, even a cast iron stove. Each day we start hiking shortly after daybreak. Around mid-morning the porters run past us with tents, duffels, cast iron stove, even a toilet seat flapping. They wear tire sandals. We wear expensive hiking boots.

We notice that all packs are carried by wrapping a blanket around the pack, slinging it over the back, and then holding the burden with both hands on the chest. Should a porter lose balance on a curve or steep incline, he can merely release his hands allowing the pack to descend into oblivion. Had the pack been secured to the porter, the momentum would take the porter over along with the pack.

The porters are all from the same tribe and cook for themselves. While we dine on gourmet fare, they prepare their own corn based meals. My husband and I share a tent which is the same size as the one tent shared by the porters. We sleep parallel to the long side; they sleep parallel to the short side. They are small people. However, while we trudge along the trail with our wimpy day packs, they literally run the trail with 80-pound packs.

Our porters and cooks pose for a photo

My limited day hikes in the Alps or Sierras have not prepared me for the Andes. At elevation the view below is not pine forest but high jungle or cloud forest. Pine cones are traded for orchids and sharp craggy peaks are interspersed with lush green bell-shaped mountains.

The Trek - Day Three

The Runkuracay Ruins, alpine lakes, stretches of Inca steps, high jungle, the Sayacmarca Ruins, an Inca tunnel, plus a magnificent lichen and moss forest. An amazing day.

Today the trail also presents some impressive flora and fauna including a plethora of orchids (an estimated 300 species), an Andean Condor and a Giant Hummingbird.

There is some confusion on the meaning of Runkuracay and translations include egg-shaped building, basket building and sphere-shaped building. The shape is unusual for an Inca compound. Two concentric walls enclose curved chambers and a courtyard. It probably served as a lookout point and also as a place where travelers lodged and cargoes were relayed.

Runkuracay Ruins

The trail continues to climb passing two alpine lakes before we reach Runkuracay Pass at 13,100 feet. Everyone is exhausted but we take heart as most of the trail is gentle or at least downhill from this point to our next destination, the Sayacmarca Ruins.

The Sayacmarca Inaccessible Town Ruins are cramped and mazelike and there is no terracing for agriculture. It is thought that this site was also dedicated to controlling travel and cargo as it has an excellent view of two major Inca highways. Sayacmarca provides clear evidence of an elaborate water system with a natural cistern, aqueduct, channels and a series of three ritual baths.

Runkuracay Ruins

We press on and learn that we have yet another 13,000 foot pass to ascend today before reaching our campsite near Puyupatamarca. We pass through the 65-foot Inca tunnel. We ascend a 1300 step Inca stairway.

Our campsite is near Puyupatamarca Cloud Level Town which is the highest settlement on the Inca Trail. There are many agricultural terraces here and once again there are ritual baths. The six baths have been restored to working order.

Puyupatamarca Ruins

This evening we thank our porters as tomorrow night we will sleep at The Machu Picchu Hotel.

The Trek - Day Four

The famous Winay Wayna Ruins, high jungle, Intipunku The Sun Gate and the amazing view of Machu Picchu.

The Winay Wayna Forever Young Ruins were named after an orchid with red, violet or yellow flowers which blooms year round. The ruins are built on very steep mountain slopes near farming terraces and have ten ritual baths. Ritual bathing was an important feature of Inca religious observance and baths are a feature of every major Inca site. Ritual baths are unusually numerous on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu leading experts to believe that the Inca Trail had special spiritual significance to the Incas.

Winay Wayna - ten ritual baths

Winay Wayna - village

We make our way through high jungle and come upon a very, very steep flight of stairs. The steps culminate at the top of a ridge where we pass through a ruined gateway Intipunku, The Sun Gate. We have reached the city limits. However, we will continue downhill for over four miles before reaching the main terraces and buildings of Machu Picchu proper. The trail down offers stunning views of the ruins.

The Sun Gate - Machu Picchu in background

Machu Picchu from the Trail

Another view from the Trail

We wander through the ruins on our own during the late afternoon. The tourist train has removed the bulk of the tourists and it is wonderfully peaceful. It is all a bit overwhelming but my favorite sites include the Temple of the Sun, the Condor Temple, the Three Windowed Temple, and the most important site, Intihuatana, which loosely translates as the Hitching Post of the Sun. I meditate on a rock situated in the middle of a plaza that is reputed to be a magnetic center. I am a believer.

Temple of the Condor

Macnu Picchu resident

Approaching Three Windows

Three Windows

During our good-bye dinner at the hotel our guide offers to take us into the ruins at midnight. This is only possible because we have the good fortune to be visiting during the full moon. We return to the Condor Temple and the guide shows us a secret passageway. The Sacred Rock aligns perfectly with the distant mountain in the moonlight. We revisit Intihuatana and it is evident that the Incas were, indeed, astronomers.

Day 5

Sleepy-eyed we return to the ruins early for a final visit. The train does not arrive until later in the morning and I appreciate the solitude.

The bus navigates the eleven switchbacks to the train station at Puente Ruinas. At each turn a small boy waves and shouts "good-bye" in Quechua. I wonder if the boy is also there shouting "hello" to the bus on the way up to Machu Picchu and hope that someday I will return.

Epilogue

You would think that the trek would have been adequate to lure my husband to Peru, but he has decided that we should also take in the Amazon. The trekking company has set us up for a few days at a British naturalist's camp on the Tambopata River, an Amazon tributary. We will accompany them on day hikes into primary forest.

We fly into Puerto Maldonado but before we can collect our duffels we have to wait for the other passengers to claim their handguns. Over thirty gun owners claim their declared handguns. We wonder how many guns were actually on our flight. Our taxi to the river is a modified motorcycle that can carry two passengers. We hail another to transport our two duffels.

My husband is aghast at our transport up the river. It is a dugout canoe that has seating for four to six passengers. Lying ominously in the bottom of the dugout is a huge propane tank which is being transported to the naturalists' station for fuel. A little probing confirms that it should be a two-hour voyage and that we should arrive before dark. However, it may take a bit longer as the Tambopata is about five feet higher than usual and rising.

Four hours later it is pitch black and we are still negotiating the swollen river and avoiding debris including large, floating trees. Our vessel has no lights so the oncoming obstacles are located with the occasional aid of a flashlight. My normally calm and stoic husband leans over and whispers "We are going to die."

Judy G. Walsh Biography

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