Inca Trail and Machu Picchu !!!

After some considerations, I eventually decided to reach Machu Picchu by walking along the 45km long Inca Trail for four days. On Thursday early in the morning we went by bus to Ollantaytambo were we enjoyed our last breakfast in civilisation. Since the servant first poured my coffee over my pants and then refused to accept my note of 20soles (which is approx 7€ but still hard to pay with here oftentimes) my farewell to civilasation didn't turn out to be too hurtful. 😉

Our final stop before actually starting to walk, was Piskacucho, where we took the obligatory group picture under the Camino Inca sign. Our group consisted of Zoé (my sister from Switzerland), Cabri (a girl from language school), 2 Swedish girls, 1 Chinese man, 3 other Germans even if two of them held a Croatian passport and 3 Australian blokes. Then we had two guides and 12 !! Porters who carried parts of our luggage, the sleeping, kitchen and eating tents and all the food and other necessities - super crazy!! Some of them were more than 50 years of age and still walked faster than all of us. Especially in the downward passages, the porters pretty much ran. Incredible !

The first day of walking turned out to be quite harmless. The weather was incredible and we stopped several times to drink water or looked at Inca sites or the passing Inca Rail Train on the way. After a tea time with popcorn, which ended with an excellent dinner, we fell into our tents full of excitement but also with little fear for the upcoming day - which was known for being the hardest one. 

The second day started with a little disappointment because the weather had changed over night and the rain hadn't stoped. That's why our guide pretty much 'led us off leash' and let everyone walk at his or her pace. The only indication was that we have to hike 4hours straight upwards and then need to decline for another 3hours. The times seemed to encourage us, so that we reached the highest point along the trail with 4,650m after only 3 hours. But those two hours were hard. I fought with myself and finally outgrew myself. Literally those three hours were only made of stairs that we had to climb upwards. Some of them were so steep that one had to pull one foot after another and in the end it was the 'will' that brought us up there. What an amazing experience !! The rest of the day's walk consisted of going down even more stairs. This part is also known as 3,000 stairs. I personally didn't find this passage less straining. Instead of the legs and the condition, it was rather the head that had to be wide awake now to avoid tripping. It was a very rewarding but also very tiring day along the Inca trail, which ended again with a big and delicious dinner- unfortunately still accompagnied by the never ending rain. 

The third day led through cloud forests, past Inca sites and over three passes - however none was as high as the one of the second day. The nature we walked through was pretty incredible and untouched however views of the distant landscape were due to the persistant fog not possible. Oh well.. but it was still great walking through this mystical and enchanted part of the trail. Back in the camp, we once again had an incredible dinner and the chef had even prepared us a cake for our farewell dinner. He made it in a pot, then put icing on it and finally decorated it with kiwi and strawberries. Pretty cool! Maybe a job option for me in the future? Hehe 

On the final fourth day, we had to get up at 3 am to make sure that we were the first group at the check point entering the last past of the treck towards the sungate. We did succeed and then waited at the checkpoint until it opened at 5:30. A little crazy but what you don't do to be the first. Once finally past the checkpoint we conquered the last hour of the Inca Trail before reaching the Sungate. From there we did see a tiny Inca Site in the distance but kept on looking for Machu Picchu. We only believed that this site actually was Machu Picchu after both guides had confirmed it to us. Crazy!! Sadly we couldn't see the sunrise since it was still pretty overcast. 

After another hour of walking we finally reached Machu Picchu. It still looked smaller than expected but once we actually went inside and visited it, it turned out to be quite large and a massive achievement of architecture. Then the sun came finally back out and everything suddenly seemed even greater than just moments before. Our last challenge for the day was to climb onto the mountain 'Huyna Picchu' to get an even better view. We walked 30mins steep upwards and received a very rewarding view over Machu Picchu. Then the final downward passage started, first back to Machu Picchu and then further down to the nearby town Aguas Calientes. Wow afterwards my legs felt like jelly and I was proud of my achievement but also happy to face calmer days ahead. 

In the night, we first took the train and then a bus back to Cusco and then fell entirely worn out into our beds!