Inca Trail - Day 4
I had the hardest time getting up this morning. Sleeping in a clean, comfy environment can do that to me I guess.
We met up for breakfast at 5:30 am, hoping to catch the first bus up to Machu Picchu at 6 am. Our group was running a bit behind schedule as people were finding it just as hard to get out of bed as I did.
The road up to MP is quite scary on the bus. There are some pretty sharp turns all the way up and the bus driver was taking the turns like an Indy 500 racer. I assume they know what they're doing since we passed a few other buses going the opposite direction without serious incident. There were a few instances where I thought we were definitely going to crash...
The ruins are quite amazing. My brain starts to hurt when I start thinking about how the ancient Incans were able to construct the area. The stones are quite large and the structure as a whole is incredibly well designed. For example, during the tour, Miguel would point out areas that were supposedly reserved for higher positioned people in the religious order. In these areas, the stones would be more carefully carved and positioned so it was almost like one smooth wall. In other areas of the ruins, the stones would be randomly sized and haphazardly placed so there was obviously not as much attention in the construction in those parts. Or maybe it's just that we give the Incans too much credit and they just ran out of big rocks in some parts.
After our tour ended, I decided to climb Wayna Picchu, which is a larger mountain right next to MP. It can be a challenging uphill climb, but it's definitely manageable. There are some areas where the path is quite narrow and if you've got an issue with heights, I would not recommend looking down. Luckily, they installed a rope railing to help with the climb in some parts of the trail. Actually, if you've got a fear of heights, you probably shouldn't go up WP at all. The top of the mountain is unrailed and basically just a bunch of stones where you can sit and enjoy the view. It's the most awesome view of MP, but can be scary. I sat up there for a little over an hour enjoying the view and waiting for the mist to pass and the sun to come through, but it didn't happen. I was able to manage a few pics of MP from the top, but most of them have a bit of cloud cover unfortunately.
As a word of warning - the intial path coming down the mountain is quite daunting. There's a long path of very narrow and steep steps. I was walking down them sideways and still a bit wary of pitching forward. After descending from WP, I hiked up the other side of MP for a different perspective of the ruins, but the view was nothing in comparison to the view from the top of WP.
The rest of the day was spent back in town for lunch and then the train ride back to Cusco. The train ride was actually more comfortable than I thought it would be. It's no Amtrak service, but cozy enough after camping out for 3 days.
Once back in Cusco, the group decided to meet up for our last night at a local Irish pub. Go figure. I ran into a few of the people I met on the trail that were outside of our tour group so we were able to share congratulatory drinks. The best part about doing the Inca trail (outside of the obvious historical significance) is that you meet a lot of different people outside of your immediate tour group and everyone on the trail is very friendly and supportive. It's easy to just strike up a conversation with a total stranger out there. Pretty cool stuff.
We met up for breakfast at 5:30 am, hoping to catch the first bus up to Machu Picchu at 6 am. Our group was running a bit behind schedule as people were finding it just as hard to get out of bed as I did.
The road up to MP is quite scary on the bus. There are some pretty sharp turns all the way up and the bus driver was taking the turns like an Indy 500 racer. I assume they know what they're doing since we passed a few other buses going the opposite direction without serious incident. There were a few instances where I thought we were definitely going to crash...
The ruins are quite amazing. My brain starts to hurt when I start thinking about how the ancient Incans were able to construct the area. The stones are quite large and the structure as a whole is incredibly well designed. For example, during the tour, Miguel would point out areas that were supposedly reserved for higher positioned people in the religious order. In these areas, the stones would be more carefully carved and positioned so it was almost like one smooth wall. In other areas of the ruins, the stones would be randomly sized and haphazardly placed so there was obviously not as much attention in the construction in those parts. Or maybe it's just that we give the Incans too much credit and they just ran out of big rocks in some parts.
After our tour ended, I decided to climb Wayna Picchu, which is a larger mountain right next to MP. It can be a challenging uphill climb, but it's definitely manageable. There are some areas where the path is quite narrow and if you've got an issue with heights, I would not recommend looking down. Luckily, they installed a rope railing to help with the climb in some parts of the trail. Actually, if you've got a fear of heights, you probably shouldn't go up WP at all. The top of the mountain is unrailed and basically just a bunch of stones where you can sit and enjoy the view. It's the most awesome view of MP, but can be scary. I sat up there for a little over an hour enjoying the view and waiting for the mist to pass and the sun to come through, but it didn't happen. I was able to manage a few pics of MP from the top, but most of them have a bit of cloud cover unfortunately.
As a word of warning - the intial path coming down the mountain is quite daunting. There's a long path of very narrow and steep steps. I was walking down them sideways and still a bit wary of pitching forward. After descending from WP, I hiked up the other side of MP for a different perspective of the ruins, but the view was nothing in comparison to the view from the top of WP.
The rest of the day was spent back in town for lunch and then the train ride back to Cusco. The train ride was actually more comfortable than I thought it would be. It's no Amtrak service, but cozy enough after camping out for 3 days.
Once back in Cusco, the group decided to meet up for our last night at a local Irish pub. Go figure. I ran into a few of the people I met on the trail that were outside of our tour group so we were able to share congratulatory drinks. The best part about doing the Inca trail (outside of the obvious historical significance) is that you meet a lot of different people outside of your immediate tour group and everyone on the trail is very friendly and supportive. It's easy to just strike up a conversation with a total stranger out there. Pretty cool stuff.
posted by KC at
6:07 PM
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