"The long day" on the Inca Trail started early. As with the previous mornings we were up with the sun - except the sun wasn't visible today. It was grey and it looked like it was going to rain. Today was flat compared to yesterdays many steps, and there were some ruins to look at on the way. We hiked in our own pace like yesterday so we were ahead of the rest of the group for most of the morning. And we made it to the lunch stop way too early.
The porters and the cook had just arrived, Jonas was the first to get there at least an hour ahead of planned arrival. So we sat there and watched the clouds pass straight through the lunch spot more or less. Most of the day was really good hiking with plenty of ruins to look at, and the occassional ray of sunshine through the clouds. After lunch the trail split in two - one slightly longer route that went through a big site with terraces and a shorter route that went straight to the camp. Needless to say everybody chose the longer route and were rewarded with a beautiful spot to hang out and marvel a bit about the inca's and their skills and abilities that let the construct all of these terrasses. Most of them are rebuilt but they are still impressive.
We headed the last few minutes to our final camp site and found it packed with other groups. The toilets were beyond dirty and the whole camp wasn't really nice. By coincidence we heard some of the other guys from our group asking the guide for directions to another ruin site that was supposed to be next to our camp. We went there with them and had the most spectacular ruins more or less to ourselves. The guide had mentioned it this morning as an option in case we got in early but didn't say a word once we were in the camp.
We spent all the time we could until the rangers closed the site at sunset. Amazing - and we were a bit grumpy with our guide. Why didn't he tell us? We headed back to our camp, relaxed a bit and had dinner and the briefing for tomorrow. Get up at 3:45 AM, leave the tents so the porters can pack the camp and hurry back to the train station, then we line up for the gate which will open around 5:30 AM for the final leg of the Inca trail, then about two hours of hiking to the sun gate which is the first place where we can spot Machu Picchu - if the weather permits. This also means sitting an hour waiting for the gate to open. In darkness, at 5 AM in in the morning. We had dinner, a small ceremony for our porters and cook including the annoying "how-much-to-tip"-discussion before going to bed.
The porters and the cook had just arrived, Jonas was the first to get there at least an hour ahead of planned arrival. So we sat there and watched the clouds pass straight through the lunch spot more or less. Most of the day was really good hiking with plenty of ruins to look at, and the occassional ray of sunshine through the clouds. After lunch the trail split in two - one slightly longer route that went through a big site with terraces and a shorter route that went straight to the camp. Needless to say everybody chose the longer route and were rewarded with a beautiful spot to hang out and marvel a bit about the inca's and their skills and abilities that let the construct all of these terrasses. Most of them are rebuilt but they are still impressive.
We headed the last few minutes to our final camp site and found it packed with other groups. The toilets were beyond dirty and the whole camp wasn't really nice. By coincidence we heard some of the other guys from our group asking the guide for directions to another ruin site that was supposed to be next to our camp. We went there with them and had the most spectacular ruins more or less to ourselves. The guide had mentioned it this morning as an option in case we got in early but didn't say a word once we were in the camp.
We spent all the time we could until the rangers closed the site at sunset. Amazing - and we were a bit grumpy with our guide. Why didn't he tell us? We headed back to our camp, relaxed a bit and had dinner and the briefing for tomorrow. Get up at 3:45 AM, leave the tents so the porters can pack the camp and hurry back to the train station, then we line up for the gate which will open around 5:30 AM for the final leg of the Inca trail, then about two hours of hiking to the sun gate which is the first place where we can spot Machu Picchu - if the weather permits. This also means sitting an hour waiting for the gate to open. In darkness, at 5 AM in in the morning. We had dinner, a small ceremony for our porters and cook including the annoying "how-much-to-tip"-discussion before going to bed.
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| Inca guide |
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| Steps, steps and more steps |
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| At Wiñay Wayna |
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