On the Inca Trail
Following the well-beaten path to Machu Picchu
Deanna MacDonald
Montreal Gazette, February, 2006
It was 5 am and I stood along a narrow dirt path in the middle of a Peruvian cloud forest under a still starry sky. A low buzz of sleepy voices in dozens of languages hummed around me. There was a nervous energy in the air, like horses at the starting block. I was in a line with my travelling companion, Matthew, and about 250 strangers, waiting for the signal that we could begin the last leg of a trek to the legendary site we had climbed for three days and 43km to see: Machu Picchu.
It was one of those more and more common travel moments when the sublime meets - if not quite the absurd - at least the necessities of mass tourism. Machu Picchu, the legendary “lost” city of the Incas, now has about ½ million visitors a year. Though most arrive by bus (via the town of Aguas Calientes), many arrive on the Inca Trail, a three-night, four-day trek along ancient Inca routes. To help save the trail and Machu Picchu from their own popularity (UNSECO is considering putting them on its endangered list), the Peruvian government now requires all hikers to go with an accredited guide, limits the number of hikers to 500 a day (including porters and guides) and has created designated camping areas. This means that there can be occasional trail-jams, particularly on the last day when everyone wants to arrive for Machu Picchu’s fabled sunrise. But despite the occasional feeling of being on a crowded tourist highway, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu don’t disappoint; they remain truly awe-inspiring.
Our adventure began in Cusco, the ancient Andean capital of the Inca Empire, which once stretched from present-day Colombia to Chile. Conquered by the Spanish in 1532, Cusco today is an extraordinary mix of Incan temples and conquistador’s churches, all enjoyed by trekkers getting acclimated to the altitude (the city is at 3000m) before setting off on the Inca Trail.
We were picked up at our hotel at 4am by our trekking company, Enigma, and driven two hours to the trailhead. On route we stopped at Ollantaytambo, a 13th-century Incan town with a marvellous stone fortress rising above it. We wandered almost alone around its narrow cobblestone streets in the pre-dawn light. The town was just waking but a few elderly Quechua (native Peruvians, who are descendant from the Inca) ladies were out to sell us some coca leaf tea, the local remedy for altitude sickness.
By 7am we are hiking along the wonderfully named Urubamba River, which in Incan belief was the terrestrial continuation of the Milky Way. This was one of the many legends told to us by our fabulous guide, Rene, a Quechua who could answer any question from Incan history to the name of any orchid (in Latin, English and Quechua - impressive as there are 250 varieties along the trail).
There were only six in our group: us, an American couple, a young chef from Miami and an Australian on a two month tour of South America, but we had double that amount with our porters. As I huffed and puffed through the beginning of that day’s 1200 metre climb, a young man named, Genero – who we would get to know and love as our group’s excellent cook – zipped passed me with a smile and my backpack on his back. I did feel guilty - not to mention feeble – but as the air got thinner and my head lighter, I thanked the Inca gods for Genero with his strong Andean legs and lungs. Born at altitude, these porters were fitter than any of we trekkers and everyday they would give a cheery “hola” as they pass us with our tents, kitchen supplies and everything else piled on their backs, most with nothing more than flip-flops on their feet.
Over the next three days we climbed original Incan paths and staircases through dazzling landscape and cloud forests, misty jungles filled with colourful birds and wild flowers. We visited Incan ruins on route, such as the cliff-top fortress Sayaqmarka, where Rene explained Incan building techniques: almost unbelievably, they used no mortar but built temples and cities of stone cut to fit perfectly together.
We stopped and bought a glass of “chicha” – a sort of corn beer – from an toothless old woman who had set up shop (that being, a bucket and several dirty cups) along the trail. She wore a Christian cross but she also poured a bit of each glass on the ground to thank Pachamama (the Earth Goddess). “The Quechua people see Christianity and Inca beliefs as a sort of insurance,” explained Rene, “They go to church but also worship the old gods: the Sky represented by the condor, the earth as a puma and the underworld by the snake. It’s a practical mix that covers all the bases.” On the second day we euphorically celebrated crossing our highest pass - the whopping 4200m Warmi Wañusca, which appropriately means ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’ – with a shot of pisco; the first sip, of course, going to Pachamama.
Hikers are hungry people and our meals were amazingly elaborate considering everything, including the stove, had to be carried up by the porters. Our first lunch consisted of a delicious avocado salad, soup, trout, vegetables, rice and jello, all served at tables and chairs (also carried up by our porters) with views any restaurant would kill for. At the end of the day’s hike there was ‘tea’ with popcorn (from one of the 400 types of corn in Peru), cookies, crackers and manjar (tasty caramel spread). At dawn, we were woken in our tents by a friendly, “Hola, Buenos dias. Dormes bien? Té o café?”
On the afternoon of the third day, we arrived at the last campsite before Machu Picchu, Wiñay Wayna. Filled with all 500 of the porters and hikers on route that day, it is a bit like a huge summer camp gone amuck. As most people queued for the showers (the only on route) or swapped trail tales, we walked to Wiñay Wayna itself, an amazing terraced temple complex, all the while elatedly realizing that tomorrow we would be in Machu Picchu.
It is one of those mythical places, like the Pyramids or the Taj Mahal, we all dream of visiting. Everyone has seen the image of Machu Picchu perched on a misty mountain ridge some 2,590 metres above the Urubamba Valley. But what was Machu Picchu? No one really knows. The Incas had no written language so modern archaeologists have only theories. Some say a royal retreat or a city of Incan virgins; others say it was a ceremonial centre (the later is still true: President Toledo, the first Quechua president of Peru, staged his inauguration here in 2001.) What is known is that it was built around 1460 by the Incan ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and was inhabited until the Spanish conquest in 1532. There are around 200 buildings on the site - dwellings, temples and storage structures - and it would have been populated by 750 to 1,200 people. The Spanish never found Machu Picchu, but locals knew of its existence. In 1911, a farmer showed it to an American adventurer and the world “discovered” Machu Picchu.
So, in the pre-dawn dark we joined the giddy crowds surging along a narrow trail to the entrance. In the end, when we arrived at the gates of Machu Picchu, we couldn’t see a thing. All was covered in a thick mist. But even that was magical. Slowly the city emerged, just as astounding as I had imagined it. By 10am it was in full sunshine and we sat on a high terrace overlooking Machu Picchu, eating squished Mars bars and watching tourists arrive by the busloads. It was the classic paradox of modern travel: sublime beauty next to a tour bus. But it didn’t matter. We were in Machu Picchu.
If you go:
Getting there: Many airlines fly regularly to Lima, including Air Canada (about $800 to $2,000 return). From Lima, local airlines such as Taca, Tans and LAN fly daily to Cuzco.
When to go: The trail is open year-round except February, when it closes for a clean-up. The busiest season is May to September. January to April is the wet season and the trails are muddy. I travelled in early May.
BOOK WELL IN ADVANCE.
To help protect the Inca trail, the Peruvian government has enforced several rules: there is a limit of 500 trekkers on the trail each day and all hikers must go with a approved trekking company. Starting this year, tour operators must submit the names and passport numbers of their clients to purchase necessary permits, which means its is nearly impossible to book a last minute trip. They recommend planning at least three months ahead especially for the peak period, May to September.
Trekking companies:
The key to a great trek is a good trekking company. We went with Enigma (Address: Jirón Clorinda Matto de Turner #100, Urbanización Magisterial 1ª etapa, Cusco – Peru; Tel (084) 22 2155; Fax (084) 22 2153; e-mail: info@enigmaperu.com; www.enigmaperu.com; for a 4 day, 3 night Inca trail trek, US$380 per person). One of the few companies run by a woman, it has a reputation for professionalism, small groups (maximum of 12 people) good equipment and meals and for treating their porters and guides with respect. Other reputable companies include: SAS Travel Tour Operator (www.sastravelperu.com) and Q'ente Adventure Trips: (www.qente.com).
Where to stay in Cusco:
Friendly Hotel Corihuasi is an 18th-century colonial house built on Inca terraces overlooking the city. Comfortable doubles from US$40. Address: Calle Suecia 561, Tel/Fax: +51-84-232233 www.corihuasi.com.
Or splurge for the extraordinary Hotel Monastario, found in the San Antonio Abad monastery, constructed in 1592 on the foundations of an Inca palace. Rooms from around US$300. Address: Calle Palacios 136, Cusco: Tel: +51 84 24 1777, www.monasterio.orient-express.com.
For more information consult the “Footprint Guide to Cusco and the Inca Trail” (2004).
Deanna MacDonald
Montreal Gazette, February, 2006
It was 5 am and I stood along a narrow dirt path in the middle of a Peruvian cloud forest under a still starry sky. A low buzz of sleepy voices in dozens of languages hummed around me. There was a nervous energy in the air, like horses at the starting block. I was in a line with my travelling companion, Matthew, and about 250 strangers, waiting for the signal that we could begin the last leg of a trek to the legendary site we had climbed for three days and 43km to see: Machu Picchu.
It was one of those more and more common travel moments when the sublime meets - if not quite the absurd - at least the necessities of mass tourism. Machu Picchu, the legendary “lost” city of the Incas, now has about ½ million visitors a year. Though most arrive by bus (via the town of Aguas Calientes), many arrive on the Inca Trail, a three-night, four-day trek along ancient Inca routes. To help save the trail and Machu Picchu from their own popularity (UNSECO is considering putting them on its endangered list), the Peruvian government now requires all hikers to go with an accredited guide, limits the number of hikers to 500 a day (including porters and guides) and has created designated camping areas. This means that there can be occasional trail-jams, particularly on the last day when everyone wants to arrive for Machu Picchu’s fabled sunrise. But despite the occasional feeling of being on a crowded tourist highway, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu don’t disappoint; they remain truly awe-inspiring.
Our adventure began in Cusco, the ancient Andean capital of the Inca Empire, which once stretched from present-day Colombia to Chile. Conquered by the Spanish in 1532, Cusco today is an extraordinary mix of Incan temples and conquistador’s churches, all enjoyed by trekkers getting acclimated to the altitude (the city is at 3000m) before setting off on the Inca Trail.
We were picked up at our hotel at 4am by our trekking company, Enigma, and driven two hours to the trailhead. On route we stopped at Ollantaytambo, a 13th-century Incan town with a marvellous stone fortress rising above it. We wandered almost alone around its narrow cobblestone streets in the pre-dawn light. The town was just waking but a few elderly Quechua (native Peruvians, who are descendant from the Inca) ladies were out to sell us some coca leaf tea, the local remedy for altitude sickness.
By 7am we are hiking along the wonderfully named Urubamba River, which in Incan belief was the terrestrial continuation of the Milky Way. This was one of the many legends told to us by our fabulous guide, Rene, a Quechua who could answer any question from Incan history to the name of any orchid (in Latin, English and Quechua - impressive as there are 250 varieties along the trail).
There were only six in our group: us, an American couple, a young chef from Miami and an Australian on a two month tour of South America, but we had double that amount with our porters. As I huffed and puffed through the beginning of that day’s 1200 metre climb, a young man named, Genero – who we would get to know and love as our group’s excellent cook – zipped passed me with a smile and my backpack on his back. I did feel guilty - not to mention feeble – but as the air got thinner and my head lighter, I thanked the Inca gods for Genero with his strong Andean legs and lungs. Born at altitude, these porters were fitter than any of we trekkers and everyday they would give a cheery “hola” as they pass us with our tents, kitchen supplies and everything else piled on their backs, most with nothing more than flip-flops on their feet.
Over the next three days we climbed original Incan paths and staircases through dazzling landscape and cloud forests, misty jungles filled with colourful birds and wild flowers. We visited Incan ruins on route, such as the cliff-top fortress Sayaqmarka, where Rene explained Incan building techniques: almost unbelievably, they used no mortar but built temples and cities of stone cut to fit perfectly together.
We stopped and bought a glass of “chicha” – a sort of corn beer – from an toothless old woman who had set up shop (that being, a bucket and several dirty cups) along the trail. She wore a Christian cross but she also poured a bit of each glass on the ground to thank Pachamama (the Earth Goddess). “The Quechua people see Christianity and Inca beliefs as a sort of insurance,” explained Rene, “They go to church but also worship the old gods: the Sky represented by the condor, the earth as a puma and the underworld by the snake. It’s a practical mix that covers all the bases.” On the second day we euphorically celebrated crossing our highest pass - the whopping 4200m Warmi Wañusca, which appropriately means ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’ – with a shot of pisco; the first sip, of course, going to Pachamama.
Hikers are hungry people and our meals were amazingly elaborate considering everything, including the stove, had to be carried up by the porters. Our first lunch consisted of a delicious avocado salad, soup, trout, vegetables, rice and jello, all served at tables and chairs (also carried up by our porters) with views any restaurant would kill for. At the end of the day’s hike there was ‘tea’ with popcorn (from one of the 400 types of corn in Peru), cookies, crackers and manjar (tasty caramel spread). At dawn, we were woken in our tents by a friendly, “Hola, Buenos dias. Dormes bien? Té o café?”
On the afternoon of the third day, we arrived at the last campsite before Machu Picchu, Wiñay Wayna. Filled with all 500 of the porters and hikers on route that day, it is a bit like a huge summer camp gone amuck. As most people queued for the showers (the only on route) or swapped trail tales, we walked to Wiñay Wayna itself, an amazing terraced temple complex, all the while elatedly realizing that tomorrow we would be in Machu Picchu.
It is one of those mythical places, like the Pyramids or the Taj Mahal, we all dream of visiting. Everyone has seen the image of Machu Picchu perched on a misty mountain ridge some 2,590 metres above the Urubamba Valley. But what was Machu Picchu? No one really knows. The Incas had no written language so modern archaeologists have only theories. Some say a royal retreat or a city of Incan virgins; others say it was a ceremonial centre (the later is still true: President Toledo, the first Quechua president of Peru, staged his inauguration here in 2001.) What is known is that it was built around 1460 by the Incan ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and was inhabited until the Spanish conquest in 1532. There are around 200 buildings on the site - dwellings, temples and storage structures - and it would have been populated by 750 to 1,200 people. The Spanish never found Machu Picchu, but locals knew of its existence. In 1911, a farmer showed it to an American adventurer and the world “discovered” Machu Picchu.
So, in the pre-dawn dark we joined the giddy crowds surging along a narrow trail to the entrance. In the end, when we arrived at the gates of Machu Picchu, we couldn’t see a thing. All was covered in a thick mist. But even that was magical. Slowly the city emerged, just as astounding as I had imagined it. By 10am it was in full sunshine and we sat on a high terrace overlooking Machu Picchu, eating squished Mars bars and watching tourists arrive by the busloads. It was the classic paradox of modern travel: sublime beauty next to a tour bus. But it didn’t matter. We were in Machu Picchu.
If you go:
Getting there: Many airlines fly regularly to Lima, including Air Canada (about $800 to $2,000 return). From Lima, local airlines such as Taca, Tans and LAN fly daily to Cuzco.
When to go: The trail is open year-round except February, when it closes for a clean-up. The busiest season is May to September. January to April is the wet season and the trails are muddy. I travelled in early May.
BOOK WELL IN ADVANCE.
To help protect the Inca trail, the Peruvian government has enforced several rules: there is a limit of 500 trekkers on the trail each day and all hikers must go with a approved trekking company. Starting this year, tour operators must submit the names and passport numbers of their clients to purchase necessary permits, which means its is nearly impossible to book a last minute trip. They recommend planning at least three months ahead especially for the peak period, May to September.
Trekking companies:
The key to a great trek is a good trekking company. We went with Enigma (Address: Jirón Clorinda Matto de Turner #100, Urbanización Magisterial 1ª etapa, Cusco – Peru; Tel (084) 22 2155; Fax (084) 22 2153; e-mail: info@enigmaperu.com; www.enigmaperu.com; for a 4 day, 3 night Inca trail trek, US$380 per person). One of the few companies run by a woman, it has a reputation for professionalism, small groups (maximum of 12 people) good equipment and meals and for treating their porters and guides with respect. Other reputable companies include: SAS Travel Tour Operator (www.sastravelperu.com) and Q'ente Adventure Trips: (www.qente.com).
Where to stay in Cusco:
Friendly Hotel Corihuasi is an 18th-century colonial house built on Inca terraces overlooking the city. Comfortable doubles from US$40. Address: Calle Suecia 561, Tel/Fax: +51-84-232233 www.corihuasi.com.
Or splurge for the extraordinary Hotel Monastario, found in the San Antonio Abad monastery, constructed in 1592 on the foundations of an Inca palace. Rooms from around US$300. Address: Calle Palacios 136, Cusco: Tel: +51 84 24 1777, www.monasterio.orient-express.com.
For more information consult the “Footprint Guide to Cusco and the Inca Trail” (2004).
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