This was the day we would arrive at Macchu Picchu so we awoke with a keen sense of anticipation. To celebrate the last day on the trail, somehow the chef had whipped up an enormous cake which was served after breakfast.
At last we climbed a short steep section of trail and passed through the Sun Gate, the ancient entrance to Macchu Picchu for Inca travelling to the city.
After a discussion with Marco about the likely weather over the next two days we agreed that it would be best to tour Macchu Picchu as soon as we arrived in mid afternoon rather than wait until tomorrow. Marco assured us that this would mean less crowds and better weather (he was right).
We could see the backside of the mountain above Macchu Picchu in front of us
as we started out. Unlike the last two days, today was mainly downhill. We would have to descend about 1,000 meters and judging by the first part of the morning walk, most of this would be on steep and slippery rocky steps.
After alternating descents and traversing along steep hillsides through cloud
forest and bamboo groves we reached the ruins of Intipata. Intipata was a very spectacular site with terraces extending many hundreds of meters down the hillside. Marco said there were still a lot of terraces hidden under the jungle waiting to be cleared. We did a bit of exploring before a short walk to our early lunch spot. This is where we said goodbye to the porters who would be heading directly down to Aguas Calientes in the valley below Macchu Picchu to deliver our gear to our hotel rather than continue on to the famous ruins.
After lunch we took a detour to Winay Wayna, yet another amazing site on the side of a steep hill before heading off on the last 6km stretch to Macchu Picchu. This last section of the trail traversed around the side of the mountain and featured a number of massive drops. Not so reassuringly, Marco told us he had seen a woman fall to her death from one point on the trail three years previously. This certainly encouraged us to concentrate on what we were doing.
At last we climbed a short steep section of trail and passed through the Sun Gate, the ancient entrance to Macchu Picchu for Inca travelling to the city.
Macchu Picchu is impressive, but I'm sure you appreciated it more having walked the trail.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure we did. Many people who do the full Inca trail say that they feel a great sense of appreciation having done it the hard way. In particular approaching through the Sun Gate is a very impressive way to arrive, particularly as it's the first time you get to see Macchu Picchu.
ReplyDelete