Posted 6:44 PM by MelanieandSteve
INCA TRAIL TO MACHU PICHU TO LA 2-10 July (Written 15 July)

HELLO FROM HOME AGAIN: Since last time we pilgrimaged to Machu Pichu, leisured away a last day in Lima Peru, and took to the sky for a final flight home to California.

JUST A TASTER, A THOUSANDTH OF THE TRAIL: At last we found ourselves on our long-anticipated hike through the so-called "Real Inca Trail" to Machu Pichu. The true Inca Trail was once a 30,000 kilometer highway system of mountain, valley, and jungle trails through Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Cuzco Peru was at the center intersection of this network so now the trail near Cuzco has been dubbed "The Inca Trail”. The four-day, forty-two kilometer hike is dense with historical sites and dramatic mountain landscapes.

LONG WAY TO 82K: Our starting point on the trail was 82 Kilometers from Cuzco, just past the Ollayantaytambo ruins that we had visited a week before. Getting to Km 82 took two legs of a bus journey. One and a half hours took us the first 70 kilometers. The last 10 kilometers (6 miles) took just as long. Narrow dirt roads barely wide enough for our own bus brought us head to head with other vehicles. Driver-to-Driver arguments over who had to back up kept us at periodic standstills. But we eventually made it to Km 82, had a pre-trip lunch, and strapped on our packs. We registered with the national park, crossed a sweeping suspension bridge over the Urubamba River, and began our pilgrimage. After weeks of preparing and years of dreaming of this trek, we finally found ourselves walking the Inca Trail.

NEW HEIGHTS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES: A string of Incan Archaeological sites along the Trail is set among jagged mountain peaks accented by brilliant blue skies, white clouds, and shimmering glacial peaks. The sights along the trail were all undiscovered by early Spaniards because Incans destroyed access routes in order to forestall the looting Conquistadors. For this reason, many believe the sites on this trail were of special importance to Incan People.

THE SITES: We passed a plethora of Incan Archaeological sites. Each was discovered in the 20th century and named by the modern discoverers. On day one, we hiked over Llactapacta, or “Town on a Hillside’, and its series of half-circular terraces hugging the mountain side. A cylindrical sun temple was below it in the fertile valley where nobility lived. Day three brought us to the oval-shaped cliff-side Runkuraqay or “Egg Hut”, with windows cut precisely to allow both beautiful views and astronomical calendar keeping by the sun’s angle. The same day we saw Sayacmarca or “Dominant Town” nestled squarely against a hillside. Terraces in almost all of these hillside ruins spilled down the Earth naturally like they belonged there as Mother Nature’s (or Pachamama’s) plan. After Sayacmarca was Phuyupatamarka, or “Town Above The Clouds” with ceremonial baths and natural spring water. On our final pre-Machu night, Steve took a bath in the waterfalls next to the ruins on Hunay Huayna, a complex with ten terraces each with natural spring fountains. Hunay Huayna means “Forever Young” or “Growing Young”. Steve did look refreshed after his dip' in the “fountain of youth”.

HUAYNA BY NIGHT: Near this remarkable site, we made camp before our final hike into the “Lost City” of Machu Pichu. Just about everyone makes camp here; this was not a “one-with-nature” experience. There was even a restaurant. But sharing in anticipation and camaraderie with other hikers contributed to our experience. Even though we planned to get up at four a.m. for our final hike, the energized group made time for late night tent calls and an evening of card games.

TOAST TO TIGHT BUNS - STEEP DEFINED THE TRIP: Here by Hunay Huayna, it was not all cards and conversation, it was also congratulations. At a final group dinner, we crowded around a folding table in a tent and toasted to the hard trek as well as the tight buns we surely earned from all those steep steps. The Inca trail was chocked full of ups and downs, and both were remarkably steep. The second day took us from 2500 meters up to 4200 meters (13,700 feet) above sea level where tired and proud hikers gathered at the high pass with cheers, celebrations, and cameras sessions before continuing down in a knee stressing descent. That landmark pass turned out to be just one of many. The Inca trail was a constant reminder that 'what goes down must hike back up,' and visa versa.

INTI-PUNKTUAL: We rose at 4 a.m. the next morning for our final hike. Our first destination was Intipunktu, or the "Sun Gate", for a first glimpse of Machu Pichu from high above with the backdrop of a painted sky. An hour and a half of hiking got us there by 6:30 a.m.. Below lay the blanket of stone walls, terraces, and buildings of the Magical Machu Pichu. The splendor of this first glimpse, however, was slightly muted by haze from a nearby controlled fire. Machu Pichu was still some distance away and smallish, so we continued down the mountain trail toward it without stopping long for the sunrise.

MAGICAL FIRST MOMENTS IN MACHU: From Intipunktu forward, the skies cleared and Machu Pichu grew vaster and more dramatic before our eyes. Machu Pichu visitors not arriving by the Incan Trail enter from a town below it. For us, descending upon it from the mountains above was priceless. The labyrinth of stone work, winding walls, temples, and llama dotted terraces were an awesome sight from above.

GOOD GUIDE! A GUIDED TOUR: Our guide Maria filled us with lots of good information. She showed us areas where mummies were found with their dogs, homes where nobility lived, and structures where astronomical calendar keeping was done. By the time these ruins were discovered, they had been abandoned for four hundred years and information about each wall or building was subject to speculation. Maria showed us structures that many guides describe as old ‘prisons’, and also old ‘royal toilets’. But Maria explained that evidence suggests Incans did not use prisons nor indoor toilets. They preferred Capital Punishment and Trees. We learned to appreciate the complexity of the culture and our inability to know for certain the four hundred years of old secrets. We enjoyed imagining Incan life and hypothesizing about the uses of their structures.

HUAYNA PICHU: SORE BUT STILL GOING FOR MORE: The whole group was sore by day four. During our informational walk around Machu Pichu, we all groaned each time we had to get up and walk. But after the tour, this did not stop some of us from taking on one last high-intensity hike up the nearby Huayna Pichu Mountain. Machu Pichu means “Old Peak”. Looming over Machu Pichu is the practically vertical “Young Peak”, Huayna Pichu, with a striking view of the ruins below. Our bodies said ‘no’, but our minds said ‘how can we say no?’, so we set off hiking once again. About five hours on that mountain took us through ruins, caves, short rock climbs, and a series of ups and downs with altitude oscillations of nearly a thousand feet.

RISING ABOVE THE CROWDS: Hiking this peak kept us out of Machu Pichu during all the peak tourist hours, and when we returned the crowds were magically gone. We lazed in the evening sun on a warm grassy terrace with the place practically to ourselves. Mel even slipped off to sleep for a bit before we began our last back packed hike down to town.

MAGICAL ANIMALS IN MACHU MOUNTAIN NIGHT: The hike down the hill to town was forested and dark. Along with starlight and moonlight, we were blessed with the magical light of lovely fireflies.

SPIRIT DOG:

MACHU POOCH AT THE PEAK AND IN PICHU: When we peaked Huayna Pichu, we saw a small cave near the top. Inside was a white dog, curled up asleep. Hours later we saw him again, now awake and waggy, as he bid us farewell by the exit of the ruins.

GUIDE HOUND ON THE HIKE: Later, on our long hike down the trail to town as the evening light dimmed, that dog appeared once again and unexpectedly brushed up against us. He greeted us with a wag, and ran on ahead. The trail grew dark and visibility faded. At times, our trail intersected with switchback roads, and it was difficult to relocate the trail. Once, a wrong turn that we considered taking would have led us to a nine-foot drop-off. As we searched for the right path, we saw once again that dog, his white fur now glowing in the star-lit evening. He was waiting exactly where our trail picked up. As soon as we saw him, he ran off ahead. After that, we found him waiting at every difficult-to-find break in the trail. And each time he had successfully showed us the way, he happily took off ahead again into the invisible forests. This was where we began to joke that he embodied an Incan Spirit.

TOGETHER IN TOWN: Once we made it safely to town, we thought we had seen the last of our mountain guiding Machu Pichu Spirit Dog. But after we found a hotel, cleaned up, and headed into the plaza for dinner, there he was again. He greeted us like an old friend. We were surprised when local merchants said they had never seen this dog before.

TIES TO THE POOCH BY RR TIES: Our serendipitous meetings with Spirit Dog were not over. The next night when we boarded our train bound for Cuzco, a small landslide stopped our train in its tracks for several hours. At one point, we looked out the window and a chill went down our spines when we saw that Spirit Dog lying right there by the tracks next to our very window.

THAT NIGHT BY THE TRACKS was the last we saw Spirit Dog. But there was something so special and mysterious about him that his Spirit will live on in our memories as part of the Spirit of Machu Pichu.

CUZCO, LIMA, AND BACK TO LA: Our train returned to Cuzco late but we hurried to our favorite restaurant and regular Cuzco haunt for a last evening out. By early morning we were on a plane to Lima for an overnight layover that took us full circuit to the very same hostel where we started our South American Travels during a long lay-over six months ago. The next day we were on our way home to Los Angeles in time to say happy 50th Anniversary to Melanie's Mom and Dad. The 1 a.m. welcome home was warm, and the next day we drove up the coast for a walk on the beach and a special Anniversary Dinner out. It was a good first day back in the ‘real world.’

NEXT TIME: Where do we go from here?

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO: Angela S., Douglas U., Aunt Anne, Nick and Guy C-R., Rob R..

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY TO: MOM AND DAD