May 6, 2000
Day 197 Day three: Inca Trail
After the storm last night the campsite is soggy. Our tent held up good though, we kept dry. Again,we are served coca tea while we pack up our belongings. After breakfast we continue up the stone paved trail to the summit of the second pass. When we first get out of our tents there were only a few clouds, but upon reaching the pass those gorgeous views have been obscured by rapidly building clouds. We descend to the ruins of Saya Marca where we see the first of the Inca baths for ritual cleaning.
It starts to rain, for the next few hours we walk along original Inca paved paths, following exposed ridges, through dripping forest and through two Inca tunnels without seeing much of the awesome mountain scenery the guidebook tells us is here. We have lunch in our dining tent, pitched at Phuyupatamarca while a downpour starts. Hot soup and spaghetti go down well in this weather.
After lunch, we start to descend more than 1300 steps where the Inca trail drops more than a thousand meters to Winay Wanaj, the most touristic place on the route so far. Two day Inca trekkers came up here from the railroad way down in the valley. There is a “hostal-restaurant” with expensive but welcome cold beers and pop. We get there at about 2:30pm. Tomorrow morning we will rise at about four to get to the Sun Gate before sunrise and see (hopefully) Machu Picchu.
But because there is a real good chance (80%) that clouds will obscure our views, Sam (the Malaysian) and Patrick walk on to see the gate tonight. Problem is that it’s normally a two hour roundtrip and the gate at Winay Wanay closes at four. The ranger is a grouchy guy that reminds us he doesn’t want to miss his dinner. So we speed hike to Inti Pushu in about 45 minutes. Despite the rain clouds we do get a short but good view on the sacred Inca City.
Its location is magnificent. It’s perched on a narrow ridge to the sugar loaf mountain of Huana Picchu. The Urubamba river makes a big hairpin around the mountain. Then the clouds move back in and we realize we have only 30 minutes left to make it back to the gate. Despite us running most of the way we get there five minutes late and find the wooden gate locked. A pathetic barrier to one of the world's most impressive archeological sites. We wait to catch our breath and then scramble up the steep mountainside, through thorny bushes and under a barbed wire fence. Back on the trail it's only a few minutes to the hostal. Patrick buys a cold pepsi and takes a hot shower. He figures he has earned both of these.
Before dinner the group heads out to check out some more Inca ruins nearby but Patrick decides to stay at the table and drink hot tea. Dinner is really good this last evening: stuffed peppers and tomato. After the food we collect a tip for the porters and cook, and hand it over to them as they all come in, dressed in fancy ponchos but still wearing their car type sandals. This is one tough breed. We hope the extra money they take home from this gives them a better life on their mountain farms.
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