The Inca built an immense road system all over their empire. Their empire stretched over thousands of miles all across the western part of South America. The most hiked section of this road system in Peru is called the Inca Trail, and the most popular or standard way to hike the Inca Trail is a four day, three night hike. In order to hike the Inca Trail now it is necessary to get a permit because there are only 500 permits (people) for sale per day by the Peruvian government. A tour operator is the only one who is able to get a permit. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, our tour company was the Peruvian company Enigma.
The Classic Inca Trail starts at Piskacucho, also known as the Kilometer 82. It's known as KM 82 because that's the distance marker on the railroad tracks from Cusco...like our interstate system (exit 82). You'll see this in some of the pictures in this post. Piskacucho is located about 8,500 feet above sea level. This first day the hike mainly follows the Urubamba River, great views of the 19,300 foot peak La Veronica, and the ruins of Llactapata. The first campsite is named Wayllabamba and is located about 10,160 feet above sea level. (7.5 miles)
On the second day of the Inca Trail, the hike maintains a constant incline until it reaches the first pass named Warmiwañuska (or Dead Women’s Pass) located about 13,770 feet above sea level. This is the highest point of the Inca Trail. The view here is supposedly breathtaking, but we were surrounded by clouds. I was bummed about this, but there wasn't anything we could do. At least it wasn't sunny and hot. The second campsite was located at a beautiful spot named Pacaymayo located about 11,800 feet above sea level. This is advertised as the most difficult day. (6.8 miles)
The third day of the trail was mostly downhill. That sounds nice, but most people prefer going uphill since walking down steps all day takes a toll on your legs. On this day the desert surrounding from the first two turns into something that feel like a jungle, referred to as the "cloud forest". It's really pretty. The campsite on the third day was called Wiñaywayna. But to get there you first have to enjoy the ruins of Runkurakay, ascend over a second pass named Runkurakay located 12,330 feet above sea level, and visit the ruins of Sayacmarca and Phuyupatamarca. I considered this probably the longest (hardest) day, but also one of the most enjoyable. (9.9 miles)
On the fourth day, most people start the hike at about 5:00 a.m. in order to arrive at dawn to the Intipunku (The Sun Gate) overlooking Machu Picchu. It wasn't too cloudy, so we were able to to get an incredible view of Machu Picchu. This is the spot high above Machu Picchu where you've probably seen most of the photos of Machu Picchu. We had a couple hours at Machu Picchu with a guided tour. Then we took a bus down the hill to the town of Aguas Calientes, a train to Ollantaytambo, and then a bus back to our hotel in Cusco. In total we probably walked 30.0 miles if you include the distances covered at each of the archeological sites. (2.5 miles)
Meanwhile, back at the hotel...we were picked up from our Cusco hotel early in the morning and drove to Piskacuchu. As we got closer to our starting point at km 82 we turned off paved highway onto a narrow dirt road. It was barely large enough for one tour bus to make it, let alone others coming the opposite direction. At one point we had a traffic jam puzzle to solve that included our tour bus, a van, and an Andean woman with her llama.
But before we got there we stopped in a little town called Ollayataytambo. This little town was pretty cool. During the Inca Empire, it was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti. When the Spanish arrived in Peru it served as a stronghold for Manco Inca Yupanqui who was the leader of the Inca resistance. You can see in the first two pictures how cool this area is. There is a snow melt "moat" flowing through and around the side streets as well as some of the fortresses built on the mountainsides.
When we arrived at our starting point the area was a hive of activity. All of the porters from our trekking company were busying getting things ready and stuffing their huge packs full of campground gear like our tents, sleeping bags, and cooking supplies. Stacey and I took one last picture as a showered and cleaned up couple, and away we went to the starting point at km 82.
The first day was relatively flat and followed the Urubamba river. However, it offered a couple of premier sights. The first picture is looking back at La Veronica with a "century plant" (agave americana) arching it's flower over the trail. These plants were all over the trail and were interesting to observe. Although it's called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall stalk with yellow blossoms, that can reach as high as 25–30 ft tall.
I took these two close up shots of La Veronica as we got higher up the the trail and closer to our first campsite. It's not hard to see why the Inca revered this mountain as sacred. At Machu Picchu the equinox sun rises from behind the highest point on Veronica. The mountain is worshiped for crop and livestock fertility as well as good health. Veronica and Salcantay (another sacred mountain in the area rising over 20,000 feet) are said speak to one another with thunder.
The final pictures of day are of places and things you've seen above...except one. And it's an impressive one. It's the ruins of Patallacta (Llactapata). This overlook was very impressive, and of course, the picture doesnt' do it justice. This was a pretty big and important city in relation to Machu Picchu. As you can see in the picture, above and two the right the Urubamba River carves a path through the mountains and eventually wraps around the base of Machu Picchu. There were two ways to get to Machu Picchu from this city. The shorter and likely commercial route followed the river. The longer and likely pilgrimage route (the Inca Trail) traversed the mountains. So, Patallacta was important because it controlled these routes to Machu Picchu. Also, it helped supply Machu Picchu with additional crops and traded goods and was a good resting spot.
