Day 6: Lots of Ruins on the Inca Trail

Friday, November 28th, 2008

I woke up about 4:10 and layed in the sleeping back until about 4:30 when Ryan got up to use the bathroom. I got dressed, packed up our things, and we were off for day 3 of hiking. Kim left a few minutes before us, but we soon caught up. (Breakfast was an omelet!) Out of camp the trail was straight up stairs to the 2nd pass! Ryan went ahead on his own, while I hiked with Franzisca and Betina and Chenine. We stopped for breaks along the way, and as the sun rose you could see snow mountains before the clouds started to cover their peaks. Along the trail there were ruins called Runkuraqay, that used to be a watchtower overlooking the valley.



After we started to hike again Cesar came up behind us and scared us, then hiked with us until our next break. We probably reached the top about 7? Ryan was already there, and we climbed a muddy hill to a great overlook for pictures. We had to wait about 50 minutes for the rest of the group, and then we headed out. The trail winded down into another valley, and there were snow capped mountain ranges along the horizon.




At the base of the trail there was another set of ruins, Sayaqmarka. We left our bags at the bottom of 100 steps with a porter, and climbed up to listen to Cesar explain more about the Incas. These ruins had grooves in the rocks at hand height, that meant old Incas used them to climb steps! There were also holes in the corners of rocks that used to rope off areas so animals couldn't enter.


The trail gradually climbed to the third pass from here, but it didn't go over the mountain as much as it scooted around the mountain. We stopped at a campsite with bathrooms where other group's porters were setting up lunch, but we kept on. We stopped for a break to listen to Cesar talk about nature and wildlife native to the region.


This section of trail had orchids, bigger trees, and more bird. We could see and hear a large waterfall across the valley. It was very clear and sunny so we had great views. We even went through 2 tunnels that were of original Incan construction!


At the top of the 3rd pass you could see our lunch tents set up like they were in the clouds! The view was amazing, we could see the Urubamba River valley, the town of Aguas Calientes, and finally Machu Picchu mountain! We were so hungry and distracted by the view that we didn't even realize we were near another set of ruins!


Lunch was chicken stuffed with cheese and peppers, vegetables, fried rice, and soup. We didn't take a break after, but walked down to the Phuyupatmarka ruins and sat there while we learned it was a ceremonial spot where Incas journeyed to pray to water, sun, and earth. We saw an eagle feeding its babies in a nest on a cliff, and more interesting flowers.


From here on the trail was all downhill steps. I think from the 3rd pass to the last campsite there are something like 3200 steps down! We took a break at another Incan building that some people used as a bathroom, and another right before the Winay Wayna campground. We could see the Intipata ruins as we hiked they are pretty recently uncovered, and are concave terraces, but the Winay Wayna ruins were just downhill from the campground and turned out to be my favorite of the entire trip. (They are convex terraces).

We were flying during the last section of trail, hiking at porter pace! We found our camp, and Jill, Franzesca and I bolted for the showers, the cost 5 soles but were warm and clean. No one was there when we went in but when I came out they asked me for our tickets, oops. I ran back in and got soles to pay. I went back to camp and dried my hair with the hand towel I brought and put on my last clean clothes. They felt great!


Ryan and I headed to the bar where were were meeting the group at 4, and sat outside drinking a beer! We wanted to buy 2 more to drink at the ruins, but the cashier couldn't break 100 bill. The ruins were less than a 5 minute walk and on the way we taught Martine what "that's what she said" means!






The ruins were amazing, everyone I talked to liked them the most, even more than Machu Picchu. It was serene and peaceful there. We sat on a terrace and learned how the place was used as a greenhouse for domesticating seeds. The ruins overlooked the Urubamba River valley. We walked down to a room Cesar called the balcony, and sat on a stone bench outside the ruins overlooking the mountains. We then invented Inca jumping. There are cylinders of rock sticking out near the roods that were used to tie the thatched roofing down with llama leather. We held onto 2 cylinders and threw ourselves into the air. The pictures midair were hilarious.



After some more time at the ruins we climbed back up from the bottom (more steps = killer!) and headed back to camp for tea. I really learned to love biscuits with honey! The porters needed to set up for dinner so we grabbed our chairs and formed a circle around a box of popcorn outside the tent until dinner. Sebastian broke out a glo-stick, and dinner was ready around 7. Dinner was excellent as usual, I only ate half my soup course, and dinner was lomas saltado. After dinner we had red jello for dessert, and put together a tip for the porters. Cesar called all the porters over and introduced them all to us, and our names and where we were from to them, we gave tips to the cook, the assistant cook, and head porter, and all the porters.


Then went in a circle and shook hands with them all. Some of them smelled bad but I think they were grateful we were appreciative. Most of them are farmers from the same village. After the little ceremony some people went to the bar, but I wanted to be rested to finally see Machu Picchu!