Cusco – Matchu Pitchu – Cusco – Puno

Buenos Dias Chichos!

As you can guess we are back on “Beirnie” our Tucan Expedition vehicle on the way to Puno from Cusco. We were a total of 6 nights in Cusco and 4 days on Matchu Pitchu, but they are the kind of places that you would never get bored of.

Cusco is the biggest tourist stopover in all of the Americas. More tourists pass through the city on the way to different places in Peru like Matchu Pitchu than any other city. While it may be a little commercialised its also very cultural with street art performances, theatre and an excellent night life. Its full of bars, restaurants and markets and hosts the highest Irish pub in the world, Paddys bar at 3400 meters or 11156 feet above sea level. As you can imagine we had a few there.

As soon as we got into Cusco on our first night we went on the rip and had a great night. Beers were working out at a 1-2 Euro for a 650ml bottle but there was better value with cocktails and shots and mixers. Every nightclub gave free drink tickets so we made the most of that and hopped around to different places for the offer of free drinks which was normally a rum and coke. The heads were not the best on our second day and I needed a midday nap to sleep it off!

Our next couple of days in Cusco were spent buying a few bits for the Inca Trail and it dawned on us that we didn’t need to bring anything over with us as all you need for Matchu Pitchu can be picked up in Cusco for very reasonable prices. The markets are brilliant and a few of the guys got Alpaca blankets and scarves (Alpacas are similar to a Lama but their wool is much finer and they are more pleasant looking animals with large necks like Lamas but they have smaller ears).

We had a very early start for the first day of our tour and were on the road at 6:30am to get to Chilca or “KM 82” as its known. That point from which we started was 45km from the Matchu Pitchu Inca city, a distance we covered in under 4 days.

Day one, although long was not very hard as we were mostly walking on gentle slopes and hills with the odd few steps and climbs. It seemed long enough from our early rise and we finished up around 4-5pm. Our lunch break was at 1:30 most days and we had soup and pastas and rice dishes. I was surprised at the quality of the food which was impressive considering it was being carried around. For each member of the tour which was 14, there was a porter as well as our two tour guides so we had a big group. The porters (Sherpa’s) carried all the camping gear, food, cooking hobs, gas and our small cargo bags. We were allowed to carry a backpack ourselves that would mainly have your snacks and water for the day in between meals and perhaps a fleece or jacket. Each of us were also given a small bag that would be carried by the porters, the weight of which couldn’t be heavier than 5KG and each porter carried a maximum of 25KG. There are new rules and restrictions on what the porters can carry as well as rules for the campsites. In the past the porters would have been expected to carry up to 60KG, sometimes more which meant bad things for their health. With the new rules, there is more porters and more work for Peruvians so you get the impression that they were happy to carry things for the group and are delighted to have a job. We camped on a private campsite at the end of day one. After a couple of beers and dinner we were all going to sleep at 8pm as we had a very early start on day two.

Day two of the Inca Trail is defiantly physically one of the hardest things I have done. Its not that the climb was significantly hard, but the altitude and thinning air is what makes it very difficult. On day two we hiked from altitudes from 2980m to 4250m over the distance of 5km. It was an unrelenting torrent of steps and climbs that was energy sapping. Even with 30 steps left at the top of “Abra Warmiwanuska” I stopped three or four time gasping for air like I had just done three sprinting laps. On the trail you can kind of find a rhythm with your hiking pole, your step and your breathing but if you lose your momentum its hard find it again. At times all I was concentrating on was my heart beating out of my chest, my lungs gasping and the steps on the trail. Myself and Stephanie and another guy, Quentin were the first to finish (of 14 in our group) on Day 2 and we got to our campsite just after 12 in the afternoon. The latest arrivals were at 2:30pm which was the average tourist time and both our Inca tour guide and our Tucan guides said we were one of the fastest groups ever. Day two is very tough and that final climb is exceptionally hard. We sat for a while at the top and observed people as they collapsed over the last few steps of the mountain or into waiting arms and high fives of members of their tour groups. Some even broke down and cried and were emotional at their achievement, it was that physically demanding. The following 45 minutes or so was all downhill to the campsite which stood at the foot of another mountain, Abra Runkuraqay. After a cold shower and relaxing afternoon with lunch and dinner and evening we are all in bed early again.

Day three of the Inca Trail was our longest day. We started about 6:30am I think and didn’t finish the day until 4-5pm. Every day of our hike our tour guide, gave explanations of the various Inca ruin sites as well as a sort of nature walk. He would often stop telling us about the flowers, vegetation, birds and animals as well as giving us the history of the Incas and their culture and religions. The hike itself was tough as it was so long but it was both up and down hill as we got further over mountains and closer to Matchu Pitchu. The vegetation was noticeably different as it was less bush and burnt grass as the vegetation got heavier it was looking more like jungle. At the end of day three we camped at Winay Wayna, which is the main campsite before the final hike to Matchu Pitchu. At the fnal campsite we were able to have a hot shower and there was a bar and restaurant there too, beside the campsite. We were too wrecked to bother having many and we had a 4:30am start on day four so that was a big deterrent.

Day four of Matchu starts very early and we passed through our final checkpoint on the way to the “Sun Gate” at 5am. All along the Inca Trail there are various checkpoints that our tour guide made sure everyone passed through. We had two guides at the front and the back of the group so nobody was left behind. We arrived at the Sun Gate which is about 3km from the campsite and to our disappointment it was cloudy. The idea of the Sun Gate is to see the sunlight break over the top of the mountains and shine on Matchu Pitchu. That only happens on average 17 times a year so you would be very luck to see it. It didn’t matter that we missed that much as at the Inca city of Matchu Pitchu we got great pictures when the cloud lifted in the morning.

Matchu Pitchu is unreal and no pictures or words could do it justice. It was a relief to make it and we took loads of pictures which im uploading now.

You can see the pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/EmperorCommodus/IncaTrail

I think the 6th last picture you can also download a video we took of the summit of Matchu Pitchu and the Inca city; it should take 5 mins or so to download.

We arrived back in Cusco that night at 9:30 and went for a few pints, to the surprise of our tour guides who said they never heard of anyone heading out after suck a trek. We didn’t wait out too long but along with a massage the following day it was a welcome relaxation after 4 days roughing it.

Just before we left for Matchu Pitchu we put in orders for our official Tucan South American tour T-Shirts which we received today. They have a map of South America and our expedition on the back with our names around in a circle around the coast of the map. The right arm has a flag patch for the different countries we are visiting, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. However we don’t yet have patches for Chilie, which wasn’t part of the original tour Itinerary. I haven’t had the chance to read the news properly yet but Bolivia is a no go area at the minute. I think the government increased charges on water on the farmers and they cant afford it so there was riots some of the places we were to visit. Their president fled the country and we hear that food hasn’t been getting to some towns so its all a bit crazy. A big yellow tour bus full of Gringos (white tourists like ourselves) with perceived money may just be a target so we are avoiding most of Bolivia and are crossing into Chile to avoid trouble. Its working out Ok as we are not missing much and we get to see another country and can access the famous Salt flats from the Chilean side. I was talking to a Dutch guy a few nights ago in Puno and he was just back from Boliva where they had a torrid time. There were road blocks everywhere and I think they were even followed a few times in their jeep.

Im finishing this email in Puno, and we are just back from an overnight excursion to Lake Titicaca which at 3,855 metres above sea level and is the highest navigable lake in the world. We island hopped and stayed with a local family out on the lake which is another blog! Ill tell you all about it in a few days.