Inka Trail days 3 & 4

The full moon last night was inspiring and I awoke with a ton of energy & ready to hike. It was pouring rain but we still had great views fo the ruins & mountains. Parts of the trail were like waterfalls because it was raining so hard. Another long climb this morning up to an beautiful cirque with a deep blue lake in the center. I made a traditional offering to the mountain god at the top and started my way across the ridgeline to the most impressive ruins yet.

These crazy people built a large city on a knife ridge with the sole pùrpose of blessing the water from the mountain. At the summit of this peak they built an aquaduct several hundred meters down to a large ceremonial room and 6 ornate fountains. Here theh priests would bless the water before it was transported via more aquaducts to fields and other villages. the ruins had amazing, tall round building and the stonework was execptional. The trail goes right past the fountain and down a very long and steep section of stairs. Down, down, down into the Inka Jungle. The trail passes thru many natural, small caves. I saw a snake, several large lizards, a gigantic spider and a mosquito the size of my outstreched hand! I hiked along with Veronica and her friends from Argentina for most of the day.

The clouds cleared in the early afternoon and the views were indescribable. These valleys are so steep and lush. There I was standing in the jungle and could see glaciers at the top of the peaks across the valley!! This may have been my favorite day on the trail because we hiked thru several climate zones and I saw so much wildlife and cool plants. There were huge vines, trees with all types of fruits growing on them and hillsides filled with bamboo. Down at the bottom of the valley the river was raging and I could see large electric lines coming from the hydro-electric station.

Down & down I hiked until I reached camp 3. What an unexpected camp - a restaraunt & bar, a hot shower and a cool museum showing all the types of flora & fauna around Machu Picchu(MP). All of the groups had dinner in the restaurant, prepared by our porters. A grand feast of steak, bbq chicken, pizza and pasta followed by a yummy chocolate pudding treat. We had a small ceremony to thank our porters for their hard work and present tehm with a gift (cash tip). Most of the group hit the sack while I shared stories and a few beers with the girls from Argentina. Lights out at 11 as we all get up at 4am to make our way to the Sun Gate above MP around dawn.

4Am comes quick, even after popping a few valium tabs:) We woke to a light rain shower but that had cleared by the time breakfast was done. A quick trip thru the final checkpoint and it was up, up, up again to the Sun Gate. Some sections of stairs were so steep I needed to use handholds to make it up. We were one of the first groups to arrive at the Sun Gate and , of course, clouds filled the valley and we couldnt see a thing. In Cusco a local shaman that I had done a Ahyausca ceromony with gave me some San Pedro and told me to take it at the Sun Gate. I drank the foul tasting liquid and waited for the effects to begin. We waited for about 30 minutes while other groups decided to head down the trail to MP. I vomited from the San Pedro and began to feel the twinges & first effects. Just then the clouds parted and our group and two others got to see the majesty of MP from the Sun Gate!!!

From this point on I still dont have the words to describe what I experienced. An amazing hike down to MP. Stopping at the high alter and making an offering of coca leaves and then stopping at a buriel site of one of the highest Inka Priests. Down & down into the terraces of MP. We started passing tourists that took the train & bus up. We made it down to the maingate and checked our backpacks into storage and began our tour of MP. The San Pedro was in full effect and I truly felt the energy the MP holds. The tour was very informative and we were all in awe. From teh high priests living quarters to the sacrificial alters to the Three Windows time keeping ruins it just kept getting better and better. The compass rock that marks a true N, S, E, W and the energy rock were outstanding. The tour lasted about 2 hours and we had free time to explore.

My orignal goal was to climb Huayanu Pichhu, the peak you see in all the photos, because there are cool ruins up there too - but there was a freight train of people going up and down the trail. That didnt seem fun and the San Pedro directed me to a smaller peak right next to it. I signed in at a checkpoint to climb the smaller peak and headed up the trail. The trail was very, very steep and in some places only 18" wide with a 500 foot drop down. I had to shimmy along a narrow ledge where a thick rope with knots in it appeared dngling off a rock. I climbed up the rope about 15 feet to continue on the trail to the summit. I saw a chinchilla, another snake, and a huge beetle on my way to the top. I reached the summit and realized I had the entire mountain to myself. I sat and meditated, had a smoke and finished off a small bottle of rum I had been carrying. A little for for and a little for Pachimama -Mother Earth- I made some prayers, for lack of a better term. Pure Magic is the only way I can describe this. So much more to say but I am not sure how to.

I climbed back down and headed to the main gate to catch my bus down to Aguas Calientes. The switchback road offered some killer views and AC is a really cool town. It sits at teh bottom of a very steep valley and there are Flash Flood Escape route signs everywhere. Locals told me about 20 people die each year in floods. I saw a group of 6 kids trying to play soccer in front of their parents stores with a wadded up ball of paper. They were having a great time. I stopped and pulled out soime cheap plastic rings i brought from the states for the girls and then popped out a flexible frisbee and tossed it to them. They were all so stoked and started screaming and shouting as they threw the frisbee around. Two of the parents were in tears thanking me for the gifts. Brought tears to my eyes.

I hiked up to check out the natural hot springs. they were far from natural, just concrete pools filled with tourists so I made my way back down to town where I found a 6 for 1 happy hour!!!! Cant beat that as I had a few hours before catching a train back to Ollyantambu. The guys at teh bar were cool and cranking heavy metal so it kinda felt like home! After my 6 beers and a pizza I headed to the train station to discover that rockslides had made all the trains late. Luckily I managed to hop on one leaving just then and made it back to Ollyantambu and then a bus back to Cusco. A hot shower at the hostel and crashed hard.

So much more I want to say but, geez.