The Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu

Waking up at 4 in the morning is an easy thing to do when you know what you are going to see today. After waiting in a ridiculous line until 530 with numerous other groups before finally being let through the gates and quickly racing the last section of the Inca trail to the Sun Gate to watch the first rays of light hit the ancient lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, is something everyone's should and probably will do in their lives.

The Inca Trail hike is a 4 day walk along one of the hundreds of trails that the Incas used stretching from Ecuador, through Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. The 43km long hike starts in the Sacred Valley by crossing the Urubamba River and heads around into the Cusichaca River before climbing over two mountain passes (the first being the infamous Dead Woman Pass at a lung burning 4200m) before descending into Machu Picchu on the final day.

Day 1 begins with and early pickup from the centre of Cusco and a few hour drive out to KM 82 for the start of the trek. The team of blue SAS porters are already there sorting out the gear of the group into massive bags. There were 14 in our group, 4 hungover Irish (post St Pats Day), 2 Brits complaining about something already, 4 Yanks, 2 Canadians and us. For the 14 in our group there were 2 guides and 19 porters (the Cheskis). Each day 200 permits are issued for the hike and because you have to do the hike with a tour company there is another 200 guides and porters. The first day was pretty easy along the valley (some bogan Aussies are even wearing thongs) past the first of many Inca sites before climbing the bottom section of Dead Woman Pass to our camp site. On the way we stopped for lunch where the Chesky's had already set up a dinning tent and cooked a gourmet meal of quinoa soup, chicken curry, steamed veggies with white sauce, salad and local corn with goats cheese! Immediately I realised Ally will never go hiking with me again after our 3 days of tuna on crackers Patagonia trekking diets... And dinner was the same just with different local dishes and and an entree of popcorn. Arriving at the campsite the tents were already set up and we were greeted with warm water to wash in. "SAS is the best".

Day 2 began with a very early wake up with hot tea passed through the fly of our tents, followed by a hot breakfast, coffee, and what seamed like unlimited milo (I did try to eat the whole supplies of milo but I think there must have been a porter designated to just carrying it). It was a slow and long way up to Dead Woman Pass, and the air gets thin at the top. It is along this stretch that we walk along the remains of the original inca trail. Unlike society these days the Incas built things to last for eternity and the cobble stone path is a testament to this. Our group did well and the SAS guides were quick to whip out some oxygen and meds when it was required. The Aussie bogan girls previously mentioned in the other group managed a smoke at the pass though. I was really quite surprised with the size of the mountains in this area, the snow capped peaks sit well above 5000m, and the valleys are deep and a long way down. From Dead Woman Pass it is a steep drop down into the valley to the lunch site and a serving of ceviche, a south American dish of raw freshly caught trout marinated in lime juice. We still had another pass to conquer before descending into camp and more piles of milo.

Day 3 was the most spectacular day apart from Machu Picchu with amazing sections of trail that just hang to the sides of the mountains. After a night of rain we woke to perfect clear skies and great views of the surrounding mountains. The final camp is only a short distance to the lost city.

We however didn't make it to the sun gate before sunrise due to the lines to get through the gates from the last camp, they don't open until 530am. Even though I group was up at 4am others apparently woke at 2am to get in line! Everyone has seen picture postcards of Machu Picchu but to go there and walk amongst the ruins, after trekking for days through amazing diverse landscapes is a must do. Otherwise you can catch a train and a bus and be there in a day....

 

Copacabana and Lake Titicaca - Bolivia

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3800m above sea level and forms part of the border between Bolivia and Peru. From Copacabana a town on the Bolivian shore you can catch a boat out to the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), a very varse but beautiful island which is believed to be the birth place of the Incas. You can stay overnight on the island or do a day trip and hike the length as what we did. The boat too and from the island is bloody slow and painful.

We stayed at a beautiful hotel that sits just above Copacabana called Hotel La Cúpula for $20 a night!

Death Road - La Paz Bolivia

We headed out to ride the infamous 'Death Road' with a tour group of 6. The top of the road is at about 4500m and finishes at 1200m. When we got to the top it was snowing and the road was icy so we started a little bit down the road. On the way down we stopped while the guide helped to pull a ute out of a ditch after slipping off the road. Great start.

The top part of the road is sealed and we all just cruised down together.
The next section is the Death road, which until about 6 years ago was the main (dirt) road used by everything from trucks, and buses. It was regarded as the most dangerous road in the world. Now there is a new road so it's pretty safe, unless you miss a corner and drop off the cliffs...
The guide let us push the pace which made it fun as there was another guy who was pretty good. The guide we found out later is #2 downhill racer in Bolivia. There were a few times I would take a corner and be looking down a couple hundred metre drop about a foot to my left..
By the time you reach the bottom it was hot and tropical. Such a difference to the top.
On the drive back up the main road we passed another crash between one of the tour vans and another car, all we're fine.

 

4x4 Desert Tour - San Pedro to Uyuni, Bolivia

We boarded a mini bus and headed back out of San Pedro de Atacama to the border of Chile and Bolivia. The border crossing sits at 4400m up on the dry desert plains, and underneath the perfectly shaped Lincancabur Volcano. It is here that we meet our guide, and his 4x4. After reading so many horror stories about both the 4x4s and the guides, I quickly checked out the vehicle. 4 wheels, yep that will do, and off we went in our luxurious Lexus, while the others clambered into their shity Toyotas... There were 6 of us in our group plus the driver, lucky for us there's a Chilean born girl that's been living in Miami most of her life, designated translator!

The first day we travelled almost in convoy through an amazing part of the world, with Volcanoes either side, and red dusty desert inbetween. We stopped at different spots including, Laguna Verde (Green Lake), Laguna Blanco (White Lake), another Laguna with hot springs, Sol de Mañana a geyser site which at almost 5000m was both freezing and lacking vital oxygen, and Laguna Colorado. Laguna Colorado was stunning! It's rich red colour due to algae attracts thousands of flamingoes, and along the shore were herds of llamas with bows in their hair (to celebrate llamas birthday) chewing the grass and posing for photos.

The night was spent out at a remote hostel in the middle of the desert at 4400m. It was pretty basic, beds, no showers, but was comfortable we were expecting worse. Food was alright and they even gave us a bottle of wine.

The following day we continues onwards towards Uyuni. More lagunas, more snow capped volcanoes, and more red dusty plains. We stopped at two spectacular rocky outcrops, before heading the the train museum, where trains go to die on the out skirts of Uyuni.

The Japanese guys that we were travelling with had been talking about heading out to the nearby Salar de Uyuni at night which is the worlds largest salt flat, 10000 square kilometres (Sydney is 1580 square kilometres), and contains 50-70% of the worlds lithium reserves [1]. They organised another 4x4 guy to take us out. During the wet season parts of the salt flat are covered by a few centimetres of water. By heading out into the middle of the salt flat at night, with a clear sky, you can get an almost perfect 360 degree reflection of the stars which is suppose to feel like you are floating in space. The night wasn't perfect for this, pretty full moon and cloudy, but it was one of the highlights of our trip! We were driven out first to the edge of the salt flats, before driving out to the centre. Near the edge was the deepest section of the lake, which apparently moves around depending on the wind. Driving out onto the lake was a weird experience, not sure whether we were going to sink, the salt flats actually turned out be rather hard, not boggy at all. Out in the middle where it was drier, we pulled out some chairs, cracked a bottle of wine and sat with no other cars or people around and watched an amazing lightning storm with bolts striking the otherside of the lake. Amazing!

The last morning of the tour we headed back out to the salt flats nice and early to watch the sunrise. This again was amazing, but this time slightly ruined by the hordes of other loud and annoying 4x4 tour groups.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni
   

 

 

 

San Pedro de Atacama - Chile

The bus from Salta to San Pedro is quite amazing. The trip takes you north through Argentine farmland before heading east up through an amazing valley, with heaps of switchbacks to rival a French Alps climb, until finally climbing up onto a Andes plateau at around 4200m. By now the air in the bus was getting thin and you could really feel the altitude. From here the road crosses the dry desert climate, with Volcanic peaks off in the distance on either side, and also crossing a salt flat before crossing the border into Chile, and descending into San Pedro de Atacama.

The town itself still sits at 2400m and is no more than a dust bowl, with a few streets full of decent restaurants and tourist outlets. We spent a day relaxing at the hostel trying to acclimatise to the altitude, and also searching the dozen outlets offering 4x4 tours through the desert into Bolivia. After reading heaps of horror stories of cars braking down, crashing, etc, etc, we booked with Estrella del Sur a Bolivian family run company that seemed to have some good reviews.

The following day we jumped on another tour up to El Tatio geysers, the highest geysers in the world at 4300m and supposed to be the highlight of the Atacama. The tour leaves town at 4am to make sure you arrive at sunrise when the geysers are most active. The scenery is pretty amazing with Volcanoes surrounding the site, but the geysers themselves were a bit of a disappointment. It may have just been the day we went but they weren't very active, only bubbling up a metre or so, and there wasn't the colours that were expected. Go to New Zealand instead.. The highlight was probably the herds of Vicuña that are a smaller relative to the llamas, and are now a protected species, and also the Vizcacha, a member of the rodent family that live in nearby rocky area.

On the Saturday before we left town, we watched the competitors who were racing in the Atacama Crossing, head off on foot to the first camp before starting the 7 day ultra marathon race the following morning. www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing