Inca Trail : Day 4
Inca Trail Hike – Tales of my four day walk to discover Machu Picchu and the incredible Andes.
Winay Huayna – Machu Picchu – Aguas Calientes – Cusco
- Wake up: 3.00am
- Breakfast: 3:15am
- Leave camp: 3.25am
- At the check point: 3.30am
- Start final walk: 5.30am
- Arrive Machu Picchu: 8.15am
- Distance: 5.5 km’s
- Elevation change: 2680m – 2400m above sea level
Well we got up early
Mike was already out of his tent and it was being packed up when the rest of us got up. He apparently woke up at 12.30am and could not get back to sleep so was up since then! I don’t think anyone slept well.
We were given a snack to take with us as breakfast at 3.00am didn’t entice anyone so we had a cup of Coca tea and headed off. All set. This was the last leg, well to the check point at least.
We all walked really fast, I don’t know why, but the check point was literally only 5 mins away and we reached it really quickly. And to top it all off, we were the FIRST in line by about 15 minutes! YAY. When we heard the next group arrive, who did not see us sitting there and who started cheering that they were the first.. then realising they weren’t – was pretty funny. well to us at least. We all pretty much gave ourselves a visual high 5. My group were all ok with the fact that we got up at 3.00am.
So now we were here. It’s 3.30am. Given that the check point opens at 5.30am all we could do now was sit and wait. For 2 hours.
Strangely enough it seemed to go pretty quickly. As dawn pierced the sky we were again privy to some spectacular views, this place never ceases to amaze me. The mountains are simply stunning.
So close now
Morning light also meant that 5.30am was creeping around. I started stretching, and the noise levels of the 200 + people sitting in the line behind us started to rise as well. We were all like kids at Christmas about to open our presents.
Then we spotted him, the most sought after man of the morning. The Gate Keeper. We were so pumped right now. This is it. Three solid days of trekking, rain, aching muscles, laughs, food and new found friends… this is what is all amounted to. This is what we all came to see and we were the first in line.
We were determined as a group to be the first to reach the SunGate, and knowing the first half was a skinny uphill, Lisa and I were just going to do it regardless what challenge was presented to us. No one was going to beat us.
As the guides all lined up with our papers to show the Gate Keeper the adrenaline really started to pump. The noise of all the waiting trekkers got quite loud now and everyone is ready to charge. Elvis said that he would go in after us so we tell him to set traps at every turn and slow everyone else down to give us a chance to get to the sun gate first. Throw your pole out and trip them if you have to Elvis!!!
False Start
The Gate Keeper opens the gate and Mike was almost though when he is pulled back by the Gate Keeper an all the guides calling out WAIT! The Gate Keeper still had to check our papers and sign them of before we could pass. Mike was like the favourite horse at the Melbourne Cup ready to break the barrier to win the coveted prize. Everyone cracked up, all the porters and our team. Elvis just shook his head smiling, of all the laughing porters, only he knew how funny this was given it was Mike.
As soon as the last paper was signed we were off on the race of our lives, 1 hour to the sun gate then 1 hour to Machu Picchu. We were all walking at such a quick pace that I had to remind my self to keep breathing at one stage.
Who was this random guy?
About 35 mins in, a single guy passed us… as he went around us I yelled out – ‘Who are you?’. No response ‘Who are you? What do you want?” Just for giggles. Seeing him go past we wondered how close everyone else could be. We were walking at a cracking pace as it was, surely we would be ahead by a good bit?
Getting close to the Sun Gate there were some pretty vertical stairs to mount. I was determined just to get up them and the other three were at the top with encouragement for Lisa and I. They said it was pretty flat once we were up so that was good. We made it up and took a quick water break and kept on going.
We’re on vapour cougar (Top Gun!)
By this stage we knew people were pretty close behind us so we cranked up the pace again and Mike seemed to be miles ahead now. Of all of us he was determined to be the first person to the Sun Gate, even if it meant taking over that guy from before. Just before the Sun Gate, there was a steep slope and more stairs. I could now hear other voices behind us that weren’t Lisa or Con and Elvis said the other groups were now really close, so by God I marched up those stairs so quickly and without thought that it was probably the fastest I had climbed any stairs the whole trip. Funny how your competitiveness gets the better of you.
And then – there is was – the Sun Gate. We’d made it and were were the first Group to be there at the one time, we had achieved our goal. We all hugged and high 5’d with beaming, splitting smiles from ear to ear. We had it to ourselves for about 30 seconds before the other groups came trouncing in, pushing us from our prime centre front spot. I didn’t care, I just wanted to take it all in because just beyond us was our first view of Machu Picchu – an hours walk away.
We were nearly there.
Elvis got us to move off to a different area, a quieter area so we could get some group shots and just enjoy being here and in the moment, taking it all in before moving on. We were all pretty happy with ourselves at this point. We spent a good amount of time here before continuing on after hoards of others had passed us. Ethan and Carli (being the rock lovers they are) wanted to spend a couple of extra minutes on their own to take it all in and we said we’d move on and they could catch up.
Another 20 mins along the path from the Sun Gate was another small ruin where we decided to stop and wait for Ethan and Carli, as it also gave us another view of Machu Picchu that no one else seemed to be appreciating in their rush to get to the end goal. We were the first to the Sun Gate but probably were going to be the last group to make it to Machu Picchu. But we didn’t care now. We were pretty happy chappies at this point.
There are no photos of this part – you know why
Then all of a sudden Ethan and Carli came running around the corner to where we were. They thought we had gone all the way to Machu Picchu and were running to catch up to us. When they saw us sitting and taking photos they stopped and caught their breath.
We asked if they were ok as they were puffed, smiling and really excited to see us. Then Carli said ‘We just got engaged!’ Well, you can imagine the noise we all made. Other walkers looked back with fear – as if something bad had just happened, falling off the skinny cliff road maybe. But then we all went up and hugged them and congratulated them. What a way to propose Ethan! They are very outdoorsy people and love trekking so what a better place than this, overlooking Machu Picchu for him to propose. Ethan had also carried the ring with him the whole time. The ring was made up of 2 x large stones 1 x green and 1 x blue stone representing their birth stones with diamonds around the outer edge and down the side. Such a geologist thought and design, but it was gorgeous. They were both shaking and so very excited and we all felt honoured to have been part of this memory for them.
Now where were we: oh yes! Machu Picchu. MP was now only 30 minutes away, Ethan and Carli held hands the whole way to MP, and we were all so very upbeat and happy. I didn’t even care about the downhill elements that we were going over. I almost glided over it all. Almost.
Then we were there. We had finally arrived. What an amazing feeling!
Everyone was pretty impressed with Machu Picchu. Elvis took us on a tour of the ruins explaining the different sectors, the architecture, some history and then let us take our own time to have a look around. We pretty much all sat and quietly took in the view, content with our achievement, overawed at all the history we had seen and were still taking in, thinking about what the trip meant to each of us, and particularly what the trip brought to other members of the group. We spent about 30 mins just having downtime.
There are some local Llama’s here that seem to act as the lawn mowers for some grassed areas. They are a real attraction but don’t get too close to an upset llama….
You really do get a sense what life may have been like back then as you walk through all the ruins. Despite the number of tourists, I think if you have walked the trail to get here, you take it to heart a little more and really get a good understanding and sense of their history and tradition and what makes this particular site so special and representative of the Incan Culture. I think it means alot more having spent the time and effort to get here.
I am so happy to have done this trek and to have had such great company with me along the way. I am grateful to my group for the laughs and fun we had along the way. A very worthwhile trip from which I take away an understanding and respect of a culture I previously knew nothing about.
We all had lunch together in Aguas Calientes after we had finished at Machu Picchu and had pisco sours and pizza. We were all exhausted, sore but so very happy and glad with the trip. It was quite sad saying goodbye to people you have just spent a short but very memorable time with. Thanks guys. Time to get the train back to Cusco.
Time to put the feet up now, it’s a nice view……don’t mind if I do.
Travel is the best.
