Inca Trail Day 3

Once again pictures will have to wait.... apologies...

We woke early again. I thought this day would be the most difficult.

Without much fanfare I donned my pack, and we began our trek up the mountainside. I paced myself, with the full weight on my back. Instead of climbing Incan stairs with one foot per stair I would put one foot upon stair A, and my second foot on stair A. This conserved much effort and slowed my pace. I proceeded up for about two hours this way, never exherting myself very much. It was wet and slippery besides.

We stopped at an Incan site about an hour into our hike. It was a simple military checkpoint, but very well preserved. If you notice there are sometime windows flanked by encloves in the walls. These aren´t windows that have been "stoned" up, but places the Incas put offerings to their gods, etc. I´m going to forgo butchering the names of sites for the time being.

Past the checkpoint ruins we walked past a couple of high altitude lakes. To be honest the trek was starting to remind me of Mordor. Again my body was fine but the scenery and weather was now bordering epic. Later when I left the lunch tent it definitely felt like walking through a war zone... hard to describe why. After a time we reached the 2nd last pass and took a break. Javier had instructed us to take a small stone from the road up along our way -- here we would place that stone on idilic piles. They look exactly like inukshuks.

Later we came across a spectacular set of ruins. Originally a marketplace, the settlement of about 200 people perched a top a huge rocky outcrop. The last staircase up was probably the only time in the trip I was slightly afraid of the height. It was pretty spectacular. Most Incan settlements, with the exception of Cusco, it seems, were built on high land. This makes places easier to defend of course, and in the case of Ollantaytambo, was actually instrumental in providing the Incas with their only victory of significance over the Spanish. This settlement was fairly centrally located with respect to the four main settlements in the area, Vilcabamba, Machu Picchu, Cusco, and Choquequirau, hence its use as a market.

Later, after the last pass, we came across this religious centre. The terraces here are purely decorative, as opposed to agricultural. The fountains all still work 500 years later (almost always the case at Incan ruins). From here we never veered from stone stairs again. The Incan stone stairs really aren´t that great for going down, I´d rather walk down a dirt road at a constant incline to be honest. But, I suppose they solidified the path from washing out, which was probably a constant problem.

By this time I was flying down the path. I had pretty much endless energy. We had hiked maybe 6 hours and the rain had stopped for the moment. I was happily bounding down the stone steps, well ahead of the group. I arrived at the campsite sometime around 4 in the afternoon, and after being joined by the rest of the group, paid 5 soles for a "hot" shower at the "lodge". The shower wasn´t hot, and though the place was a lodge, it was more like a cement bunker with a huge reserve of cheap peruvian beer. We ate dinner, which was traditional Andean fare, and I drank said beer. Some of the Andean food was great, like Alpaca steak and potatos. Some was plain gross. I can´t remember the name of the jungle vegtable Christy recommended I try, but it was nasty.

I bought Javier a beer and he taught me how to toast his way -- to the Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth. You clink beers, say cheers to the Pacha Mama, and before drinking pour a drop or two of your brew onto the floor. This would seem to be borderline sacreligious in Canada, at least, according to the beer commercials. Only Augustine and Juan joined me in drinking, all the girls abstaining. We danced after dinner to Kumbia, which is basically Latin folk I guess. Its the music of the common folk I was told. I danced with everyone save Florencia, since I suspected Augustine knew I thought she was stunning. Man law was implied.

We headed to bed knowing we´d have to wake up at 4. This may have proven my undoing but I doubt it.... I already felt my stomach mounting a rebellion. I didn´t have my copy of the Prince with me though, so I was without any sound recourse....