Inca Trail Day Four

We woke up at 4. I was a little dehydrated but mostly my stomach was bothering me now. I didn´t eat anything for breakfast, didn´t really feel like eating. We headed out at about 445 to the "control" where we waited for about 2 hours to pass through as the groups ahead of us shuffled through and got their passport and ticket issues resolved. Then we started to hike...and I was tired of hiking I guess because I fell behind early. It was no easier or harder than previous days but my body was starting to check out. It started to rain, the group left me behind in about 30 minutes and I could have taken out my rain poncho but I didn´t really care. I was just trudging and trying to keep my stomach under wraps.

It rained harder and then we had to climb up incan stairs, about 3 stories. I was not having a good time. In fact, I was starting to get into a really sour mood. Willfredo stayed back to watch me struggle up and down the terrain, mist enveloped us, with a fair smattering of rain. Nothing monsoon-level but enough to soak me and my pack by the end of the morning hike. Pictured is me walking through the incan gate, and facial appearances aside, this was the nadir of the whole trip for me. I was not happy at all!

As we walked the last part of the trail, descending into Machu Picchu, the entire ruins where enveloped in mist. You couldn´t see a goddamn thing. Did I trek all the way for this? We walked down to the control, about 30 minutes downhill from the last part of the hike, and I checked my bag with the group. A skipped a whole bunch of people in line to get there and a bunch of them noticed. I played dumb, then gave them the I´m pissed off staredown as Javier told them I was part of the group and we were keeping our bags together. I paid 1 sole to go to the bathroom and tried to resolve my issues. While no immediate resolution took place, I felt a little bit better and bought the most expensive bottle of water, gatorade, and snickers bar in all of Peru. Christy, Shawna, and I started our two hour tour of the site.

We saw all I had read about, the sun palace, the terraces, the temple of three windows, the royal chambers, and the first plumbed bathroom in all of south america. As we proceeded through the site the mist began to clear, a little. So that you could see further than ten feet in front of yourself. Our tour guide wasn´t particularly great, English was his second or third language and he had rehearsed his pitch. I saw a pretty big slab of rock that they sacrificed kids on which I hadn´t known about previously, which was pretty interesting. We finished the tour at the other end of the ruins, and looking back got an ok view of the site. I mean, mountains on all sides, ancient ruins well preserved, the mist gave it a certain eery feel that wasn´t all bad.

The three of us resolved to head back and into town, not much point staying in the rain really. As we headed back towards the entrance, I got lost for a moment from the two girls. I was off taking pictures, and by this time my spirits were ok. It was, despite the lack of visibility and the tempetuous nature of my stomach, still spectacular. I met up with the girls again just at the start of the terraces, and I had noticed that it had begun to clear up. I told Christy to go on ahead without me, Id meet them later, I was going to climb back up the hill to try and get "a better shot."

That was the quote I gave Christy, but I knew what I really wanted. I wanted the perfect shot. I wanted what I´d come here for. As I scaled the side of the site, up the hill which overlooked the ruins, the weather got better. The rain stopped, the mist dispersed. I got to the spot where I could take it all in. There were even some rays of sunshine eeking through the clouds. Not many, but some. Like I said, the mist wasn´t all bad, it gave the site a certain feel. I stayed up at my spot for about twenty minutes, taking photos while tourists passed by in between just taking it in. The mountain behind the site was still obscured by clouds for the first 15 minutes. You can literally see the mist coming, it doesn´t surprise you...it moves quickly over the mountains here but you can often see it coming. The wind blew the mist past the mountain behind and you could see everything. It began raining again, but just a little. Off the slope to my left I could see another large mist coming, being blown in. I had little time. Tourists marched on my route in either direction and I knew I had about 15 seconds to try one last time to get that perfect shot of the lost city in the mist.