Inca Trail 08/21/2006
On the 3rd day we had to get up at 5:00 am again, since we did not finish the planned route the day before and now had a very long hike ahead of us.
After a quick breakfast we were on the trail again. Unfortunately it started raining and we had to put our ponchos on. I was not even fully awake, but immediately we had to climb 500 m again. However, compared to the "Dead woman's pass" day before it almost felt like a piece of cake. Of course my heart was razing and my lungs were rattling to get me up the pass, but the climb the day before gave so much confidence that I really enjoyed getting my body into "full gear" and up the hill.
On our way up we passed the first Inca ruins of the day, a place that was primarily a hostal for travellers and messengers. After reaching the summit we reached the "Runcuracay Complex" (3760 m), a massive fortress on the peak of a bluff overlooking and controlling the pass and the valley below. Only a narrow flight of steps led up to the entrance to this fortress. I worked my way up and enjoyed the amazing views of the valley and the storage facility below. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy and foggy, so most of the photos I took will most likely not turn out so well.
I climbed back down to the Inca Trail and quickly reached the storage facility below. After a quick exploration I continued on the trail and soon reached our lunch site. The tent was already up and hot, steaming tea was waiting for me. It was almost 2 hours again until the last hikers of our group reached the site. After an excellent lunch (the chef really did an outstanding job) we continued.
After a beautiful hike we reached "Sayakmarca", the so called "inaccessible town". From the pass we had to climb down any steps to finally reach this complex. It was hard to find out from our guide what exactly the function of this place was. It seemed that it had two main purposes. One was to aid in the astrological activities. The big platform was used as an observation point. The second purpose was to help protect the water pipelines that supplied Machu Picchu over many, many miles with fresh drinking water. Again there were so many spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and down into the valley. After further descending into the valley we reached the spectacular terraces of "Winay Waynai". Although I was really tried I decided to climb the steps all the way to the top to enjoy the views. With lots of huffing and puffing I finally reached the top level ….. beautiful! From here it was all the way downhill to our last campsite. This one actually had a restaurant with clean bathrooms, hot showers and beer! The first beer after 4 days of ….. yummy! After an amazing dinner including Pizza (how on earth did the chef prepare them with only two gas burners to cook on?). We went for a final beer afterwards and then got an early night rest.
On the 3rd day we had to get up at 5:00 am again, since we did not finish the planned route the day before and now had a very long hike ahead of us.
After a quick breakfast we were on the trail again. Unfortunately it started raining and we had to put our ponchos on. I was not even fully awake, but immediately we had to climb 500 m again. However, compared to the "Dead woman's pass" day before it almost felt like a piece of cake. Of course my heart was razing and my lungs were rattling to get me up the pass, but the climb the day before gave so much confidence that I really enjoyed getting my body into "full gear" and up the hill.
On our way up we passed the first Inca ruins of the day, a place that was primarily a hostal for travellers and messengers. After reaching the summit we reached the "Runcuracay Complex" (3760 m), a massive fortress on the peak of a bluff overlooking and controlling the pass and the valley below. Only a narrow flight of steps led up to the entrance to this fortress. I worked my way up and enjoyed the amazing views of the valley and the storage facility below. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy and foggy, so most of the photos I took will most likely not turn out so well.
I climbed back down to the Inca Trail and quickly reached the storage facility below. After a quick exploration I continued on the trail and soon reached our lunch site. The tent was already up and hot, steaming tea was waiting for me. It was almost 2 hours again until the last hikers of our group reached the site. After an excellent lunch (the chef really did an outstanding job) we continued.
After a beautiful hike we reached "Sayakmarca", the so called "inaccessible town". From the pass we had to climb down any steps to finally reach this complex. It was hard to find out from our guide what exactly the function of this place was. It seemed that it had two main purposes. One was to aid in the astrological activities. The big platform was used as an observation point. The second purpose was to help protect the water pipelines that supplied Machu Picchu over many, many miles with fresh drinking water. Again there were so many spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and down into the valley. After further descending into the valley we reached the spectacular terraces of "Winay Waynai". Although I was really tried I decided to climb the steps all the way to the top to enjoy the views. With lots of huffing and puffing I finally reached the top level ….. beautiful! From here it was all the way downhill to our last campsite. This one actually had a restaurant with clean bathrooms, hot showers and beer! The first beer after 4 days of ….. yummy! After an amazing dinner including Pizza (how on earth did the chef prepare them with only two gas burners to cook on?). We went for a final beer afterwards and then got an early night rest.
Well if we thought there would be no uphill on day 3 we were wrong. fortunately it was not that bad.
The first Inca ruin of day 3, a simple selter and storage building.
A small fortress protecting the pass and providing shelter to travelers and messengers.
The Inca Trail, some areas are smooth like this one, but there can also be many steps or rough pavement.
A tunnel on the trail.
A porter carrying sevral chairs to the next cap site.
The ces of "Winay Waynai".
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