The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

We started the trail at KM102, which meant we had only one full day´s walking on the trail before reaching the Sun Gate in the late afternoon. The trail started in the high jungle with the sun beating down on us as we set off uphill, little did we know that the trek would be all uphill. We passed beautiful orchids, fuscias, cows lying in the path, amazing rainbows and pretty waterfalls. The flowers were really beautiful and I was suprised at how many there were given that the trail is used so much. We also visited Inca ruins on the way and were treated to a full history lesson by our guide.

The Inca empire as we know it, really only lasted for 100 years before being conquered by the Spanish. The reason they´re so well known, is for what they achieved in that time. The empire began in Peru in a small area within in the Sacred Valley, but then extended throughout much of South America (Columbia to Central Chile). The Incas were only conquered by the Spanish because the people who had been conquered by them saw the Spanish as the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, as the Spanish conquered, they destroyed much of the Incan architecture and stole virtually all the gold, melting down for their own purposes. As such, little remains of the Incan empire, except a few ruins, mainly in the Sacred Valley. Machu Picchu was never found by the Spanish and so never destroyed. The only wear and tear on the ruins at Machu Picchu was from the jungle which grew over it and only destroyed sections. Even today, they´re still discovering more ruins in and around the site.

We arrived at the Sun Gate, pretty exhausted, but were treated to spectacular aerial views of Machu Picchu, which sat about 600m below. As it was late afternoon, most of the tourists had left and the clouds had lifted, so our views were as the site was meant to be seen. It was truely awesome and not what we had expected at all. The Sun Gate is special because on the Summer solstice the sun shines through the gate and into a window in the temple in the centre of the complex below. There is a second gate on another mountain which does the same on the Winter solstice, but through another window of the temple. They used these two points as sundial in the temple, which is pretty clever given the distance of the gates from the temple. Machu Picchu itself was much bigger then we expected and in much better condition. With only nature taking it´s toll on the buildings, there was much left in tact.

In the morning our guide took us round and told us more about the history of the Incas and the use of Machu Picchu. The morning was cloudy and pouring with rain, but we still managed to enjoy the tour. The nice thing about the rain was that you could see how the water systems and fountains work. The place was absolutely fascinating. In the afternoon we were left to do what we chose and we decided to climb the mountain behind the city called Wayna Picchu. This was a really tough climb, mainly scrambling up a cliff face of rickety steps - they´d never have let you do that in the UK due to health and safety! By the time we got to the top we were exhausted and very sweaty, but rewarded with superb aerial views of Machu Picchu, which from this view looks like a condor (I think you need your imagination for this). Getting down the mountain was harder at the end of the day was hard, but we were relieved, in awe and absolutely knacked.

We used SAS Travel, based in Cusco. They were really great. The tour was good, the guide helpful and knowledgable and the accommodation lovely - with a fabulous hot shower! Highly recommended.