US AT THE TOP OF MACHU PICCHU!!!!
Day 264
Day 4 of Trek on the INCA TRAIL & ARRIVAL at Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru
Machu Picchu Trek Day 4 of Trek 14 km´s today
Awoken by the kitchen staff...we stumbled out of bed..(see below; waking us up in the am!)
We started off with a scrambled egg and bacon day. Except no one was feeling particularly hungry........................
But the cocoa tea got drunk! Apart from chomping on cocoa leaves it really does help to drink the tea. Not sure what it really does, but it has something to do with causing the body to pee and enables more oxygen in the blood. Or something. Anway it seems to naturally work and seeing i wasn´t taking anything i was downing the tea by the gallons.
Breakast Tent!
I was feeling positive about today. Day 4 and last day of the trek. Not only was it the last day and descending....it was the day we were to get our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. Our final goal and destination!
After stopping short yesterday we had to make up for it today so today we had to trek 14km. But the sight just near the campsite was apparently very beautiful, but only when it´s clear and not raining.
Luckily the rain had subsided. We were in for a beautiful day. Thank goodness.
Firstly we had to separate our duffle bags. One duffle bag was to contain the jackets, sleeping bags and whatever belonged to the company to be sent back to thier base in Cusco and the other one was to have all our gear packed so it got sent to our hotel in Machu Picchu.
We just hoped the porters got it right when they came to collect the bags. All porters were going back to Cusco today. We were to head to Machu Picchu without them. The cooks had prepared sandwiches and fruit to take with us in our back packs.
A goodbye ceremony was conducted for the porters and cooks. A suggested US$30 each was suggested as a tip for all of them for their hard work. There was a heirarchcy which Jose knew..so some got more than others..and some in the group felt ´the toilet boy´deserved an extra tip for all the disposals of the sick people! (The makeshift toilet WAS very gross!!!!!)
Our porter and kitchen staff!
Just think..no more porters to compete with the steps with! And no one yelling out, Porters coming¨which meant we had to quickly move out of the way! They were good value. And watching the on the trak with their sandles, gave us hope and inspiration. Today we were to rely on the sounds of only our own other footstep pounding way next to us.
Onwards we had to go, straight away after breakfast..no waiting about.
We walked down to Campsite Phuyupatamarka which was the place we meant to camp in, and had morning tea there. Very beautiful place. Breathtaking in fact. Such gorgeous waterfalls and lakes. Phuyupatamarca mans ¨place above the clouds´. We walked around the Intipata archaelogical compound in Winay Wayna.
The descent down to Winay Wyna at 2630m was a breeze. I´d found my forte! I kept thinking...see, it doesnt matter if you have a crap day, others might have a crap day some other day. And they did. Barb´s knees were giving her heaps..and David and Nada seem to lag back for whatever reason. Trish was feeling queasy today and suffering from what seemed a milder version of what David and Carly had.
Which was what? I wonder why they got sick???
All were on altitude tablets so it wasnt that..´was it all the food, the snack pack..something else they´d eaten. Weird that their partners were not affected, being that we were all in so close quarters with our partners.
By lunch time, 12.30, we had eaten our sandwiches and had looked at the museum where the orchids are being studied by botanists.
We saw lots of ruins today...all a lead up to the BIG EVENT.
And Jose pointed out other steps that were still covered by forest. How many terraces are still uncovered on these treks?
The Urubamba river was running and soumded close...
We were almost ´there´.....
At 2.30pm we made the Pergatory Climb. A steep climb.
The final steep upward climb that would bring us to the gate, Intipunku.
And there it was......through the gate, as the second couple to make it...we saw the awesome view of Machu Picchu in the distance..
IT WAS MAGNIFICANT.
A fit ending to a gruelling wet walk.
No wonder it is a wonder of the world.
After taking our victory photos..and shedding tears at the fact that ´we´d made it´ we topped up our very empty water bottles at the natural spring there...
And then took the last couple of kilometres peering over the Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Inca´s.
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE ACHIEVEMENT: From barely able to walk, due to an operation called the talonvicular coalition with bone graft, that was fraught with problems...here i am...and here is Greg, with his high blood pressure....having trekked the 43 kilometre trek from Cusco to Machu Picchu!!!!!
WE MADE IT!
AND WE WERE SORE ALL OVER AND DIDN´T CARE!!!!!!!
