THE INCA TRAIL AND MACCU PICHU (PERU)

As one of the top 3 locations I visited during my trip around South America, not only was my 4 day tour of the Inca trail and Maccu Pichu absolutely incredible, my base for my time spent around the area, Cuzco, was a really cool town, catering for absolutely every tourist's needs.

Before travelling to Cuzco I travelled from Copacabanna in Bolivia to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city. Here I managed to shake of the stomach bug problems I had developed in Bolivia with the help of a family in which a friend of mine had stayed with whilst on exchange the previous year. Without actually doing a hell of a lot in Arequipa, I still enjoyed my brief visit and managed to relax a little, attend to domestic duties such as washing and having my hair cut and also spending time with the family. However, I also had a good look around the city centre, taking in a number of the more impressive Catherdals and Plazas, whilst also getting some good views of the centrepiece attraction, the nearby 'El Misti' volcano, which I found very impressive.

After 3 days in Arequipa I took a half hour flight to Cusco where straight away it became apparent that my ever need was going to be catered for by the literally thousands of people trying to cash in on the tourist dollars flowing into the city. After being screwed by a taxi driver who apparently 'didn't have change'... I checked into a hostel and had a look around the city. The architecture of the many Cathedrals and other cultural buildings was absolutely incredible and I spent countless hours during my stay in the city, just sitting in the main square, watching people go by and admiring the buildings all around.

Cuzco however was almost certainly the city in which I had the most fun during my trip (narrowly edging out Argentine cities such as Buenos Aires and Rosario). The nightlife in Cuzco was fantastic, with every club offering a free drink between the hours of 9pm and 12pm, meaning it was possible to get absolutely belted by quickly moving between the 20 or so bars/clubs in the city before finally ending up at 'Mama Africa's' or something of the like. I quickly discover the primary objective for the night was to smash a drink down and then head off to the next pub, trying to avoid the hordes of locals trying to get you to go to their pub, sell you useless objects or buy a meal in their restaurant. One thing I never really understood whilst in the city was the countless people trying to sell information (how does one sell information ?). Nonetheless I had a great time wining and dining in Cuzco and met some very friendly locals and other travellers along the way.

Unfortunately my almost constant state of being hungover meant that perhaps I didn't appreciate some of the Tihuanaco ruins outisde Cuzco and in the Sacred Valley as much as I would have in a less sleep deprived state. However, compared with Maccu Pichu these were really quite ordinary I thought so perhaps I didn't miss out on so much. Nonetheless the tours I took were quite interesting and enabled me to learn more about the Tihuanaco culture, the construction of the various important sites and the religous influence imposed by the spanish conquistadors as they moved across Peru. Looking around some of the larger cathedrals in the city highlighted the importance of Christianity to the Peruvian people as all were adorned with lavish decoration, gold leafed wooden sculptures and many equisite paintings, a number with their own unique touch (such as a guinea pig being served up for Jesus and his disciples in the scene of the last supper.)

Still, the highlight of my visit to the region really was my 4 day tour of the Inca trail and finally Maccu Pichu. Despite Maccu Pichu being an obvious 'icing on the cake', the scenery along the trail was really impressive and I took literally hundreds of photos across the 4 days. Day 1 took quite a while to get started and after the usual buggerising about trying to pick up guides, porters and tourists we took a bus from Cuzco part of the way along the Sacred Valley before disembarking and splitting into our different groups. In my group there were only 5 others, 2 Swedes, 2 Americans and an old guy from Holland. After a few hours easy walking and a brief stop for lunch, we set up camp and enjoyed a nice meal before getting an early night ready for a big day of walking the next day.

Day 2 really was just a hard slog uphill, as we climbed from about 2500m to almost 4300m, finally rising over the 'Dead Womans' pass and then descending a few hundred metres to our camp for that night. I didn't think the day's hiking was particularly difficult, although at the higher altitudes, the lack of available oxygen certainly meant my progress was slowed somewhat. Still, I certainly did not appreciate little princesses walking past carrying absolutely nothing (they had hired porters to carry their things) and saying that walk really was quite easy... Quite surprisingly, the 70 year old dutch man in our group turned out to be the fittest member of everyone and reached the summit before all the other groups, including the porters. (I later discovered that he ran 20 kilometres every day and had been for the past 50 years !). After another great lunch, I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon, the majority of which I slept away preparing for another long day.

On the 3rd day we traversed some undulating terrain, not rising quite as high as on the previous day, but passing over 2 rises a little higher than 4000m. On this day we passed a number of outposts along the trail, all of which were quite interesting. Our guide was very informative and provided good descriptions of the history surrounding each site as well as the Quetchua culture.

On the last day of the tour we awoke early and made our way to the sun gate, where unfortunately we found the valley in Maccu Pichu was situated, to be completely covered in mist and fog, making it impossible to see a thing. However, as we descended to the sacred site, the fog began to lift, giving us some great views of the ancient city. For the rest of the day I wandered around Maccu Pichu, taking in as much as I could. The architectural precision of the lost city was absolutely amazing and I found it difficult to comprehend just how such large stones had been positioned and shaped using only the most primitive of technologies. I particularly enjoyed just sitting in a quiet area of the city, taking in its grandeur and trying to comprehend its scale. To gain a 'birds eye' view of Maccu Pichu I also claimed the nearby Huyanapichu, the trail being almost vertical meaning I was sweating my bollocks off at the summit.

After a few hours I left Maccu Pichu, knowing that I had witnessed something trully breathtaking, something that I was likely to make a return visit to sometime in the future.

Photo 1: Photo of 'Volcan Misti' with the city of Arequipa in the foreground.
Photo 2: Part of the Cathedral in Arequipa.
Photo 3: City hall in Cuzco.
Photos 4&5: Various archaeological sites around Cuzco and in the Sacred Valley.
Photo 6: Peaceful and tranquil lunch stop on day 1 of the Inca trail.
Photos 7&8: Views from 'Dead Woman's pass' on the Inca trail day 2.
Photos 9-13: Floral blooms along the Inca trail and other sites around Cuzco.
Photos 14&15: Outposts and checkpoints along the Inca trail.
Photo 16: View of the trail.
Photos 17-22: Maccu Pichu.
Photo 23: Peruvian children in local dress.