The Inca Trail - Day 3 (31.08.08)

The view from our tent in the morning.

The first ruin.

One of the twenty odd orchad varieties currently in bloom. I believe there are around 90 in total on the trail.

The last supper or should I say the last lunch before we were banished!

I awoke in a lot of pain. It seems yesterday’s stairs had caused havoc on my knees. I believe this is because my demented feet, with their coalition of the joints (the bones in my feet are fused together giving me little flexibility), meant that I landed flat footed on the stairs, sending the impact up to my knees. Now, not being an orthopedic surgeon, this is just a hypothesis, but my doctor back in Melbourne did seem to think I would have issues with the Inca Trail when I told her I was going. Anyway, thank goodness for the walking sticks, I now was a cripple using them.
Again we set off nice and early around 7am. This was the longest day of hiking - all uphill about nine hours worth. I was not too excited to hear that there was more uphill and lots of downhill. The trail led up to Runkurakay, a round ruin that was most likely a storage house although a did hear a different guide saying it was a watch tower. Perhaps it was both. It then passed two small lakes to the top of the second pass at 3950 metres. The views of the misty mountains and valleys along the way were breath taking. We then descended (myself in considerable pain) down to the jungle and the Incan site of Sayaqmarka, a complex perched on a small mountain spur. The third day is supposed to have spectacular scenery as you pass through the jungle of the Cloud Forest. This forest is aptly named as mist and clouds were all we could see for most of the day.

According to our guide, Sayaqmarka is the place where the wisest and oldest Inca lived. They lived there as everyone heading towards Machu Picchu would have to pass through this site and the wise elder could impart their knowledge about ceremonies and rituals to them so that they were prepared when they arrived at Machu Picchu. Now, I have no idea if this is correct as every second guide has a different story and explanation for things but that is what we were told. When we got there the Germans were just leaving and I swear their guide snorted at me.

After visiting this site we headed to our lunch spot. Well, lunch proved to be a drama of spectacular proportions. Unbeknownst to Jon and myself there was only one plate of meat at the table (normally there was always two dishes of the same thing placed at either end) and we served ourselves first. Believing there was more meat available, Jon dished ourselves up two pieces of meat each (they were very small). Well, big mistake! Apparently we were eating our guides’ piece of meat as there was only one thin slice each. The German tour guide cracked the absolute shits in German (at this stage we weren’t quite aware of what was happening). I knew something was very wrong when she started wildly flaying her arms about and refused to pass the veggies at the other end of the table. After ranting and raving she stormed out the tent and sat outside, Kristy moved to her spot. Someone then translated the situation to us. Amusingly, she had a piece of meat and I gave my extra one (there was absolutely no way I was going to eat it anymore) to our guide who didn’t even care if he had a piece or not.

After that bemusing incident we then continued on our way. The path way very narrow with a steep drop down the side. You wouldn’t want to slip and fall over the edge. Apparently there is no official record of the number of tourists who fall off the trail, plummeting to their deaths. There has to be some casualties, as I imagine it can get quite slippery in the wet season. One girl slipped in front of us, her life spared by a thicket of bamboo which broke her fall. All the porters are machines and pretty much run the whole way. The record for completing the whole trail (not carrying anything) is 3 hours and 40 minutes – phenomenal. I was very surprised at how fast tourists seem to walk it. I would have thought that we would be about average but Jon, Kristy and myself found ourselves amongst the slowest pack. Perhaps most people train for it – doing the 1000 steps twice just doesn’t cut it! Anyway, I just hobbled along my way. Eventually we came to Phuyupatamarka. This site contains a series of ceremonial baths with water running through them and naturally lots of terraces. From here we set off down millions of steps, eventually passing through another small tunnel and finally zigzagging our way to the third camp, bypassing another Inca site (we figured we didn’t need to see more terraces, plus I could barely walk by this stage).

The third campsite also smelt like a toilet. You can have hot showers here if you want to pay. The queue was so long we decided to brave a free, cold one. Well, it certainly was refreshing. At least the few seconds I splashed water on to me were. I could barely breath it was so cold. Apparently the German tour guide had a 20 minute cold shower. It figures, she was a cold hearted bitch of the highest order. At camp, we found out she had banned us from her dinner tent. The three of us were forced to eat in the cooking tent which had been divided in two, to form a small eating area for us. Talk about an over reaction! I guess this new eating arrangement ensured I didn’t eat anyone else’s food!