Inca Trail

Sunday 10th April 1988

The storm continued unabated for most of the night, and although our hired tent was not water-tight, most of the invading water ran under Eddie’s sleeping mat and my plastic sheet, to accumulate in the lowest corner, on Eddie’s side of the tent.

Thus, we were not too wet with only the end of Eddie’s sleeping bag getting soaked. We had muesli with hot milk for breakfast and watched the activity in the Spanish film crew’s camp while the sun dried out our tent.

A cow tried to eat our lighter while we were cooking breakfast, but Eddie chased the cow and retrieved it.

I made up a litre of maracuya juice from “Tang” powder to stay hydrated for the morning ahead. Maracuya is also called yellow passion fruit. It tasted very much like peach, although the picture on the packet looked like some sort of pomegranate.

Porters from the Spanish film camp dressed in red ponchos, red hats and rubber sandals came up to gawp at us. They were especially fascinated by our Calor Gaz camping stove.

At 09:00 hrs. we set off up the slope to the first Inca ruin. This was Runkuraqay, ruins which lie on the southern slope of the mountain Runkuraqay near the Runkuraqay pass. It seemed to be a circular lookout post with a strategic position at the base of the second pass and superb views of the vallies to the southeast.

We caught up with one of the Spanish team, a miserable looking woman in a pink track suit. She gave us some coca leaves, but they didn’t seem to have much effect on us, especially without the alkali banana ash that you were supposed to chew with it.

We passed a couple of small lakes and over the second pass. We marched on down the other side fuelled by orange and lemon boiled sweets. After rounding another lake, we saw the more spectacular ruins of Sayaqmarka.

Sayacmarka is an Inca ruin that is believed to be a village as well as a sacred area, dedicated to the mountains. Sayacmarka means 'place you can't enter/inaccessible. The film crew porters, carrying phenomenal loads clearly didn’t believe this and practically ran past us and beat us to the steps which led steeply up to the ruined complex.

We stopped to make coffee in the main courtyard and took in the panoramic view before it rapidly clouded over. We clambered about on the sturdy stone walls overlooking the forested slopes of the valley. There were the remains of many rooms and ramparts with isosceles trapezoid-shaped windows. This is like a square, but the bottom edge is longer than the top. Like a triangle with a flat top.

Flowers grew amongst the stones and a mass of fluorescent emerald beetles crawled along the path by the entry stairs. The local porters lolled around while the film crew filmed a glamourous lady with a dreamy look on her face as she came up the steps into the ruins.

We rested in a large horseshoe-shaped room before continuing along the path. We crossed the valley through the forest on a well-constructed Inca paved road and went up the other side passing a huge rush-filled dry lake and over the top into the next vale.

The going was easy and the views spectacular. We passed through a crude tunnel and stopped to rest on a knoll overlooking a spot where about ten metres of the path had fallen down the precipitous mountainside. I munched peanuts while Eddie, who was not feeling too well, dozed on his backpack.

We went over another watershed ridge and came to the ruins at Phuyupatamarka which are believed to be a Llacta or administrative centre for the Incas. Phuyupatamarka or Phuyupatamarca is in the Urubamba Valley. Due to its altitude of roughly 3,200 metres above sea level, it is known as "La Ciudad entre la Niebla" ("The City Above the Clouds").

It contains Inca ruins, with five small stone baths which during the wet season contain constant fresh running water. The well-preserved set of buildings were built on descending terraces going down the hillside. A line of square units on one side was the remains of the Inca system of baths, each one overflowing into the square basin of the next.

Again, it clouded over and we settled down in a horseshoe shaped room out of sight of the Spanish film crew who were erecting tents at the base of the ruin complex. Eddie collapsed on his bedroll, weak and exhausted, while I cooked up a lumpy brew of pasta and mushroom soup.

It started to rain which got steadily heavier as we drank a strong brew of mate de coca (coca leaf tea) and began to descend the grey stone steps to Wiñay Wayna. This is in a cloud forest, with mist rolling in and out, a lush deep-green on steep mountain slopes, and a steady waterfall casually reclining in the distance.

Water cascaded down the steep irregular stairs and we walked miserably down between the trees. Halfway down we found a cave which had been improved by some Inca builders and we sat and rested in shelter for a while.

It was a nice place and we would probably have stayed there for the night but there was no water and it reeked of rancid stale milk. We continued along the trail which deteriorated into a muddy track through jungle and down to Wiñay Wayna via a treacherous slippery channel which swept in wide hair-pinned curves across the side of the hill. It was dark by the time we reached the Tourist Centre.

We were informed by our guidebook that the hike to the ruins of Wiñay Wayna is like a hike through time itself. Something about it just feels eternal. Named for the delicate orchids that dot the landscape, the name means “forever young” in the native Andean tongue of Quechua—a name perfectly suited to such an ageless site.

The ruins date to the mid-15th century, constructed during the days of the powerful Incan Empire. They are one of the stops along the Inca Trail, and the exact purpose of the site is tough to say. It may have been a spiritual or religious destination, or just a place for elders or royalty to rest before arriving at the end of the 26-mile journey to Machu Picchu.

The ruins consist of upper and lower collections of Incan architecture, connected by stone steps that are laid out in graceful curves. The upper structures have a unique, circular building, while below there is a collection of linear parapets with sharp peaks, jagged walls, and massive stone slabs with little space between them. The precarious staircase between the two levels hugs a long line of ancient fountains, often referred to as baths.

In addition to the architectural structures, the area is surrounded by an agricultural complex, terraced with extraordinary masonry out of local fieldstones.

Perhaps most remarkable about the site is how limited the Inca were in terms of the available construction tools. With nothing more than implements made from bronze or stone, the amount of human labour required for such a massive production is almost impossible to imagine.

At the Tourist Centre we met the people who had camped at the same place as us on the previous night but had set off at 06:00 hrs. this morning. It cost us 60 I/- to sleep on the floor in the canteen, which we did gladly as the rain clouds were gathering above.

We had a couple of beers and chicken’n’chips, although Eddie was feeling sick and couldn’t eat his food. He decided to pay the 300 I/- for a proper bed, and hopefully some decent sleep. I slept on the floor at the other side of the canteen to the other twelve or so trekkers in order to spare them from my snores and the nauseating smell from my sodden socks and trainers.