Monday – Oct 2, 2017 Llaqtapata to Llulluchapampa

Inca Trail Day 2

At 5am, I woke up and there was no putting off going to the bathroom any longer. The tarantula was still there, but once again disappeared into the door framing when I turned on the light.

The official wake-up call was at 5:30am, when the porters came around with tea and hot water for washing. Russell opted for another shower, and I just washed my face with the water provided by the porters. I was concerned about the tea, and sure enough I managed to spill mine in the tent on my sleeping bag and mat. It took me 5 minutes to mop that up and I got tea all over my wash-cloth. This necessitated another trip to the bathroom to wash it out.

I ran into Carlos at the bathroom and told him about the tarantula.  I made the comment mainly because he seemed interested in tarantulas, pointing out the one we found on the trail yesterday.  He said tarantulas don’t usually climb, so it probably wasn’t a tarantula. I thought he must be making that up to calm me down and I didn’t say anything, but later I wished I had. I hope he didn’t think I was dissatisfied with the condition of the washroom.  I do have a phobia about spiders, but comfort stations at campgrounds in Canada are full of them, so I’m pretty much de-sensitized to it. The first thing I do in any camp bathroom is look for spiders and then keep an eye on the ones I know about. Having toilet and shower facilities on the Inca Trail in Peru was a completely unexpected luxury and I was very pleased about it. The spider was just an unavoidable part of the package deal. At least the tarantula was very shy and hid when I went in.

It was another beautiful, sunny day, and the sun rose right over the ruins at Llactapata.

Breakfast was at 6am, and we were to leave at 7am. There was fruit and granola (my favorite), among other things for breakfast, and I asked Carlos if there was any yogurt.  He said there should have been, but the jar broke.

We formally met the porters and had introductions after breakfast. Almost all of them were from Cacchicata in Peru. Historically, the area around their mountain village was dedicated to extracting and carving the stones that were used in construction around Ollantaytambo. It is located nine miles from Ollantaytambo and has three groups of quarries: Molle Pucro; Sirkusirkuyoc, which was the largest of the three and showed evidence of having been in full operation when the Spaniards came to this area; and Cacchicata or Kantirayoq, where other kinds of extraction of minerals and precious stones was practiced. On our Sacred Valley tour, we saw first-hand the incredible work done moving the giant stones. This was evidenced by "Tired Stones" in the area, which were massive stones that were being moved from the quarries to build the enclosures, but never made it.

Our porters were subsistence farmers, supplementing their livelihood with some cash. The oldest was 68, and he was responsible for the toilet tent. The youngest was 24, and he was the head porter. The rest were in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Russell was 65, I was 64, Mike was 63, Sue-Anne was 59, and our guide, Carlos, was 27.

We each got a 2-liter portion of water, an orange and a chocolate bar and set off at about 7:30am. We were a bit late leaving.

Llactapata, also called Patallacta is one of the largest settlements in the region. The site, on a crescent-shaped bluff where the Cusichaca joins the Urubamba, is laid out in a typical Inca fashion and dates from the mid-15^th century. There are 116 buildings and five baths laid out in a regular pattern. A canal feeds the main baths but appears to have fallen into disuse shortly after the invasion of the Spanish conquistadors, implying that the site was abandoned around 1540.

Extensive terraces surround the buildings, suggesting that the site used to be primarily an agricultural station. The site probably also had a strategic function as it sits at the junction of a number of Inca paths, and was ideally placed to regulate traffic and monitor who was moving where.

When we passed through Llactapata we paused at Pulpituyoc, and Carlos told us about the historical significance of that portion of the site. This was a round tower standing close to the main ruins, whose name means ‘containing a pulpit’, and was the religious centre for the site. Here there are 11 buildings, two baths and a carefully sculpted rock enclosed by a curved wall which acted as a shrine. No one knows the exact purpose and use for the buildings but the fact that they have curved walls signifies that this was a place of great spiritual importance to the Incas.

Passing east of Patallacta and going south, the trail continued to gently gain height until we crossed over the Cusichaca, at which point we climbed steeply up the opposite slope for 10-15 minutes. The path then went back to climbing gently but steadily for the next hour, passing first beneath cliffs covered in bromeliads and then through gentler terrain. Several terraces were visible on the far side of the river.

We continued past a signboard exaggerating the steepness of the route ahead (Huayllabamba is not quite 3,100m).

From this point there were good views back down the Cusichaca valley to Mt. Veronica, which is visible as a pyramid in the middle of the valley.

We also met some local people transporting goods on horses between villages.

The path arrives at a second bridge where we crossed the Cusichaca again and then climbed sharply to a small settlement called Hatun Chaca.

We had a snack there sitting on benches under the shade of a lovely straw hut, which was very luxurious. It was also possible to purchase drinks and snacks there and use a washroom, which most of us did, more to support the locals than because we wanted anything. I bought a bottle of water and used the bathroom. There were children about in the village and a young boy was collecting the bathroom toll and providing toilet paper.  I asked Carlos if the children went to school, and he said that children from these villages would have to live away from home to go to school and school uniforms and books were very expensive, so only a few of the children would be able to go.

We continued our journey up the narrow Cusichaca Valley passing houses inhabited by settlers. 2km after Hatun Chaca we crossed another bridge, this time over the Llulluchayoc river, a tributary of the Cusichaca. The bridge was at the outskirts of the Andean community of Huayllabamba.  Huayllabamba, a sprawling place built above Inca terraces, is the largest village on the trail and it’s the last place where you can buy basic food supplies. It was a warm day, already at 25ºC according to our hiking themometers, so it was really nice to be able to buy an ice-cold Gatorade and take another short break admiring the scenery (sorry – no photos from here).

At the top of the village was a Warden’s Office where we had to register, and porters have their loads checked and weighed before they can progress. The trekking company incurs a very heavy fine or can lose their license if one of their porters is caught carrying more than 20 kilos.

When we set off, Carlos told us that it was going to be very steep from here on to our camp tonight. We were at 2,590m this morning at Chamana Camp, Huayllabamba is at 2,946m (not 3,100 as the sign said), and our campsite tonight is at 3,840m. So not counting any ups and downs, we had already climbed 356 meters, and had about 900 meters left to climb. The altitude was getting higher and higher, so the air was getting thinner.

From Huayllabamba, the cobble-stoned Inca Trail ascended steeply through ancient native forest. We followed along the Llulluchayoc river’s left-hand bank for about an hour then through a clearing and over a bridge to a small campsite called Ayapata, where we had lunch – consisting of soup and a two-course meal. We got there around 12:30pm.

We topped up our water and set off again around 1:30pm, following the left-hand bank of Quebrada Llulluchayoc river as it veered to the west. We got a first glimpse of the rare Andean cloud forest, or polylepsis woodland, growing well above the tree-line thanks to the moisture in the clouds hovering in the mountains. It was very welcome to walk in the shade of the forest. In the Polylepis forest there are 20-30 evergreen tree species that are characterized by gnarled shapes. The trees have a thick and dense laminated bark with small green and gray leaves. The Tropical Polylepis woodlands are highly endangered. The forests began disappearing during the time of the Incas, when much of its wood was used for building material and firewood. After the conquistadors brought their sheep and cattle, more forests were lost to grazing. Today native peoples still use the wood for building and heat. Loss of the forests have caused landslides threatening villages and roads, and is considered the major cause of water scarcity in many parts of the Andes. A lot of forest birds live in the Polylepis forest and there was the lovely sound of bird chatter.

We walked alongside the Quebrada river, occasionally close to the water and at other times high above it, on a series of steep steps. Along this stretch we passed a llama grazing in the forest.

We passed some more locals with horses carrying supplies, taking a break along this steep section. I was pretty exhausted at this point, and would have preferred if the locals hadn’t been there watching the ‘gringo’ struggling up the mountain. Although, they were all sitting there, so they had probably all been struggling up the mountain too.

Sue-Anne and I asked Carlos how much further it was to get to our campsite, and he said about another hour. I told Sue-Anne that if this was going to go on for another hour, I was really going to have to pace myself, and started going even slower than the crawl I had been moving at. Sue-Anne and Russell, at different times but later in the trek, told me they had doubts whether they would be able to make it all the way to the campground that day.

After about another 10 grueling minutes, we reached a point above the cloud forest, and I saw the most beautiful sight. I’m not talking about the view of Mt. Huayanay, which was breathtaking, but three blue Eureka tents. Incredulous, I asked Carlos if this was our camp, and he said yes. I was never so relieved in my life. That Carlos can be quite the practical joker. We got there at 3:10pm.

Our camp, Llulluchapampa had running water, a toilet block set on the top tier of terraces, and exceptional views down the valley.

After resting and enjoying the view for a few minutes, I forced myself to climb some more, and went up to the bathroom. The facility was not gender specific; there was a shower, but the water was freezing and there was no door or shower curtain; and, the toilets were the stand-up variety. There was also a very large trough for washing things and getting water. My legs were so sore I could barely squat, and when I pulled the chain to flush, there was a torrent of water which could almost have sufficed as a cold shower.

I realized at that moment how accommodating the toilet tent was, and developed a new appreciation for that facility being provided for us on the trek. Back at our tent, I also figured out how I could very adequately and satisfactorily have a complete bath using the two bowls of warm water the porters provided, supplemented with a few of the wet wipes we had brought. I used one bowl as the washing water and the other bowl as the rinse water. Since Russell and I had to share the two bowls and the intent was probably that one was for him and one was for me, I instructed him on the designation of the two bowls. He wasn’t really into the whole bath in a bowl concept, and never really used the water for more than to wash his face, leaving me with basically both bowls to myself.

We gathered for appetizers in the dining tent, followed by a lovely four course dinner. Carlos explained that most of the porters would be leaving us after breakfast on the fourth day, and that would be when we would distribute the tips. We talked a bit about the tips and decided we would have a meeting before dinner tomorrow to sort it all out. We were all excited and a bit apprehensive about making the trek over Dead Woman’s Pass tomorrow. It was going to be our longest and hardest day so wake-up call was at 5am and we were to leave by 6am.

Llulluchapampa campsite was exposed and apparently it can get very cold at night and the ground becomes boggy after torrential rain. But, it was perfect conditions when we were there, and it was a beautiful moonlit night. We were both exhausted and fell asleep very quickly.

We both got up during the night, and found our headlamps came in very handy finding our way to the toilet tent in the dark. Having close to a full moon was an added bonus.

Day 2 Distance: 9km; Ascent: 1250m; Descent: 100 m; Elapsed time 7.5hr (7:30am to 3:11pm); Moving Time: 5.5hr.