Wednesday – Oct 4, 2017 Phuyupatamarca to Machu Picchu

Inca Trail Day 4

We both got up a bit before the wake-up call at 7am. I went for a visit to the toilet tent and Russell got all dressed and was outside the tent and ready to go when I got back, before we even got our tea and bowls of warm water. It had stopped raining, but fog was hovering over the campsite. This little fellow was outside the tent.

I washed up, dressed, and packed our duffle bags. It was a bit easier organizing the stuff in the tent for the porters to pack up today. Last night was the last night in the tent, so I didn’t need to worry about properly separating and identifying whose sleeping bag and pillow was whose. We both really enjoyed our tenting experience on the Inca Trail.  It was very cozy. It was hard to believe the tenting aspect was over, the three nights just flew by.

It dawned on me when I got out of the tent that we had just left our poles outside last night, and they weren’t there this morning. Not to worry, the porters had picked them up and put them in the dining tent because it was raining, which was much appreciated.

Russell must have gone off to the toilet block because he wasn’t in the dining tent when I arrived.  I made a comment to Mike and Sue-Anne about how slippery the rocks were, and they told me in confidence that Russell took a tumble on the rocks before dinner last night, while I was in the tent, and he had made them swear not to tell me. They both seemed to think it was a pretty nasty fall.

We had pancakes for breakfast, which were delicious.  Sue-Anne is a celiac and Peter had even made gluten free pancakes for her. I asked if they had any Canadian maple syrup to put on them, and Carlos hailed Peter who produced some honey. I don’t think they had ever heard about Canadian maple syrup. Carlos seemed a bit suspicious about why anyone would want to eat tree sap in the first place. We also had some lovely wild berry jam, which was delicious.

In deciding the on the tips yesterday, it was agreed to give the cook, the assistant cook, and the chief porter a larger tip than the rest of the porters. At breakfast, Carlos told us that we didn’t have an assistant cook, so we all agreed to give the extra we had set aside for the assistant cook to the toilet tent attendant.  

After breakfast we all gathered to say our thank you ’s and good-byes to the porters.  We would only be seeing the lunch crew again. The rest of the porters would be running down to the river to wash all the tents, sleeping bags, etc.

At the gathering, Carlos asked if anyone would like to say anything, and Mike and I said we would.  Mike said thank-you ’s on behalf of all of us, distributed the tips, and then Carlos said a few words and we started taking photos.  I was a bit disappointed Carlos didn’t recognize that I wanted to say something, but what I didn’t know – because it took me so long to get ready for dinner last night and missed the whole good-byes / tips discussion – is that the others had all agreed that Mike would make a speech on behalf of the group. Carlos was ever mindful of the time! I agree that was the practical approach, but I would have liked to express my deeply felt appreciation for all that the porters did for us myself. I told Carlos along the way later that day what I had wanted to say, and he said ‘Oh, they know that.’ I said yes, I’m sure they do, but please tell them for me anyway.

Our campsite, Phuyupatamarca (whose name translates very appropriately as ‘Cloud Level Town’) is known to deliver some of the best sunrise views in the entire Machu Picchu Sanctuary. It is also said to be the most impressive Inca site encountered along the trail so far. Unfortunately, it was late and getting dark when we arrived last night and ‘in the clouds’ this morning, but that made it even more atmospheric. 

The site is thought to date from the 15^th century. The ruins occupy a pyramid of seven terraces that hug the contours of a spur linked by a fine stairway. The long straight staircase descends between several tiers of buildings. To one side are six ‘Inca baths’ that were probably not used to wash in but rather used in conjunction with the ritual worship of water.

We set off at around 8:30am and continued our trek along a buttress, passing the ruins at Phuyupatamarca. From the lowest terrace of the ruins there was a flight of stairs leading downhill.

This was the most impressive set of steps on the entire Inca Trail. The Incas turned a 500m hillside into a staircase, etching each step out of the natural shape of the bedrock: one giant boulder had over 30 steps carved into it. The trail coiled down into dense cloud forest, one of the most delightful wooded sections on the trek.

Having stepped down the Inca staircase for around an hour we got our first glimpse of the old Treker’s Hotel, it’s tin roof visible amongst the trees. We carried on along the traditional Inca Trail route.

After another 1.5 hours, we got our first glimpse through the trees of the enormous site of Intipata that we were approaching. Intipata literally means ‘sunny slope’, and the name is particularly apt for this massed range of 48 uncovered terraces that seem to stretch on endlessly. There are three houses concealed in hollow terraces, but otherwise there are no plazas, ceremonial sites or fortifications to disturb the broad sweeping terraces, suggesting that the site was used exclusively as an agricultural outpost. However, given the broad panoramic views down into the valley to the site of Choquesuysuy and across the mountains to the lookout platform on top of Cerro Machu Picchu, the site probably had some sort of strategic importance as well. By using Intipata as mid-point, messages could have been transmitted from the valley floor all the way to Machu Picchu.

The path emerged on one of the upper terraces and we descended to the lowest terrace on an incredible stone staircase.

Machu Picchu is called ‘The Land of the Orchids’. There have been many species living for centuries in the Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary, but the orchid is the queen of all plants and living creatures, with over 300 species and many colors found here, they are a beautiful thing to observe and smell.

The Orchid is the most evolved plant in the vegetal kingdom, carrying the DNA of many other plants, and that is the reason for its adaptability. Orchids have developed between 20 and 30 thousand species of the plant. Its’ growth is compared with that of humans and dolphins.

The size of the Orchids reveals their extraordinary adaptation to the environment, ranging between 1cm to 7m. Because the size and shape of the flowers are so varied many botanists can’t tell if some Orchids are really Orchids, with their strange and weird but colorful and beautiful shapes.

Garcilaso de la Vega, was one of the first Incan’s who saw the genetic importance and potential of orchids. He said that this flower should be used as a military ribbon by the troops, and they called it Wiñay Wayna (Forever young).

The 48 terraces at Intipata were cleared by Dr. Paul Fejos during a four-month period in 1940. Despite cutting and removing 40,000 square meters of jungle, he was convinced that there was still more to be uncovered. Although historians are anxious to try and reveal as much as possible, naturalists are concerned that insensitive clearing and blunt restoration techniques have damaged prime habitat favoured by a breed of very rare orchid. To preserve the habitat and protect the flower, there are frequent rumours that the site will be closed and left uncleared, and that the jungle will simply be allowed to reclaim the ancient stones.

From the lowest terrace of Intipata, the trail led to the last campsite before Machu Picchu and the old Trekkers’ Hotel. The hotel is now closed and has been allowed to fall into disrepair, but the campsite is very busy and when we arrived it was crowded with porters. We were met by a few of our porters and stopped here for lunch. Another outstanding, delicious meal, and our last camp meal on the trek. The rest of the porters had gone to the river to wash the tents and other gear. The porters would all be returning to Ollantaytambo today.

From lunch, a short 10-minute walk took us through the cloud forest to well-conserved ruins located just below the ridge. Julio C. Tello, one of the most important archaeologists of Peru, found the Wiñay Wayna species of orchid in the region, and decided to name this site Wiñay Wayna.

You have probably noticed me saying each of the sites we have visited along the Inca trail have been the most impressive as we get closer to Machu Picchu, and once again this was the most impressive site on the Inca Trail so far. Dating from the second half of the 15^th century, the site shares characteristics with Intipata: both comprise a series of fine, curving terraces spread across a hillside and both were used to grow crops.  However, Wiñay Wayna is a much more significant and important site; the stonework here is very impressive and of a much higher quality than at Intipata.

This complex’s sweeping terraces lead round to a series of buildings with high quality masonry, a double-jam doorway and a curved structure that looks out over Mt. Veronica.  The finest examples of Inca stonework can be found in these buildings, which are constructed out of some of the largest and most perfectly fitted blocks along the Inca Trail. There are also lots of gables and exterior pegs used to secure thatched roofs. From this upper cluster a staircase descends to a second level, alongside a sequence of 10 stone baths, down which flows water from a spring that originates at Phuyupatamarca. The likelihood is that these were involved in the ritual worship of water and that the site had an important role as a ceremonial or religious centre.

From the last structure at the lowest level, there’s a trapezoidal window that frames a nearby waterfall, reinforcing the idea that the site was connected with the veneration of water.

We returned to our lunch spot and had one last visit to the toilet tent, said our thanks and goodbyes to Peter the cook and the other remaining porters, and then set off to Machu Picchu along the same trail the Incas once used.

From Wiñay Wayna it took about two hours to trek through dense cloud forest to reach Intipunku (sun gate). The trail undulates a little, then passes a couple of steep rock faces, climbing a total of about 150m.  At one point I asked Carlos if there many more steep climbs left, and he said the ‘gringo killer’ was coming up at the end. When we got there, Carlos took our poles and we had to use both our hands and our feet to climb the 14 very steep steps to get to Intipunku. This was the remains of a watchtower and fortress of the sacred city that commanded superb views south back to Intipata, Wiñay Wayna, Phuyupatamarca, and Choquesuysuy.

Intipunka is now also the name of the final section of the Incan Trail between the Sun Gate complex and the city of Machu Picchu. Note that many of the people in our picture above didn’t get there by walking the Inca Trail from Km 82 like we did, but rather by hiking about 1.6 km and climbing up 260m from Machu Picchu.

Intipunku is one of the most important archeological constructions around the Machu Picchu site. It was once the main entrance to Machu Picchu, being the primary approach from the then capitol city of Cusco. The gate likely would have been protected by Incan military. It was believed that the steps were a control gate for those who enter and exited the Sanctuary.  

 Because of its location on a ridge southeast of Machu Picchu, the rising sun would pass through the Sun Gate each year on the summer solstice. It is a wide archaeological site with windows and gates that are held up by terraces. You are also able to see the sun rise over the mountains by Machu Picchu from here, which is why some of the people at our campsite last night got up and left at 3:30am.

From Intipunka, the magnificent 15^th Century Inca citadel of Machu Picchu unfolded at our feet, sheltered under Huayna Picchu.

After some time soaking in the glorious view, we walked down to the ruins to take a bus to the village of Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes. The road made a series of switchbacks down the mountain to the village. It was very steep and narrow and took a good 30 minutes to make its way down.

We went to the main square in Aguas Calientes and Carlos took Sue Anne and Mike to their hotel while we waited.  I needed some pharmacy products and we tried to procure them while waiting, using sign language to communicate! I managed to get most of the items I was looking for.

Sue Anne, Mike, and Carlos re-appeared, and Carlos escorted us the restaurant he recommended we meet at later to have supper. He then pointed Russell and I in the direction of our hotel and went to his.

Our hotel was lovely, but quite a trek up a steep hill from the main square, and across a bridge. We still only had our camping duffle bags, so did some laundry and thankfully the room was well stocked with soap, shampoo and conditioner. It was nice to have a shower and get cleaned up a bit, but we still only had our hiking clothes and gear. Memories of the Camino.

The restaurant was very good, and it was nice to have a glass of wine and reminisce about our experiences on the trek. Sue Anne, Mike, Russell and I covered Carlos dinner.

We were to meet tomorrow morning at 7:30am to get the bus up to Machu Picchu for our tour of the Sanctuary, accompanied by our knowledgeable guide Carlos.

Russell and I had to climb back up the hill and over the bridge to our hotel after dinner.  Everyone else went down the hill to their lodging.

Day 4 Distance: 8km; Ascent: 150m; Descent: 1075 m; Elapsed time 7:30hr (8:30am to 4:00pm); Moving Time: 5hr.