The Alternative Trail to Macchu Picchu (photos)

Let it be known that on the second day of the fifth month of the sixth year of the third millenium L Klausen and N Hirst dominated Macchu and Huayna Picchu. And it was told as follows...

The last website post briefly mentioned what we were anticipating to be our alternative trail to Macchu Picchu. It was similar to what we expected. The 70km downhill mountain bike was actually 115km of biking rivalling the worlds most dangerous road for danger, speed and incredible cliff drops. Camping night one was a relatively comfortable experience despite nearly being mauled by the seemingly rabid local dogs every time we walked down the street.

Day two was a six hour hike through more breathtaking scenery (we are actually starting to tire of the breathtaking stuff as there isn't much more breath to be taken away and we probably aren't as awe struck as we would/should be). With a two hour stopover in some hot springs to relax the muscles before the final push through to the small village of Santa Teresa. One of the best things about this alternative trail was the lack of a tourist presence, stopping in the small villages and eating lunch with the inhabitants was a highlight.

The plan for day three was to create our own track up a mountain. This was expected to take 2 hours of steep climb while hacking at the bushes with a machete and using cigarettes to smoke out the venomous snakes (so we were told). But after some consultation with a man who was so drunk he had wet himself our guide decided that the climb would take closer to 6 hours before we reached the top of the mountain and we aborted the plan. So day three ended up being quite a relaxed affair with a shower in some freezing waterfalls before a two hour hike to the hydroelectric plant and train station for the final shunt into Aguas Calientes (the small town at the foot of the final walk up to Macchu Picchu). The guide who was allocated to show us around Macchu Picchu the following morning met us that night and advised that we should commence the walk up the stone stairway around 5am so that we could be at the top for sunrise around 7am and meet him there for a guided tour.

The Big day...

After our group was dressed and breakfasted we were on the track by around 5:45 and had reached the foot of the Incan laid stairs up to Macchu Picchu. At this point Lucas and I decided to up the tempo a bit and managed to storm up the steps in 25 minutes. It was an aerobically challenging climb but the lack of altitude in comparison to where we had been made it a lot easier than it could have been. After a wander around and a look at the sunrise we decided it was time to climb Huayna Picchu (the peak overlooking Macchu Picchu) and hoped that we might be the first to the top. As we reached the foot of the climb we noticed a ant trail of Japanese tourists already over half way up the recommended 1 hour climb, so again we put the foot to the floor and literally ran the whole way up in around 15 minutes - passing the huffing and puffing climbers as fast as we could we thought that we had made it to the top first, but to our horror and dismay there was a lone Japanese man sitting on the top, so we collapsed at the top and admired the view until the peak was like a rock in the ocean covered in seagulls (aka tourists).

By the time we arrived back down at Macchu Picchu we were totally and utterly exhausted and decided that our quads couldn't face the walk back down. The bus back down from Macchu Picchu to Aguas Calientes cost $7 US, far above our price range, so we ran the whole way down, waiting for the bus each time the track and the road crossed and then dashing down to the next crossing to meet it again. For me this was the highlight of Macchu Picchu, how often do you get a chance to race a bus down one of the worlds most famous steps!

Neither of us found Macchu Picchu to be that breathtaking. The bus loads of tourists and the ease with which the place can be accessed really discounted the experience for us. After feeling the isolation and wonder of places like the Salar de Uyuni and the peak of Huayni Potosi, this place felt more like a theme park where American tourists can wander around eating Doritos and beer (literally).

Back in Cusco now and catching the overnight bus to Lima tomorrow. Am STARVING!! A great local market around the corner I think I'll go and patronise now.