Trekking days 4 & 5: Train Tracks, Hot Springs, and Machu Picchu

Ok, time to wrap up this trekking yarn. If there ever was anyone other than myself that found it interesting, surely there isn't now. So, we had another early start on day 4 in order to get a good chunk of the morning's ascent behind us before the sun came round the mountain to roast our hides. Breakfast had an unusual twist: an orange cake that the cook had baken in the shed the previous evening. I kid you not. We left La Playa about 7am, for a "gradual up", along an old Inca trail, according to our guide Edwin. The lying bolloux. It was a steep 700m ascent followed by the corresponding descent that took 6 hours all told and knocked the hell out of us. We did get to stop at the ruins of an old Inca rest house from which we could see Machu Picchu on the other side of the valley. The scenery would knock the head off you, it was hard to take it all in sometimes, but it was great to get a glimpse of the goal. Here´s Edwin, a more pleasant, easy-going, and happy chap you'd be hard-pressed to find.

Once we hit the valley floor and crossed the Urubamba river, we slogged along for another while in the hammering sun until we reached an odd little place called Hidroelectrica. Beside a Hydroelectric plant, a collection of shacks selling snacks and drinks and a little restaurant are all huddled around the tail end of a railway line. Here we lunched, and bid adios to our cook Elias and his assistant Wilbur (we'd invited them to eat with us the previous evening, but they were too shy). The plan then was to get the train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of Machu Picchu mountain. But, feeling that this would rob us of some of our sense of achievement, we took off walking along the train tracks for what ended up being a cracking last leg of the trek, with the tracks snaking along at the feet of the densely forested peaks in the evening sun. Pretty bloody idyllic, let me tell you (if you hadn't already guessed from the flowery language).

On our triumphal arrival in Aguas Calientes, we discovered we'd covered over 80km in the 4 days, and 30km on day 4 alone. The only possible response to this news was to head straight to the thermal springs that give the town its name for a good soak with the locals. Sitting there in the steamy sulphurous waters looking up at the stars and the silhouttes of the surrounding peaks, I definitely felt like I was on my holidays.

The following day's visit to Machu Picchu felt like an extra bonus prize after the trek. We got there about 6am, and had a 4 and a half hour tour that felt like an hour. All the while the cloud was rising from the valley and enveloping the ancient city which straddles two mountain peaks (an eerie sight that added more than a hint of magic to the morning), and by 10ish it was lashing rain. Thoroughly satisfied and exhausted, we headed back to Aguas Calientes for the train/car back to Cusco, where a hot shower, a plate of lomo saltado, and a pisco sour was all that could be squeezed in before collapsing into bed for the sleep of kings.

Such a great few days, definitely the highlight of the trip so far. It was really nice that we hardly saw any other groups along the way and didn't have to share campsites with a couple of hundred other people like on the Inca Trail, and we had a good little gang. Along the way we got to pick and eat coffee beans, and also picked a banana (which has yet to ripen). We also got to see two of the three sacred animals of the Quechuans, the condor and the snake. All we were missing in the puma, which they particularly revere, because it can operate in the mountains, jungle, and on the coast. Now that's my kind of big cat. In the only (tiny) mishap, I managed to snag a thorny twig on my ear and rip it clean off (the twig, that is, which had to be pulled off my ear). This event caused me to unintentionally use some choice language which may or may not have offended some members of the group.

One legacy of the trip is an idea for a TV show, a follow-up to the Canadian kids show from the 80's called "Danger Bay". Our mountain lavatory experiences inspired the title "Danger Baño", with the theme tune going something like "oh-oh, necessito el baño". (I'm sure the translation is obvious). I think it could be a winner.