Trekking to the Lost City - Part Two (Inca Trail, Peru) - Day 3 is that the longest trekking day (around sixteen kilometres or 10 miles) however it's mainly downhill over uneven ground (which is surprisingly onerous on sore legs) and in some ways is that the main highlight of the trek (apart from Machu Picchu itself). The path passes some majestic Incan ruins.
Sayaqmarka (“Inaccessible Town”) perches on atiny low hilltop, formidably protected with cliffs on 3 sides and a slender stairway on the fourth. It options variety of semi-circular buildings, rooms and squares on completely different levels connected with slender ways, ritual baths, flat open areas and canals. Despite the misty morning our cluster incurred, you'll decipher the remainder space it should have provided Incans travelling to Machu Picchu and therefore the strategic oversight it offered over this key pathway. a number of the unequalled precision of the Incan stonework is featured, designed while not mortar, however with such good joins that you simply can’t slide a pocketknife into the gap.
Trekking follows the first Incan path down into the valley and up to the third and gentlest of the 3 passes. It passes through an Incan tunnel with swish walls and carved steps – an improbable engineering feat given the restricted tools offered at the time.
Phuyupatamarca includes a terraced space for crops and 6 Incan baths most likely related to spiritual rituals. The trekking from here on is on the first Incan staircase and follows over a thousand uneven stone stairs (downwards) through a cloud forest of lichen-strewn trees, orchids and ferns in an exceedingly cool refreshing atmosphere.
Late within the day and close to the ultimate camp website, there's a shocking terraced agricultural space in conjunction with a residential advanced at Wiñay Wayna (lead photo and below), that roughly interprets to forever young. A series of fountains run from the highest to all-time low of the slope in an exceedingly good alignment with the terraces. The Urubamba River that we tend to crossed at the beginning of day one continues to flow below.
Day Four tends to start early for a short walk (about an hour and a half) to the Sun Gate (Intipunku) which oversees the entire Machu Picchu site. As if uplifted by a mystical power, people who could barely take another step over the previous two days approach a sprint as the trekkers herd towards the Sun Gate at dawn. Surrounded by magnificent scenery, the peaceful walking of the previous three days is lost in this final undignified crowded surge towards the Incan sanctuary.
The crowd awaits the sunrise. Everyone speaks in excited but hushed tones and there is a huge sense of satisfaction at completing this holy grail of trekking. The hardship of walking the last three days had all been worth it. A few alpaca and llama contentedly graze below, familiar with the daily pre-dawn commotion. The mountain saddle which Machu Picchu is built upon tends to be misty but when the foggy curtains lifts, the truly awe-inspiring and haunting travel wonder of the “lost city” of the Inca unveils before your very eyes.
