Up again pretty early we were finally introduced to our porters by our guide (who had been promising a formal introduction for the last two days!) After each porter introduced themselves with the guide translating, the guide obvioulsy thought it would funny to make us all introduce ourselves to the guides in Spanish (or maybe it was just so the guides could understand). With a few people before me it was my turn and with a bit of Spanish now under my belt it was pretty easy for me to introduce myself. Jen was half decent too but I reckon she just stole my lines! But a few people later it was poor old Jane and Lindsays go and with no Spanish whatsoever they successful copied everyone else with "mi nombre es" but then made up the rest in English. After the struggling we all posed for a big team photo....I didn`t realise at the time but looking back at the photo everyone looks quite chirpy apart from me on the end looking bored out my head!
Fun over, it was time for our third day of trekking which would be 16k, quite a lot of which was uphill but we weren`t thinking about this as on this day we would get to visit three Inka ruin sites on the way. Straight away though, we were subjected to an hours uphill climb which led us to see why Machu Pichu was located in something called "a cloud forest". The surrounding mountains were covered by clouds throughout this whole hour.
With the cloud clearing a bit and the light picking up we took a few more snaps....
...and all enjoyed a little rest together with an American guy doing his best attempt at being a tough guy with his puffed out chest, hands on hips and shades on.
That rock you could see behind the girls in the picture above sure did make an excellent resting rock!
A short while later we arrived at our first ruins of the day, Runkuracay. These small circular ruins occupy a commanding position overlooking the Pacamayo valley below. There were some ruins on the other side but we didn`t know what they were.
Excited at our first set of ruins we took some time to enjoy some silly photos and look around.
Jen and I are standing on original Inkan step thingies which they used to get between levels of their structures.
And this is the view of the other side of the ruins, where you could see the whole valley below....well you could have if it wasn`t covered in cloud!
Setting off again we got a while further and then stopped for lunch.....where I found out that Jen hates celery (didn`t know that one) but also, Jane and Lindsay hate it too. Eating our vegetable soup, it was hilarious to see the same sight with all three girls....celery picked out and propped on the side of their bowls!
And our chef had made us a cake which was awesome....who expects to be eating cake half way through a 4 day trek!
Off we set again going through an original Inkan tunnel which they had to carve out the rock as the path would otherwise come to a dead end! These guys must have had some patience and persiverance as they only had primative tools, usually a little pick and hammer made from a stone and piece of wood. I would have got bored after about 10 minutes!
This part of the trek was particularily cool as we were walking on original Inkan rocks on the trail, with the trail on the first two days having to be restored so you´re walking on newer rocks.
About 45 minutes later we arrived at the highest point of the day, Abra de Runkuracay (4,000m). I was shocked to see that there were actual portaloos up here so had to take a picture!
I was even more shocked to see the locals playing football! Footy really does get everywhere....that`t the last thing I expected to see half way through the Inka trail!
But being at the top, it was of course team photo time. Again one person missing, there were 16 of us, honest!
After a little break we were off again down a steep path for an hour. The path then went uphill for a bit again and for some unbeknown reason, I decided to push myself and ran uphill for 15 minutes. That was probably the biggest error of the whole trek, as I sat there at the little ruins for 5 minutes absolutely knackered, struggling to catch my breath! These little ruins were called "Sayacmarca" which means 'Inaccessible Town` and describes the position of the ruins perfectly, protected on three sides by sheer cliffs. No one knows the exact purpose of these ruins. It didn`t even get a photo!
Off we set again back up hill to 3,700m where we could get a view of the most impressive ruins so far Phuyupatamarca which means "town in the clouds". Access to the ruins is down a steep flight of stairs passing six 'Inca Baths' probably used for the ritual worship of water.
With the rain starting to kick in a little bit probably as we were in the cloud forest again, we all suited up into rain jackets and I was pretty upset to see that my 12.50 pound "Northface" jacket from the market decided that the zip was made of tin foil and fell apart in my hand. Still a good buy for the price, I`ll be getting that fixed in the UK!
Leaving the site via an impressive Inka staircase leading from the west side of the ruins (the far end from the baths) we descended a thousand or so steps.
Again....the view as we went was amazing, not just taking in the ruins but also the valley itself. Those Inkans had it good eh? Other than needing to trek for 4 days to get to Machu Pichu obvioulsy.
It was time for me to press myself again and this time decided to go for a 75 minute downhill run leaving the others behind. Passing porters again and even getting mistaken for a porter myself as I ran past a group of 3 trekkers who said "get to the side, a porters coming" followed by "O, its just a runner" as I passed.
Anyway, being out ahead by quite some time, I took the time to draw a little something for Jen to see when she caught up! Turns out she did see it and scribbled it out.....no fun!
On my little run there were some amazing Inka winding staircases which I opted not to run down seeing as there was a pretty steep fall if I slipped at any point.
Arriving at the last Inka ruin, I dropped my backpack and climbed the final 100 or so steps up the most impressive terraced ruins and found 2 Brits and 2 Americans up there who took a picture for me. After chatting to them for a while, they left and I was on my own for 45 minutes until the girls caught me up and joined me. For those 45 minutes though, I was on my own and chilled out at the top of a huge Inkan structure and soaked in the views of the sacred valley which is possibly one of the most rewarding moments of my life!
The view was literally incredible as the sun illuminated different parts of the valley as I sat there.
This was the view from the bottom of the ruins of which I was sat on top off, and after that 75 minute run, the last 100 steps uphill were almost impossible!
After being joined by the girls and on our way back down these steps, Jen got her hair impressively caught in some vegetation and instead of going to help, it was picture time!
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