The Gringo Killer and Excellent Views of…..Clouds

On the third day I was feeling really good. No symptoms of altitude sickness. In fact, I was feeling so good I decided to change into a clean pair of underwear. With no showers along the way, I felt no need to change them before now.

The third day is the longest. We were told it has the best views and the most ruins. Unfortunately we were also in the beginning of the rainy season and those views were obstructed by clouds all along the trail.

We set off from camp at 6:30am and hiked uphill for an hour. It was a grueling start to the day. Although clouds were everywhere, the view of the Andes during the first hour was incredible and it was hard to keep my eyes on the path. When we reached the first Inca ruins of the day, the round ruins of Runkuracay, everyone was ready for a break. From these ruins the view of the valley below is sweeping. Or so we were told. All we could see were clouds and fog.

After our disappointing view we continued up another 45 minutes until we reached the trail’s second highest peak. All that climbing before 9am. But for the rest of the day it was all downhill on original Inca steps: the Gringo Killers.

We came to the ruins of Sayacmarca after descending a tight Inca staircase built along the side of a cliff. The name of the ruins means “Inaccessible Town” and it was clear why. Apart from the trail that led into it on one side, it was surrounded on the other three by sheer cliffs. With two other groups arriving at the same time and rain starting to fall, walking into the ruins was tricky. But once we were inside the ruins we got a chance to rest as we listened to a lecture on different aspects of Inca engineering. Why trapezoid windows were used, which buildings used the best stone work and why others didn’t, and why the Incas built in such inaccessible places.

From there we made our way down into the cloud forest. Raincoats were pulled out of backpacks and a bit more caution was used as the rain picked up and we started descending Inca stairs. We made our way slowly down the Gringo Killer. We couldn’t see the impressive views but the cloud forest itself provided plenty to look at. One of the American girls was having a tough time with the stairs; her knees and ankles were flaring up and she was leaning heavily on her walking sticks. I slowed down to walk with her and the older guy. As she went down some of the trickier stairs, I held her backpack in case she slipped. Though it was me that that was slipping most often. Slowing down gave me a chance to take in the trail and the surroundings. The forest was full of orchids and other flowers. Those colors were a nice addition to the solid green of the Andes. Even the original Inca stairs, hundreds of them, were impressive to look at. At one point we had to pass through an Inca tunnel carved into the rock. It was nice to stroll leasurely instead of barrelling down the path.

Finally, later in the afternoon and quite wet, we found ourselves in front of a huge terraced set of ruins. Our guide walked with the three of us down through the ruins explaining that the Incas were masters of agriculture and used the terraces to grow different plants and foods and different altitudes. The site, I`m sure, would have been much more impressive were we able to see it all at once. But with all the clouds and fog we basically saw whatever portion we were standing in. Still, it was one of the biggest sites we had seen so far.

Around 4:45 we arrived at our final camp grounds. This was luxury. There were showers (okay, not luxury, but running water from a tap was nice to see again), a small "club house" and beer. Cold beer. When I discovered the showers were hot, I paid the few dollars and washed the Inca trail off me. I got dressed in the clean clothes I had been saving for the last day. I smelled good again. Or at least I didn`t smell bad. Then I found everyone in the club house downing cold beers. It only took one grande to set me straight.

Dinner was served around 7pm. Our final dinner was topped off with the porters presenting us with a cake and congratulating us for making it this far. They all came in the dining tent and sang us a traditional song. We, in turn, thanked them for all their hard work and for clapping each time we finished the day`s hike.

And then we went back for more beer. Seriously, nothing is finer than a cold beer after hiking for three days. We stayed in the club house until 10pm, the latest we had stayed up thus far. We played more card games, we got a little tipsy, we enjoyed the fact that most of us were clean again. And then, running through the rain, we went back to our tents, excited for what was to come the next morning: Machu Picchu.