Thursday, June 26, 2014: Inca Trail Day 3
Day 3 was supposed to be the longest hike but mild in inclination. It started with a steep incline, and the rest of the day was mainly a mild descend. There was much more to see in terms of ruins on Day 3. We took a lot more pictures given the easier hike and more views of ruins and valleys and longer stretch.
First ruin spotting of the day: Runkuracay
One of my favorite things about the Inca Trail hike are the constant views of steep valleys
and being among the clouds...
Cool shots of the trail we climbed...
Andrew said he took this Facebook profile for me... lol
This is at another large Incan ruin called Sayacmarca where Freddie was giving us some history lessons
We got up to Sayacmarca after climbing a narrow strip of stairs - the stones are uneven which indicates that this site was probably not of high importance
The terrain is just amazing...overlooking the Peruvian countryside
Hello! Can you see me?
My rock during this trip and my whole life
It feels so good to move so much
Soaking in every moment
View of the trail and terrain
3rd ruin sighting - Qonchamarka
In the clouds - literally!
About to enter the Inca tunnel!
The one and only and pretty cool tunnel on the hike
Hike all day
and hike all night
So many great views and photo opportunities :)
Next to us is a super steep drop. The path is quite narrow as well. If you fell, it would seriously be game over.
Lunch camp
Phuyupatamarca
some descends on Day 3...
Phuyupatamarca
Llamas grazing about
Our private photographer at Phuyupatamarca
In action...
Guinea Pig Mountain - it really looks like a guinea pig!
Stunning backdrop
Llamas!! Their poop looks like little black beans...lol
This was my favorite view on the whole trip...note the rainbow! Picture perfect.
Rainbow appeared just in time!!! :D
Profile view of Intipata
Soaking it all in...
Intipata
This llama chased Andrew when he climbed all the way up Intipata
Day 3 for sure was a long day. We were so beat by the time we got to camp. There were promises of a warm shower but when we arrived at camp, there were showers alright but the conditions were terrible. The water was not warm and the bathroom stalls were all clogged and you basically had to swim in the other people's dirty water while you showered....no thanks! I decided to suck it up for one more day. Although I really wanted to feel and be fresh for the last day when we finally reach Machu Picchu. Oh well.
Dinner on Day 3 was going to be our last dinner together as group. The chef made us a giant cake as a farewell, and we collected tips from the group to pay our porters/chefs/guide. This was not an easy process! We were quizzed on everyone's names and it was quite embarrassing as we maybe remembered 2 out of 15 people's names. After everything, both females (Annie/Ann Marie and I were chosen to dance with the porters to music). It was a bit awkward, but cute/fun nonetheless.
After dinner, we did our nightly bathroom ritual (trying to go #2) and prepared for the super early morning hike ahead of us (we agreed to wake up at 3am to wait for the gate to open!). Home stretch ahead of us!
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