Day-15, July 17, 2009

Ola!

Remember the movie Indiana Jones? Well the movie figure was modelled after "Indiana" or Hiram Bingham - an American explorer. Bingham discovered the lost city of Machu Picchu (well re-discovered as the locals certainly knew where it was) in 1911 and the Inca Trail in 1915. Bingham was led to the ruins by an 8-year-old boy named Pablo - now proclaimed as the first Peruvian guide. Remarkably 70% of what remains is original. Bingham was a historian and pottery lover - which was unfortunate on both counts. He carted away pottery from its original sites and to this day we are unsure as to the purpose of every room in the Machu Picchu community because these artifacts were removed from their context. Bingham also took some pottery for display at Yale University. However Bingham must be credited for bringing Machu Picchu to the world. We were able to wander fairly freely. In five or six years this awe-inspiring site may no longer be accessible to the public. Japanese seismologists have discovered that the ruins lie on two fault lines and fear that earthquakes and tourist traffic make its foundation fragile.

The Inca Trail is a 50 kilometre trail from Cusco to Machu Picchu. There are limits on the number of trail users - 200 hikers and 300 porters maximum are allowed to travel the trail each day. Some do the trail over 4 days. An additional trail was discovered only last week!

Our group had a daunting uphill climb for four hours followed by lunch, followed by a level path of stones followed by a steep 30 metre incline.

I was fascinated to find out why one of our group tackled the trail. 78-year old Norah Heater was one of the first to sign up for the hike. She said "I thought it would be a 6 hour walk. And I did the preparation. I walked three times a week and continued with my aquafit. I didn't know it would be as challenging as it was. My best moment was reaching the top of the Sun Gate (which is a mountain top view of Machu Picchu). My worst moment came when I arrived at the steps they call the Entrance to God. It was 52 steps straight up. I'm glad I did it. I don't feel like it was any big deal. No matter how rough I had to finish it! There was no choice."

We were inspired by Norah's achievement and raised a glass in her honour that night at a pizzeria. Not a single hiker from our group gave up! Congratulations all!!

Here is a link that you can click to a see the mission photo gallery. http://gallery.me.com/davidhillock