We spent the night at the campsite just before the second pass and Inca site of Runkurakay which is at 3,800 meters. I did not sleep well that night. I always have a bit of difficulty sleeping at high altitude levels and adding the cold, rain and very hard surface meant that I probably got about 2 hours sleep in total. I couldn't sleep anyway so I was ready for the early start at 5am and was anxious to get going.
The day proved to be quite enjoyable despite the rain and mist. For most of the day we were on the original Inca trail which is a wide rock path hugging the edge of the mountains. We slowly made our way up to the second pass and down again on the other side. We were making good time so we were able to stop and explore the Inca sites on the way. Also a good excuse to take the pack off for a few minutes and rest our now weary muscles. In the photos below, you'll notice that Jens has a very large pack. Well, I have to admit that I was struggling to carry my sleeping bag and mat so on the second day of our trek, he just took it together with his. He really is my hero!
There were many incredible vistas, a couple of tunnels in the natural rock formation to go through and beautiful flora with many wild orchids. There isn't a great deal of wildlife but we saw lots of birds including hummingbirds and parrots and of course there were llamas grazing in the meadows. We didn't see the famous spectacled bear. Apparently sightings of this animal are quite rare, but we were assured that they still do exist.
Today our porters had to make camp twice. Once for lunch which was served at 11am due to our very early start, and then again for dinner. When we crossed the third pass which was at 3,680 meters, it was a 920 meters downhill trek on steep stone steps to get to our resting spot for the night. As we were slowly picking our way down with our walking sticks to support us, our porters would come running past, literally jumping from stone to stone.
We passed four more Inca sites along the way and reached our last campsite around 5pm. The excitement of knowing that we were just a few kilometers from Machu Picchu kept the energy levels up. That night, we had an amazing dinner that you could expect in any fine restaurant in Cusco, complete with a beautifully decorated cake. All of this is cooked on a small propane stove in what is a very basic environment.
We were getting up the next morning at 3am so we could reach the Sun Gate in good time. After saying farewell to our porters and our chef we were happy to crawl into our tents for an early night and let them get started with the clearing up. We found out there was another reason for us to stay at the campsite closest to the Sun Gate. The train that the porters have to catch arrives at 5:40 am. From the campsite it is a steep downhill stretch which we would do in about 3 or 4 hours. They, however, have to pack up the camp and make it down there in less than two.
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