UJ #9 - Adventure in Peru
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
A MODERN PILGRIMAGE<br />
Christian Declercq<br />
Christian Declercq<br />
Left: Start<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>t. The<br />
trail starts at Piscacucho,<br />
2,750 m.a.s.l.<br />
Right: Canals at<br />
Llaqtapata, next to the<br />
trail.<br />
Christian Declercq<br />
We have had three gruell<strong>in</strong>g days of climb<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
descend<strong>in</strong>g steep stone stairways and unpaved<br />
tracks between 3,000 and 4,200 m.a.s.l. Nevertheless<br />
it has been worth it. This trail is part of an enormous<br />
network of roads amount<strong>in</strong>g to approximately<br />
50,000 kilometres, which once jo<strong>in</strong>ed the remotest<br />
parts of the cont<strong>in</strong>ent to the city of Cusco and was<br />
used to govern the empire. Information, armies and<br />
workmen could be moved quickly around this network,<br />
the central route of which is known as Qhapaq<br />
Ñan, and the resources of the different parts of<br />
their territory could be managed by the Incas.<br />
Along the route are numerous ru<strong>in</strong>ed build<strong>in</strong>gs, still<br />
<strong>in</strong> an excellent state of preservation, that were used<br />
for different purposes dur<strong>in</strong>g the Inca Empire. Many<br />
are small settlements hundreds of years old, located<br />
<strong>in</strong> hard-to-reach places on hillsides, hilltops and<br />
cliffs, which suddenly appear when the enshroud<strong>in</strong>g<br />
mist clears. The stone-paved road, complete<br />
with irregular stairways, connects them all perfectly<br />
through variations <strong>in</strong> altitude and difficult terra<strong>in</strong>.<br />
The road starts <strong>in</strong> the Urubamba Valley, 82 kilometres<br />
along the Quillabamba-Cusco railway l<strong>in</strong>e, at a<br />
place called Piscacucho. From there it runs along<br />
the left bank of the River Kusichaca as far as the<br />
Llaqtapata ru<strong>in</strong>s, which is thought to have been a<br />
sort of rest<strong>in</strong>g place for groups head<strong>in</strong>g to Machu<br />
Picchu. The Vilcanota Mounta<strong>in</strong>s rise impressively<br />
and the curve of the valley rem<strong>in</strong>ds us that thousands<br />
of years ago a glacier passed this way. The<br />
first camp site is at the village of Huayllabamba,<br />
where walkers take hot tea to prepare them for the<br />
chill of the night.<br />
The second day starts very early. In contrast to<br />
the first day, the trail now leads up a long, steep<br />
stone stairway through cloud forest <strong>in</strong>habited by<br />
humm<strong>in</strong>g birds, other birds and spectacled bears,<br />
which are difficult to spot but can appear when you<br />
least expect them.“How much further?”, is a common<br />
plea from hyperventilat<strong>in</strong>g walkers.“Not long<br />
now”, say the guides, whose sense of distance is<br />
certa<strong>in</strong>ly not like ours. The climb culm<strong>in</strong>ates at the<br />
Warmihuañusca pass, 4,200 metres above sea level,<br />
where your lungs seem smaller and your legs<br />
weaker. Sparse vegetation is evidence of a lack of<br />
oxygen, little grows except ichu, clumps of coarse<br />
grass that are an essential part of the diet of llamas<br />
and alpacas. When descend<strong>in</strong>g, you can see how<br />
the land becomes greener. Queñual woods (Polylepis)<br />
and flowers appear, together with humm<strong>in</strong>g<br />
birds and as you approach the high jungle the scent<br />
of herbs fills the air.<br />
The trail is not easy. You have to be <strong>in</strong> good physical<br />
condition, or have great strength of will. The third<br />
day <strong>in</strong>volves another climb as far as Runkuraqay