At Intipata we had some great views down to the Urubamba River Valley. (On the side of the mountain to the right in the photo below, you can see the short “Inca Trail” that begins near Km 104.)
Urubamba River Valley from Intipata
And, although we had descended over 3,000′ from the 3rd pass and were lower than we were at our starting point, we were still high in the mountains.
Andrew and Yvette at Intipata
The View from Intipata
But, the flag at Machu Picchu was much closer.
The Flag on Machu Picchu Mt from Intipata
Intipata has just a few buildings
One of the few buildings at Intipata
and 48 terraces.
Terraces at Intipata
I actually managed to find a wiñaywayna orchid in the lush hillside vegetation as we continued our descent to Wiñay Huayna.
Wiñaywayna Orchid near Intipata
We arrived at our Wiñay Huayna campsite around 1 p.m. Lunch was ready: tuna in mashed potatoes, quinoa soup, beef steak, cabbage slaw, lentils, rice, potatoes. Far too many carbs for an easy, half-day of hiking, and very unexciting.
Our tents were pitched in the direct sun, something that had not been a problem when the porters set up camp in the late afternoon. My deodorant and Blistex had melted and then congealed into globs. In fact, it was almost impossible to get the lids off.
Civilization restarts at Wiñay Huayna. Among the available amenities: hot showers and cold drinks, including beer. The shower with towel rental cost 10 soles; a cold coke 5. There was no line when we arrived at the showers, but by the time we finished our showers and cokes, there was.
At 3 p.m. Romero led us off to visit the ruins of Wiñay Wayna, which means “forever young.”
Wiñay Wayna
Like the other ruins we had seen along the trail, the Inca had built to take advantage of the topography. The terraces followed the contours of the mountainside, and canals from mountain springs delivered water for people and crops.
There were also some interesting inconsistencies, especially in the quality of the stonework. Parts of some walls were of the mortarless fine cut work seen in Cusco.
One of the better walls at Wiñay Wayna
But, there seemed to be no pattern to the quality of stonework.
A mixed bag of stone-working qualityA series of “baths” or fountains channeled the water between the upper and lower building sectors.
Fountains or baths linked the upper and lower sectors
Looking down the cascading fountains
The steps were just as steep!
The steps between the upper and lower sectors
The fountains still worked.
A fountain at Winay Wayna
Where the vegetation had not been removed along the hillside, I found several flowering plants,
including some very large fuschia bushes.
Fuschia
For our last dinner, our cook had obviously replenished his supplies for we had stuffed chicken breast, some mystery meat, a beet and carrot salad, potatoes, rice, and jello with pineapple.
Ever since our initial briefing in the Llama Path office, Andrew had expressed his desire to climb Huayna Picchu. However, only a set number of tickets are dispensed each day for the two starting times, 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., and a 7 a.m. start was obviously impossible. Thus, he wanted to be at Machu Picchu as early as possible to increase his chances of getting tickets for the 10 a.m. start. So, in order to be the first people through the gate, Romero suggested we get up 3:15 a.m.
While some groups gathered in the “lodge” to drink beer and celebrate with their new-found friends the successful completion of a difficult trek, we went to be bed early!