Finally....

After many months in South America I finally got to one of the main reasons I wanted to come to South America, just to wander around the Andes. Having not booked the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu, which is now booked out till November, we were looking for alternative treks. We decided upon a trek to an alternate Incan city called Choquequirao (say that 3 times fast). A much less visited city. So much so, that not all tour agencies offer treks there, and the one's that do normally pool you all together anyway.

After the standard running around, looking for a cook, etc....we left Cusco at 5.30am and drove for about 4 hours to Cachora. We (the guide) then rounded up some horses, horsemen and a cook and we were off. A group of 4 tourists, one guide, a cook, two horsemen and 3 horses. The day starts pretty easy with 11km of flat ground. But then the descent started. 8kms in 2 hours of some steep downhill to our campsite. Knees hurting and toes pushing through the end of our shoes we eventually make it to our spectacular campsite. The saddle in the middle top is where we would be heading to the next day, little to our knowledge.

Some cool, big asparragas (??) looking vegetation along the way (during the flat bit).

The second day was the painful day. By 5.30am we were walking, a quick half hour downhill and then the ascent. 4.5 hours up. About 7km of zig-zagging trails up some of the steepest slopes I've seen. I think we climbed 1500m vertically.

The green patch was our campsite the previous night. We had climbed down to the river and back up again by about 7am. Some exhausted faces after the ascent, but now with the ruins on pretty much the same level (between our heads). We had about 2.5hrs rest along with some lunch and then headed off for the final 4kms to Choquequirao. Below shows us getting closer, with the big agricultural terraces below the city.

Finally we made it by about 2pm. Walking along the terraces, while approaching the city.

An overall impression.

Close ups. Local archaelologists playing football on the sacred site.

The Incans were not great record keepers to so not a lot is known about this site or many others. It was thought to be built about 1200 and lasted through to the 1400-1500's. It was an administrative city as oppossed to the possibly religous Machu Pichu. It is thought to be much larger than MP but has not been excavated or restored to the same extent. Mainly due to its remote location. The best part was there were only 2 other tourists up there all afternoon. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. This is in complete contrast to Machu Pichu as you will see later.

Our group.Stairs to the unknown. Probably more terracing.

We headed up again the next morning. Another 5am start. This time the ruins were covered in cloud and rain and had a whole new feel. We headed down the other side of the city to some terraces that had stone Llamas incorporated in the wall. This is a great example of the Incans foresight in their construction to include such features. Probably some offering to Pacha Mama (Mother Earth).

We then headed home along the same trail. It was 4 days in total with over 64kms covered. A hard trail but well worth it.