Day Three

Day 3 - Hike to Wiñaywayna 

RUNKURAKAY- SAYAQMARKA- CHAKICOCHA- AOBAMBA- PHUYUPATAMARKA- INTIPATA- WIÑAYWAYNA (CAMPING) Notes from Tour Company's Website

After breakfast, around 7:00 am. The path climbs very steeply from Pacaymayo camp in a well preserved paved path –Camino Inca and takes 1 hour to reach the ruins at Runcuracay, a circular structure with a rectangular outbuildings perched on the edge of the valley, an old Inca -tambo where chaskis rested, guard post, lookout point or a ritual building, the site is best viewed from higher up the path. The second pass (3,950 m / 12,956 ft) called as well as Abra de Runcuracay, is another hour up, beyond a series of false summits and at the top of a series of steep staircases. Just before the real pass, the path winds between two tarns where Andean gulls sometimes gather. The second pass is another broad saddle, boasting excentional views, in clear weather, you can look back to the Dead Woman’s Pass and forward to a breath-taking sweep of snow-capped peaks. These include the 6,000-meters Pumasillo (Puma’s Claw) massif. From here, most of the trail is downhill. Having descended through a short tunnel the trail begins a series of tight switchbacks, dropping height quickly until it reaches a small viewpoint atop a promontory. Beyond here descend is more gradual and the path curls and coils across the slopes. To the right on the pass lies a large, algae-covered lake, whilst ahead of you Sayacmarca Inca town is visible. Time to explore, learn interesting lectures from your guides, after on we continue descending and the path bring us to Chakicocha (3,400 m / 11,000 ft) nice camp where we stop to rest and lunch.  From here after lunch the hike is exceptionally beautiful because we will pass the ruins of Phuyupatamarca, then we descend to Wiñaywayna and Intipata, and enjoy dramatic vistas of the Aobamba Valley. This stretch of the trail is of well-kept paved stone, still in great condition after many centuries. Your lungs will appreciate the fact that today’s hike is much more down than up, and significantly shorter than yesterday’s. In getting to Phuyupatamarca (the Town of the Clouds), we will pass through the first of two short, natural tunnels in the mountains. After visiting this site, we will descend about 2,000 stone steps to Wiñaywayna. If you have not had any knee problems up to this point, you may after this descent. If you have had prior knee injuries, we recommend hire a porter for your belongings, use trekking poles to relieve some of the stress on your joints. There is an additional short hike to Intipata another important Inca site with farming terraces before we get to our camp site for the night.  There will also be many more trekkers gathering here in this camp, ready for the final hike into Machu Picchu tomorrow.  Cold showers, no drinks and basic toilets.

Around 5 pm, we will arrive to our camp at Wiñaywayna (2,700 m / 8,856 ft), once set in our tents and before it gets dark we hike for 5 minutes to enjoy spectacular views and a tour around Wiñaywayna, the most preserved and biggest Inca site among the other sites on the Inca Trail.

                                                              Campsite With A View

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