Day 4 Inca Trail Trek

Today was the last day of their 4-day trek. After three days of no-tech tranquility or torture (depending upon how one is wired) they will pass through lower elevation mountain passes covering 15 kilometers. The trekkers will break camp and part ways with the porters and cooks who have tended to them on their journey to this point.

Four hours into their morning walk they will arrive to Llactapata, which will be there last stop before arriving into Machu Pichhu. Llactapata otherwise known as “The Gate of the Sun,” is considered an engineering phenomenon. Anthropologist theorize that the Incans laid out their buildings in relation to the celestial paths of the sun and stars.

On the morning of the June solstice — the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the holiest dates on the Incan calendar —Llactapata aligns perfectly with the Sun Temple at Machu Picchu and the exact spot on the horizon where the sun rises. The Incas were superb engineers; such an invisible axis couldn’t have been a coincidence.

From the gate of the Sun they will descend down into the fabled Machu Picchu and hear the history of one of the Seven Wonders of the World by their guide Rony It is believed that Machu Picchu was built in the mid-1400s as an estate for the greatest Incan emperor, Pachacutec and not discovered until the early 1900’s.

Tonight they celebrated the completion of their journey with a hot shower, a Pisco Sour, (traditional Peruvian drink) a team dinner and a good night’s rest before heading back to Cusco tomorrow to participate as volunteers in the Smile Network mission beginning on Saturday.

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