Maramapata and Choquequirao: Day 2 - Trek Choquequirao to Machu

Choquequirao is a very pretty set of ruins and it has a great aspect, set on a ridge that captures the sun efficiently. This real estate would be worth a fortune in the Western world with the divine views from all dwellings.
What the ! It is 4:00am, some arrieros and support staff elected to get up and chat loudly in the room next door. Dogs were also barking. If you ever do this trek, do not camp at Playa Rosalina, it is better to camp earlier or press on to the next site at Santa Rosa. As tempting as the showers and amenities are; a good nights sleep is much more important. The hard floor of the shelter or rocky ground was uncomfortable and the staff & dogs were noisy - much akin to a bunch of loud discordant bells.
At 6:00 breakfast was ready and 6:30am we were off. Upon crossing the river on a recently built bridge were were greeted by a long ascent taking 4 hours to complete our journey. From 1550m we ascended to 2850m at Marampata.
Along the way we stopped briefly at Santa Rosa. Ucco drank his regular chicha and we caucasians stuck to the Coke/Fanta, though I wish I chose the chicha afterwards as I reckon its carbohydrate resource would last longer than the aforementioned commercial drinks. Coke and Fanta, and 'Inca Kola' are the ubiquitous commercial offerings. There are little shops sprinkled all along this track, locals vying for that bit of income from the increasing numbers of trekkers. They are situated nicely at locations just where it is desirable to rest and stop.
We readied our camp and had an early lunch of soup as I am going to travel further to the ruins of Choquequirao with Ucco our arriero. Meanwhile Ben and Chris, the two English guys who were feeling rather punished with the gruelling walk as they were carrying back packs. We tried to organise mules for them but were not successful. I was feeling it without packs, so it must of have been a real test of grit with them.
Choquequirao was a further 8km set at much the same elevation at its zenith it extends well down the sides of the ridge. The agriculture terraces are visible early, so a payment booth is built roughly 4km away from the ruins. No price is on the tickets so I was warned by Jan to be aware of the price of the tickets - I left it up to  Ucco do the dealing for me. 
 

Choquequirao is very pretty. The ruins are set on nicely maintained lawns and have a great aspect being on a ridge. It captures the sun, no doubt keeping the occupants nice and warm throughout the year. There is an irrigation channel fed from the peaks to provide water to the dwellings and farm areas.

Walking round the ruins is physically demanding, especially visiting the llamas images. They are on  steeply sloped terraces. The walls are adorned with white rock pictures of llamas. Running up the sides of the llama terraces are stairs. These are so steep and long, that I did not dare to follow them all the way up in case I overbalanced. It was a more prudent decision use the tourist path.

I explored most of the area, bar the lowest terraces of Choquequirao as there was nothing left in my legs to go any further.


It was a struggle to get back to camp which of course was 8km away. At one point my right foot refused to budge and I stood in a transfixed state. n official came from the other direction and started querying me. I snapped out of my trance and said all was OK and trudged on. 14 hours awake, probably 10 hours of walking no wonder I was stuffed. 
 

Camp was in view, I crumpled on to a wooden bench and talked to the others in my supine state. Jan gave me a tipple of the local moonshine, which is very potent and fired me up sufficient to allow food consumption and crawl into bed for a very sound night's sleep.

I give thanks to Ucco, my arriero and companion for the trip to Choquequirao. He was at the camp way before me, he cooked dinner and tended to the mules.  This  guy is tough. Although he would have pitched my tent, I asked him not to as previous experience with other people pitching my tent lead to a broken pole.


Wow, what a day.
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