Part 1 covered reaching the trailhead, while part 2 was the hike until “the gateway to Choquequirao”, Marampata. But finally, after 2 days, the main event was here: the ruins of Choquequirao.
Day 2
Once again, to make the most of the morning, we started early: this time, at 6 am. It was still dark. We had a humongous breakfast before heading out. Quite a luxury, compared to the previous morning! At first I felt bad that our host would need to wake up at an ungodly hour to prepare breakfast just for us. But there was another small group (with guide) staying at the same place that night, and in fact, were up even before us. They appeared to be heading back that day.
Lest you think the day ahead was leisurely: Choquequirao was still 4 kms, or an hour and a half’s hike away from Marampata. And the ruins themselves cover an area of 6 km2, with many of the structures sprinkled up and down various hills, at elevation changes of 150-500m.
When we reached the site at 7.30 am, we were the only ones there. Not even the ticket booth was open. Walking through the crisply mown lawns, when the first couple of structures peeped out through the dense morning fog, I felt awestruck: after all that effort, this, then, was finally it, this is what it was all for.
The experience was made extra magical because of the serenity, peace, and solitude that morning. The zero visibility fog reminded me of winters in Delhi.
Little by little, other visitors arrived, with guides in tow. Yet the total never exceeded 50.
Compare that to an average of 2500 visitors per day, to Machu Picchu. Compare the empty, rickety entrance, to long lines waiting for their timed entry slot. Compare our free-style explorations, to cordoned-off circuits, each ticket specifying your entry points, exit points, and the route you can take within the citadel. This is necessary at Machu Picchu, for sustainable tourism and to prevent over-crowding. But I also appreciate that at Choquequirao it didn’t need to come to that.
There are plans to build a cable car that would open up the ruins to more visitors and bring in revenue for the Apurímac regional government. It’s not clear how long that will take; plans and proposals have been floated since 2013 but there’s nothing concrete yet. Whenever that happens, I expect Choquequirao will look a whole lot different.
However, I was beginning to see why all the other hikers had brought guides with them: without an expert who knew the place and the history, all we were seeing were rocks: stacked rocks, standing rocks, eroded rocks, llama rocks, and rocks with a view. Luckily, we ran into Renzo and his group again and I managed to glean a few stray facts.
Choquequirao is architecturally similar to Machu Picchu, and comprises of 12 sectors. Based on the construction style and design, we know that this settlement had some kind of a ceremonial function: many of the ruins are that of temples, priest residences, ceremonial platforms, structures to mark special days (for example, solstices), terraces for farming, and warehouses.
We spent the entire morning at the site. The Choquequirao complex is quite vast, and one could easily spend multiple days (perhaps with a guide), but we had to start our hike back home.
After another delicious meal at Marampata, we departed around 2 pm, with the aim of reaching Chiquisca, where we’d stopped for breakfast the first day. This would split our climb across two days – and we knew we needed it, because on that side of the canyon, the plants are mere shrubs, and there would be zero respite from the sun. The last uphill slog would be early the next morning, hopefully before the day got too warm.
We reached our destination around 5.30 pm, and my legs were feeling the hike. The section from Marampata to the river is short, at 5 kms, but goes down 1450 m and maintains a fairly constant grade of steepness the whole way. Along the way, we ran into muleteers who kept asking me if I needed a ride. Maybe the exhaustion and pain showed on my face…
There were two options for accommodation at Chiquisca; we went with the folks we’d had breakfast from the first day. While waiting for dinner, we chatted with the two siblings who seemed to be running the place. They told me they thought I was a guide until they heard me speak English. Over a couple of beers, I learned that they were big fans of Indian films. Bollywood’s reach had somehow permeated even this tiny settlement. In a place that’s not even connected by road, it felt surreal to connect with them over a shared love of Shah Rukh Khan.
Day 3
‘Twas the last day, and we woke up feeling completely destroyed: our legs and knees were sore and we hadn’t slept well thanks to the brutal combination of heat and bugs. The soreness seemed to have sunk in deep overnight, into every bone and muscle.
Getting out of bed that morning was difficult.
This part of the hike was mentally very tough: the knowledge that we’d done what we’d come for, that we’d already been pushing ourselves very hard, that our legs were screaming, and yet we still had about 1000 m to climb before we were really done.
We started later than we intended to (~8 am) and instantly regretted it. It was the first clear morning we’d had during that trip, and we were treated to sweeping views of the canyon, and glacier-clad mountains of the Vilcabamba range in the distance. But I was having a hard time appreciating it, with the sun beating down on us relentlessly.
The last section is a series of switchbacks, and I found myself stopping for a break after every couple of them. There was no shade on that stretch, so pauses just meant prolonging the agony.
Three and a half hours later, we dragged ourselves to the top.
Back at Capuliyoc, Choquequirao wasi was happy to call us a taxi; the alternative would have been to wait for other hikers to arrive and take their taxi back to Ramal de Cachora. While we waited, we feasted on a huge plate of chaufa again, and found two other hikers to share the ride with; they had just hiked from Marampata to Capuliyoc in one go.
Two colectivos and many hours later, we found ourselves back in Cusco. Raoul and I said our goodbyes, and I headed off to the bus terminal to catch an overnighter to Arequipa: I was going to spend my last 2 days in Peru being a vegetable.
