Julies Inka Trail
Trip Start
Mar 28, 2008
1
25
98
Trip End
Mar 27, 2009
Machu Picchu,
Peru
Thursday, May 8, 2008
So we start walking, the scenery was beautiful and the weather was glorious. About 1.5 hours into it I could not carry on. My stomach was cramping because of all the problems I had been having for the previous week, it was agony to move an inch.
So I asked if I could turn back which surprisingly the answer was yes but I had to take a porter and a guide with me (the whole group only had 2 guides and my guide would not return - whoops!)
So this is where my adventure begins.....we had to walk to the start passing a man and a bull on the wooden bridge. The bull was not co-operating at all and nearly knocked us all down! The start of the walk was very busy in the morning with the 500 people who were starting the Inka Trail but when I arrived back it was a ghost town and we had to wait for a minivan taxi to take us to town. After 1.5 hours thinking we were there for the night with the guide getting so bored he wanted to teach me salsa, but thankfully the taxi showed up. These taxis take the local people to and from town but when I paid 100 soles (20 pounds), the minivan was all mine.
It was the bumpiest road I have ever been on and with my stomach cramping it all went into a haze. So we arrived at the first town and then had to get another taxi to Cusco (about 120km away). My guide persuaded a local to take us for 150 soles (30 pounds - what a bargain for 80 miles!)
So we start the journey, thankfully a main road so it was not very bumpy. Soon though he starts to get car trouble. He runs out of water - could anything else go wrong today?!?
He runs to a local house to get some water for whatever part of the engine requires it and then we are on our way.
5 minutes later the same thing happens - oh dear. By this time I am in and out of sleep on the back seat - desperate to see the Doctor and my bed!
The driver goes to get some more water from a house but first has to put a rock behind the back wheel to ensure his car (not me!) does not roll down the hill. The handbrakes in SA do not work that well. He gets more water and we are on our way again, this time without any more glitches.
I finally make it back to Cusco in one piece. So I arrive at my hotel where they do not have a reservation for me - can this day get any worse?!? So after a few phonecalls, they give me a room and call the doctor for me.
So the doctor informs me he cannot do anything else for me - after trying to persuade him to give me something for the pain he gives me two sets of tablets for the cramping. He tells me it takes time to get the parasites out of my system.
I realised then that I had left the walking stick which I had hired in the taxi - whoops. It is going to be a very expensive illness!
And that is my adventure until I meet up with Claire and the group on Sunday at Macchu Picchu.
