The Inca Trail

  Cusco, Peru
Saturday, June 14, 2008

Ready Steady .....

And so we arrived in Cuzco, possibly the most famous city in Peru after its capital Lima and lying at an altitude of over 3000 metres.  Day one in Cuzco was all about acclimatising although we also went to the local contraband market and had some more guinea pig at lunch time.  The following day I was on a tour of the areas famous Inca ruins including Saqsaywaman (pronounced sexy-woman) where there were some natural rock slides and what looked like an ancient Inca cricket pitch, Tambomachay, Pukapukara and QÉnqo.  We then headed for the Sacred Valley where there was more spectacular scenery and more Inca ruins to marvel at.  We then stopped at Pisaq for lunch and a look around the market (where I picked up a hand made Incas versus the Spanish chess set for just 20 soles) and then headed for Ollantaytambo for more Inca temples and this was from where we´d start the Inca trail the following day.

So on the Tuesday morning I was up early and in good preparation (no booze the night before and plenty of carbs).  The Inca trail would last for 4 days, cover 42 kilometers, 14,000 steps (heard this of another guide), reaching a maximum altitude of 4,201 metres and from talking to people before hand day 2 was going to be a killer - nothing like something to build up the intrepidation.

Amazing Porters

We met our guide for the trek, a guy called Lobo whose name translated to wolf, and he´d done the trek some 400 times so we were in good hands.  With him were 11 porters and Julio our chef, all of whom were amazing.  The porters would all carry 25kg each, stuff like bags, tents, tables, chairs and cooking equipment.  This was regulated that the porters carry a maximum of 25kg as previously they were carrying much more, up to 50kg in some cases I heard which obviously wasn´t good for their backs.

Me On The Trail

On the first day we had a reasonably easy stretch of some 10km mainly on the flat but with a few hundred metres on an incline.  Mid-way through it had started raining and I was left pretty drenched when we got to our first overnight stop.  We didn´t do much other than play cards and eat here as we were all pretty tired, but the food was really amazing though with fantastic soup and lamb chops and potatoes being served - was particularly amazing given the limited equipment that chef had to work with.

Path On The Trail

Next morning we were up early for day 2, 13km of supposed hell.  Well the first section of the walk wasn´t too bad at all.  Yes there was lots of steps, yes I was struggling to breathe at times and yes I was feeling the physical exertion but overall I felt up for it.  After two and a half hours we reached a large clearing area where there were toilets and time to stop and take a breather for 20 minutes or so, but this was probably a bad thing for me as getting going again for the next stage was really tough.    Lobo told us that we had completed the hardest section but the next hour and a half was a killer, particularly as you could see ahead of you how far you needed to go, where before the path ahead was shrouded by woods.  This section took us up to the 4,201m point and I have never been so happy as I was to have arrived up there.  I´d hired some walking sticks at the beginning of the trek and I was really thankful now as they carried my weight during this really tough section.

Up At The Top

Inca Trail

The Trail

Campsite In The Clouds

From there it was down hill to our overnight camp sight and a bit of relaxing for the rest of the day.  The porters during all this had near enough run the route and didn´t look anywhere near as shattered as I did, I´ll say it again they were absolutely amazing.  The following day was the longest trekking day as we did 16km, tough terrain again but nothing as tough as the previous day.  There were more Inca ruins to explore on this day and the wildlife and views were fantastic too, especially when we had lunch on a hill top in the clouds.  At the final campsite there were hot showers and a bar serving beer, along with the usual excellent food served up my Julio.  This is where we said goodbye to our chef and the porters, we´d learn´t from Lobo that our particular guide group, called Highland Peru, particularly looked after their staff and all the porters ate the same food as us, which was good to hear as I had heard about some groups where the porters get served second rate food compared to the rest of the group. 

Machu Picchu

On the final day we were up at 4am and on the final leg to Machu Picchu.  Only 500 people in total are allowed permits to trek the trail each day, including all porters, but everyone seemed to leave at once as we hiked in single file to the sun gate overlooking Machu Picchu.  The first sight of the place is amazing, but once you get closer it really wows you to see this great ancient Inca city that you´ve seen on so many photos.  And that was it, the very rewarding sight at the end of the 3 and half day trek.  It was really tough at times but completely rewarding, I even passed people in their 60´s and 70´s doing the trek and it was great to see them at the end of it.  Lobo gave us a guided tour of the city before we finally got the bus down to Aqua Callientes and then the train to Ollaytantambo and then bus again back to Cuzco.  It was a totally unforgettable 4 days.

LLamay

Mountain Sun

Me @ Machu Picchu

Back in Cuzco on the Saturday morning I was strangely feeling energetic and not achey at all from all the trekking, so felt fit enough to do some final sightseeing including taking in Qoricancha which is the cities sun temple and a few of the museums before heading back to the hotel for food and drinks and then a good night out in Cuzco - despite a 6am start the next morning.