Inca Trail
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2008
1
24
68
Trip End
Jun 15, 2009
Machu Picchu,
Sacred Valley,
Peru
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Things didn't kick off too early for a change with the bus coming to get us at 9am. It was only about an hour drive to the starting point, where we had to show our pass ports and get stamped in. Day one of the trek was nice and easy, we saw an Inca ruin and our Guide Isac gave us a bit of a talk. Just before lunch it started to rain a bit, considering we were doing it in the wet season no one was surprised.
Lunch was amazing, actually the food for the entire trek was amazing. We turned up to our lunch spot and the porters had set up the tent and laid the table for us already. Thank god the rain stopped while we were eating making it nice and pleasant to do the last Km's for the afternoon. We arrived at camp around 4pm having completed the first 14kms with out any problem. There wasn't meant to be any chance of getting alcohol on the trail until the night of day 3, but some local women turned up at the camp carrying buckets of beer. Well who could refuse and when we payed our 11 soles and got a huge 1.1L beer in return, it was a nice ending to day one.
We had to camp each night of the Inca trail, but I don't know if you can really call it camping when your tent is set up for you and you get 5 star food cooked and all of your dishes washed for you. The porters do an amazing job as well. They each carry 20 Kg's of equipment and RUN the trail so as to have everything set up when you arrive. Back in the day the porters used to carry up to 60kg's worth of stuff, but restrictions got brought in to help keep the porters safe. It looks amazing seeing these little guys carrying 20kg's, how someone who is half the size of me could ever carry 60 is just crazy.
Day two was the hardest day on the trek. We had to walk 12kms and ascend from 2,900mts all the way up to dead women's pass at 4,200mts. Isac had told us we had done very well on day one so to treat us he took us for a walk to another ruin an hr out of our way. It was in a very nice tranquil spot and no other groups were around making it a tiring but nice side trip.
We got back to camp well after all the other groups had left leaving us to do the trail on our own. It was a very pretty day walking through cloud forests and seeing amazing views. It was also very, very tough. Lunch was about ¾ of the way up and most of us were well and truly stuffed, I even had a nap after lunch something I never do! It was also starting to get harder to breath here, my resting pulse was at 102bpm and I was breathing fast just doing nothing.
It took what seemed like an age to get to the top, I was one of the slow unfit ones at the back and Dave was somewhere in the middle. The stairs just seemed to keep going, and I had to walk up about 20 steps then rest, 20 steps then rest. Eventually I made it and the view was amazing, from the other side of the pass clouds were blowing over us and we were looking down into the valley we had spent all morning climbing. The day wasn't over though, we had to now go down for another hr or so to our next camp. This was so hard on the knees and I found it much harder going down then I did going up. Everyone was in bed by about 8pm that night, it had been huge.
Day three started nice and early and we had another little climb up the second pass. It was again tough, but only miniscule compared to dead women's pass. I had found a bit of a rhythm and would just plod up nice and slow, which meant I didn't need to stop for a break very often, so people would run past me and then have to stop and rest they would see me catch up to them, and then they would run off again, until eventually they just couldn't keep going and I would pass them with a little smile. I found it amusing any way.
We saw a few more ruins this day, it was probably the most beautiful day we had. By this time we had reached the Amazon, and of course to greet us it started to pour. Everyone got drenched, even with rain coats and ponchos on. After Lunch it stopped raining and we climbed up a bit higher where we were walking above the clouds. There were waterfalls everywhere and views to die for. It was a long day though with 16kms to walk and a lot of down hill at the end. I hate down hill, really I hate it, and today there was about 2 hrs down hill down a thousand steps which were huge and uneven. By the time we got to the end I thought I was going to die, well maybe not die, but I was pretty sore.
That night there was a bar and hot showers to be had. The line up for the showers were ridiculous, so I had a cold one, oh my god was it cold, but it was nice to be clean again. We had a few drinks, played some cards and then thanked the porters for doing all the work and carrying everything for us. Tomorrow was the big day, we were going to see Machu Picchu.
We split into two groups, the people who wanted to climb Wayna Picchu and those who wanted to walk at 'holiday pace', or so Isac called it. Dave wanted to climb Wayna Picchu (the little mountain behind Machu Picchu) and well holiday pace sounded good to me. Holiday Pace didn't end up being very slow (Isac didn't like to be behind people) and we ended up meeting up with Dave and the rest at the sun gate. It was great to finally be able to see it, Machu Picchu was there right in front of us.
Dave and the others left quite quickly and we holiday people hung around for a while enjoying the view. We then walked down to the lost city of the Incas stopping for pictures when we wanted. There were some tame Llamas on the way and we stopped to pat them and get a few funny pictures. Then we arrived at the watch tower where most postcard pictures etc are taken. I swear I got goose bumps, this is what I had been wanting to see, this is why I had first wanted to come to South America. I know I have already said this, but it was amazing.
We caught up with Dave and the others and they had been too late, all the tickets for Wayna Picchu had gone and no one was able to go up. They were quiet annoyed especially as they had rushed down and missed all the views. We were taken on a tour of the town then, and shown all the best bits. Everything is still in such good condition, much better then Pompeii.
There were two options to get back down to town, pay US$7 to get the bus, or walk down 1.5hrs for free. Well the bus was sounding pretty good, but Dave was saying we could save money and most people were walking, so we walked. I wish I had taken the bus, I hate walking down.
This was a truly great experience, it was challenging but vey doable (I haven't done much exercise since I left Australia) and the scenery is amazing. You also beat the crowds and basically get Machu Picchu to yourself until everyone turns up at 9. I would recommend the Inca trail any day.
We got back to Cuzco that night, tired and worn out. But it would not have been complete with out a few drinks. Quiet a few of the younger ones completed the 24hr challenge (staying awake until 4am the time we got up the day before) but I crashed well before. We had another rest day in Cuzco and then it was off to Lake Titicaca.
