Day Three -- Inca Trail
Trip Start
Sep 20, 2004
1
19
89
Trip End
Mar 30, 2005
Inca Trail,
Peru
Saturday, October 16, 2004
What seemed like a god send was actually another really tough day but it wasnīt raining and we were ready for the challenge. The path was beautiful and we had entered more into a jungle atmosphere, it was warmer, the wild orchids were scattered along the paths and we had to crawl through amazing tunnels cut into the rock. The trails were mainly walking along ridges so you could admire the view from were you were walking and look out over the jungle feeling a real sense of achievement for making it so far.
We stopped at the ruins along the way which were very impressive before we decided to try soem coca leaves to keep us going before lunch. This entail rolling three or more coca leaves with a small amount of black paste which acts as a cataylst to release the good stuff
beers!
. Bob, me and Donut (fellow nicknamed traveller) started chewing. After three chews the taste of the paste made me want to throw up ! it tasted like old fish paste and an old tea bag...yuk ! Donut and I quickily spat it out although Bob kept chewing like a cow ! It made his mounth so numb he bit his mouth ha ha ! Donīt know how the porters do it but I thought it was disgusting ! We kept walking for several hours before stopping for lunch which we wolfed down after some sweet hot drink called chica. Had an amusing time getting other people to try the Coca leaves !
After lunch we reached the third pass which was a plateau at the top of the mountain which allowed you to look over all the valley. We all took a moment to take it allin before continuing the descent. At this point we coudl take one of two paths, either the long origonal Inca path or a short cut made for the porters.
We were knackered but of course we had to take the longer path ! We passed several ruins along the way before reaching the end of our journey for that day ! Well not quire. We dropped off our bag and then hobbled another 10 min to winay wayna to admire the inca terraces and the view
Bob - Day three
.On this night there was a bar which served the camp and we layed into some celebratory beers before dinner, which admittidly was a struggle to head back for after the first beer.
After a feast cookd up by the head Chef we met all of the porters and gave them a tip for all their hard work (a long debate about this befoe dinner but thatīs another story).
Afterwards we retired back for another beer before givin in to the sleep gods knowing we had a 4am wake up call looming !
