The Inca Trail
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2012
1
11
26
Trip End
Mar 01, 2012
Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, Peru
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Day 1- We were told before we began that we would enjoy the first day, and we soon found out why, as the trail was mostly flat. We walked for around 10km today, their were a few tough hills, and a bit of rain but mostly it was pleasant. What was particularly nice was all the villages along the way where people still live. We also saw many horses and donkeys just walking along the trail. As well as dogs and chickens. Walking through all the little farms was beautiful and we even saw a couple of Inca sites today. But the most amazing thing at all was the porters. When completing the Inca Trail, Porters carry the majority of your stuff, all you really have to carry is your daypack. They also carry food for the entire group. All in all they carry around 30kg of stuff each, and for our group of 12 their were around 16 porters, plus a chef, assistant chef and 2 guides. However we would start to walk, and suddenly the porters would run off past us, so by the time we arrived at our lunch spot they had set us up a dining tent with tables and chairs, and prepared us a 3 course meal. Following lunch we set off again, leaving the porters to pack up, they ran past us again, and when we arrived at our campsite all our tents were set up, and sleeping bags laid out and we were greeted with warm drinks and warm clean water to wash and hands, feets and faces in. You can't help feeling a little guilty as they do basically everything for you, but they refuse any help you try to offer. After around an 8 hour walking day we arrived at our campsite, our walking pace is going well, and our guide seems confident we will be able to complete the trail in 3 days.
Day 2- This morning we were woken up at 5am by the porters as the brought us fresh Coca Tea to our tents (absolute luxury). After our amazing breakfast, we were then given the chance to be introduced to all the porters. I can't stop raving about how amazing these guys are, the youngest was 26 and the oldest was 65! Although Gap provides them with hiking gear and good boots, they often prefer to wear only their sandals! Sadly this was probably the high point of today. We had been warned the second day was the hardest as it involved climbing around 1100m across 7km to reach the highest point of the trek. As soon as we started walking i felt really sick, and continued to get a pounding headache if i walked more than about 10 steps. As this was caused by the altitude their was nothing i could really do as i had already been taking medication for it, so just had to keep walking. And the higher we rose the worse it got. Thankfully the rainforest we walked through was absolutely beautiful. But the thousands of steps and continuous rain wasnt helpful. By the time we had walked about 800m up i could only walk about 5 steps, slower than a turtle and was experiencing head spins. However im happy to report i made it to the top! Which is know as Dead Women's Pass (how fitting). Somehow i managed to remain one of the first few of our group to reach the summit so i was able to rest a bit. Little did i know i would hate going down even more. Descending the other side of the mountain on stone steps for around 2 hours turned out to be a nightmare, and the relentless shaking of my legs coupled with my headache and the rain made me drift between extreme anger (why would someone build so many steps!) lol and wanting to cry. However i managed to maintain my dignity and arrived at our lunch spot! Usually this would be the end of the second day, however as we were trying to cover the ground quickly, we completed the second summit today also. It was ALOT steeper, but i could handle this as we covered the 500m ascent much quicker. We got to see more inca ruins and some beautiful lagoons, so all was not lost! We also got to walk through the cloud forest (basically the rainforest, but because we were so high its up in the clouds). However i was so relieved when we arrived at our campsite tonight, and decided to stop thinking of myself so hard done by when i realised i arrived with the first few members of the group, and the last didnt arrive until 2 hours after us!
Day 3- It rained non stop last night, resulting in the saturation of our sleeping mattresses, tents, and sadly the clean clothes we had layed out in anticipation of tomorrow. This meant we all had to wear our dirty wet clothes. Adding to this for some reason we all awoke we swollen eyes that we could barely open, which i cant figure out whether its due to the cold, the rain, or the altitude. However regardless of the depressing start to the day, this one was my favourite. We were blessed with clear skys today, and although we had to descend 1100m, the path was flat in some spots. The scenery was beautiful and for once we werent just surrounded by white clouds. We passed by the sites of the landslides of the way, hardly bearing to stay for two long for the sheer magnitude of the drop was enough to unnerve you. However, The excitement grew the closer we got to Machu Piccu, and by lunchtime we could see Machu Pichu mountain (with the ruins on the other side). We had 2 hours to reach Machu Piccu before the last bus would leave (this would mean we would have to walk an extra 2 to the town). However due to the excitement we managed to get there in under an hour! Our first glimpse came as we descended up to the Suns Gate, which as its names suggests presented itself at the top of a flight of stairs with a ray of sunshine glinting through. The view from their was amazing, but we couldnt bear stay longer than 10 mins as we were so eager to see it up close. It was another 20 minutes walk before we arrived at the Inca Ruins. I have never been so excited in my life, we had been walking for 3 days to get there so when we arrived we werent dissapointed, but we were definately noticed by the tourists who had simply caught the bus straight there and were well dressed and clean- unlike us. We sat for around 40 minutes before we finally caught the bus down to the town of Aguas Calientes, getting our first warm shower and bed in 3 days.
Tomorrow we will return to Maccu Piccu to get a proper tour of the ruins
