Inca Trail Day 1-happy to be back in the mountains
Trip Start
Sep 11, 2008
1
52
70
Trip End
Jan 03, 2009
Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, Peru
Friday, November 28, 2008
The company bus picked me up from the hostel, and we drove about 1.5 hours to Ollantaytambo where we had breakfast. I bought a walking stick there for 5 soles and it was the best 5 soles I´ve spent because that stick was to become my best friend on the trail! After brakfast, we drove another half hour or so to the starting point at km82, where the porters had to have the weight of their bags checked, and we got our passports stamped before heading off on the trail.
The mountains were beautiful from the beginning, and it felt so good to be back in the countryside, hiking in the fresh air. The trail followed the rushing waters of the Urubamba river for the most part.
This first part of the trail passed through some small villages, where local ladies set up drink and snack stalls, so we were able to buy water along the trail for the first day, which meant having to carry less which was nice.
We also got to see our first inca site on the trail - the ruins of Llactapata, an Inca town over 500years old.
We hiked about 12km on the first day, from km82 at 2600m above sea level, to our camp at Wayllabamba at 3100m above sea level. There were some tough uphill sections on the first day, and you really felt the lack of oxygen at this altitude, but that was nothing compared to what was in store...
