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Published: January 6th 2008
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Happy New Year to you all !
I am now in Cusco, Peru, and we got back from the Inca Trail yesterday evening. I will have to update you on the trip between Lima and Machu Picchu later, because the Inca Trail needs a separate entry ! It was 3 days of pretty hard hiking but I can tell you - it was worth every step of the way !!!
We celebrated New Years Eve in Cusco and the next day we went to Ollantaytambo which is closer to the km 82 start of the Inca Trail. Wednesday morning we were all ready: had bought our walking sticks, snacks and coca snacks (there is a store in Cusco which sells cookies and candy made of Coca leaves which gives you extra energy when needed.... in the end I didn´t eat any of them so I gave it to the porters. But I did try some coca leaves on the way...)
DAY 1 - 12 km
Unfortunately on Wednesday morning it was pouring down with rain by the time we started (shortly after 10 in the morning) so the rain ponchos came in handy. The first day is not
a very hard trek, only a slow change in altitude. We stopped for lunch and were amazed with the tent they had set up for us (we went with a company called LAMA PATH and they were really good. They cooked 3 course meals for lunch and dinner, and in the morning they woke you up with tea in the tent ! And the speed at which they hike is really amazing. At difficult passes or at the camp site in the evening they clap for each person arriving.)
First day we arrived at the camp site around 5 o´clock. And we had arrived BEFORE the porters ! This only happend about 4 times last year according to the guide !
DAY 2 - 18 km
This is the challenging day when it comes to altitude. The morning starts with a 900 meter change in altitude, from 3.300m to 4.200m. After a short while 2 of the persons in our group had to give up. One felt naucious and the other suffered from her astma. So we went from 13 to 11 in the group this day (we had 23 porters !!!!). The remaining struggled a bit with stomachs,
Paper work....
Rachel giving her passport details before heading off. headaches and tired legs. But in general we were all doing pretty good, I ended up in the middle of the group where Sally and I remained for the most of the days hikes.
Coming up to the top at Dead Womans Pass I was ready to give up about 25 meters before the end..... but you just have to keep on going. My Ipod only lasted 2 hours but it got me to the top at least (and with some help of the Coca leaves...) ! Second day we hiked from 7 in the morning until 5 in the evening, but included in this are some breaks and walking around ruins along the way. Headed straight to bed after dinner !
DAY 3 - 9 km
Now we had a lot of down hill to survive, and that is a killer for the knees. But so much easier to breath at least !!! Lovely views along the way. We hiked from 7.30 to 12 this day only ! Free time in the afternoon until we went to the ruins close by. This location has hot showers and a bar, so we celebrated the successful hike in the
evening (but still an early night around 10 o´clock since we had to get up early next day).
DAY 4 - 6 km
Early start: we were woken up at 3.40 in the morning because our guide wanted to make sure we were FIRST in the line at the check-point. 5.30 they opened and our group set-off. Tim was the first in place, we all followed shortly after (I got there 6.10) to watch the sun rise on Machu Picchu. It was a wonderful morning and we were all so happy to have arrived finally. The problem is that you are so tired after the early morning start and the other days hiking that you don´t have a lot of energy to walk around the ruins. We had 2.5 hours of free time after a 2 hours guided tour, but we ended up going back to the city of Agua Caliente a bit earlier ! Lunch, then the train and small bus back to Cusco.
I hope you will enjoy the pictures and that you have had just as good start to 2008 as I have !!!
Only 3 more weeks to go (!!!) and then I´m
The view is breathtaking !
(as if the hiking wouldn´t be enough for that) back in Amsterdam. So don´t want to start working again....
Big hug to you all
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WIRN
Where is Rene now?
Great effort!
Looks great, only shame of the weather, but that is the season, so congrats from down under ! Did they tell you the porters have an anual race running the Inca trail?? With 25kgs I think, in under 3 hours... ouch ! Enjoy the last 3 weeks ! Rene