Inka Trail (trial)

---

Preamble.... So, a lot of people had warned us about this amazing, yet difficult experience. To be honest, the night before we set off, there were butterflies in our stomachs and a slightly raised anxiety level amongst the group... However we pùshed through and at another early hour of the morning, we put on our packs, gathered up our walking sticks, put a smile on our face and off we went. 47 kmts ahead of us....

Day 1: The trail begins at the 82 km mark. It is by the river, and the scenery is spectacular. There was a bounce in our step. Gliding through the first check point, Thinking we were on top of it all... the first casualty hit... Sams loss of sunnies...hmm... makes for a good start. Amys fear of heights was challenged from the very first 5 minutes. As before even starting the trail, a swinging bridge had to be conquered. a high one!
Walking through villages and passing backyards, donkeys, children and animals, we made our way (quite leisurely at this point) along the gently sloping part of the trail. Nathan was overheard saying he wished there would be some terrain to try out the walking sticks... dude, talk about jinxing us... As just around the bend, the real trek started. Let us also mention the heat, and altitude. The altitude makes you feel as though you have just finished a 1500 mt run, your heart is pumping, your chest is about to explode and your head wont stop spinning. So imagine trying to climb a staircase (or actually just random rocks climbing up) whilst dealing with this. Combined with heart stroke is causes you to just feel damn sick! Anyhoo on we conitnued, and after 2 hours of this, lunch beckoned.... Let us introduce you to Jefferson, our chef for the trail, and our 9 other amazing porters. We´d heard that they would be fantastic, but yet again our expectations were blown out of the water, when we realised just how capable and brilliant they were. Not only do they each carry about 25 kgs, they also run along the trail ahead of us, set everything up and often turn back to make sure we are ok and offer us help. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Back to the food (as always). It was simply unbelievable, and very very welcome after a hard morning. (Pity Amy threw it all up.... the first victim of 'Mountain Spew')... Prior to this a very enjoyable 3 course lunch was consumed. The first of many.
So the afternoon started with full bellies and thankfully, it had cooled down so walking (climbing) was a lot easier. We progressed slowly both up and down the trail for 13 km, a total of 6 hours, until we found our slow rhythm and our campsite for the night. Oh my goodness how happy were we to see the end of the first day. We collapsed into our tents (more spewing) and we were greeted again with yet another scrumptious meal (this one we held down. woo hoo).
We were all mesmerized by the beautiful sky filled with more stars than we´d ever seen, including our beloved southern cross, and we played a game of spot the falling star/satellite.
It was snuggly in the tent, however we were on a slope, and Kath awoke not being able to find Amy, who had slid down to the end of the tent.

Day 2: After a freezing night (3800 mts above sea level) we awoke to extremely sore and stiff muscles, thinking how on earth we were going to make it through day 2 (supposedly the hardest day..).
After an amazing breakfast, we set off early to start our 10 1/2 hour walk. This began in a refreshingly cool rain forrest/jungle thing, and even though the climb was hard at times, it was beautiful and surprisingly easier without the sun.
Next up the infamous 'Dead Womans Pass'.... When walking up this mountain, it felt as though someone was pushing down on your head and body, proving a constant struggle to even take one step. We werent afraid to take it slower today, in fact it was 10 steps, break and breathe, 10 steps, break and breathe was our rhythm. Sometimes it was 3 steps. With great determination we made it to the tops of the pass... unbelievable. Only then were we able to look back and appreciate how long and steep, yet beautiful it was. What a view. We had reached 4200 mts above sea level. and we deserved our snickers bar! Finally able to take a breath, we gathered our strength for the descent... we thought going up was hard.... the sun was back, and going down a steep mountain, both of us with weak knees and ankles was not a barrel of laughs. Slow and steady.
We would like to mention Celso, our guide for the trek, at this stage. Every 3 years there is a race along the Inka Trail... the fastest Peruvian to complete this has done it in 3 1/2 hours... Celso claims he can do it in 5 hours. We were gobbsmacked! We still dont know whether we believe him or not..
Anyway, it meant that we were constantly trying to catch up with him, and he spent many hours sleeping on the side of the trail, waiting for us all to arrive.
Finally after 6 hours of up & down, we arrived at lunch. This was great, but we were so damn exhausted... Although mashed potatoes was greeted with a fairly large whoop! After consuming our own weight in food (again) we took off for the next 4 1/2 hours of trekking. It was so tiring, we barely managed to appreciate our surroundings and its natural beauty. Just when we thought we must surely be at the end of the day, we looked across the valley to a neighbouring mountain and were told this is where our campsite was.... you have to be kidding! but yep, with night falling, up/ down, up/down we went. Arriving in the dark (thank you to our lovely porters who came back with torches) we collapsed and barely had energy for conversation over dinner. That was day two (3600 mts).

Day 3: As it was dark when we arrived, we were unaware of our spectacular campsite location. What we thought was a lagoon when we arrived, was actually clouds! Yep, we were camping in the clouds, and it was as beautiful as it sounds. Imagine a sunrise over snow topped mountains. The perfect way to revive ourselves after such a tiring day. This gave us the energy and inspiration to continue (well we couldnt really go back..).
Day three was a half day. However it was a 4 hour down hill challenge. But the knees and ankles were pushed to the limit. Kath liked this part of it. It then turned nasty.... the campsite never seemed to bloody arrive. Down we continued...in the sun, with the thought of hot showers and a beer our only motivation. Even that we could have traded for a shady park bench. We werent lazy, every bone in our body at this point was about to give up on us. Conversation had yet again ceased. too hard basket.
Oh my god, the mirage of civilisation (its still a campsite, but to us it was heaven) finally appeared. Hot shower anyone....hell yeah, we stank to high heaven after 3 days of sweat, vomit, same clothes and no way to wash ourselves beyond a bucket!
The shower was devine, with a beer afterwards. A new level of happiness. Bliss.
After feet up for a while, we had to move on to our next project. We had to create a song for our porter celebration that evening. Many songs had popped into our heads during the journey. Being a soley Australian group we couldnt really go beyond the Vegemite tune. We were happy little Llamas at this stage, as bright as bright can be!
We arrived back at our camp to find our porters dressed in collared shirts and another amazing feast in front of us. The soreness was put to the backburning for this night, as everyone celebrated our achievement so far and the bond that we had created. We love you Llamas.
We started with our song, quite chuffed with ourselves... Luckily we softened the embarrassment with beers all round. The porters then sang us a song in Quechian. This was about stillness, the mountains and mothers. It blew us our attempts out of the water, and reminded us again how strong and unified this culture is. Truely beautiful.
Satisfied and excited at the thought of seeing Machu Picchu in the morning, we slept well.

Day 4: No one warned us about the ¨short (not) walk¨ to Machu Picchu.... It was dark (this part was alright) and then very very hard as we approached the sun gate. We were buggered (again). There is no such thing as an easy day on the Inka Trail. The final evidence of this being a vertical rock staircase, that had to be climbed monkey style. Hard and people were dropping off around us... But we made it!
As we walked towards Machu Picchu, the clouds lifted and we were greeted with the sight we had been waiting to see for a few years now. Magical.
At this stage we met the Lares group (some of our Llama group who were on an alternate trek) and Gonzalo. What a perfect way to start our morning at Machu Picchu. We were stunned by the size and magnitude of this ruin. It really is a wonder.There are multiple theories as to what its purpose was, a few being that it was a university, a home for virgins, a lookout...whatever it was, its amazing that we can still walk through and ponder its existence.
After thanking Mamma earth (this involves offering the first part of any food or drink you are about to consume) we went to explore with Celso the ruins themselves. We cannot even start to describe how awe inspiring this place is.... Maybe you should come and check it out? It gives you goosebumps.

Our last note about the whole experience.... Slightly delirious we boarded the train back to Ollantaytambo and attempted to settle in for a nice doze. When all of a sudden music started pumping through the carriage and a guy in full tradtional Peruvian costume (including face mask) popped out of the toilets and started dancing down the aisles, with a stuffed llama presented to us to pat. Shared glances of absolute disbelief quickly chnaged to stunned giggles between our group. Thinking that this was the only show for the day, we calmed ourselves down and resettled into our comfy positions...When an announcement, followed by 'dancing queen' came over the loud speaker... we were to have a Peruvian fashion show. Of course.

We love Peru.

Adios.
x

Ps. Our day was not finished, as party time in Cusco was to greet us... This will require a whole other blog.

---