Cusco & the Inka Trail

---

---

Cusco & the 4 day Inka Trail to Machu Picchu!

Wednesday 2nd December - Day 87

Lizzy ended up being awake majority of the night being ill so wasn't feeling great in the morning. We all had to be up at 6.30am to travel to Cusco.
On the way we stopped at the border between the province of Puno and Cusco where there were market stalls surrounded by snow peaked mountains.
We arrived in Cusco at 3pm to check into our hotel. We were given this HUGE room which was right outside reception and it was both cold and noisy.
As Lizzy still wasn't well she stayed in bed for 3 hours while Rick went out and explored Cusco.
Cusco is the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983. The Inka Emprire was divided into quarters with each leading to Cusco, being the centre.
At the centre of the town is a huge plaza surrounded by restaurants and shops.
At 6pm we joined our group and met Wilbert who would be our group leader during the Inka Trail. He gave us maps and briefed us on what we can expect during the Inka Trail. We were also given a checklist on everything we need to bring and Vanessa took orders for walking sticks and sleeping bags.
We went out for dinner in the square however Lizzy could barely manage to finish a soup being still ill. There was entertainment in the restaurant which consisted of dancers and Jack got dragged up to join in.
Through the night Lizzy was violently ill again and didn't get any sleep.

Thursday 3rd December - Day 88

Lizzy woke up after having very little sleep and still feeling ill. Unfortunately Rick also felt ill when he woke up so whatever Lizzy had was contagious. Rick managed to drag himself out of bed to the pharmacy. With his head in his hands leaning on the counter he managed to pass a note to the pharmacist to get us both the antibiotics we needed.
After a few hours sleep we summoned the strength to leave the room in order to buy some essentials for the Inka Trail. It was an effort to even put one foot in front of the other let alone think about what we needed but we managed to get it all done.
We met with the group again at 6pm to pick up our hiking equipment which we'd ordered through Vanessa. We went back to the room to start packing our stuff, we were each given a duffel bag which we could pack 6kg of clothes, this wouldn't be carried by us but by the porters. We would carry a day bag with our water/sunscreen/food/waterproofs etc.
As the guys knew we were ill they kindly offered to bring us back McDonalds. It was the only thing we both fancied but we could barely manage to eat half of it...better than nothing though.
We went to bed praying that we would feel better in the morning.

Friday 4th December - Day 89

Up at 5am, struggled to eat a little breakfast...didn't fancy it but knew we needed the energy. All Rick managed was coffee. Lizzy was feeling a little better but Rick was still in a bad way, we also found out that Alexis was now ill as well.
We had a 3 hour minibus journey until we reached '82km' which was the start of the Inka Trail. Halfway into the journey we got stopped by the police and our driver had to go with them into their station. When he came out he was telling Wilbert what happened in Spanish and Chiara translated later that he had to bribe the police.
At the start of the Inka Trail we got our passports stamped going in and had a group photo taken by the sign...the last time we would all be smiling for a while!
Day 1 consisted of 5 hours of hiking and was considered the 'easy' day however for us, being ill and having spent the last 2 days in bed, this was anything but easy.
Lizzy broke down 3 hours into it through exhaustion, worried she couldn't finish. With the help of Rick and Wilbert however we carried on and made it to camp 1. There wasn't much to see on day 1 apart from 1 Inka Ruin from a distance. For our group of 12 we had 18 porters carrying our tents, duffel bags, food and cooking equipment. There were also 2 chefs and an assistant guide Enrique. By the time we made it to our camp, the porters had set up all our tents, and there were also 2 additional tents; 1 for us to eat in and another for the chefs to prepare the food.
When we got freshened up we were served coffee/tea/hot chocolate and snacks. Dinner was served later and looked absolutely delicious; salmon, potato and vegetables however we couldn't eat much. We also talked about what to expect in Day 2 which is considered to be the hardest day. 7 hours of hiking, the first 5 of which are uphill. We had to cross 'Dead Womans Pass' which sat at 4300m asl, the highest point on the Inka Trail. Lizzy asked Wilbert if he's ever had people not make it, hoping he'd say no, however apparently there are plenty of people who have to be carried back by the porters. Great... Everyone was really excited about the challange apart from Lizzy who was nervous that it would be her being carried by the porters. Before settling into our tents we all (minus Rick) sang some Christmas songs.

Saturday 5th December - Day 90

We were all woken at 5am by the porters undoing our tents giving us coca tea. We had 30 minutes to get ready before breakfast. During breakfast Wilbert advised us all to hike for 10 minutes and then stop for 2 minutes, making sure we all adjust to the altitude. He also said that when we're breaking for 2 minutes to face downhill, as looking uphill will 'destroy you emotionally' - his words. He also said to walk in zig-zags as it helps your breathing as you get higher in altitude.
Rick and I stuck together for the first 3 hours however then Rick set off by himself as Lizzy started to trail off behind. It was really difficult but our music was helping, Rick was practically dancing his way up. No matter how hard your heart was beating out of your chest you just had to keep putting one foot infront of the other.
The first 3-4 hours were in the forest with waterfalls. There were stone steps leading up the mountain. Every few hours there would be a place where you could stop to buy water or chocolate bars. After the 2nd stop the forest opened and you could see the mountains surrounding you. Unfortunately for us the weather wasn't good and we were basically walking in the middle of a rain cloud. Lizzy's rain poncho had ripped halfway in so for the last 4 hours she didn't have any protection from the rain, she was soaked to the bone.

During the forest you couldn't see too far ahead of you so you didn't know how far you had to go. Now it opened up, you could see the mountain trail ahead of you, not sure if that was good or bad.
Every corner you approached you would hope it would be the last however you'd get round only to see miles more of trail before Dead Womans Pass - it was soul destroying. You just didn't feel like you were making any progress.
Approaching Dead Womans Pass Lizzy saw Rick waiting at the top for her. It was pouring with rain and by the time Lizzy got there Rick was shivering with cold from waiting for an hour. Previous guides had told him he shouldn't wait as it was so cold but the risk of pnomonia was nothing compared to the risk of Lizzy being in a mood with him for not waiting (Rick's words, Lizzy denys this).

Once you reached the top there was a real relief as you knew the worst was over however the way down was just as hard. Before taking a quick picture at the top Rick tied what was left of the ripped poncho round Lizzy.

There were 2 hours before we reached the camp, all was downhill, very steep, wet stoney steps. Lizzy was just as slow going downhill as she was going uphill as she was scared of slipping. This was made worse when she saw a porter slip and nearly break his back. Wilbert stayed with him while Lizzy carried on however he later said that the porter was hungover.

20 minutes from reaching the camp we were met by 2 of the porters who brought us our lunch and coffee. By the time we got back it was about 2.30pm and we realised that some of the group made it back before 12pm!!
We had a cooked lunch waiting for us before we layed down through exhaustion for the next 3 hours.
Our 2nd camp site had the most amazing views of the mountains. In the evening everyone was on such a high knowing that we'd done it. All our clothes were soaked so we left them all on the tents to dry, luckily it had stopped raining.

Sunday 6th December - Day 91

We woke up to find that none of our clothes had dried through the night, nobody ever expected they would. We all had to put cold/wet clothes on which was horrible.
After breakfast we headed uphill for 2 hours to the next pass. This was done in 3 stages; first was to stop at Inca Ruins, 2nd at a lake and 3rdly when we reached the top. The next 7 hours we were told would be up and down in terms of steepness. Straight after the peak we had a steep climb down which Wilbert called "The Gringo Killer!" Nice...
Today was a much better day for Inca Ruins and views however it was still pouring with rain.
We spent the day together and the group was more spread out today so we spent most of the day on our own. It was nice in a way as it felt more spiritual with no one else around you. Wilbert had said that today we should take it at our own pace, there was no rush, we should all take our time appreciating our surroundings...it was a nice day.

When we finally reached camp there was a restaurant and bar there so a few of us went for a beer to celebrate! We met a couple there who were doing the Inka Trail for their honeymoon, couldn't think of anything less romantic however each to their own!
This was the first opportunity for showers however as they were so disgusting no one bothered, with only 1 day to go everyone would rather wait for the hotel!

Monday 7th December - Day 92

We had to be up really early to join the queue to enter Machu Picchu...we joined the queue at 5.30am and we were still a fair way back. Once the gates opened the queue soon cleared and by 7am we were at the sungate. Due to the clouds we weren't able to see Machu Picchu from this point which was a shame but apparently there are only a handful of lucky people that do. After about 90 minutes from the sungate the clouds cleared and we were able to get our first sighting of Machu Picchu. It was A-MA-ZING. Suddenly all the pain and tears felt worth it.
After another 90 minutes walking we reached Machu Picchu where everyone went snap happy. We were lucky as the sun finally decided to come out and we had glorious sunshine all day.
By the time we arrived there was hardly anyone else there as the train load of people hadn't arrived yet.
Wilbert gave us a tour of Machu Picchu for about 2 hours before he left. It was sad saying goodbye, Lizzy felt like without Wilbert she wouldn't have been able to get through it.

As a group we walked round the main sights of Machu Picchu (minus 2 who were too tired and went for a beer!). As Wilbert left he recommended that we hiked the 20/30 minutes to the bridge which after a vote we decided to do. Poor Rick's knee had gone from all the steps downhill and he could barely walk so didn't really want to put gave in with persuassion, afterall, how often is it you're at Machu Picchu?
So we finally get there and we're all like 'is that it?'...I think it was in the middle of construction, it wasn't even a bridge as you'd picture it as it was alongisde the mountain edge.

After that we decided to go and get some lunch so jumped on the bus back to meet Vanessa. The restaurant Vanessa was waiting in wasn't very nice so we all decided to go to one we liked, it was our money we were spending afterall. However this put Vanessa in such a mood with us, it was so childish, it was because GAP have a deal with this restaurant that if GAP bring the gringos, they will feed them for free (this is something that happened a lot...we noticed Vanessa never paid for food).
After lunch we had to catch the train back, this took about 4 hours.

When we finally got back to the hostel (same one as before) luckily, we had been given another room.
Despite us all being exhausted we decided to go out and celebrate completing the hike. We still don't know how we did it. We went out for a Bembo's first which is like a Peruvian McDonalds and then all went to this bar/club. Outside staff were giving everyone free rum & coke vouchers so Rick kept going outside picking more and more of these vouchers up! It was a really funny and cheap night!

Tuesday 8th December - Day 93

We slept in until midday...felt wonderful to be able to do that! We headed straight to this place called Jacks which was renowned for it's English Breakfasts. On the way we met up with a couple from our group and went together. The food was good...
Today we needed to sort out a few missions, like Rick wanted some new trainers, Lizzy wanted a new poncho and we both wanted to Skype the parents.
After that we headed to a pharmacy as Lizzy liturally (no exaggeration) had 100 bites across both of her legs so we needed to get some cream for them.
As Rick couldn't find trainers anywhere that went up to his size, we headed to the black market which was a 10 minute taxi ride out. Rick still couldn't find anything in his size but picked up some sunglasses and hoodie instead.
In the evening the whole group went for dinner at a restaurant chosen by Vanessa which was really nice. Really good decor and good food. Overall everyone was on such a high from the Inca Trail and we spent the whole night reliving every single moment.

When we look back at it now we say it was definitaly one of the hardest things we've ever done but also the most rewarding. Even though there were tears and times we didn't think we'd be able to do it (more Lizzy than Rick) at the end of it you just remember all the fun and laughter there was. We would recommend it to anyone who's up for a challange, if not, there's always the train ride which takes you straight to Machu Picchu!!

---

Photos

All of us
Porters, chefs and guides

The trail
Looking back after an hour into Day 2

Porter
running up the steps!

Dead Womans Pass
Highest point of the Inca Trail

Camp 2
View from our tent

Day 3
In the background Camp 2 and the trail

Day 3
More steep steps

Comments

[jane]

looks amazingly difficult, well done for doing it, what memories you both will have xxxx