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Published: November 9th 2006
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Our first camp...
this is going to be a piece of cake! We did it….28 miles in 4 days on the famous Inka Trail! There were breathtaking vistas, awesome food and great company, oh…and rain. The 4 days of trekking is broken down into 4 ´categories´ if you will: Day 1 is known as the easy day, Day 2 is the hardest day, Day 3 is the longest day, and finally Day 4, the big prize… Machu Picchu ! There were 13 of us (2 Australians, 3 Germans, 1 Hungarian, 2 Irish, 2 French/West Indies and 3 Americans). We were led by two guides and had 1 Chef and 18 Porters—these are the guys that make this trek possible.
The first day was very easy, almost too easy. In hindsight, it was a psychological ploy to keep morale high. We were picked up from our hostel then we drove to the town of Ollayantantambo (2 hours from Cuzco ) where we all had breakfast and coca tea. They gave us a big bag of snacks, and so the trek begins. It was a nice leisurely jaunt through and around some hills, dotted with indigenous camps...still able to buy Gatorade, Oreo cookies and Snickers. The view from our camp, even from our tent
nonetheless, was absolutely amazing; snowcapped mountains with glacier features…(are these the mountains were going to summit???)
The second day is dubbed the ´The Hardest´ as this is the day we summit ´Dead Woman’s Pass´, not to be taken literally. Despite the 3,900ft increase in elevation with a starting point at 9,800 ft , it is called so because the silhouette of a woman’s face and breast on the mountain’s ridge. It was definitely tough, most of the difficulty was the altitude, the guides reiterated on multiple occasions that this was not a competition; I took this to heart and was the last one in the group at the top.
I cheated a bit and had a porter carry my stuff, including my sleeping bag and mat. Chad was Mr. Tough Guy and carried his own stuff—20lbs, impressive, I must say. Now, about the porters, these guys are amazing and work harder than anyone I’ve ever witnessed, these guys carry everything for the entire for 4 days—50-60lbs each. But they don’t walk they run. They run with Propane tanks, the metal frames of a tent and 3 crates of eggs on their backs, while the entire time smiling. Each
Dead Woman´s Pass
the highest point on the Inca Trail, with a summit of almost 14,000ft. time we arrived to camp, we were greeted with a cup of juice, our tents were set up, and lunch was ready. Every day we had grand meals, a wonderful breakfast of toast, pancakes with butter, jam and coca tea. Lunch and dinner always included a first course of hot soup and then a massive spread of special rice, meat, vegetables and potatoes. We even had pizza and pasta! Between lunch and dinner we always had snacks of fresh popcorn and biscuits (as everyone but us called them), along with coca tea and hot chocolate.
The third day was absolutely the longest day….ever. It rained and rained and rained….it never stopped raining the entire 8 hours of walking down, what seemed like a never ending uneven set slippery stones. Granted, it is the jungle and it is the rain that makes it so green and beautiful, so full of unique flora and fauna. This particular region of the jungle has over 300 species of orchids, and it was beautiful. We started at about 7:00am and by the time we got to camp at 4:00pm, we were all drenched. In our case, for some reason our sleeping bags and mats
The porters
you cant tell from the photo, but these guys are close to sprinting up the mountain. were wet. We got to take a lukewarm shower, I wont get into the explanation of the conditions of the shower, just know I told Chad I was one cool wife! Luckily we had a random assortment of dry clothes and were able to change, only to get into a wet sleeping bag. At this camp, there was a small restaurant so we had a beer and played cards, ending a long, hard and wet day on a good note. Ironically enough, this night was the best nights sleep for us.
On the fourth day we were up at 4:00am, had breakfast and hit the trail by 5:00am. Everyone was in great spirits, as we all prayed for no rain and it seemed to work. This last section of the trail is the narrowest portion so we, as well as the other trekkers, were funneled into a single file line. The big climax of the trek is arriving to the Sun Gate; this is where you get your first view of Machu Picchu …not for us. Here we were greeted with a big white wall of clouds, a big disappointment for us. We waited to see if it would
...and more ruins
all along the Inca Trail there are resting spots, they suppose that some of them had water and food available. clear and after 30 minutes, we headed down to the Inca complex. It took awhile for the clouds to clear and once they did, the sight was mesmerizing. It is a place of amazement, the massive scale of the complex in this particular location, along with the precision of the stone work is mind boggling. I will let the photos speak for themselves. We also got to see the world’s largest humming bird here! No one is really certain the function and history of Machu Picchu , just what has been passed down orally by the indigenous. All the history was destroyed by the Spanish, we have read and heard many different versions of the story since we have been here, so I guess we will pick and choose what we like best! It was an amazing adventure that we will never forget.
Also, I must mention that our guide hikes the trail about 5 times a month, except he has only one trekking pole. I asked him why he only used one pole, did it make it easier? He told me poles were very expensive in Peru, approximately $100 each. I went through all the options with
him, such as ordering on online--to expensive to ship--, having a family member send some from the states--he would have to pay the tax on the value they posses here. So, the last day of the trek I offered to sell him my poles, for a very affordable price. It was the least I could do.
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Beth
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WOW!
Pretty darn amazing! I'm impressed! But I can see that this may not be the trip for Richard and I! Can you drive to Machu Pichu? It may be the only way us old folks get there!! :-) Miss you!