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Published: November 6th 2006
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Here I am back in Cuzco, Peru, feeling slightly delirious for two reasons really: the horrendously strong malaria tablets I have been taking (producing strange but cool dreams!) and the fact that I have had no sleep for the past 5 days. Why? The infamous Inca Trail...
The Inca Trail runs for 44 kilometres through the Andes, ending at the ruins of Macchu Picchu, one of the few Inca settlements that were never found by the Spanish, and hence never destroyed.
Like most people, we decided to do the hike with a tour group, the advantage being that they provide (and more importantly CARRY) all the food and camping equipment that we would need for the 3 nights and 4 days it takes to hike the trail.
We were actually really really lucky with the weather,we only got a very light rain for 5 mins on the third day. The rest of the time was hot and sunny (shorts and T shirt weather).At night it was pretty cold, so I was glad of my fleece and the jumper I bought in La Paz for£3!
On Wednesday morning, we were picked up from our hostel at 6am (6am!!!)
and driven for 3 hours through stunning scenery to the start of the Inca trail, along with about 15 other sleepy travellers. They broke us in easily on the first day with only a 3 hour easy hike to reach the first campsite. By 6pm it was dark, and by 8.30pm we´d had dinner and were in bed.
The second day is notoriously difficult, as it is about 5 hours straight up. Our group was of totally mixed ability, so we all split up. I fell into pace with an Italian dentist who´d been doing voluntary work with some of the native tribes in the Brazilian Amazon. We helped each other up
with moral support and lots of chocolate breaks!
The food was actually amazingly good, considering the facilities they had (ie a little camping stove for 20 people).I ordered veggie food, which was basically the same as everyone else as they couldn’t really take meat trekking for 4 days, only grose tins of tuna. For breakfast we got a thin porridge and toasted rolls with jam, for lunch we tended to have soup, followed by spaghetti and tomato sauce, and for dinner at night we got
soup again, then rice and veggies or omelette etc. On the last night before going to Macchu Picchu, they gave us pancakes as a special treat!
On the fourth and final day, wakey wakey was at 4am in order to arrive at the point overlooking Machu Picchu in time for sunrise. Peru is 5 hours behind Britain, so when I got up at 4am, it was 9am in Britain. As it was a Saturday, that means that, despite the 5 hour time difference, I still probably got up before most of you!!!
There was a final scramble to the look out point at Intipunku, where crowds of fellow hikers gathered to see the sun rise above the surrounding peaks, illuminating the Macchu Picchu site. The air was heavy with the sound of sighs and the clicking of a million cameras!
We all descended to the site and had a 2 hour guided tour of the ruins before the first tourist bus arrived at 10.30am. Despite feeling weary and dirty after 3 nights in a tent with no showers, we couldn´t help but feel superior next to the sparkling clean tourists, fresh off the bus. We treated ourselves
to an overpriced sandwich in the restaurant overlooking Machu Picchu, and felt even more smug when some "sparkling" tourists at the next table gasped in surprise when they saw the size of the backpacks we´d carried!
There is the option to take a $5 bus down to the town of Aguas Caliantes, where you can soak away your aches and pains in the natural hot springs. However, we decided that we wanted to complete the trip properly by hiking down for an hour. Besides, $5 can buy quite a few celebratory beers here!
Tonight we are meeting some people from our tour group for a few celebratory drinks in the "Cross Keys" English pub in Cusco - should be fun.
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