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Published: August 9th 2007
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The Entrance...
How hard can it be...? Our mission - which we chose to accept, was the four day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I am delighted that it has worked out to be my turn to write this blog entry which is about the best thing by some distance that we have both ever done. It is also about the hardest thing by some distance that we have both ever done, and therefore the most magical and worthwhile! Personally it probably takes the award as the most surreal also - I couldn't quite convince myself that I really WAS in Peru, trekking through the Andes.
Cusco
It all started with a decent enough flight over to Lima from Santiago and a connection from there to Cusco. For anyone connecting in Lima please note there is a six dollar departure tax that no-one makes you aware of, which as well as being a minor pain in the wallet, is also a major pain time wise - only three desks open.
Cusco is a very traditional city, I believe the fourth largest in Peru and sits up at its highest, at 11500 feet. Altitude sickness is common and people arriving to do the Inca
The one pound photo
Someone feed that Llama Trail are
advised to arrive at least two clear days before in order to acclimatise to the altitude. We took this advice and landed in on 22nd May. There were no obvious effects from this to either of us apart from the odd headache for Clare and the difficulty I had in sleeping. Coca Tea is provided readily and has forever been known for treating the symptoms. To me, it will just be forever known as disgusting. Who drinks tea with real leaves in anyway?? Clare found it helped which was good, but I noticed nothing. I will be bringing some of the boiled sweet variety home for all to sample at will - lucky you! Somebody said it is derived from the same plant as Cocaine, how true that is I do not know.
We have been staying at the charming (and cheap) Hospedaje Monte Horeb, which we have found to fit the bill very well indeed. The most friendly staff we have encountered as yet - Gracias Emma and all! The Spanish was still a slight problem, but we manged to get by with hand gestures that would make me millions in some industries and the occasional
Irish Bar
I want to buy this place! attempt at
new words. After the first day of gentle acclimatisation and strolling, we took the plunge and set about hiring some rucksacks for the Trail. A bargainous price later we had our packs, and then it was time to decide between going down the road of the silly hat, or just the plain stupid hat. Quickly we both decided silly was quite bad enough and bagged ourselves a couple of reversible wooly ones with ear pads - you know the ones? If anyone wants one as a gift let us know, they sure are good in cold weather. Sadly they don't come in yellow and green though.
The Inca Trail
Our sleeping bags arrived the evening before we were leaving and were absolutely huge. A quick practice later one of us realised that we wished we had gone to the gym more before we left, and the other of us wished we had hired a porter to carry them for us on the Trail. As luck would have it, as we were picked up (at 5.50am) the guy told us one of our group had cancelled and there was infact a spare porter to be
Day One
Clare and her new best friend, the walking stick.. had. He didn't need
to ask again, and 35 US Dollars later we had managed to get out of carrying the sleeping bags - which was to become the best 35 US Dollars I have ever known anyone spend.
The group was made up of fifteen people - us, seven Americans, two Aussies, three other Englanders (of which one was unbelievably another football mad Claire from Southfields!) and a Scot from Oxford. There were apparently nineteen porters - these are the guys that carry the tents, the food, the gas, the stoves, and everything else probably including a kitchen sink. I must just take the time to say how good these guys really are. The Trail is tough. In places, extremely tough on both the heart and the legs. Porters can regularly be seen belting past to your right with packs on their back bigger than them. The weight of their packs is capped at 25kg which is more than most of you will be allowed to take on your holidays. These are the guys that stay behind and clear up the tents after you start walking, then miraculously have the tents up and lunch/dinner ready when you arrive
Porters
Legends at your next stop. Without porters, there would be no four day Inca Trail and everyone has the utmost respect for them. Once a year the porters run the Inca Trail Marathon for fun, the record of which is 3 hours 42 minutes. We struggled to make it in 3 and a half days. I cant rate these guys highly enough, and was pleased to learn they are well looked after and earn a relatively good salary (approx GBP 17 per trek).
We were introduced to our guides - Bobby and Gladys - and set off towards breakfast at Ollyantaytambo and into our adventure. We got to know a few of the guys and girls and eventually got to the imaginatively named starting point of 'Kilometre 82ยด where we picked up hand crafted walking sticks for next to nothing and got ourselves a flash Machu Picchu passport stamp at the entry gate. The first day is notoriously easy going and we set off at a mediocre pace, Clare and I leading the way behind Bobby. A few miles and couple of hours later we encountered our first ascent which had us panting and gasping a little but we were
Water sellers on the Inca Trail
Waiting on the next customers... satisfied that we could cope and made it to the lunch site to rapturous applause from our wonderful porters who served us a three course meal of soup, fish, rice, potatoes, salad and dessert. Not all on the same plate, of course. We learnt a bit more about our fellow trekkers then it was time to start up again. The afternoon was a nice pleasant walk and we reached the campsite to more rapturous applause at about 3.30pm.
Day Two - We began at 5am where we were woken by a combination of roosters and barking dogs and porters handing is tea in the tents. Breakfast was great and we set off for what we had heard was the hardest day of the entire Trail. I think we were moving by 7am heading up, up, up. It was probably around 8.30am when I realised that was nothing. "Piece a cookie" as Bobby put it. The ascent to Dead Womans Pass (named this due to the striking resemblence of the mountain top to a womans body) was the toughest, most brutal thing we had ever known. I really can't describe how intensely difficult it was. The altitude combined with the
Dead Woman's Pass
'We made it!!!!!' gradient and distance of the ascent reduced me to having to stop every 150 steps to regain my breath and bring the heart rate down to something under 200bpm. This went on for about 2 hours and you are so demoralised because you can actually see the pass, and where you are aiming to get to, so far up, and away at 4200m above sea level - for the older folks thats 13779ft. We got there eventually bringing with me a very unhappy stomach and a great sense of acheivement. I would have settled for that at the start so it was all good. Then we had to go down the other side of the pass! This actually pushed me to breaking point halfway down, a combination of exhaustion, stomach problems and sore feet is not something I will forget in a hurry. It was almost enjoyable, but not quite. We reached the campsite and collapsed in a heap in our tent, not even bothering to put the mattresses out.
The hardest part was over!!
Day Three - We rose again at 5am for the best day I can remember for a long time. This was what we had
'We made it!'
Our group after a hard slog up 1,200 meters to the top of Dead Woman's Pass come to do the trek for. The longest walk of all, about nine miles, but it was such a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky and perfect temperature of about 22 degrees. We took in Inca ruins for the first time, fantastic mountainous terrain, snowcapped peaks, and a postively extensive conversation about Neighbours, Eastenders and Hollyoaks and briefly even Eldorado with a couple of the girls... very amusing all round. The best part of the day was the 2000 'steps' to go down after the second pass at 3850m or 12631ft. Most of the guys ran it, and I was almost winning the race until I got stuck behind resident roadhog and guide Bobby. There was no way past and I had to settle for third at the first checkpoint. After that I was forced to retire to to agonising blisters and took it steady for the rest of the descent and arrived for a well deserved Cusquena or two and a few Gatorades! Clare was very impressive, being the first girl to arrive by some way.
Day Four - The ridiculous time of 3.45am meant it was time to get up and eat breakfast.
'Hey Bobby!'
'What's the Peruvian for Inca trail?' Who can eat at 3.45am? Not me. We were the second group to leave the sight meaning we should and were the second group to make the three mile trek to Machu Picchu sungate arriving at somewhere around 6am. This is the place where Machu Picchu sprawls out beneath you, unless you get one of the many days when it is covered in early morning mist, as we did. Disappointed but undeterred we made the final walk down to the site itself, negotiating feeding llamas and sheer drops on the way. The mist was soon clearing, and that shiver was sent down our spines as the sight I will never, ever forget presented itself and the whole world seemed to come to a pause. Then we were off, forgetting the aches and pains and sprinting to find the best viewpoint for photos. I seriously can not convey in words the magic of the unveiling.
We took a two hour tour of the site taking in what we could and spent a few minutes generally being awe-struck and speechless that we had finally made it.
I had been contemplating the idea of climbing the mountain of Huyana Picchu which
Inca Steps
Clare works those calf muscles. Again. is the mountain in the background of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu meaning 'Old Peak' and Huyana Picchu meaning 'New Peak'. This stands at 360m (1181ft) than Machu Picchu, and only 400 people are allowed to enter and attempt each day. The blisters won and I stayed with the girls who weren't going while a few of the lads and a girl from the US went off to tackle it. Instantly I regretted my decision and stole Clare's water, making a run (somehow) to catch the guys up. I got to them just as they were going in and cheekily bypassed the growing queue. The climb was the hardest and most internse physical exercise of my life. Two of us fell behind the others but made it under budget time wise at 36 minutes. The average is 45. It was challenging to say the least but again so, so worthwhile. I remembered a saying from a blog we have been following of a couple who have a similar itinerary to us - "Regret what you do, not what you dont." The views of MP were stunning all the way, and the Incas sure know how to build knee-buckling staircases and tall
Inca Tunnel
Max, Claire and Kirsty just about squeeze through... person prohibiting tunnels. Meanwhile,
Clare was taking in the awesome sights and savouring Machu Picchu with some of the others. The tour groups arrive at around 10.30am and fill the place up, but she was able to have a good long while before this to enjoy it properly!
Our greatest adventure finally came to an end with the longest, slowest train journey in history from Aguas Calientes to Cusco. Four hours thirty minutes for the 112km trip. We now know infinate amounts about how trains use "switchbacking" to ascend and descend mountains! Last night a few of us got together for dinner and a few beers which led to inevitable carnage in our first experience of South American nightclubs. They have good music over here, and probably one of the most picturesque nightclub balcony views in the whole continent. Anyone planning a visit to Cusco - go to Mama Africa!We said our sad farewells at 3.45am and headed home, having finished what was by a million miles the best experience of our lives. We have picked up a little on the Spanish speaking now, I managed to negotiate a price for a shotglass without using a word of English!
Day Three
Just a taster of the scenery Muy Bueno!!
Looking forward to seeing everybody when we are home next week. We have two questions - Is it summer yet, and have we signed Billy Sharp yet??
Love to all
Max (and Clare)
P.S
Check out the whole host of new photos - we have added to our entries.... Finally we got around to properly copying our media to CD!!
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