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Published: October 27th 2008
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4.10.08 It´s been a while since we updated so apologies up front, if you get bombarded with a few blogs in a row!!
After leaving Arequipa we headed off for the start of the much anticipated Inca Trail, which we´ve been looking forward to as the the real highlight of this journey and boy was it spectacular!
We were very lucky indeed to have a group of 16 people who all knew how to have some fun as well as appreciate the truly amazing backdrop to this trek - almost all American and to our surprise we were the only Aussies??? what are the odds on that.... I won´t go through all the characters but lets just say the journey was enhanced by 5 guys doing it for a mate´s 50th b´day who introduced everyone to the concept of using Gatorade powder as a mixer - safe to say, it is now truly proven on the field as a thirst quencher, that brings about peak performance.... or a deadly mix which makes sitting on camping stools a physical challenge greater than some could manage!
Also we couldn´t thank Cesar, our really passionate guide enough. No matter how
many times he´s walked the trail, he still considers it to be an absolute privilege to do so and managed to ensure that we had time to stop and reflect on the beauty of the landscape and importance of the environmental issues facing us today. The many porters, who busted a gut to make sure we were well looked after right along the way, were in a league of their own! Whilst us tourist trekers were madly chewing the coca leaves to combat altitude sickness, as the locals do (see footnote 1) you had to take your hat off to the porters who managed to pack up camp, strap about 25kgs to their backs and then run past you on the trail wearing only sandals made of tyres, to reach the next campsite, with enough time to set up camp and the tents as well as have fresh popcorn, tea and coffee waiting for you when you arrived!
Now on to the good stuff! What can I say.... Its been almost 2 weeks since we finished the trek and on reflection the truly outstanding memory is not necessarily arriving at Machu Picchu but just spending 4 days walking across
the Andes mountain range. The enormity and beauty of the mountains is something really difficult to describe, but to sit atop 4,200m (out of breath and knackered from both the altitude and a very steep climb) and to look out across the range you can understand why the Inca´s and many local people still today believe in the spirit of the mountains - the Apus - and still give them their blessings. Sitting there you can really feel this sense of solemn power as if each individual mountain was looking down at you. It really was enough to make you forget your aching legs and altitude headache!
The trek itself was a challenge with back to back 15kms walks going steeply up hill to a high altitude followed by steep descent of some very large steps... but everytime you looked up from your feet, you were blown away by the scenery which was incredible and ever changing, from tall trees to low shrubs, being below the tree line and then walking through cloud forests. The weather was also constantly changing literally sunny one minute and raining the next. This contributes to some spectacular areas of rain forest and beautiful
waterfalls. Not to mention that some of the mountains are capped by a glacier which sparkles in the sun! There was always something to make you stop and "ahh, ohh & wow" not to mention the various ruins, that at one time were citadels built on sheer cliffs... which considering the relative lack of sophisticated tools and the enormous stones used is a real awe inspiring feat. The Incas were clearly great thinkers developing irrigation and sanitary systems out of the mountains´ natural water flow as well as developing great farming techniques and holding out against the far more advanced Spanish army for almost 40 years....
The last day of the trail was by far the easiest with only a "brisk" 2km walk to the Sun Gate high above Machu Picchu itself providing the most jaw dropping view right across the whole site. You could just sit there forever and look over it in amazement - a really special, postcard moment, a taste of what Bingham, the historian must have felt when he rediscovered the site in the early 1900´s. Aparently it was used by the Inca rulers but abandoned after the Spanish conquest, it truly is a testament
to the Inca´s engineering skills and appreciation of natural beauty. To visit now, you can not help but feel how sacred this site is.
Footnote 1: at the start of the trek, after giving thanks to the moutain gods and mother earth, Cesar gave us all a mouthful of coca leaves wrapped around banana skin resin... good for combating the effects of altitude sickness.... the locals swear by it.... just don´t chew it for too long it´ll make your mouth go numb (and even give you blisters on the tongue) as a few of us found out!
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