Inca Trail

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4th April 2009

Today was the day we´d both been really looking forward to, the start of the Inca Trail. Starting at 6.30am we took the bus to the first checkpoint along a particularly bumpy road. Our Passports were checked and stamped and we were free to trek. The begining of the walk was a nice gentle climb. Despite the gentle climb it was soon apparent who was suffering from the altitude, not us!!!! The trail follows the river closely, and was all together quite a pleasant walk. We were told to stick to the left hand side of the path, hugging the mountain to prevent being trampled on by the amazing porters who rushed ahead carrying 25kg each. This part of the trail was a through route for the locals to transport goods (via donkey) to and from the various hamlets and farms dotted a long the trail. Just before lunch Alex and 3 of the other guys went a little of the track for an excursion up a small hill. This gave great views of some ruins nearby and the river which turned into viscious rapids at this stage. Two of the guys who went on the off piste excursion were scared of heights and complained it was too high for them, it was about to get much higher! When arriving at the camp for lunch all the porters clapped us in after they had marched ahead carrying all our stuff and setting up tents for lunch, it probably should have been the other way round, but it was still nice of them!!! After lunch the climb became a little steeper but nothing too taxing. This part of the walk was starting to reveal the stunning views that we would get to see later on. We arrived at the camp at 2.30 and after a little rest and a much needed toilet break we saw another group playing football against their porters. After watching the match we challenged another group of peruvians for a game. The stake was one soles per player, Elaine was official photographer. The match was an epic end to end affair with the lead changing hand a couple of times. The score was locked at 2-2 and with the light fading Alex scored the winning goal for a 3-2 win. Back at the camp we had dinner at 7 and went to bed pretty much straight after to prepare for our early start and challenging day tommorrow.

5th April 2009

The day began at 6am with an offering of coca tea through the tent. After a quick breakfast we were ready to leave by 7am, this was the shortest distance travelled on the trek but the highest climb. We walked up to the 2nd checkpoint to get our passports stamped again. From the other side you could see how far up we had to climb and boy did it look hard! To start with we were walking on a windy dirt path, covered by trees. After a little rest and toilet break we started walking up the true Inca trail, which is lots of uneven steps. Although not particularly steep it was hard work and they seemed to just keep on going. The scene around us kept us going and we took it nice and easy until lunch. Lunch was well earned and the very much appreciated. Looking up the mountain we could see the pass that was our target. This looked and was the toughest part of the whole walk and so we decided to get over with as quickly as possible. Fifty-one minutes later we were on top of dead womans pass (Elaine was the quickest girl in the group yay!!!!) and we celebrated on top of the mountain whilst waiting for the rest of the group. An hour later when the clouds started to surround us, the rest of the stragglers arrived. Typically just as we were about to start our descent it the clouds realeased their goods. This made the way down a lot more difficult to navigate as not only were the steps uneven but they were now slippy. The rain only lasted for 30 minutes we were back at the camp within 2 hours. This campsite was not as nice but at least it had "proper" toilets rather than squat ones, so the girls were a little happier. We had some tea and snacks and then played a new version of dominoes with the 2 danish guys we´d met (we´ll teach you when we get back). After dinner we spent sometime looking at the stars, we had never seen so many and it was magical. Then it was off to bed for 9pm.

6th April 2009

After a terrible sleep (our tent was on a slope), we were again awoken with an offering of tea. Today´s walk was the largest distanced we travelled (16km). This section of the walk had the best views so we decided to take our time. After the 3rd checkpoint and now customary passport stamp, we again climbed up to our first ruin of the day. This was an Incan resting point, which faced east like all Incan buildings. Here Jeremy gave a talk about the significance of these ruins and informed us a little more about Incan life. We continued on to the 2nd pass, thankfully this one was not as high. We then start to make our way down to another set of ruins, this time an Incan temple. Whilst Jeremy gave his talk, Alex carried out a minor operation on his in-growing toenail, how pleasant. We then carried on into the appropriately named cloud forest. The cloud was good cover as it blocked our view of the dramatic 600m drops to our left. Sticking close to the mountains we saw plenty of pretty flowers and plants. At one stage we walked through a tunnel carved out by the water flowing through the mountains. This was a really great part of the walk and yet again pictures don´t do it justice. After lunch we arrived at the 3rd set of ruins for the day. This was a guard post and from here you could see the mountain on which Maccu Picchu stands (Maccu Picchu is on the other side of the mountain). The talk Jeremy gave was interrupted by a short rain shower so we continued on. This part of the trail was downhill and a little hard on the knees but gave some amazing views of the valley below. Near the end of the walk there was the option to take a longer detour to see some Incan terraces. Being the true adventurers we are, we decided to take the longer route. We were not disappointed. The terraces were great and so were the views that they offered. This whole day was a real treat and was exactly what we wanted from the whole experience. At the final camp we all pooled together a tip for the amazing porters and had our photo taken with the porter who had run the Inca Trail marathon in the fastest time of 3hrs 47mins. We bet he didn´t have an extra 25kg on for that!!!!

7th April 2009

We awoke to the sound of rain. The 4am start was bad enough and the rain made us want to stay in our sleeping bags even more. However, today was the day that we got to see Maccu Picchu so it would definately be worth it. After a quick breakfast the rain had stopped, thank the Incan Sun God for that. It was beautiful to see the mountains in sillouete as the sun rose. The climb to the Sun Gate included the steepest set of stairs we´d ever climbed and you had to use both your arms and legs to get up them. Upon reaching the Sun Gate we got our first magical view of Maccu Picchu. WOW!!!! We continued our descent past a pre Incan tomb and the path wound its way quickly to Maccu Picchu. We were greeted by some Llamas who sat posing for photos. Then began the photo frenzy, complete with screen saver shot of Maccu Picchu. After a guided tour with Jeremy we spent some time relaxing by ourselves. We even managed to find a spot where no tourists were, this was bliss. Once we seen as much as we could, we headed down to Aguas Callientes by bus and met the rest of the group for a well deserved lunch. Then we headed to the tourist train to start our journey back to Cusco. Halfway through the journey, music started to play and a man stroking a stuffed llama and wearing a scary mask began to dance around the train. We believed he was a seriel killer until we were informed it was a traditional regional dance! Next up was the train fashion show, at least our journey was entertaining. On arriving back in Cusco we had the best showers of our lives and then had a well deserved nap in a real bed. We headed out for dinner with some of the guys and had a huge Parrilla (basically a mixed grill which included very tasty cows heart)! Happy and content we headed to bed after the best 4 days of our lives!!!!!

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