Advertisement
Published: February 10th 2010
Our 64 km adventure begins with a bright and early start at 4am. We drive to an Andean village near the trail head to eat a hearty breakfast and buy some coca leaves (“it´s not a drug it´s a stimulant!¨) insists our guide) and walking sticks with fancy Peruvian embroidered handles. After the passport control (I have a cool Inca trail stamp now!) we began our walk at 8:30 am.
Normally there are only 500 people including porters allowed on the trail at any time, but somehow we lucked out and there were only 300 people booked for our day, so we had a bit of privacy.
In order to get the best (and private) campsite we had to hike farther our first day than most groups. We did 16km and ascended 1000m to our campsite at 3700m. For some reason, Dana and I decided not to hire personal porters and carry all our own equipment. When I agreed to this I was forgetting that we would add a huge sleeping bag and sleeping mat to our bags and in the end they were about 15lbs, which is quite heavy even without the altitude!
This trek was so
amazing and I will never forget it because I have never pushed myself so hard. Coming around each bend in utter exhaustion only to see yet another set of stairs (made by the Incas). Always continuously pushing upwards and onwards. On the trail were beautiful mountain flowers, lots of orchids, humming birds, and wild llamas. The views were stunning. Andean mountains are truly awe-inspiring. Since it was the rainy season, it sprinkled throughout the day and the mist constantly floated in and out, creating a very surreal environment. Our campsite was in a little valley at and was breath-taking in both beauty and in oxygen levels. The food on our trip was great, always 3 course and several cups of tea for each meal, and a tea time snack before dinner. I feel sorry for the porter who carried the propane tank!
We chewed our coca leaves which are supposed to give you energy and help with the altitude. I switched to coca tea the second day as chewing leavings for hours slightly disgusted me.
On our journey we went through many smaller Incan ruins. Anthropologists believe the Inca trail was built as a pilgrimage to Machu Picchu
and built towns within a one day´s walk of each other so that the pilgrims had resting spots.
The trail itself was amazing. They used huge stones and designed it according to the shape of the mountain. There were lots of huge fallen rocks all over the mountain and the trail continued over or under them, carving steps out of sunken rocks or even under some, through little crevices created between the rock and the mountain side. Again, very impressive.
The second day didn´t go so well for me. After seven months of travelling my body finally gave into to the sketchy food we are always eating and I got sick. Or perhaps it was the altitude that got to me, but either way I spent our first night writhing with abdominal pain and couldn´t sleep at all. At breakfast I felt too nauseous to eat and once we packed up and starting walking I had to run to the bushes every hour for the remainder of the day.
We crossed 2 passes that day. The first at 4200m, the highest on the hike, and after descending into a valley for lunch, we crossed a second pass at 3900m.
I have never felt so accomplished when I finally heaved my trembling body up to the highest point, going on no food or sleep and holding back the tears while I clutched my stomach and gasped for air. I made it!
That night I was able to eat a bit and by the third day I was feeling back to normal. This was an easy day. Gentle ups and downs and only 4 hours. We arrived at camp around 1pm, had lunch, a beer and enjoyed the views and crisp Andean air. That afternoon we explored another ruin, which I enjoyed even more than Machu Picchu as it was just Dana and I exploring it around dusk and it was more intact than the others.
On the last day we woke up at 4 am in order to reach the Sun Gate at sunrise. As we reached the Sun Gate (which happened to be on the Summer Solace!!) we were welcomed by a thick blanket of fog. After a bit, it cleared enough to make out Machu Picchu in the distance. As we walked the last hour down to the ruins the mist cleared and the full grandeur
was revealed. Our guide toured us around and explained the little information they knew about the Incas. Much is speculation since the Spanish were only interested in gold rather than the Incan technologies and history and destroyed most of the Incan cities. Since it was the summer solace, the sun came up directly though the Sun Gate and passed though the temple window and shone on the giant sundial.
We spent 9 hours there that day exploring the ruins and petting llamas. It is very grand, and it is the most intact Incan city. There were beautiful temples, houses, and aqua duct systems. Also, they recently discovered a bridge built by the Incas and as Dana and I were checking it out there was a mini rock slide over head but thankfully a tree caught most of the rocks and we ran away unscathed.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.057s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0268s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
