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Published: September 19th 2010
So on Tuesday we were up and out of the hostel by 4am to meet up with our tour group for our 1st day on the famous Inca Trail. Just to give you some background, The Inca Trail is by far the most famous trek in South America and is rated by many to be in the top 5 treks in the world. In 27 miles (approx 43km) it manages to combine beautiful mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest, subtropical jungle and, of course, a stunning mix of Inca paving stones, ruins and tunnels. It is a 4 day trek high up into the mountains, starting at km82 in Cusco, passing the Inca ruins of Llactapata, Runkurakay, Sayacmarca, Phuyupatamarca and Wiñay Wayna before finally arriving at Machu Picchu, the mysterious "Lost City of the Incas", for sunrise on the 4th day of the trek. As well as our group and the guides there were also 19 porters (aka the red ninjas as their uniform is red) who run ahead of us on the trail and carry everything- including our sleeping bags, tents, cooking equipment, food, tables and chairs, for the whole 4 days and arrive at each campsite before us to
set everything up ready for our arrival in the afternoon/evening.
We were in a group of 13 for the 4 day trip with 2 guides. Most of our group were American and really nice and consisted of a family of 4 (mum, dad and 2 daughters- the mum and dad were 60 years old!) from Pensylvania, a group of 3 female friends from New York, a couple from Minnesota, two South African sisters from Cape Town and us. We got a coach first which the porters were already on and clapping us to a town about an hour away for breakfast in a small cafe to build up our energey for the first day of the trek. In the cafe gardens they had some cute guinea pigs which we thought were pets but then we were reminded of the local delicacy and reliased the cute guinea pigs were actually going to be someones dinner soon! After breakfast and a chat with our group we were back on the coach to get to Ollaytambo and km 82, the start of the trek. A quick stamp in our passports and we were ready to start the first day of hiking. At
first it seemed fine with a nice 2 hour walk through some amazing scenery including lush green mountains and clear rivers and streams, plus the weather was gorgeous, nice bright sunshine, then it started going uphill steadily and we were both thinking it was getting a bit tough early on considering it was only the first day, but we carried on walking on flat and uphill paths for a few more hours before stopping for lunch. The food on this trip was amazing- 3/4 course meals for lunch and dinner always freshly cooked by the chef- for lunch we had advocado salad, followed by vegetable soup, then freshly caught trout, rice, salad and potatoes, and a choice of teas including the local favourite cocoa tea- which is cocoa leaves and hot water- neither of us were keen on this though. After lunch we were all pretty tired and were surprised at how hard the first day was proving to be, but we carried on and walked for another 2 1/2 hours until we reached out camp for the first night. Neither of us had camped before so this was to be a new experience for us and the first thing
that was disliked by both of us were the dirty squat toilets- gross! But camping itself was a lot of fun- the tents were spacious with our matresses and sleeping bags in them already- and after arriving at 5pm we had 'happy hour' until 6pm- which was basically treat time where we could have hot chocolate, pop corn and biscuits and play cards! After a quick rest and another amazing dinner which was corn soup, garlic bread, our favourite lomo saltado (beef with rice and chips) and caramelised bananas, we wre all exhausted so went to bed at about 8.30pm in our cosy tents.
Day 2- we were woken up with tea, a bucket of hot water and soap at 5.30am to begin hiking at 7am. Vic unfortunately had stomach cramps all night so knew this wasn't going to be a good day and before it was light and eveyone was up she had to sneak into a bush to...well you can guess but it wasn't pretty! Breakfast was as good as the other meals with hot porridge, bread and jam, fresh fruit and yoghurt to set us up for what everyone had told us was the hardest day
of the trek, as we would be hiking uphill for 4 hours to reach 'dead woman's pass' a mountain at a high altitude of 4,200m, then another 2 hours downhill which Scott was dreading because of his knees. We set off first and after only half an hour of walking Vic had to go again...luckily the rest of the group hadn't caught up with us yet so she had a minute to do what she needed to do before we carried on. We were the first ones to reach the rest point almost 2 hours after setting off that morning so had a good 20 minute rest before we had the hardest 3 hours ahead of us- all uphill, and not just uphill, but up really uneven ground and huge steps which was so hard, we had to stop every few minutes to catch our breath, plus Vic had stomach cramps so it was even harder. At times we would both look up and all we could see was hundreds of steps- we thought it would never end. Thank god it wasn't sunny like the first day as that would have only added to the difficulty. When we finally reached
the next rest point neither of us could even talk for 5 minutes as we were so high up it was difficult to breathe and after walking for almost 3 hours uphill we were both exhausted. What made it worse was that we knew we still had hours ahead of us before getting to camp that night! At the rest point we were so high up it was freezing within minutes and very cloudy which was wierd- we were told we were in a cloud forest and that was the reason.
After a rest we started going downhill- Scott ran ahead as it was easier on his knees that way but Vic took it slow as she was really struggling especially with the bad stomach pains and the need to go to the toilet every 10 minutes. Going downhill was not as hardas going uphill fitness wise,but it was tough on the ankles, knees and legs as you had to watch every step carefully as they were so uneven. After almost 2 hours of this and a couple of trips on the stones Vic made it to the botom where lunch would be, to find Scott already there, as
he had run down and been there for over 40 mins, he even beat the porters and the guide and they all clapped and cheered him when he arrived! Lunch was good again- cheese and onion parcels, chicken legs, rice and vegetables followed by tea. After a couple of mouthfuls of food Scott began to feel really sick and got a headache so went away from the table and sat down for 10 mins to try and feel a bit better.
We all set off again for the final 3 hours of walking before getting to camp that night and it was a mixture of uphill and downhill. By this point we were both really struggling to moe at any kind of pace- Vic with her bad stomach and Scott with his headache and feeling/being sick- it was the hardest thing wither of us has ever had to do but somehow we made it, even if we were last in our group to get to camp that night, by the time we got there (6pm) it was pitch black! We both just collapsed in our tent when we arrived and fell asleep. The guide woke us for dinner but
by this point Scott had developed a fever and was boiling, even though it was a really cold night, and just wanted to stay in the tent. Thats when we knew he wasn't well-its not like Scott to miss a meal! Vic felt a bit better by then so had a bit of dinner (soup, pasta and chocolate mousse) and went back to the tent around 8pm to find Scott sound alseep but sweating even though it was freezing. After both taking some paracetamol we crashed out desperate for a shower and normal toilets, wondering how we were going to get through another day of trekking.......
***Some photo title's have been mixed up***
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Auntie Susan
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You made it
Did you only post days 1 and 2! WOW what an experience. I know that you are really exhausted and suffered somewhat but I know it was worth it. It's something most mere mortals very rarely do. The pics are fantastic. Can't wait for instalment on days 3 and 4. Love you both. xxx