The Inca Trail - 4 day hike

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Been up since 4am, fully dressed but still lying in bed at 5.55, we were starting to hope that our tour had forgotten about us and we could forget all about the Inca trail and go back to bed; then the doorbell rang. Dammit!

William, our tour guide greeted us and we boarded the bus that would take us to Sacred Valley. Here we stopped for breakfast before the hour journey to the start point, Piscakucho, KM82. From here we would start the 4 day, 43km trek to Machu Picchu.
We did introductions at the beginning. We had a group of 14. There were 3 Americans, Laura, Brittany & Tammy on a holiday together (funniest Americans we’ll ever meet), 2 brummies James & Sarah, 2 Northern Irish Alan & John, another 3 Americans Julie, Lee & Chris, a portugese Rosa and Eva from Leeds. Then our guide William and assistant guide Janette and with us at meal times, 19 porters for all the tens & food etc. We learnt at this point, that we were the only people in the group not to have paid extra and hired a personal porter, so we strapped on our sleeping bag and mats to our bags and set off like mules.

Already it was a very beautiful walk, surrounded by mountains and a river, we were thoroughly enjoying it. That was until the ascent. We couldn’t believe how tough it was, worryingly was that we knew that the 1st day was the easiest. Luckily there was always something to stop and look at so we had quite a few breaks. As we hiked passed the side of Rio Llullucha and took a steep climb to Wayllabamba we were able to appreciate views of snowy Nevado Veronica (5750m). This then led us onto our first inca site of the trip, Llactapata.

William was a great guide and explained each site we saw in detail and was giving us great history lessons about Hiram Bingham and his journey into discovering Machu Pichhu & the Inca Trail during the early 1900's. Not long after Llactapata we stopped for lunch. Already the porters were way ahead of us and had set up a dining room tent with table and chairs inside and had prepared us a gourmet dinner. We didn’t know at this point that we would be eating some of the best food we’d had on our trip over the next 4 days. Incredible considering the conditions we were in. So after our avocado salad starter, chicken & veg soup, garlic bread, pork with rice, veg & chips, cake dessert and peppermint tea, we were all ready for a siesta. Unfortunately with incredibly full stomachs we still had to hike some more so we could reach our camp for the evening.

In a few hours we reached home for the evening. Incredibly in the time it had taken us to get from the lunch site to our camp, the porters had washed up, packed away all the lunch equipment, overtaken us, arrived at camp, set up 7 tents, the whole kitchen, the dining room and had dinner already on the go. These people are amazing. We were also incredibly grateful for the beers that had been taken up there also. We were all getting to know each other over dinner and decided the altitude must be getting to us as we were just finding everything incredibly funny. It must have only been about 7 or 8 but we all went to bed. Our wake up call would be at 5.20.

After what felt like only 1 hour sleep and spending most of the night squashed in the bottom corner of the tent because we were on a slope, we had a knock on our tent door. It was our room service. Janette & a porter with a kettle and selection of coffee and teas. What service! We quickly had to sort all our stuff out, eat breakfast and get on our way. Something none of us were looking forward to as the second day is notorious for being the hardest. Will had already explained the course of the day and basically the gist of it was to ascend in continuing thinning air up steep slopes and ridiculously high rocks and steps to reach Warmiwanusca or Dead Woman’s Pass (4215m). This must have got its name for a reason right!

We started with a ‘gentle’ 90 min ascent. It wasn’t gentle at the time I assure you but certainly a walk in the park compared to the rest of the day. We had a little 10 min break and was then told to continue at our own paces. Perdy was terrified that she’d be at the back of the 14 the whole 4 days and everyone would be waiting hours for her to reach camp. So when we set off at a good pace and was going quite well, we were both pleasantly surprised. That was until her legs started to give way about an hour into the next ascent. At times thinking we just couldn’t go on, we finally stumbled on rest break number 2, where the porters had already set up a ‘2nd’ breakfast for us! Much to Tonys appreciation.

Not wanting to leave this spot but with some more fuel inside us and a great big bottle of gatorade, we were determined to reach Dead Women’s Pass. To say it was a challenge would be an understatement and to say there might have been a couple of tantrums and just a few times we needed to stop and rest, would be inaccurate. We’ll leave it to your imagination just how colourful our language might have got at times, however we persisted, sweat a lot, lost balance, choked on thin air, put ipods on listened to songs that had the lyrics of “I am a mountain, I have climbed highest mountain, ain’t no mountain high enough, move every mountain and so on and so on”, our heads were down and we got on with it. Much to our amazement and without even realising, after all the worry, we were the first to make it to the summit. Which also meant we got to collapse first and have a nice long rest and wait for the others. It actually took us a while to realise the view. We were more interested in trying to get our breath back and not pass out. Shortly behind us was James, Sarah & Chris, so the 5 of us just enjoyed our rest and took in the view. We knew we still had another 2 ½ days but apparently that was the hardest ascent and it was our highest summit, so how much harder could it get! Gradually, one by one, the rest of the group arrived and we all congratulated each other and had a group photo, just to prove it.

Well what comes up, must come down. We were now at 4215m and camp was at 3500m. But going down doesn’t necessarily mean it will be any easier. You’ve got to remember that it’s never a real path, or even a trail. Just giant rocks and steps to try and negotiate yourself down. Perdy has horrendous balance, anyone who knows her and her many broken bones can vouch for that, so she was finding it quite tricky. Also very nervous, as she did fall about 30 foot down Mount Kinabalu! Good job the surface wasn’t wet or it would have been unbearable; near impossible…… queue killer torrential downpour!

Some would say we were lucky as this was the only time it rained on our 4 days, however it couldn’t have picked a worse moment. This made our descent increasingly more difficult and having a fall on this surface would certainly push your coccyx up through your throat if not break an arm or leg. Unbelievably, we both made it down with no real issues. A couple of slips here and there and completely saturated, but we made it alive and with no broken bones.

Awaiting us at the camp of course were the porters, our tents set up and a late lunch. Barely being able to walk from tent to toilet at this stage due to the pain already, we ate lunch and grabbed a siesta. Only waking for our dinner at 6.30, followed by a few ghost stories from William and then off to bed; expecting us to be able to sleep after the tales he shared about the mountains and the origin of the name ‘Dead Women’s Pass’. But off to the tents we went, but not before sharing our observatory knowledge with everyone and explaining what the blanket of stars were that we could see. Such a clear night and it was so visible. Which unfortunately meant it would make it a bloody cold night. The layers went on but that still wasn’t enough and neither was the amount of sleep we got before Janette came knocking again at 5.20 with room service.

So another early start and just when we thought day 2 was known for being the hardest; we hadn’t heard about day 3 yet. All we had heard, which wasn’t a good thing, was the descent to our camp involved diving into the cloud forest below for the start of hundreds of inca steps, affectionately known as the Gringo Killer, but before that, more going up!

These names hardly fill you with much enthusiasm and eagerness to get going. Just when we thought the hard ascent was behind us, we then had to climb another 500m to Runkurakay, another inca site and then further to climb to another summit to make an offering to the mountains and take in views of snowcapped Cordillera Vilcabamba before descending to the ruin of Sayaqmarka. It didn’t help today that there was very little shade and the sun was out. We left camp with all our layers on as it was so cold. Within 20 minutes we were all stripping off and crying out for rests. Especially as once again we were the only people carrying all our belongings, although poor Tony had insisted that he take the 2 big sleeping bags in exchange for the 2 lighter sleeping mats, so he was starting to look like a porter himself.

The best thing about porters having to be ahead of you to set up lunch & camp etc, is that they need to, at some point over take you. The word that you long to hear someone shout when you are a participant of the inca trail is ‘porter’. As the path is so narrow, this means you have the excuse, without looking tired or unfit, to make a stop on the side so to allow the porter(s) to come pass you, enabling you to catch your breath and save face! Even more enjoyable was listening to the yanks constantly take the piss out of Tony’s accent and shouting out ‘Porter (with a silent t)’, which then led them to pick on him with any word he missed the ‘t’ out of. It was lovely that we were all bonding as a group!

After what appeared to be the last of the climbing for the day, we made a start on ‘The Gringo Killer’. Over 3000 uneven and ridiculously high inca steps to climb down; and some really were a climb down.

Our first break was at the largest inca site we had come across yet. It was a maze to get around and fascinating how they would channel water to them through the mountains. From here it wasn’t far to our lunch site but unfortunately Perdy was still suffering quite heavily from her Bolivian bug and was finding each step a struggle, which was unfortunate as it was a really pleasant flat walk to the lunch site.

Not being able to eat anything over lunch it was going to be very difficult tackling the Gringo Killer but she’d have to so able to get to camp.

We set off after lunch and went through Inca Tunnels, to the site of Phuyupatamarka with stunning views and ceremonial baths running through them. Another couple of hours of descent and we made it to a very impressive set of terraces overlooking the river. Here, William pointed out the Machu Picchu Mountain. It was still in the distance and knew it was a struggle to get to, but the fact was it was the first time in 3 days we had seen it and we knew that just over that mountain was the inca site we had all been waiting for.

After a little rest at the terraces and stopping to look at hummingbirds, we made the last and final struggle to get to Winay Wayna, our camp for the evening. After waking at 5.20am and spending most of the day walking and climbing down knee-jarring steps, we arrived at 5.30pm. The longest day we’d had so far.

What was great about each time you arrived at camp was that you got applauded by the 19 porters. It always made us feel a bit awkward though, surely it was us who should be applauding them. They also had set up for us bowls of popcorn, empanadas, tea & coffee for us to have just before heading to our first shower in 3 days. You have to pay for it at Winay Wayna, but for a couple of quid it was the best money we’d spent, that and the couple of overpriced beers we got too.

It felt like a bit of a sad night, as it would be our last night together. Well, mixed feelings really. We felt partly relieved as we knew the pain would all be over tomorrow, but also sadness as we’d been having such a great time. Our final dinner was amazing, the chef really outdone himself and it was one of the best dinners we’d eaten. To finish off, he’d baked a cake (god knows how), done all the icing and decorated it with ‘Welcome to Machu Picchu’ and had the site illustrated in icing (check out the photo). How amazing is that to do in the middle of the forest! At the end of the meal, all the porters came into the dining area where we presented them with their well-earned tips and thanked them for all the hard work they had gone to, to make our trip so enjoyable. It was a shame that we wouldn’t be seeing them again; they had become much a part of our trip as the rest of our group. You have to admire them, when we get up at 4am, they will be packing everything up and racing to the bottom of Machu Picchu with all the gear to catch the 6am train back to Cusco, to probably start all over again the next day.

So up at 4am and most disgruntled not to get room service (what were the porters thinking), we had a very quick bite to eat and embarked on our trek to Sun Gate, the gateway to Machu Picchu. The entrance for the trek didn’t open until 5.30, but you don’t want to be arriving with hundreds of other trekkers, so Will told us to get to the entrance for 4.30 and queue so we could be one of the first groups to arrive at Sun Gate.

So with our very fashionable head torches we set off in the pitch black for the trek entrance and after an hour it opened. This was it, our final uphill challenge to take us to the very reason we were all here. The beginning of the trek wasn’t too hard but it got increasingly worse, emotion and adrenalin kept us all going I think otherwise I don’t know how much further we would have all been able to go. Tired, cranky and very emotional but somehow trying to overcome all this with excitement and anticipation.

We arrived at an area known as monkey steps, where you literally have to climb up with hands & feet, following this was a very steep uphill climb. It felt like it was never going to end, and Will was always shouting ‘just a bit further’, which he’d done the last few days and it was never just a ‘bit’ further!

Nearly feeling defeated we come across a huge set of stairs; we could just about see to the top of them which had a big archway. Surely this had to be it; we had to be at Sun Gate.

So with every last bit of strength and determination we all made that final push to the top of the stairs to walk through the arch, turn the corner and…….

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