Advertisement
Day 1
Beginning of the Inca TrailSince the last posting, we hiked the historic Inca trail. We had heard that the government allows 500 people a day to enter the trail, but we found this included hikers, porters and guides. We had 16 hikers, 21 porters, 1 chef, and 2 guides for a total of 30 people.
The hike is a 4 day, 26 mile hike through the Peruvian mountains. Patty and I are in shape so we figured the hike wouldn't be too stressful. The more we talked with others about their experiences, the more scared we became. We heard horror stories of groups getting sick from altitude and food. Numerous people have had to either be carried down by porters or flown out by helicoptor. Last week, a girl fell off a narrow portion of the trail and her head popped off, she broke all her bones in her entire body and she was eaten by bears. She is recovering nicely.
May 25 - Day 1. We get picked up at 5:20 am by Peru Treks and drive around the city getting the other hikers, 16 total. We take the bus to Ollantaytambo and have breakfast outdoors. We immediately think we didn´t pack
Inca Ruins Along the Trail
Looks nicer than our house in KC enough clothes because its is roughly 35 degrees and its 8am. After breakfast we drive another hour to the start of the trail, where Patty starts to throw up and have diaharrea. Not good timing, but I think it was nerves. We hike 11km, 7 miles, on 'inca flat' dusty trails. Inca flat means roughly flat, or elevation changes of about 200m, which is still crazy hard carrying a 20lb backpack at high elevations. We camped the first night at about 9000 ft after a huge meal. Arriving at camp, we were thrilled to see that our wonderful crazy porters had set up everyone's tents already so all we had to do was throw in our backpacks and snuggle in for a good night's sleep.
May 26 - Day 2 This is the day all hikers fear. The hike is 12km, 8 miles, but the first 5 hours is straight uphill without a break. The top pass is at 14000 ft and called Dead Woman's Pass. It was painful, exhausting, and brought more than a few tears to Patty´s eyes, but the top was amazing. The next 3 hours was all downhill on huge steps. Patty had an easy
Chicks Man
Chickens eating our leftover lunch of rice time with this but I had major ankle pains. At the end of the day, nobody could talk as exhaustion set in at our freezing cold campite at 12500 ft. Of course our porters had once again set everything up for us even though they started the hike after we did but still beat us by at least a couple hours. We would leave our campsite after breakfast and the porters would hang back, clean everything up, break down camp, pack up, and run past us an hour later. Sadly we'd arrive at camp well after them and they of course had already re-set up everything and started cooking our meal. When we arrived at camp they all clapped that we had made it. I secretly know they were thinking that we were all slow, sorry, out of shape foreigners. This night, Patty slept soundlessly with her ear plugs in even though there was a torrential downpour and crazy thunder.
May 27 - Day 3. This is the longest day at 16 km, 10 miles, with 2 different high passes and 2 valleys. 2 hours up, 1 hour down, 2 hours up, 1 hour flat, 2 hours down. The
Not in KS Anymore
The view of the mountain peaks were breathtaking. view was incredible when we awoke with fog and mist swirling all around us. At times it would clear and we could see the other mountains in the distance and minutes later it would fog back over. We hurt and our legs were tired from the day before, but it's amazing how quickly your body adjusts to altitude. The 13000 ft passes seemed relatively easy and the day was really enjoyable as the group tended to stick together and chat all day. We arrived at the campsite around 4pm to warm showers and beers. We partook.
May 28 - Day 4. Last day. Finally. Living without a normal bathroom and bed is enough to make anyone irregular if you know what I mean. Woke at 3:45 am to get ready, eat breakfast and get in line to get through the checkpoint at 5am. After a 3.5 mile hike, we saw the sun rise at the Sun Gate and then walked another 30 minutes to Macchu Picchu. It was awesome. We spent a few hours with our guide giving us a tour of Machu Piccu. Most of the times we were like zombies so exhausted from the hike and just
Well Hung
No other comment happy to have someone talk to us and lead us around. We then decided to climb Wayna Picchu which is the small mountain in the background of all the famous Machu Piccu pics. Since the elevation was only 7700 ft, our lungs felt great. We went with a 21 year old named Blake and ran the estimated hour climb in 20 minutes. After that we hit up Aguas Caliente for pizza, many beers and the hot springs before the train and bus ride back to Cusco. After leaving Aguas Caliente via a 1.5 hour train ride and 1.5 hour bus ride we arrived back at our hotel in Cusco at 9:30 at night. We struggled to keep our eyes open, took the best hot showers of our lives and slept like babies until 8 the next morning.
A total of 16 of us all completed the hike.
Chad and Stephanie, crazy canadians on a year long travel around the world
Nick and Mary Ellen, Rhode island couple working with immigrants and insurance
Mark and Ashley, Mississippi lawyers and landscape architects. We are meeting for dinner in Lima
Adam and Matthew. Adam had the bad hip and Mathew was Captain
Home Sweet Home
Our tents that the porters put up and took down for us. I need to remember that when we go camping this summer. D.
Doug, Amy, Steve. LA couple with Pepe Guapo
Rudy and Joyce. New York social workers. Oldest of the group, but were really in shape.
Blake. 21 year old recent college grad traveling until out of money
Cesar and Omar were our guides.
Overall the hike was one of the hardest 4 days I have spent but it was incredibly satisfying. Macchu Picchu was almost a let down as the hike, the mountains and the night stars stole a lot of its glory. The porters are also amazing to watch. Little men, never more than 5ft tall, wearing only sandles, have 60 lbs of gear tied to their back with a blanket literally running up the mountain. Our 4 day hike takes them 5 hours.
This morning, after conquering the Cusco hotel steps unwinded, we flew to Lima for a few days. Nothing to report as of yet.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.068s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0403s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Gretchen Blase
non-member comment
I want to do this!
Hey Patty and Stu, Jen has been sharing your experiences with me. I want your travel group name when you come back. This sounds great! Gretchen