Inca Trail - Day 1

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DAY 14: FIRST DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL

The day that I’d been anticipating for so long finally arrived. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to take a shower, eat breakfast and leave my big backpack in the storage room of the hotel where I was staying in Cusco
City.

I met my tour guide Maria in the hotel lobby at 6:40, and we left for the bus, where we met the rest of the group. There were 9 other hikers (2 from Holland, 2 from Denmark, 2 from the US and 4 from Peru including me), 6 porters, 2 cooks, 1 main guide and 1 guide assistant.

The bus left Cusco
City at 7:05 a.m. and arrived in the town of Ollantaytambo at 8:55 a.m. Here Maria told us that we should buy anything that we’d forgotten, so I got a hat because I’d forgotten mine in the hotel, some coca leaves and candies, four bottles of water, some cookies and a rustic stick to help me with the hiking. Then I was free to enjoy the beautiful view of the ruins and the town itself.

An hour later we left Ollantaytambo, and our bus took us to a point pretty close to the starting point around 11:00 a.m. Here we got our sleeping pads and got ready to start the Inca Trail. At this point Maria gave us instructions: Today everyone would walk together; tomorrow everybody should walk at his or her own pace to avoid extreme fatigue. One guide would be walking with the fastest hikers and the other one with the last hiker of the group.

At 11:20 we arrived at the check point. This point is well known as Piscacucho or Km. 82 of the railroad Cusco
- Machu Picchu. Here we received our Inca Trail permit and a stamp in our passports. Piscacucho has an altitude of 9000 feet. After a picture with the group, we really started hiking uphill. The landscape here was beautiful and from afar I saw the first ruin, Q’anabamba.

Around 1:30 p.m. I arrived at the lunch point. It was great to see our lunch tent ready and the food almost ready. After a pretty good lunch and rest, we continued on the trail around 3:00 p.m. A half hour later, I saw from afar the ruins of Willkarakay. At this point the trail started to get a little bit more challenging. The group stopped to rest and waited for the slower hikers a couple of times.

Around 6:00 p.m. the group arrived at the first camp, called Huayllabamba, located at 9840 feet and approximately 7.5 miles from the starting point. All the tents were ready. Most of the tents in the Inca Trail are for two people, so if you do not want to share your tent but want your own, you will need to talk to your travel agency beforehand and you’ll pay a little bit more. In my case, I was lucky because I got a personal tent.

This camp has an old-fashioned restroom. By old-fashioned, I mean no toilet or faucets or even water… so have fun….

After eating, I went to my tent and got ready to sleep because I knew the next day would be the hardest one.

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