Survival of the fittest.

---

Its been a little while since we last updated the blog so bear with me if we ramble off between various things that we have done over the last 2/3 weeks. First of all we arrived in Cusco (Peru) and met up with Rachel who was joinng us for a 2 week holiday. I think we had all read about altitude sickness but hadn´t really comprehended example what it meant. It hit us all in different ways and with different severity but the upshot is that it is not something to be underestimated and that you should definitely give yourself a few days to get used to it before embarking on any touring (which we did).

Anyway on to the Inca Trek.......given our various symptoms re altitude sickness we were all very concerned about the thought of doing 4 days of treking at even higher altitudes than we were at. But seeing as this was one of the key things that we all wanted to do we put these concerns aside and headed off on the SAS bus to the starting point of the trail. I think it is fair to say that we all had different views about the trail so each of us have put our own little note about it below but I´ll give an overview of what it entailed. To start with we are driven to the 82KM point which is the start of the 4 day hike. There are a whole team of porters, guides and chef´s that accompany the group (15 trekkers - 21 porters) and they carry everything that is needed for those 4 days (tents, food, gas canister for cooking etc). Its amazing the agility and strength of the porters and even more amazing how the chef´s were able to produce 3 course lunches and dinners every day.

Day One:
The landscape on this day started with very desert-like conditions including very strong sun. The walk was mainly flat with some occassional uphill sections but generally quite enjoyable and was a good way to get to know some of the other people in our group. Its worth noting that out of the 15 people doing the trip 7 were from Ireland, and most were female. Anyway back to the walking.....we walked about 4/5 hours that day and ended up in our first campsite. When we got there (as with all the other nights) our tents were already up and our bags (apart from our day packs) were waiting for us. After having a great dinner we all went outside and saw the most stars I have ever seen in my life. I don´t know if it was because of the lack of light pollution (we were all using our torches) or because of the elevation approx 3000m above sea level, but there were so many stars in the sky that we were all mesmerised. It was so clear that we could even make out two satelites moving through the sky.

Day Two:
This is the day that is supposed to be the most difficult. The trail climbs up for about 5 hours (steps & slopes) to the top of Dead Woman´s pass (4198m) and then goes down (mainly uneven steps) 2 hours to the campsite. The landscape changes from dry to jungle and then to cold in the cloud weather. We were lucky though as it didn´t really rain and wasn´t too sunny. The campsite on this night was one where all the other groups were also staying so it gave us our first inkling of just how many other people were doing this and just how dirty toilets can get!! A game called Extreme Baños was devised (I´ll leave it to your imagination but suffice to say that Baños means toilet in spanish). As we were all knackered from 7/8 hours of walking we all crashed out early and got as much sleep as we could before day 3.

Day Three:
Everyone focuses on Day Two and how difficult it is but seem to gloss over day three. This is the longest day of the trek and in its own way is just as challenging and difficult as day two. The day starts with a 2 hours uphill trek to get to the 2nd pass and then a 3 hour stretch of a combination of uphill and downhill until you get to the 3rd pass. Then the trail dramactically changes and goes dowhill for 2000 steps and plenty of slopes that in total take about 4 hrs to get down. I think the guide book says that if you didn´t have a knee problem before this you will after it (how true!!). The campsite on this night has a little bar and most importantly hot showers.....as we hadn´t had a shower in 3 days this was most welcome!

Day Four:
This day starts at 4am with an early wake up call and breakfast. The aim is to get to the Sun Gate for sunrise to hopefully see Machu Picchu in the first rays of morning. However there is a slight problem in that it was raining all night and we had felt a landslide during the night (well Ralph and Rach did - I was fast asleep). So with a few hours sleep, armed with our torches we headed down to the last checkpoint on the trail. This checkpoint doesn´t open until 5:30am so we waited in line for the go ahead. Once through this it was a 1 1/2 hour walk to the Sun Gate. The path was fairly good and apart from a little area that had been damaged by the landscape was fairly easy going (or at least compared to the other days). When we got to the Sun Gate the sun had risen but there were clouds covering Machu Picchu. However our guide was confident that we should make our way further down (about an hour) to a place where we would get better pictures. And so we went and by the time we got there the clouds had almost cleared and we could all enjoy the site before us. Machu Picchu itself is an amazing place with a certain mystic that you can´t quite describe. Our guide was good at pointing out just how advanced the Inca´s were with their astronomy and geometry. The whole site is perfect in terms of north, south, east and west and it is difficult to comprehend just how sophisticated they must have been to creat such a site. Anyway after exploring the site we went down to the town and enjoyed the hot springs (with a beer in our hands). This was a well deserved rest for all!!

Just to give a bit of a flavour as to what we all thought about the trail:

Jo:
Personally I found the trail very, very physcially demanding, to such an extent that I honest thought on a number of occassions that I couldnt do it. I think that the combination of the fitness needed and the altitude really got to me as I found that after day one I was almost always constantly dizzy, and couldn´t eat properly. Its a bit like childbirth (this is Rach´s theory) in that once you have done it you forget the pain and suffering and only remember the end result. Maybe over time it will feel like that but as I was sick for 2 days afterwards I think it may take me longer to forget the pain and only remember the good stuff. I guess the next thing is to answer the question of whether I would recommend the trek to someone. I think the answer depends on the person. If they are very fit and enjoy trekking - go for it. If they are like me and go to the gym 2/3 times a week and generally don´t do more than an hour walk here and there then I would say that you should consider your options and really think about what you want to get out of it. It may be that the 2 day trek (which also ends at the sun gate) is for you. Overall Im happy that I did it (now that its over) but wouldn´t do it again.


Ralph:
I enjoyed the first couple of days of the Trail, especially given the dramatic scenery of jungles and mountain views. As Jo says, it is a tough 4 days and by the third day I too was starting to feel the effects of altitude combined with a long march. There was plenty to see en route in terms of both the land and Inca sites, but I met my match on the second half of the third day when we descended the 2000 steps over 3 hours, complete with precipitous drops to the sides of the path. Concentrating on each step sucked my nervous energy so that I was shattered by the end of Day 3. As I think we would all agree, arriving at Machu Picchu on Day 4 does compensate for the efforts to a greater or lesser of degree, being no less dramatic in the early morning than we could hope for. I am glad for the memories (many of which are now returning after the fear associated with the heights has subsided), but you couldn´t pay me enough to do it all over again!


Rachel (a brief response before jumping into the cab to the airport):
I have to admit I am in the minority who actually enjoyed the trek! It was bloody hard work (I have the blisters to prove it!) but all worth it once you round the corner at the Sun Gate & see Macchu Pichu for the first time, all misty and Inca-like. I have to admit the altitude did get to me at times but the fear of embarassing myself in front of ridiculously energetic Aussies spurred me on to pretend everything was fine!
Back in Arequipa I am sporting hilariously stripey sunburn thanks to our lengthy condor-viewing (or rather waiting for the damn things to appear) which I am hoping to even out in Miami. So far no food poisoning either, touch wood. Beyond that - well we made an agreement that ´what goes on tour, stays on tour´....so you will just have to guess!

As Rach mentioned we also went to see the Colca Canyon and the Condors - which we eventually saw after waiting for 3 hours. The buggers only decided to show up as we all boarded our bus so we all had to run back out again. In the end we saw 2 big Condors and had seen a baby one earlier. We all tried to get pictures of them but I´m afraid mine ended up looking like a speck in the sky. Anyway after all of that we chilled out in a lovely hotel in Arequipa and saw a forggoten convent (only opened to the public in 1970 after 300 years of isolation) and one of the ice mummies (inca child sacarifices that were frozen on the top of mountains nearby - very scary stuff).

Rach has now left us and we have moved on to Puno to see Lake Titicaca and the floating reed islands. We´ll fill you all in on this and more in the next (second last) update.

Keep the emails coming, and if anyone is watching the Irish Rugby match on Sunday (against Pacific Islands) make sure you cheer on the No. 8!!

Love
Ralph & Jo.

---

Photos

Full of energy
Day One......all smiles as we start our journey.

Night One
Our campsite on night one where we saw the most beautiful night sky.

Peak Heights
Now we know why its called Dead Womans Pass (Jo was almost dead at this point). Its 4215m high.

Steps, steps and more steps
Part of the 2000 steps on Day Three

Made it!!!
We finally make it to Machu Picchu. You can almost feel the relief in this picture.

Machu Picchu
The sight we were all waiting for!

Glimpse of Machu Picchu
The views were amazing both inside and outside.

Waiting game.
RAchel waits patiently for the Condors to grace us with their presence over the Colca Canyon (which is the second deepest canyon in the world - the Grand Canyon doesn´t come close!).

Look closely.....
That speck in the middle of the sky is actually a Condor....blow up the picture if you don´t believe me!!

Lonely Streets....
This is one of the streets inside the convent in Arequipa that was isolated from the town (and the world) for over 300 years. They only opened their doors when forced to in 1970.

Comments

[anonymous]

Thank you for relaying such detail for old ones like myself who wish they had done it it is nice tolive it through your e-mails. GB