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Published: February 19th 2010
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We were picked up at about 5:30 am on our first day of the Inca Trail. A bus took us to km82 past Ollayantambo which is the "official" start of the Trail. We had a delicious breakfast at a cafe within steps of the Trail and watched the dozens of porters that would be accompanying us and the other groups on the trek. We had 22 porters alone for our group of 16 trekkers! We discovered that most other trekkers, in addition to benefitting from the porters that carried our food, tents and other necessities, had also reserved the services of a personal porter to carry their sleeping bag, clothing and toiletries, so that they only had to carry a day pack. I hadn't made that request so the three of us had to carry our own daily effects. Really, this didn't end up being a huge hardship and I appreciated my accomplishment a little bit more than others because I had carried my own gear!
We set out on the first day with excellent weather, which gave us false hopes for the incredible landscapes to come. The trail was mostly flat and we soon stopped for our first lunch.
It was very strange to sit down to a hot meal at a table after having just been hiking minutes before! The food on the trek as a whole was excellent and plentiful. It also featured some local foods such as yucca croquettes and lomo saltado. After lunch we came across our first Inca ruins and our guide, Victor, did his first of many "little speeches" about the site, Peruvian agriculture and politics, and any other subject that came to mind! He is a great guide and was always in good spirits and enthusiastic even in the bad weather that was to come. We didn't hike for too many hours on the first day and had a relaxing evening with cervesas purchased at the campsite. We had a great view of the valley that we had come up, which was to be one of our best views of the hike.
The next morning we were warned that most of the day would involve hiking uphill, but I don't think I really believed it until I was doing it. The Inca stairs were steep and uneven and they didn't seem to believe in switchbacks! We had a lunch break (with
sandwiches and popcorn served on ceramic plates with a tablecloth!) and set out to tackle Warmiwanuska, or Dead Woman's Pass, which is appropriately named. The tiny people we could see at the top of the pass were more daunting than encouraging as it looked like a long way up! This is when the altitude started to affect me and it was all I could do to take 5 steps and then rest. I tried coca candies but a slow and steady pace and inner pep-talks were the only things that helped. It was a real feeling of accomplishment when I made it to the top and knew that the rest of the hike today would be downhill all the way! Unfortunately this was when the clouds and rain moved in and would stay with us for the next day and a half. The steep Inca stairs were slippery with rain and I made my way carefully while Chuck took the alternate approach of jogging down, so quickly that he was the first one into camp! I was glad I wasn't there to see him risk broken bones each time he slipped on the rocks!
The next morning was to
be the day of the most spectacular views and all we could see were fog and mist. I was still optimistic that it would lift, but I was to be disappointed. It was very frustrating to arrive at each Mirador (lookout) and see nothing but clouds. I guess they do call it a Cloud Forest, but still! We trudged along over another pass and through several Inca tunnels until we were soaked through, despite Gore-Tex jackets and pants. Lunch was drawn out as the stragglers trickled in to the camp, so we were soon pretty cold and wet. I was glad to get going and I tried to enjoy the views of the Cloud Forest and the Inca ruins that we were able to explore along the way. These included Sayajmarca and Puyapatamarca with impressive terraces and still-functioning fountains. It was a long day with lots of bone-jarring staircases to go down and the clounds only lifted for 30 minutes at a time to give us tantalizing glimpses of the surrounding Cloud Forest. We arrived in camp ready for a beer at the camp restaurant and a hot shower and hoping that the weather would oblige for the last couple
of hours of the Trail to Machu Picchu.
We were woken up at 5am the next morning since the porters had to catch the 8am train in Aguas Calientes! It began to pour just after we got up. After a quick breakfast of pancakes we crowded into the restaurant to avoid the rain while everyone got organized. After being crammed in with the mass of sweaty, damp, grumpy humanity it was nice to get out on the Trail even in the rain! Our view from the Sun Gate was only of the "lazies" road that bussed tourists up to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes. However, our luck with the weather began to change as we reached the site and the mist and clouds lifted enough for us to finally see our destination. It was worth the gruelling wet trek. The Lost City of the Incas is a marvel that sits perched impossibly on the top of its mountain with Wayna Picchu standing sentinel over it. It was a lot bigger than I had thought and I could almost picture it in its former grandeur. I imagined the feeling of excitement and wonder that Hiram Bingham must have experienced coming
upon it with his Peruvian guide in the early 1900's. Victor showed us drawings of the temples and terraces shrouded in vines and foliage at that time. One of the most rewarding aspects of the site is that it is so big that it can absorb a huge number of tourists without spoiling the effect. Admittedly we felt superior to the day-trippers with their designer handbags and heels, having come all this way on foot on a genuine Inca Trail. Victor gave us a tour of the site and we were impressed by the Imperial Inca architecture, the intricately carved temples and the little details that we would have never discovered on our own, such as the rocks carved in the exact silhouette of the Andes range that they overlooked. Our original plan had been to explore Machu Picchu that day and come back to hike Wayna Picchu the next day, but honestly we were feeling Inca-ed out! I boarded the bus to Aguas Calientes with mixed feelings about our Inca Trail experience. I was impressed and awed by Machu Picchu itself, but was truly disappointed that we had missed the views and vistas the day before. It was only
later when we heard about the flooding and mudslides that we realized how lucky we really were to have had this experience.
That afternoon our group of trekkers had a farewell lunch of pizza, beer and guinea pig (I couldn't handle it after I saw their poor little legs raised as if in a final protest!) and most of the group headed back to Cusco on the train. We had booked an extra day to try Wayna Picchu, but instead we decided to take it easy that night in the delightful boutique hostel that Chuck had booked, and catch the 8am train back the next morning. We were looking forward to the hot springs in Aguas Calientes but this was another huge disappointment! They were nothing more than lukewarm, brown-coloured, pee-smelling swimming pools! Not recommended! We had a nice dinner in the hostel restaurant and slept extremely well in comfy dry beds after the hardships of the Trail.
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ML
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Hi from ML
Just think the rain is necessary to all the beautiful flowers you have pictures of. Today is a lovely sunny day and I was out for a 40 minute walk in the sun. Had a nice lunch with Lynn, Barb, your Mom, Judy and ML. Did some shopping too. Today is the USA Canada hockey game - part of the round robin not the finals or anything. Be safe and I am glad Rach that you are feeling better. Love, ML