The raison d´etre for our trip to Peru was to conquer the famous Inca Trail. Having booked this trip in March, our departure on the 20th of July was much-anticipated. We were picked up from our hotel at 4:00am (yet another early start!) and taken to Ollantaytambo for breakfast en route to our starting point. We were so pleased to meet the rest of our group, another four great young people, as well as our lovely guide, Sol. We also stocked up on some last minute necessities here including alpaca gloves, walking sticks and coca leaves for the porters that would be accompanying us.
After another short bus trip we arrived at the start of the trail, KM82, and crossed the Rio Urubamba to pay our fees, get our passports stamped and head off on foot for the next 4 days and 42 kilometres.
The morning´s 5 hour walk was a gentle 10km walk – we strolled along the Rio Urubamba still passing some villagers and still able to buy drinks along the way. We also saw our first Inca site, Llactapata, which really made us look forward to seeing more sites along the way and gave us some insight into the ancient yet impressive Inca civilisation. Arriving at our lunch spot that day was such a pleasant surprise and made us thankful for choosing the agency that we did, United Mice. A tent was set up with chairs, table, tablecloth and even handwashing bowls. The food was way beyond our expectations – so we knew that we would at least not go hungry over the next four days! We were continually impressed by the meals served to us as the porters have to carry everything required for the trail on their backs including tents, toilet, propane gas cylinders, food, etc. Over the trail we had such culinary wonders as stuffed avocados, pizza, pancakes, won tons, cake, chocolate pudding, to mention only a few of our favourites! It was impossible to understand how the chef managed to turn this all out from two gas cylinders and a few bags of food!
However, not even the tasty meal could prepare us for what came next and it was during the afternoon´s walk that we realised this would be much tougher than expected. Although only 5km, the trail climbed a steep 700m to 3700m and at times I thought I would collapse as at this altitude breathing becomes more laboured. Thank goodness for Guysie, who very gallantly carried my pack for a while! Despite the numerous breath-catching stops Guy and I were thrilled to eventually arrive at the first camp site set out on a high, bare mountainside. After piling on multiple layers to ward off the freezing cold, another delicious meal and some hot tea we crawled into our sleeping bags for a night of tossing and turning in -8*C!
Pleased to have survived my first night of real camping, we woke up to find ice on our tent!!! We then set off to climb another 500m in just over an hour to reach the very appropriately named Dead Woman´s Pass at 4200m. It was at this point that Sol, our guide, pulled out her first surprise for us – Peruvian rum! So at 8:30 in the morning we were catching our breath while enjoying shots of rum on top of a mountain with awe-inspiring views of the surrounding snowcapped peaks. From here, it was a welcome downhill (for me, not for Guy´s knees!) to lunch in a beautiful valley before climbing again (and here I was sure I would die) to the top of the next pass (almost 3900m). Here Sol rewarded us with our next surprise – chocolate, which I must admit I enjoyed even more than the rum! We saw some stunning Inca ruins along the way and it was amzing to thing of the Incas building this route hundreds of years ago and actually walking on the stones that they had so carefully laid down and walked along. That night we camped beneath a gorgeous night sky in the midst of a cloud forest – thinking of home when we spotted the Southern Cross.
The next day was a much easier and warmer downhill to our last campsite where we realised that this trail was almost complete. It was a fun day as the group had got to know one another well and we all enjoyed chatting and admiring the views as well as the lovely flowers along the way, including orchids and begonias. Knowing that the trail would end the next day was a strange feeling as we had looked forward to this so much and even so it had far exceeded our most optimistic expectations. It was an experience of a lifetime and on that last night I realised that Macchu Picchu, the end point of the trail, had become part of the experience and not the reason for it.
The final morning was another 4am start to beat the crowds to Macchu Picchu and we raced along the path in the dark to reach Intipunku (the Sun Gate) just after sunrise. It was from here that we caught our first glimpse of Macchu Picchu, the famed Lost City of the Incas and recently announced part of the seven new wonders of the world. It really took our breath away, not just the size of it and the beauty of the surroundings but what we had accomplished during the course of the previous four days and how much we had loved doing it. From there it was an easy walk down the path to Macchu Picchu where we spent the morning exploring the ruins and climbing one more mountain, Waynupicchu, for a speactacular view of the ruins.
It felt very surreal to leave Macchu Picchu knowing this was over – it was an unbelievable experience and I can only say that if you haven´t walked the Inca Trail put it on your travel `to do´ list.
P.S. While we huffed and puffed our way along the trail we were astounded by the porters who each carry 25kg on their backs and do the trail in battered leather sandals. They leave each camp site after us and yet when we arrive at the next one it is set up with a hot meal waiting! Truly amazing. There used to be a race for the porters along the Inca Trail and a few days ago the winner completed it in 3:37 hours – unbelievable!!!
Travelling Roystons 