The Inca Trek & Machu Picchu, Peru
Up at 3:30am, picked up at 4:30am. Courtney feeling stunning and ready for action....
We drive 2 and a half hours to point 82 km. This included a hairy moment where the road had half collapsed into the river. We (including the driver) weren't sure if the road would hold. It did. We breathe a sigh of relief.
Breakfast is severed and the group of 10 are off. We have 15 porters with us carrying tents, food, gas bottles etc. We get our passports stamped, cross the river and it's go time. Everyone is super pumped.
The first hour or so are quite flat. It's warm and we have plenty of stops. The treking becomes a bit harder shortly after and we find we are waiting longer and longer for one of the Londerns and a couple (well, the girlfriend anyway).
Courts is struggling with nothing in the tank, but is still doing better than these stragglers.
The next big incline we lose Kush, the Londoner. It's too steep, he had no preparation (since his mate sprung the idea on him last minute) and he's not fit.
An hour or so later we are waiting forever for the other couple. They pull the pin. The boyfriend takes it well. Poor guy. We are down to 7 by the time we get to lunch.
Lunch is ridiculous. Not because we are starving. 3 courses and full of veggies and carbs and protein. None of us were expecting it this good. This trekking stuff is easy.
There are lots of animals on the trail today. Mules, horses, donkeys coming and going. Dogs and cats following us about. Plenty of hens and bulls poking their heads up here and there.
Most groups stop at this camp site on day 1, making day 2 a very tough day. Our guide prefers to push hard on day 1 instead and tackle some of the highest, steepest mountain today. We all agree it's for the best.
We trek from Wayllabamba (the last village with electricity at the bottom of the valley) to our camp site at Llulluchapampa at 3750 meters. This took about 4 hours of intense, relentless up hill climbing. A climb of nearly 1000 meters.
We were all exhausted. Mentally and physically. Jeff starts giggling when he makes it to the camp site. (lack of oxygen or too many endorphins?). Courtney can barely talk, let alone laugh. She made it though. A massive effort on 3 hours sleep, nothing in the tank and feeling sick.
We wash up, eat a grand dinner and crash into our tents at about 8pm. The biggest day ever.
Day 2
We receive our wake up call at about 6. The sun is shining into our tent. A porter hands us a coffee. The view from our tent is incredible. We can look right down to where we were at lunch the day before.
Ok, enough dilly-dallying, time to get up to the highest point of the trek, Dead Woman's Pass. So named due to a facial profile in the mountains, but more so coz of a big boob looking mountain underneath it.
Within an hour or so of intense up hill, we reach the pass. We take in the view from on top of the boob at 4750 meters. Altitude is causing problems for Ash, the remaining London geezer.
All downhill to lunch. It takes us a couple of hours though because it is super down hill. We get there and all nap on the tarp while lunch is prepared.
The porters set up a mess tent for every meal and take it down when we are done. They pack up after we leave and quickly overtake us on the trail. They get to the next stop well ahead of us and have everything set up waiting for us. Their backpacks are rudimentary at best, and they are carrying over 25 kilos compared to our 8—9.
Up again after lunch, a long stint. We see some more ruins. From each set of ruins you can see another strategic location. From these you can see where we had lunch and dead woman's pass. You can even see people up there despite how far away it is.
Further up to the second pass. Not quite as high, but we are in the clouds now. And there is a lake. Almost looking a little Scottish. We come to another set up ruins. These are the most sophisticated so far. We are on the edge of a mountain and there is cloud in every direction. Looking off the edge is like looking at the end of the world.
We somehow manage to dodge the rain despite everyone getting prepared for it. We make camp soon after. A slightly shorter, easier day today.
We get to camp. The toilets are pretty rough apparently. I'll wait thanks. We have a birthday apple pie for Ash's bday in a couple of days.
In bed by 8 again. It's a bit wet and windy. In the middle of the night Jeff is woken up by the tent on his face. Clearly that's not good. It's blowing a gale and the pegs are flying everywhere. Off he goes to fix it. He comes back in quickly for a jacket and a shoe. Courtney suggests to just come back in and not worry about it 'the whole tent won't blow away with us in it' she says.
15 minutes later he's done. Not really the camping type, but we got there. And a story to tell at least. And everyone else told us at breakfast they thought it was the porters out there holding down the fort, literally. Bang up job Jeff! Good night.
Day 3
We are woken to coffee in the tent again (which surprisingly is still standing).
Breakfast and we are off again for what is to be the shortest and easiest day of the trek. It is basically all down hill, and mostly steps. We get to one set of steps which are basically vertical. Edgard informs us that there are 3000 of them and the porters have affectionately named them 'Gringo Killer'. How wonderful. We all tread very carefully and find the downhill is actually quite boring. We make it to camp around noon and are done trekking for the day. Too easy. We have another 3 course lunch then take a nap until about 3 when Edgard is going to take us to some nearby ruins.
For once we just have to carry ourselves and we're feeling free. We have a look around the ruins, we all agree they are the best we have seen so far. We then spot some llamas feeding and it's all over.
Jeff and the other two guys are trying to hand feed the llamas, the other two give up pretty quick for fear of being spat on, but Jeff persists. At one point all 4 of the llamas took flight and 'chased' the other guys up the stairs. We later realised that they were actually just moving up a step for juicer grass. Still one of the most hilarious things we've seen.
Eventually Jeff gets them to eat from his hand, sans spitting, and we even pat them. Such an awesome afternoon. Edgard left us and the group there and we hung out for about 2.5 hours and had the ruins to ourself. On our way back to camp we overhear another tour guide telling his group that the llamas are actually quite tame so his group just go right up to them and practically ride them. I think Edgard probably got more enjoyment out of watching us timidly tiptoe around the llamas and be chased. So did we really.
We head back to camp and 'tea' is being served which is actually pre-dinner snacks consisting of pop corn and cheese wrapped in a delicious pastry blanket. Jeff heads to bed early as he's feeling pretty ill (probs from the drinking water) and the rest of us enjoy another 3 course dinner and another cake for Ash's birthday. We then sing him happy birthday in English, Spanish and Italian.
We all put in some money give the porters what we hope is a generous tip as we find out what they get paid is minimal for what they do plus, they have to pay a fee to actually be porters on the trek. Another early night as we'll be up at 3:45 for our final trek to see Machu Picchu.
Day 4
This is it. This is the day. Another wonder of the world is just a 2 hour trek away.
We are up at 345 in the darkness. A bit of breakfast and off to the line up. There are 500 people at this camp site. It's as close as you can stay to Machu Picchu. Everyone has to line up at the checkpoint which opens at 5. Then the last little trek.
We get to the sun gate 2 hours later. The sun only rises through that gate to illuminate machu picchu a few a days a year and only on a clear day (infrequent in a cloud forrest), so no need to rush. Although some people do. Apparently a few people die each year on this stretch because it's a narrow path with a sheer cliff on one side.
The view is incredible. Muchu picchu is about 400 meters away, time for some pictures.
We finish the journey down to the ruins and drop our bags off. Edgard give us a 2 hour tour of the site. The architecture is amazing in some spots. The rocks are perfectly aligned. Incredible for the time. Actually far more advanced than the Spanish who invaded the Incan "savages", and as such they spitefully destroyed a lot of their work.
The Incans were big astrologers, so there are many examples of architecture revolving around the sun and solstices and equinoxes.
By the end of the tour we are all completely spent. We need to sit and eat. Kush, the Londoner who didn't make it meets back up with us and buys a round of beers to celebrate Ash's bday. They go down like a dream.
We head into the town of Aguascalientes to meet up with everyone for one last meal.
Pizza and beer and some reminiscing on the last 4 days and it's time to say our goodbyes.
We get the train back to Cusco. 4 hours, very slow. Jeff sleeps, Courtney doesn't. We pick our stuff up from the hotel and somehow manage to find our new air bnb place.
Monica, the host shows us our room and we crash.