Tinkerblue

Inca Trail - Day 4 - Prelude

The original itinerary for Day 4 read something like this:

• You will wake up early this morning approx 3.30am to witness one of life’s special moments.
• We will have breakfast at 4am, beginning our trek with flashlights making our way to Inti Punku (2,780 m) also known as the Sun Gate and the entrance into Machu Picchu Citadel. 
• Upon arrival into Machu Picchu the ancient City of the Inca’s you will be given a comprehensive tour.
• You will have some free time to wander around the ruins at your leisure
• Enjoy a lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge.
• Later, a shuttle bus will take you to the town of Aguas Calientes, where you will have the evening to relax. Our guess is you will appreciate the soothing sounds of the Vilcanota River, a hot shower, a nice dinner and a warm comfortable bed.

 

Let’s back track a little here...

 

At dinner on day 2 I had overhead our two guides discussing the trains from Aguas Calientes back to Cusco and how they might not be running.  They were talking in Spanish and when I asked about it they just said I hadn’t understood.  Turns out I had understood correctly and the trains would not be running for two days.  November 15th and 16th.  Or Day 3 and 4 of our hike.

 

My understanding from our guides, the hotel staff, our tour company in Lima, our tour company in Cusco, friends in Lima, other tourists, newspaper reports and of course google is this:

 

Peru Rail, the company that owns and operates the train is actually privately owned by a Chilean company. Which means the local communities do not see any income from it’s operation.  Approximately 3000 tourists a day visit Machu Picchu and they pretty much all transit though Aguas Calientes. The only money that locals make from those ~3000 daily tourists is to sell them souvenirs, food and drink. And now the rail company is looking to monopolize that too by selling food and souvenirs on the train.  The locals are less than impressed.  Wouldn’t you be?  So local residents announced a 48-hour protest in which they would block the railway between Cusco and Aguas Calientes until demands were met.

 

The protestors were asking for a dedicated local train service or more frequent services and a number of passenger cars to be reserved for residents of Machu Picchu, Urubamba, and other Peruvian nationals.  They were also demanding an end to the rail company selling food and souvenirs, better internet coverage in the area, tour guides to be allowed to sell tickets to Machu Picchu and to stop the building of a tourist centre on the lower edge of town as it will divert business from the town centre.

 

And shut down the trains they did. So what did that mean for Michelle and I? 

 

First:

It meant a later start to Day 4. Day 4 on our hike, was Day 2 of the strike. Normally the day would start at 330am with breakfast at 4am. The porters would break camp, walk to Aguas Calientes and take the 7am train back to Ollantaytambo.  Because of no trains the porters would be walking all the way to Ollantaytambo.  Along or parallel to the train lines not back the way we had come on the Inca Trail.  It meant they didn't have to leave as early.  So we got to sleep in.  All the way to 430am.   We weren't complaining.

 

Second:

The Sanctuary Lodge was closed as local workers were discouraged from crossing the protest lines to get from town to Machu Picchu. So no lunch.

 

Third:

Our guides had been told the shuttle buses from the Machu Picchu site into the town of Aguas Calientes  were cancelled and we’d have to hike.  It's about an hour of steep downhill stairs from the site to the bridge and then another 30 minutes into town. As it turned out the shuttle buses were running from the Machu Picchu site down the hill to the bridge.  (Doesn’t mean much to you, but it made a difference for us).  So we would only have to hike along the flat rail line into town. 

That was the plan for Michelle and I.  When we booked our trip back in May, we had already decided to spend a night in Aguas Calientes and get the train back to Cusco the next day. We didn't want to rush our visit to Machu Picchu to race for the train. Spare a thought for the rest of our group who had to hike another 6kms to Hidro Electrica and then endure a 6 hour bus ride back to Cusco, on a windy road and back up to altitude.  We definitely took the better option. 

 

Fourth:

Our bags were being carried by a porter that we had hired for the trek. Normally they would carry the bag to the hotel for us to collect on check in. However with no trains running the porters would not be walking through Aguas Calientes.  After some discussion with the guides, the office and the porters it was decided a porter with the short straw would take our bags into town and then carry on his way.  This was not ideal as it meant a porter would have to add time and distance to his day, and he would have to go into the heart of the strike and protests.  Carrying our own gear wasn't an option, although we did consider it.  When we hired the porters, we packed our stuff into two provided duffle bags. The two duffle bags were then packed into a porters bigger bag and carried.  We still had about 3 hours of hiking ahead of us to get to Machu Picchu from camp, plus the time at Machu Picchu, and then the walk into town.  So carrying duffle bags was not practical.  We weren't being lazy.

 

Fifth:

We didn’t know if the trains would actually start running again on the 17th. So we had no idea how we were going to get from Aguas Calientes back to Cusco. 

 

So our actual itinerary for Day 4 read more like this:

• You will wake up early this morning approx 4.30am to witness one of life’s special moments.
• We will have box breakfast on the trail, beginning our trek with flashlights making our way to Inti Punku (2,780 m) also known as the Sun Gate and the entrance into Machu Picchu Citadel. 
• Upon arrival into Machu Picchu the ancient City of the Inca’s you will be given a comprehensive tour.
• You will have some free time to wander around the ruins at your leisure
• Enjoy a lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge.
• Later, a shuttle bus will take you to the bridge. You will then walk into the town of Aguas Calientes, where you will have the afternoon and evening to relax. Our guess is you will appreciate the soothing sounds of the Vilcanota River, a hot shower, a nice dinner and a warm comfortable bed.

 

Inca Trail Day 3 - Winay Wayna

 

After our long and glorious nap we went as a group to visit Huinay Huayna or Winay Huayna or Winay Wayna. It's one place but there are several variations on how to spell it.  That happens. The Quechua language was not a written language.  Plus explorers like Hiram Bingham sometimes misheard the Quechua pronunciations.  And to top it off no-one actually knows what the Inca names were anyway.  

 

 

I'm going with Winay Wayna, because that's what the sign says. In Quechua that means forever young or eternal youth depending on what you are reading. This was a site I had been looking forward to visiting ever since I started researching the Inca Trail.  I even emailed Michelle to ask her to check with our tour provider that our trail group would be visiting here.  That was my make it or break it selection process for choosing an Inca Trail operator.

 

 

 

Again no-one really knows the purpose of Winay Wayna because the Inca never thought about writing their history down so that people like me could read about it 500+ years later.  How unthoughtful of them. I'll forgive them. After all they built some pretty amazing structures and complexes.  Yes, Machu Picchu is all encompassing, it's the climax of the Inca Trail and it eclipses all other Inca buildings.  But... But Winay Wayna is impressive in its own right. If Machu Picchu didn't exist, Winay Wayna would probably be one of the, if not THE, best example of Inca genius. 

 

 

Also try googling Winay Wayna. Wikipedia devotes a whole 5 sentences to it.

 

 

This is what our guide, Lizandro, told us. Winay Wayna is divided into three sections - the upper housing area and the lower housing complex connected by a giant staircase plus the agricultural terraces.

 

 

There are also a number of baths linked by fountains that stream water from top to bottom. Maybe there were used for ritual cleansing on the way to Machu Picchu. The fountains still work.

 

 

Lizandro also explained that there terraces were a Incan test lab, just like Moray in the Sacred Valley. The Incas tried out different agricultural methods and crops on each terrace like corn, potatoes, quinoa etc.

 

  

Our other guide, Nestor, believes that the rounded building with the 7 windows is the Temple of Rainbows.  One window for every one of the seven colours of the rainbow.  He said in the rainy season that you can see 4, 5, 6 or even sometimes 7 rainbows at once. We haven't had any rain since we've been in Peru, so our chance of seeing even one rainbow is zilch. For the locals it's a tad concerning, as it's supposed to be the rainy season. They need rain for the crops.  Sorry I digress. There is some substance to Nestor's belief in the temple of the rainbow.  Rainbows are important in Inca mythology.  Inca Manoc Capac, first Inca ruler, used a rainbow coloured banner. Cuychi was the rainbow god. On the bad side rainbows are associated with spirits that cause harm, such as miscarriages and skin problems.  Have you ever heard that you should close your mouth at the sight of a rainbow in order to prevent disease? Well now you know, close your mouth.  So much for leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Quechua believe there are serpents at either end of the rainbow!

 

 

After exploring the site for just over an hour or so it was time to head back to camp for happy hour and dinner.  Happy hour was cake, cooked and iced by our cooks on site.  And after dinner it was bed time.  An early start for us tomorrow.  Kind of sad that it's our last night. I'm not ready for it be over.  While us hikers all went to bed early, apparently the porters and guides stayed up to watch the Peru vs Brasil football match.  Yes, there's cell coverage up here. No Peru didn't win.

 

 

 

 

 

Inca Trail Day 3

We finally earned a sleep in.  We were woken up at 630am by the porters with our coca tea and basin of hot water, breakfast at 700am and departure at 800am.   Yes, I just classified 630am as a sleep in.  I'm also going to miss being woken up with a cup of hot coca tea at my door.  

 

Our tent is 6th form the left, or 2nd from the right. You can see the dining tent on the far right.

 

After breakfast the porters all introduced themselves telling us their name, age and which village they are from.  We then introduced ourselves and we took a team photo.  The two guides are missing from the photo because they were the photographers.  I wish we had a photo of all 12 hikers, 2 guides, 2 cooks and 12 porters.  28 people in total.

 

 

 

Lizandro, our guide, has become quite adept at predicting times. In our briefing this morning he said it would take about an hour to 1 and 1/2 hours to hike from our campsite to our first break at Phuyupatamarca.  The 1 hour was for the rest of the group. The 1 and 1/2 hours for Michelle and I!

 

Looking back to camp. The porters have already struck our tents. The yellow tent is the cook tent, the green tent is the dining tent. On the far right you can see the small green toilet tent.

 

This morning was a gentle climb, nothing compared to the last two days.  We stopped in the Inca Tunnel to take a photo or two. And Nestor continued to distract us with information.  Did you know:

• Peru has over 3000 different types of potatoes?
• That Lupins are a good source of protein?
• There are 117 life zones in the world, Peru has 84 of them

 

 

We reached our first break site not that far behind the main group.  The advantage of walking so slowly yesterday is today are legs are amazingly not tired.  I was expecting my dodgy knee and ankle to ache more than a little. But no, they are all good.  I was also expecting my thigh, quad, calf and butt muscles to all be sore, and screaming for attention today.  However all is good. Anyway... our first stop was Phuyupatamarca, La Cuidad Entra La Niebla, City in the Clouds.  Can you see why?

 

 

We spent a good 30 minutes here with Lizandro telling us about the site, the baths, the spring water, the chakana (cross), and how if you look closely you can see a face in the mountain side!  Or maybe we'll see the face better after a few beers.

 

 

 

Then we were off again, mainly down hill.  We had about a 2 hour hike ahead of us to reach our next rest stop.  This time round Michelle and I, and Nestor of course, were still at the back of the pack but at least we pretty much always had the rest of the group in sight.  And sometimes one or two of them where actually behind us. We spent our two hours hiking learning more from Nestor.  On day 1 of this hike we thought he was very quiet and not very talkative.  But by day 3 we changed our minds.  He is very soft spoken but he's full of information - a walking encyclopedia, and he's also very funny.  He tried to tell us that llamas got their name because... when the Spanish came to Peru they asked the local people for the name of the animal by saying Como se llama? What's its name? The locals didn't understand and kept repeating llama, llama? So the Spanish thought the animals name is llama. Nice try Nestor.  

 

 

We arrived at our last stop before camp right on schedule.  Intipata - Place of the Sun or Sun Terraces.  

 

 

There is terrace after terrace after terrace.  There aren't really any other buildings, no plaza, no temple, no forts, just terraces.

 

 

We spent about 45 minutes here just soaking up the view, we could see the back side of Mount Machu Picchu from here.  

 

 

Our guides, Nestor and Lizandro, taking a well deserved break.

 

It took just another 20 minutes or so to reach our campsite for the night. Yep we were in camp by 1:30pm.  We were done hiking for the day.  4 hours?  That's it.  We sat down for a fancy lunch, complete with veggie figurines.  

 

 

 

After lunch we weren't sure what to do. Normally we'd load up and begin hiking again.  Not today.  Some people showered, Michelle and I took a nap.  A long and glorious nap.

 

 

Part 2 coming soon.

 

 

 

 

Inca Trail Day 2

What can I say about Day 2? It is the hardest day of the trail. It is the most rewarding day of the trail. It's they day I didn't think I would survive. It's the day I am most proud of. It's the day our probably bored and frustrated tour guide, Nestor, showed the patience of a saint. It's the day my friend, Michelle, showed she knows me well, she knew when to be encouraging and when to shut up.   It was painful, frustrating, long, everything I was afraid of, amazing, spell-binding, exhilarating and everything I dreamed off.

 

 

We were woken up bright and early by the porters at our tent door with mugs of hot coca tea and basins of hot water to wash. Neither Michelle or I slept well last night.  We were both nervous about today.  Yesterday was hard on both of us, and we weren't sure we would survive today. Not to mention both guides, Lizandro and Nestor, are also concerned about how slow we are.  Both of us had knots in our stomachs and made ourselves eat breakfast, so we at least had some fuel in us.  Breakfast was actually delicious, as were all our meals.  We had a selection of fruit, yoghurt, bagels and then pancakes.  The fruit had strawberries in it and has I had no desire to had hives to my day, I was given a plate of baby bananas just for me.  

 

 

By 6:30 am we were on our way.  Because we had camped further along than most groups last night, we already had a head start for the morning's climb.  I am glad we did that extra 3km yesterday.  It would have made this morning extremely hard as opposed to really hard.  

 

 

We mainly hiked in silence this morning, stopping for lots of rest breaks, water breaks, photo breaks, and let the porters pass, basically any reason to stop.   Last night our campsite was at 3300m, and our break stop today was Llulluchapampa at 3850m. But we ran into our first llama just as we came into the Llulluchapampa.  Literally ran into it. Michelle came around a bend and it was right there, right in front of her, not at all concerned that she was there.

 

 

At the rest stop we caught up with the rest of our group, who had waited about 30-40 minutes for us. We used the washrooms. Yep that requires a whole sentence or two or four. Do you know how difficult it is to use a squat toilet after you have just hiked uphill for 2 hours? The last thing your legs want to do is hold a squat position. All those squats at bootcamp payed off. It was also our last chance to shop.  I'm not kidding.  There was a stall where you could buy water, coke, Inka cola, and wine and rum and beer.  I really wish I'd taken a photo.  It was quite something to see. And the ladies were doing a brisk business. 

 

 

Okay so we knew that this next part would be the hardest.  This is the climb to Warmihuanusca or Dead Woman's Pass.  At 4200m it's the highest we will go.   Everything said it would be hard...wikipedia, our tour company's website, Lonely Planet, our guides Lizandro and Nestor, everything and everyone...

• This climb is known as the most difficult part of the Inca Trail
• Biggest challenge of the trek
• Leaves many a seasoned hiker gasping

We loaded up our water bladders, put our packs back on and started up the trail.  Well Michelle and I did.  Nestor stayed behind to talk to some guide/porter buddies.  We could look back and see his bright yellow top for quite some time. I think he gave us about a 30 minute head start but caught up in 10!  He's fast when he's not babysitting us up a mountain. The worst part?  We could see the pass that we were headed for, we could also see the trail leading up to it, and it never appeared to get any closer. For the first half we both did okay, sure we were slow, we were taking lots of breaks, we were coughing and we were definitely short of breath but we were plodding along.  

 

 

Then, well then things didn't go quite so well.  I was slightly dizzy, it felt like someone was dancing on my chest, and not light on your feet ballet dancing more boot scooting, line dancing kind of dancing, and the stones on the path were shimmering.  I could deal with that, I did once or twice ask Michelle "whose bright idea was this', and 'where's my llama ?" and "I don't know about this" and I think there was one but only one instance of "@#$%^&*()_+=". 

 

 

Nestor was distracting us both by telling us about the flowers, the plants, the history of the area, the history of the Incas, his family farm and more.  The guy is a wealth of knowledge, if I hadn't been hiking a mountain I would have written it down. He theory was actually working, he is very interesting to listen to. But then I started to feel nauseous.  Apparently I didn't look to great because everyone on the trail had a piece of advice...

• take it  slow, umm if I was going any slower I'd be going backwards
• drink water, that was part of the problem our water had electrolyte tablets in it, and I couldn't stomach the taste of it
• suck on a candy it will stop the dryness in your mouth.  Do you have one?  Ah he did, and he gave me two.  
• drink coke. I did.  It helped a little, something to do with the sugar and caffeine.
• take a rest.  Oh I have been, if we rest anymore we won't finish this until next week
• keep going, not much further.  You do realise I can see exactly where I need to go?

 

 

And then, and then I threw up. Sorry for the gory details, deal with it.  Everytime I had a sip of water, it came right back up. Those candies? Same thing.  Oh it was not fun.  Michelle and Nestor stayed with me every step of the way, every cough, every upchuck.  They were awesome.  Nestor gave me some coca leaves to suck on.  With very strict instructions to put them in your cheek and suck, don't swallow them.  You swallow them and that will be bad.  We will have to take you hospital to take your stomach out.  I think he meant the equivalent of have my stomach pumped, not to actually have my stomach removed. So I sucked coca leaves the rest of the way to the top.

 

 

General consensus says it takes 2 - 3 hours to hike from Llulluchapampa to Warmihuanusca.  According to the time stamps on my photos it took us from 8.56am  to 11:57am.  That's 3 hours and 1 minute!  We were on the outer limits of the time but we did it.  

 

 

From our tour companies website I quote "From the top of this pass you will be privileged with spectacular panoramic views. From this pass you can see your journey and admire your achievements."  And we did.  Despite feeling like crap for the last 2 hours, making it to the top felt awesome, and the views were outstanding.  The high fives and the hugs from Michelle and Nestor made me cry. Not the 3 hours of hiking, not the 2 hours of feeling crap, not the hour of throwing up, nope didn't cry through any of that.  But hugs from Michelle and Nestor?  That made me cry.  Nestor is going to be so glad to see the back of us when we finish this.

 

 

The rest of our group had already continued on, they were about an hour a head of us. So we didn't take too long a break at the pass.  We took some photos, maybe a video or two, shortened our poles and started the trek down the other side of the pass. What, you thought getting to the top of the pass meant we were done for day? Oh no. Not so much.  We still had to get down to the lunch site, then up a second pass and then down to the campsite. All before dark.  We set off down the big stone steps at 12:10pm.  Only 13 minutes after we arrived gasping for breath. Not bad. We recover quick.  

 

 

The steps were easier than I expected.  I guess after climbing up the pass anything else was going to be easy.  I don't remember how long it took us to hike to the lunch site - Pacaymayo.  A lot of other groups were stopping and camping here for the night but it was just a lunch site for us.  And our group had waited for us.  We thought they would have eaten and moved on, but they didn't.  That was nice of them.  Also Lizandro had sent a porter back to help us, he took my day back which helped quite a bit.

 

 

Lunch was... I don't know. I never got to eat it.  I had been feeling much better as we came down to camp, I was even hungry but I could only stomach the soup then I had to leave the dining tent and go lie down.  Lizandro brought me water with electrolytes in it, and tea and made sure I was okay.  Nestor told me not to sleep because that would not be good.  I rested while everyone else ate lunch. The rest of the group left right after lunch, Michelle and I took another 10 minutes or so.  We had both Nestor and Lizandro with us.  Lizandro said he wanted to walk slow for a while, that the speedy French couple were two fast.  But we figured he wanted to stay with us and make sure we were okay before he left to catch up with everyone else. So much for wanting to walk slow but we certainly appreciated the concern. Just before he left us, he bribed me with wine.  Yep, make it to camp and there will be wine waiting for you. He even took it out of  his backpack to show me.  He's carrying a glass bottle or two of wine up the mountain and I'm struggling with 2 litres of water in a water bladder.  Pfft.

 

 

 

We had one more pass to hike up this afternoon.  Runkurakay pass.  Nestor continued to chat to us almost all the way up.  He cut some reeds off and told me how they are used to make rope for bridges and how they are used for roof tops.  We stopped for about 20 minutes at the Runkurakay ruins.  I really wish I'd recorded what nestor said, or at least written it down because now I can't remember half of it.

 

 

• Inca is actually the title given to the king, not the name of the culture
• the Quechua people believe in duality - man and woman, night and day, sun and moon
• and trilogy/triads - mother earth, the sun god, apus (mountain gods)/ do not lie, do not steal and do not be lazy/Condor, puma, serpent
• this site was probably a resting place for runners in a relay system of passing messages
• The Inca and the Quechua did not right anything down, much has been lost to history
• Place names are relatively recent because the original Inca names are not known.  Many names like Runkurakay are mispellings because the Quechua name was misheard by explorers like Hiram Bingham

Here he also showed us how to weave or braid the reeds to make rope for bridges or for roof tops.  We started to get cold so we needed to move on, or we could have listened to Nestor for much longer.

After the left Runkurakay it took another hour to get to the top of the last pass for the day.  Michelle powered on ahead but I struggled for the last 30 minutes.  The dizziness and nausea returned which slowed me down again.  Michelle and Nestor waited for me at the top of the pass, and congratulated me with hugs again.

 

 

Then it was right on down hill.  By now it was close to 5pm and we still had quite a way to go before camp.  We were in danger of having to hike in the dark.  We passed more Inca ruin and the sun started to set.  The valley was all shades of pink and orange. It was spectacular.  Lizandro sent porters out to meet us with torches but we were actually faster in the dark.  Don't ask why.  

 

 

When we finally made it to camp, not only was our tent up (the porters pitch the tents) but our sleeping mats were inflated for us.  Lizandro met us at our tent with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of animal crackers.  Animal crackers have never tasted so good. 

We had about 30 minutes or so to have a wet wipe shower, and change into camp clothes and then it was time for dinner. Having not eaten much all day, I inhaled dinner. Soup, rice, potatoes, chicken, tomatoes and a big glass of the promised wine to finish it off.  

Bed.  Bed has never been so welcome.  I took 2 tylenol in anticipation of some knee or ankle pain and smothered by dodgy knee in analgesic balm.  The advantage of hiking so slow? No major joint or muscle pain.  Although I did lose two toenails. Probably from going down hill and down the stairs, my feet were ramming against the front of my boots.  That is the one disadvantage to hiking in Blundstones...they have no laces, you can't tighten the front laces to prevent your foot from sliding forward. Technically I only lost one total nail, half the nail on my left big toe and half the nail on my right big toe.  Ooops.

 

 

We survived. Dare I say, we actually enjoyed Day 2. It was the worst day of the Inca Trail and it was the best day.  It was worth every scratch, every lost toenail, every painful breath, every keep going, every you can do it, every panoramic view, every hug from Nestor, every hug from Michelle, every sucked coca leaf, every mouthful of gastrolyted water, every animal cracker and every piece of information that will one day help me win trivial pursuit.

 

 

Inca Trail Day 1

• The classic Inca trail is 29 miles/40 kms long
• The weather averages between 8c and 20c, but can drop to freezing and go up into the 30's
• 500 people are permitted to start the Inca Trail each day, 300 of those are guides and porters
• You need to book about 6 months in advance, your pass is not changeable
• Average trekking time for the 4 days is 21 hours.  We took longer.
• 8% of all hikers are Canadian, 9% are Australian
• The highest point is 13,776 ft (or 4200 metres).
• Altitude sickness may begin at 8000 ft
• Our little group was 12 hikers, 2 guides, 2 cooks and 12 porters. Quite the number.  Much larger than the 6-8 hikers we had been expecting.

 

Okay so that's it for random information.  We've been back from the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu for almost a week now and it's taken me that long to put it into words.  It was amazing. One of the highlights of my life.  So here goes...

 

The bus picked us up from our hotel at 530am.  Neither Michelle or I slept much the night before.  Apparently the thought of hiking for 4 days at altitude, sometimes going straight up made us both nervous.  We threw back some coca tea before the bus arrived but neither of us could stomach much in the way of breakfast.  Not good when we were supposed to start the day with a carb and protein rich breakfast.  Oops.  There was one more stop after us to pick up the last of our group and then we were on the way to Ollantaytambo.  A village in the Sacred Valley where we stopped to have some breakfast.  Well everyone else did, Michelle and I had more coco tea.  Oh I think we may have had a banana each.  At least we don't have totally empty stomachs.

Next stop, on the other side of Ollantaytambo to pick up the extra guide and the extra porter. 12 hikers means we needed more people.  Now we are all staffed up and ready to go. Nobody is doing much in the way of talking, introducing ourselves for just acknowledging each other. I think everyone is tired and maybe they're as nervous as we are.

I nap the rest of the way to km 82, which is where we start hiking.  Everything comes off the bus and is divided onto two tarps. The bigger tarp is all the gear that the 12 porters and 2 cooks will carry. 7 sleeping tents, a cooking tent, a dining tent, 14 camp stools, a camping toilet and it's tent, 14 wash buckets, all the cooking equipment, all the food, the bigger first aid kits (the guides also carry 2 smaller first aid kits) and all Michelle and my gear.  We had paid for a porter to carry our sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and clothes so all we had to lug was our daypack with water, coat, snacks and cameras.  Best decision ever.   The second tarp is for our daypacks and the packs of the rest of our group who are carrying all their own gear.  Why?

 

 

We have a quick briefing with our guides, Lizandro and Nestor.  They tell us that today we will hike about 11km's, it should take between 6 and 7 hours, today is and easy day, no steep climbs or descents, and the stop for lunch should be about 4 hours into the hike.  Hmmmmm. They make sure everyone has water, is wearing sunscreen and insect repellent and has their passports and immigration cards with them.  I can't help but think it's worse than rounding up a guide unit. Once everyone is organised we take the obligatory photo at the Inca Trail sign

 

 

and go through the checkpoint to have our tickets and passports checked.  My ticket says I'm 41, it's given me back a good 5 years.  Woohoo.  But Michelle's says she is male.  Don't think so.  The checkpoint was not too concerned though, they were mainly checking passport numbers and names and photos.  We passed.

 

 

Then we cross the bridge over the Rio Urubamba and we are officially on our way on the Inca Trail. Notice it starts with an up hill?  At least it's a gentle slope and it's a dirt path not a staircase or a rock lined path. Let's start us off nice and easy, lull us into a sense of I can do this.

 

 

The morning was all fantastic views, gentle climbs, quick breaks for everyone to catch up and "hey we're actually doing this"s. We stopped for a break and a history lesson at a small ruin that I think was called Willcarakay, of course I would be making that up.  

 

 

Willcarakay overlooked another Inca site - Llactapata.  Llactapata is believed to have been a rest stop for the Incas on the way to Machu Picchu and also home to the soldiers who would have staff the fortress we were stopped at. I don't fancy that commute to work and back every day.   Llactapata is some distance below us.

 

 

We hiked a bit further along to the lunch site. Our porters were already there and had the cooking tent, the dining tent and wash basins all set up for us.  We all just strolled in, washed our hands, ate our lunch and took a quick nap.  At this point in the day I stopped taking photos, I don't know why. I wish I had taken lots more.  I don't have photos of the set up for lunch, seriously every lunch time the porters set up two large tents, cooked lunch, washed up and then broke down the whole set up.  Every lunch time.  Lunch, in fact all the meals were all very good.  Lunch and dinner alway started with soup, then a rice or quinoa dish, a potato dish (did you know Peru has over 3000 types of potatoes), a veggie dish, a platter of sliced tomatoes and cheeses, and usually two meat dishes.  Oh and some bread. There was a lot of food.  We never went hungry.  And it wasn't typical camp food.  You know... boil in a bag, or rehydrate or mac and cheese of Chef Boyardee, but actual fully cooked meals.  The cooks and porters did an awesome job.

After lunch we continued climbing switch backs up, up and up.  Most groups will camp at Wayllabamba at 3000 ft depending on the number of trekkers, campsites, permits etc.  But not our group. We kept going. For another 3 kms or so to Yuncachimpa at 3300ft.  This climb from lunch to camp was where Michelle and I started to really fall behind.  Up until lunch time we'd always been about 20-30 minutes behind the main group.  But by afternoon Michelle wasn't feeling so good and we were about an hour behind.  It was also when Nestor, the second guide, started hiking every step of the way with us. This first day he was very quite and probably very bored. But we appreciated that he stayed with us and let us hike at our own pace and didn't rush us. 

 

Arriving into camp we had time for a wet wipe shower, to set up our sleeping mats and bags (the porters having already pitched the tents) and to sort our bags out a bit before being called to the dining tent for happy hour.  No wine and cheese, no beer and pretzels, no cocktails and peanuts.  But we were served popcorn and hot chocolate.  I am not a fan of popcorn, but popcorn never tasted as good as it did then. We ate it all.  By we I am all 12 hikers and 2 guides, not just Michelle and I.  Dinner was served at 8pm, and by 9pm after a quick briefing for the next day we were all in bed. Umm our tent is pitched on a slight slope, so I keep rolling onto Michelle's side of the tent.  Oops.

 

And with that, Day 1 is complete.  1 down, 3 to go.  1/4 of the way there.  At least that's what Michelle and I kept telling each other.