Inca Trail...To Heaven and Back
Well, we made it. We are back in Cusco after four of the most wonderful days I've ever spent. The Inca Trail is all that it's cracked up to be and more. I've been reading about it and looking at pictures on the internet for the past month or more, but nothing compares to what we did and saw.
The company we chose as our tour guide was SAS, a local treking company. I had read that they are one of the very best and they certainly are. The night before the trek, all 13 of us gathered in a small office to get the particulars from our two guides,, Victor, a tall, soft spoken fellow, originally from Arequipa, and Mr. Freud, a local man from Cusco, who owns a farm somewhere nearby and speaks Spanish, English and Quechua. Besides Amy and me, there were 6 young women, all in their early 20s, students studying abroad in Santiago, Chile...one American, Steph, from Boston; four Brits, Amy, Shauna, Cassandra and Elaine and an Aussie, Shannon. There were also 5 young men, Adam, from Alberta, Canada, a very nice guy who is the spitting image of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, two brothers from Sweden, Matius and Tobias, a Brit from Liverpool, Matt, a real character who had us in stitches most of the time, and an Aussie from Sydney, Garreth, who is an accountant living in London. All were in their 20s, making us the oldest by a factor of two. As it would turn out, the 5 guys were all very fit and quite ready for the trek, but most of the girls had absolutely no idea what they were getting theirselves into.
DAY ONE
We all met in the main square of Cusco at 6am and were taken by bus to the lovely town of Ollyantaytambo, where it's your last chance to buy hiking poles and other things. Then we went to Kilometer 82 on the Urubamba River. Here, you have to check in with local officias with your passport. You are entering the Machu Picchu Historical Santuary, where you have to pay $60 (included in the fee for the trek). Day one of the trek is relatively easy. You start at around 2500 meters and slowly climb to 3000 at the town of Wayllabamba, about a 12 kilometer walk. The first 7 ks, you are walking along the Urubamba River, through a very deep gorge, around 2000 meters deep. Sometimes, giant mountains can be seen at the end of beautiful valleys. One of these, Veronica, is around 6000 meters high. Our first stop was above the ruins of LLaqtapata, which consist of many terraces and is right on the Urubamba...
From here, we walked up a kilometer or so and we saw, in the middle of nowhere, a very large red tent. Inside was 13 chairs and place settings...our lunch! Next to this was a green tent, the kitchen and wonderful smells were coming out of it. We all sat down to a very nice lunch of chicken, rice, vegetables and other things. There was enough food to feed an army, and a total carbo load. Soon, we were off again and as soon as we departed, the porters (there was a staff of 19 porters and cooks) had the tent down, were packed up and were off to our camping spot.
A word about the porters. These guys are the heroes of the Inca Trail. They are all local men, mostly farmers, who do this to supplement their meager income. They carry up to 60 pounds on their backs and they literally run along the Trail...in sandles for the most part! One of the most normal sounds on the Trail are words "Porter coming", and you look behind you and here are one or severaly porters, hugging and puffing.
A couple of hours later, we came to the town of Wayllabamba, where we rested and had a drink. From here, we climbed about 1/2 hour to our private campsite, which was to be the beginning of the BIG climb of the day to Dead Woman's Pass.
The campsite was very nice, a private yard SAS rents from a local family. We had a nice dinner, but unfortunately, one of the girls was already feeling the altitude very badly and the next day would have to go to Machu Picchu by train (one of the guids, Mr. Freud had to take her back to Kilometer 82 and from there to MP).
DAY TWO
This was the day we were all dreading. Dead Woman's Pass was the first goal, a 4000 foot climb up a very steep trail. From the campsite, we could see the top of the pass and it looked unbelievably high and far away. It was to turn out to be not so bad for some of us, but quite an ordeal for others.
We immediately started straight up this steep valley, through a beautiful micro climate of lush greenery. Step after step we climbed...the trail was recently paved with stones, it's not original Inca. We would sometimes come upon a 100 yards or so of flat terrain, but right away start up again. After about an hour and a half of steady climbing, we came out of the forest into a beautiful meadow, where a table was set up with our morning snack...cocal tea, coffee, fresh popcorn and cookies. From here, you could see the top of the pass, very far away, and as small as ants, people on the top. We started up again, not so steep this time, but a steady climb.
It was damned hard, but every time we felt tired or out of breath, we just stopped for a few seconds. Soon, we'd feel good again and be on our way. In another hour and a half, we were at the top! A 4000 foot climb in less than 4 hours, and we were at 14,000 feet. The views from here were fantastic, back down the valley we had come and on the other side, down to the valley we were heading for our second night. We celebrated with some of our fellow trekers (some of the girls were way behind and having problems) with coca candy and yummy Sublime chocolate bars (a Peruvian delight).
Here, Amy found something wonderful...coca leaves. You stuff about 10 between your cheek and gum, put in a little thing that helps activate the leaves, and PRESTO! your altitude problems seem to go away. Amy's fear of heights didn't bother her at all, or hardly bother her at all. Soon, most of the other trekers were chewing on the leaves and enjoying them, too.
Anyway, we were soon heading down another 2000 feet to our campsite, a very steep descent of about 2000 feet, mostly of Inca steps. The views were spectacular; high mountains all around, water falls tumbling down the canyons, small alpine lakes, and beautiful flowers.
In about another 2 hours, we were at our campsite, which consisted of several terraces all lined with tents. Our dining tent was set up, of course, and we were ready for a hearty lunch!
Amy and I decided to hike up to some ruins, Runkurakay, about a half hour from the campsite. This was a tambo, or Incan lodge. By the time we got back to camp, it was time for our afternoon tea (with popcorn, of course) and then dinner. A couple of the young ladies had just made it to camp and they were feeling pretty bad. A combination of altitude and not being fit enough for the hike. Why anyone would come on this trek without the proper preparation is beyond me, but I guess when you are 22 you think you can do anything.
By 8pm, we were fast asleep, ready for the third day, which would prove to be a lot harder than I thought.
Next blog...Day Three and Four!
The company we chose as our tour guide was SAS, a local treking company. I had read that they are one of the very best and they certainly are. The night before the trek, all 13 of us gathered in a small office to get the particulars from our two guides,, Victor, a tall, soft spoken fellow, originally from Arequipa, and Mr. Freud, a local man from Cusco, who owns a farm somewhere nearby and speaks Spanish, English and Quechua. Besides Amy and me, there were 6 young women, all in their early 20s, students studying abroad in Santiago, Chile...one American, Steph, from Boston; four Brits, Amy, Shauna, Cassandra and Elaine and an Aussie, Shannon. There were also 5 young men, Adam, from Alberta, Canada, a very nice guy who is the spitting image of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, two brothers from Sweden, Matius and Tobias, a Brit from Liverpool, Matt, a real character who had us in stitches most of the time, and an Aussie from Sydney, Garreth, who is an accountant living in London. All were in their 20s, making us the oldest by a factor of two. As it would turn out, the 5 guys were all very fit and quite ready for the trek, but most of the girls had absolutely no idea what they were getting theirselves into.
DAY ONE
We all met in the main square of Cusco at 6am and were taken by bus to the lovely town of Ollyantaytambo, where it's your last chance to buy hiking poles and other things. Then we went to Kilometer 82 on the Urubamba River. Here, you have to check in with local officias with your passport. You are entering the Machu Picchu Historical Santuary, where you have to pay $60 (included in the fee for the trek). Day one of the trek is relatively easy. You start at around 2500 meters and slowly climb to 3000 at the town of Wayllabamba, about a 12 kilometer walk. The first 7 ks, you are walking along the Urubamba River, through a very deep gorge, around 2000 meters deep. Sometimes, giant mountains can be seen at the end of beautiful valleys. One of these, Veronica, is around 6000 meters high. Our first stop was above the ruins of LLaqtapata, which consist of many terraces and is right on the Urubamba...
From here, we walked up a kilometer or so and we saw, in the middle of nowhere, a very large red tent. Inside was 13 chairs and place settings...our lunch! Next to this was a green tent, the kitchen and wonderful smells were coming out of it. We all sat down to a very nice lunch of chicken, rice, vegetables and other things. There was enough food to feed an army, and a total carbo load. Soon, we were off again and as soon as we departed, the porters (there was a staff of 19 porters and cooks) had the tent down, were packed up and were off to our camping spot.
A word about the porters. These guys are the heroes of the Inca Trail. They are all local men, mostly farmers, who do this to supplement their meager income. They carry up to 60 pounds on their backs and they literally run along the Trail...in sandles for the most part! One of the most normal sounds on the Trail are words "Porter coming", and you look behind you and here are one or severaly porters, hugging and puffing.
A couple of hours later, we came to the town of Wayllabamba, where we rested and had a drink. From here, we climbed about 1/2 hour to our private campsite, which was to be the beginning of the BIG climb of the day to Dead Woman's Pass.
The campsite was very nice, a private yard SAS rents from a local family. We had a nice dinner, but unfortunately, one of the girls was already feeling the altitude very badly and the next day would have to go to Machu Picchu by train (one of the guids, Mr. Freud had to take her back to Kilometer 82 and from there to MP).
DAY TWO
This was the day we were all dreading. Dead Woman's Pass was the first goal, a 4000 foot climb up a very steep trail. From the campsite, we could see the top of the pass and it looked unbelievably high and far away. It was to turn out to be not so bad for some of us, but quite an ordeal for others.
We immediately started straight up this steep valley, through a beautiful micro climate of lush greenery. Step after step we climbed...the trail was recently paved with stones, it's not original Inca. We would sometimes come upon a 100 yards or so of flat terrain, but right away start up again. After about an hour and a half of steady climbing, we came out of the forest into a beautiful meadow, where a table was set up with our morning snack...cocal tea, coffee, fresh popcorn and cookies. From here, you could see the top of the pass, very far away, and as small as ants, people on the top. We started up again, not so steep this time, but a steady climb.
It was damned hard, but every time we felt tired or out of breath, we just stopped for a few seconds. Soon, we'd feel good again and be on our way. In another hour and a half, we were at the top! A 4000 foot climb in less than 4 hours, and we were at 14,000 feet. The views from here were fantastic, back down the valley we had come and on the other side, down to the valley we were heading for our second night. We celebrated with some of our fellow trekers (some of the girls were way behind and having problems) with coca candy and yummy Sublime chocolate bars (a Peruvian delight).
Here, Amy found something wonderful...coca leaves. You stuff about 10 between your cheek and gum, put in a little thing that helps activate the leaves, and PRESTO! your altitude problems seem to go away. Amy's fear of heights didn't bother her at all, or hardly bother her at all. Soon, most of the other trekers were chewing on the leaves and enjoying them, too.
Anyway, we were soon heading down another 2000 feet to our campsite, a very steep descent of about 2000 feet, mostly of Inca steps. The views were spectacular; high mountains all around, water falls tumbling down the canyons, small alpine lakes, and beautiful flowers.
In about another 2 hours, we were at our campsite, which consisted of several terraces all lined with tents. Our dining tent was set up, of course, and we were ready for a hearty lunch!
Amy and I decided to hike up to some ruins, Runkurakay, about a half hour from the campsite. This was a tambo, or Incan lodge. By the time we got back to camp, it was time for our afternoon tea (with popcorn, of course) and then dinner. A couple of the young ladies had just made it to camp and they were feeling pretty bad. A combination of altitude and not being fit enough for the hike. Why anyone would come on this trek without the proper preparation is beyond me, but I guess when you are 22 you think you can do anything.
By 8pm, we were fast asleep, ready for the third day, which would prove to be a lot harder than I thought.
Next blog...Day Three and Four!
posted by Craig and Amy at 10:53 AM
1 Comments:
That sounds like an amazing hike. It must have been incredible to see Machu Picchu.
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