The Inca Trail

First View
see all photos »

The infamous inca trail and how it hurt our bodies

46 kilometres of rough road at altitude including the aptly named Dead Woman Pass at 4200m. And I was doing this for the second time? To keep Carl company? It must be love. :-)

It was actually a fantastic trip, made all the more thrilling by Carl's proposal on night one under the stars. Ahhhhhh... I even said yes. Despite The Hat.

But enough mushiness.

Wayña Picchu
see all photos »

We had a great group of people:

Charlotte, Scott & Andre - Seattle-ites with a good sense of humour and plenty of antibacterial gel.

Sharon & Laura - also from Seattle and very lovely but who were sadly stricken with altitude/stomach problems on the trail. Much sympathy from me - I distinctly remember the troubles I had leaving my own personal trail on the last trip. Not nice.

Benny & Laura from Ireland. Laura casually mentioned that she was recovering from a spinal operation - suddenly felt I couldn't whinge about my aches and pains so much. Troopers, both.

Waiting
see all photos »

Roberto & Veronica - on honeymoon no less. Let's hope Veronica knew what she was letting herself in for. Both keen walkers I think and life-savers for me with their slow and steady pace-setting.

Bill (Virgilio) was a great guide with second-in-command Hernan.

Day one was pretty easy. A heart-stopping moment when my priceless entry voucher was snatched out of my hand by the vicious wind at the control office. Thankfully (I suppose) it was recovered and I could continue on the 46 kilometre rough road at altitude to the killer Dead Woman Pass... dah de dah.. :-)

Victorious Group
see all photos »

We'd been worried about the robustness of our sleeping bags but were cosy enough in the end. Specially on day 2 when they made us hot water bottles. Felt very pampered. Amazing how the porters hooned past us carrying phenomenal amounts of stuff on their backs. Impressive.

Lots of great food and snacks and teas and more meals than we could shake our new walking sticks at.

Day 2 was tough. Despite the smiles from our newly engaged status, it was a pretty painful ass-hauling up 1100 metres. Fortunately I had The Killers on my mp3 player "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" on repeat so I managed to keep it together. Seriously, I think the slower pace this time round made it much much easier but I had conveniently forgotten the tough downhills on the other side. Funny what you remember. My knees are still not speaking to me.

Veronica
see all photos »

Arrival at Machu Picchu was breathtaking. It was a beautiful clear sunny morning and the view from the Sun Gate was awe-inspiring. I loved it. And, despite the agony in my thighs, I'm glad I let Carl persuade me to climb Wayna Picchu - the mountain behind the site. Stunning views from the top and Carl gave me a beautiful engagement ring too. To round off our best trip in Peru so far.