Inca trek -the 4 day challenge!

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So... the day that I had been dreading. The start of the Inca trek. At six in the morning we were picked up from our hostel, as others were just getting bcak from a night out! We got on our bus and met our guides, Bobby and Gilbert who increased my confidence slightly. Our first stop was for breakfast where we all wished Patrice's sister Therese a happy 30th birthday. After eating as much as we could we headed on for teh start of our trek, where as advised we all bought hiking sticks which would prove to be our best friends for the coming days.

The start of the hike (km 82) was easy, and I began to relax a little as Bovvy stopped and talked us through some of the local plants and their properties, (he showed us where cocineal came from - a cactus!) Bobby informed us that a porter had once made the entire trip to Macchu Picchu in 3 and a bit hours, and we had 4 days. He also told us that the trek was not a race and that we should all take it at our own pace and not worry if other groups overtook. I liked this man more and more. I was also relieved to find that I was not at the back of teh group and was managing to keep up with the pace of most. As the day continued, the walking became more difficlut with more and more hills, but we stopped for regular breaks, one of which we were accompanied by a pig, and I was relieved to find that there were tiny little villages with around 3 or 4 houses along the way, but we were able to buy water and were not expected to use our water purification tablets and drink water from a stream aswe had been told previously.  

the thing that amazed me most on the first day was the porters. They were tiny peruvian men with heaps of stuff on their back piled high and held in place by a blanket, and they were running past us, yes running with only sandals on their feet! This continued to amaze me over the 4 days. Whatever the weather, or terrain, these men would smile, say hello and run past you. They would then set up the camp for you, cook dinner and as you left, pack up and be at the next camp before you. Wow!

Anyways, the first day all in all wasn't too bad, we stopped for an amazing lunch where the portes all aplauded us, despite the fact that they had been there for several hours by the time we arrived. We were served a delicious soup followed by a lovely fish meal, and tea or coffee. We then continued onto our camp for teh night, where we were given 'tea' which consisited of popcorn, biscuits and hot chocolate. Delicious. We were told to relax and that dinner would be served in a couple of hours. During this time, we hung out in our tents (that had been put up for us), chatted and ome of the many Aussies played cards! We had another delicoious meal and then were surprised to see that the Chef had baked Therese a cake - I am sure even Ctaherine will be impressed by a man baking and icing a cake with no oven! It even had her name on the to. So sweet, and you'll be pleased to know atht we all managed to find space for a slice! After dinner Bobby talked us through the next day, and told us that althouh\gh everyone says te 2nd day is the hardest, he disagreed and felt that the 3rd was harder and there was certainly no point in worrying as we would take it at our own pace. It turned out that Bobby used to be e teacher and I could tell, his psychology was amazing and he was the perfect balnace of supportive, encouraging and humorous. His many amusing stories kept us entertained til bedtime (which was about eight.) Bobby was not so popular when he told us that we would be getting up at quarter to five the next morning however! 

Our group consisted of Sarah and Fiona from Australia, Ro and Simon, also from Australia, and Simon's parents Dave and Jill, James,  (Australia), Will and Jules (Australia), Melanie (USA), and Zack (USA). And over the following days we got to know them all very well.

I was sharing a tent with Melanie and that night I slept surprisingly well, though I was slightly sleepy as I opened the tent to find Gilbert and a porter asking me whether I wasnted tea or coffee. this is how a woman should be woken!!! After drinking our tea and using the facilities (Yes there were some!), we headed to the food tent for breakfast, I think it was porridge, fruitsalad and an omelette. Very good as always. We were handed our snack packs -fruit, chocolate bar and 2 lemon sweets and we started our day. After a few hours of hiking we noticed that Mike, Therese and Patrice were nowhere to be seen. It then transpired as Gilbert ran past that they were going back. At the next stopping point we were told hat 3 people had gone back, so we were relieved to find out that at the next stop we were eventually joined by Mike and Patrice and sadly for Therese, she had gone back to Agues calientes and would meet us on day 4. I am not going to lie to you. Day 2 was hard work. The hills were stepp and the climbs were long, and it is very depressing to see Porters rushing past. Howver after a while I found my own pace, put my ipod in and actually began to enjoy myself. The views are spectacular, waterfalls, hills, mountains, llamas or alpacas roaming freely and there was a real group commoradery thing going on. Everyone would cheer as we arrived at the highest point of that day (and yet again I wasn't last!)We all had a erst, ate some food, took some pictures, and then began the walk down. By this point it was freezing, so we were all wearing every item of clothing that we had with us - as you will see from the photos! The steps down were easy and after a while, I got really into my walk, and although I had mad blisters, I was a little surprised when we got to camp at about 2 or 3 and had the rest of the day to oursleves. We chilled out, played cards, tried to sleep, and chatted and had 'tea' and then dinner before bed.

The next day was another early one, and we were told it would be earlier as we had been late the day before, but nonetheless we were awoken with tea again. We all  had a light 1st breakfast and were told we would stop for a 2nd one shrtly - Ilove this place! We then set off for the day. We stopped at the Runkuracay ruins along the way.  A couple of hours later we had our second breakfast - some popcorn, sandwiches and crackers. Unfortunately the weather was not great, and the rain had made the docks very slippery, so although the 3rd day was downhill, I found it harder work. After slipping and landing on my back once, I became paranoid about breaking something and slowed right down. Day 3 was my least favourite, and I was glad when the rain stopped, although we still were not able to see any of the amazing views through the clouds, which was a real shame. We did notice however, that we were walking through actual forests. We  finally arrived at our last campsote once gain to the applause opf porters. At this point I felt a greta sense of pride and relaief. we had made it. We were only 2 hours away from Macchu Picchu, and I had not injured myself, or died of exhaustion as I had feared. In fact I was a little sad that it was nearly over.

After our final amazing dinner, we tipped the porters, the eldest of whom was nearly 60, and the chef and Will (who spoke fluent spanish) thanked them. We shook all their hands and thanked them, and they were so humble about the whole experience, that again I ws amazed. This was their job, and Bobby assured us that they were well treated and well fed, often eating what we ate, but sometimes preferring soup. Apparently they do the treka up to 6 times a month! We then persuaded Bobby to come to the bar for a beer, and then headed to bed. Bobby was truly an amazing man. He told us about his typical peruvian wedding and all the rituals that it involved and he told us that he is detrmined that his daugheter will speak English and is already teaching her, but will wait til she is 8 til he brings her on the trek. He also told us how he ahd offered to take his wife (also a guide) on the inca trek fro their honeymoon! He was the best guide I could have wished for and he managed to do the trip without an assistant guide, amking him all the more impressive.

That night it rained and rained, and getting out of bed was like the least appealing thing ever as it ws still dark and raining by the time we woke up. And there was no teas for us that morning. Bobby was determined we would be the first through the checkpoint gate that morning so we had to get up earlier tha everyone else, and indeed we were first. Sadly as we had suspected, some people viewed the morning as a arce and we were overtaken by a couple of arrogant trekkers, but I enjoyed the walk as most of the group stick together and even though we could have walkd faster, it seemed to be all about the group, which was a greta way to end the trek. After climbing up what acn only be described as a wall of steps, we arrived at the sungate for our first view of Macchu Picchu. I had all kinds of stories about people crying, about the sight making the whole walk worthwhile etc, and I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed. There was a large wall and in the distance was Macchu Picchu. I think for me, the whole 4 days was about proving to myself that i could do it, the process rather than the product. I know for others in our group it was far more significant. Simon's parents ahd been planning it for 7 years.

For amore detailed itinery click here: www.perutreks.com/inca _trail_04d_itinerary.html

We continued onto the ruins, and I was slightly concerned when I saw tourist who had showered that mroning and were wearing clean clothes. You forget how dirty you feel, until you seen clean people! No shower and hiking for 4 days will make a girl feel less than clean!! We met up with Therese and Gilbert and then headed for the  ruins where Bobby took us on a tour around the ruins, explaining the history of Hiram Bingam, and the significance of all the different buildings.  It has a fascinating history and Bobby's enthusiasm was contagious.  That took about an hour or two, after which time we were free to wander around, and were given a meeting point and time in Aguas Calientes. 

At this point me and Rick were starving so we headed for some food with Therese and then caught the bus into into Agues Calientes. On the bus thre was a carzy boy. He jumped on wearing a starnage outfit with a feather headress on his head. He snag a starnge note, waved and jumped off, at the different turns on the hill, he would be at the side of teh road waving, it turned out he was running down the hill and beating the bus to each turn. At the bottom of teh hill, he got onto the bus, said something in spanish, sang and collected money to much applause - very impressive. There were a whole group of the kids who took it in turns to complete the race.

When we arrived,  we had a wander round the tiny town, and stopped for a beer to catch up with Therese. We then headed to the meeting point for lunch which was pizza and some celebratory drinks for some of the group. We collected our stuff and said goodbye to the porters, then made firm plans with the group to meet up later that night in Cusco. We ran to the train station (it ws raining agan), and were slighly disappointed to find that our toursit seats where we had dreamt of sleeping, were actually tiny seats with your legs intertwined with the person opposite. I was even more concerned as the seat opposite mine was unoccupied and everyone from our group had sat down. I was therefore relieved when the spaces were filled by 2 friendly looking Irish boys who it turned out Patrice and Mike had met on their trak. The long journey passed fairly quickly as we were joined by the lovely Jane (James and Gary's travelling companion) and there was a lot of laughter as we tried to teach Gary some basic spanish. Particularly as the main phrase he was interested in was "Would it be ok if I kissed you?" . Needless to say there was no sleep, even though Rick tried curling up underneath the seats. We got off near Cusco and got the bus the rest of the way as we had been forewarned of the slowness of the train. And so we arrived back in Cuso, dishevelled, dirty and exhausted but happy nonetheless.

After several Vodka redbulls we woke up and headed into town to meet the others. The place of choice was Mama Africa on Plaza des Armes, and a good and very messy night was had by all who attended.

For more inca trak pictures : www.flickr.com/photos /miketong/sets /72157594359085261/