Hi friends! This is a special Inca Trail edition of the blog and it is long but thrilling! I spent one of my last weekends on a four day trek to one of the natural wonders of the world, Machu Picchu all on a trail originally used by the Incas to make pilgrimage to this famous site. I started planning this trip back in January, which you have to do because only 200 tourists are allowed on the Inca Trail each day. I am so glad that everything finally came to fruition and it was everything I was hoping for and more! Without further ado, here is my recount!
The night before our trek was due to start, I headed to the hotel to meet my guide and the rest of the group. I had mentioned to my roommates that I was a little bit nervous that I didn't know anybody else in the group and since I hadn't paid extra for a single tent, what would happen if I ended up having to share a tent with a random dude? Needless to say, I set off for the hotel feeling a bit nervous. When I got there, all of my worst fears were confirmed. Just kidding. I did get there and learn that the other five trekkers in my group all knew each other and came together, I also learned that within the group there were two pairs, and the outlier was a dude, a dude that I was going to have to share a tent with. Luckily, everyone seemed really nice and the group was very welcoming from the start. The guy that I would be sharing a tent with, Jonathan seemed cool and our guide, Chino made me feel confident about the trek. I left the hotel and headed home to prepare for the trek which I would be picked up for at 5am the next morning.
The next morning we drove for about an hour during which everybody dozed and then we stopped to load up on snacks, rain ponchos and anything else we might need for the trek. After loading up on supplies we headed for Km 82, the start of our three day trek. When we arrived, we got to meet our team of 11 porters, one assistant chef and one head chef. They didn't speak much Spanish or English (they speak Quechua) but they smiled at our enthusiasm and amazement about the loads that they were going to carry up the trail for us, we took some pictures to mark the beginning of the trek, passed the checkpoint, and started our way up the original Inca Trail.
Day one was hot and dusty and not too difficult. We had our first really steep climb before lunch, but it was short and we knew that it was only taste of what was coming over the next two days. We hiked for about five hours before stopping for lunch and when we did stop for lunch, we were blown away! The porters had chosen a beautiful grassy knoll next to the river and had set up our full dining tent, our toilet tent, and laid out sleeping mats so we could take a small nap in the sunshine. There was an individual bucket of war, water for each of us to wash our hands and then we sat down to lunch. The food was AMAZING. So good that I really can't do it justice and you will just have to believe me. There was a ton of food but it was all healthy like, trout and avocado and steamed veggies. Exactly what we needed to get us through the rest of the hiking day but nothing that would weigh us down. It was all incredible and we were pretty much in awe to say the least.The rest of the day was a steady climb uphill, we did this steady incline for about four hours and it was difficult for all of us. Chino kept our spirits up though and told us that it was nothing compared to what was coming the next day. Great. We finally got to camp where all of our amazing porters had already set up all the sleeping tents, the dining tent and the toilet tent, and they all clapped and cheered when we arrived which felt ridiculous to me since they had all done the same hike, but faster and with 50 pounds of gear on their backs, but it also made the accomplishment of finishing the first day feel oh so much better. We had some time to relax and wash our faces with warm water and then it was time for dinner. Again,the food was incredible. After dinner, we went to look at the stars which, in all honesty, defied description. All I can say to describe the magnitude of them is that I had no idea that the sky even held that many stars, I've never seen so many in my entire life. It was amazingly beautiful and worth standing out in the freezing cold to look at them. That night was the first test of the sleeping arrangements, the tents turned out to be plenty roomy for two people and Jonathan and I put our duffel bags in between us and had no problems.
We were woken up at 5am the next morning with coca tea and warm water to wash our faces, we ate a yummy and filling breakfast that even included personalized and encouraging pancakes, while our porters tore down camp and at around 6:30 we set out for our second and most difficult day of trekking. Our first destination of the day was Dead Woman´s Pass, a mountain pass with an elevation of 13,828 ft and the highest point on the trek. It was a slog; a long, steep incline filled with the stairs that make the Inca Trail so famously difficult. It was freezing in the shade and sweaty and hot in the sun, which made layering essential and difficult. We were all allowed to go at our own pace for this part of the climb so I was usually hiking alone. I was in the middle of the pack and even though it was definitely difficult, I felt that I did a pretty good job. The hardest part, is when you are looking up at how far you have left to go and you see people above you on the trail and realize, it's steep and hard the entire way. Eventually I made it to the top, where four members of my group were already waiting and greeted me with a loud and encouraging cheer! Our assistant chef was also there to reward us with tea and the best ham and cheese sandwich I've ever eaten; it wasn't special in any way but it was the most hard earned sandwich I think I've ever eaten. We spent a good bit of time at the top of the pass, taking pictures, looking at the view, and congratulating ourselves for making it. However, day two was far from over and the top of this pass wasn't even our halfway point and was not the only mountain we would be climbing up that day. We still had to go all the way down the other side of the pass and then up and down another one. I told you that day two was hard. The way down from Dead Woman's Pass was as challenging as any downhill can be. It was super steep and full of stairs and uneven stones, meaning that it was a very difficult journey for our legs which were already tired. Luckily, going down has never presented much of a problem for me and I found myself way ahead of everyone after only a few minutes. I had a very enjoyable solo hike where I enjoyed looking at flowers and hearing the sounds of hummingbirds and other little birds in the plants along the trail. I arrived to the lunch camp and enjoyed about 40 minutes of downtime while I waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
Lunch was another amazing feat of culinary greatness and we devoured every bite after our tiring morning. Unfortunately, the trail was very visible form our lunch camp and it did not look welcoming. Chino had told us that it was easier than the climb up to Dead Woman's Pass but what that really ended up meaning was that it was shorter. It was however much steeper and had just as many stairs which made it seem even more difficult than our morning climb. Fortunately, the views from this part of the climb were incredibly beautiful and we had a great view of Dead Woman's Pass which meant that we could look at it and marvel at how far we had come in only this one day. Finally we summitted the second pass and after having a quick break and marveling at the views, down we went again. This downhill was even steeper than the first and again I tackled it much faster than my companions. There were some Incan ruins right before the camp that were optional for us to check out, if we were willing to climb 100 extra stairs. Laura, Jonathan, Justin, and I decided to go for it and we were super glad that we did. The ruins were beautiful, the light was amazing since the sun was setting, and the clouds were low and draping the amazing mountains around us. It was a beautiful place and definitely worth the 100 extra stairs. Finally, we arrived at our beautiful and secluded camp, feeling extremely worn out, but also extremely accomplished, we had conquered the hardest day of the trek!
Day three we woke up at 5am and prepared for our last day of trekking. That morning was the last time that we would see our entire crew so we had a bit of a ceremony where our porters all introduced themselves and we did the same. Then I was elected to give a thank you speech on behalf of the group and we handed out hugs and tips to our amazing crew. All of our porters and our chefs were amazing guys who flew up and down these trails with 50 pounds of gear on their backs and every time they saw us, they waved and cheered and clapped. Their effect on our motivation and determination cannot be underestimated. We said our last goodbyes and headed out for the day. Day three was mostly trekking through the jungle and was more downhill than anything else. This was pretty nice except that we were all so sore from the day before, that everything was ten times harder and more painful than it usually would have been. The trek through the jungle was beautiful and we loved seeing all the different plants and views from the trail but it was a long day of walking on uneven stones and even though the going was pretty easy, we tired quickly.
Throughout the day, our party had split into two groups; Justin, Laura, Jonathan, and I in front and Cori and Sheri behind us with Chino. On that last day, we were having a bit of a different lunch so Chino told us to meet at a small Incan Ruin with two rooms. Unfortunately, each of us in the front group understood these instructions differently and we couldn't agree where we should stop and wait. We decided to just keep going until we got to a fork in the trail. Looking back, we definitely should have stopped there and waited, but we did not. We saw lots of porters heading down one part of the trail and so we decided that was probably the right way. We questioned our decision the entire way, but it was a steep and winding downhill path and none of us had any desire to climb back up again, so we pressed on. When we finally reached the camp at the bottom, we realized that every other group was there apart from ours. We were wandering around the tents and porters and starting to get nervous when we luckily found our assistant chef! We were convinced that this meant that we had gone the right way, but we soon found out that Chino had sent him to come find us when he didn’t find us at the meeting spot and when they got to our lunch spot and found that we weren't there. Oops. We had taken an entirely unnecessary detour and we had to sit shamefaced while we waited for Chino and the other girls to come meet us. It was embarrassing but also pretty funny and luckily we didn't go the wrong way and we were going to have to pass through the camp at some point anyway. When Chino found us he just laughed and said that in all his years of being a guide, he has never lost more than half the group at the same time. After eating a delicious boxed lunch, we headed off for the final stretch of the trail which would take us to the Sun Gate that looks over Machu Picchu. The trail was narrow and uneven but we were filled with anticipation for the end so we all went pretty quickly. Right near the end of the trail, there is a set of stairs that are called the “monkey stairs” because they are so steep that most people climb them using their hands and feet as opposed to just their feet. We scrambled up them, took some amazing pictures of the view and started towards the Sun Gate, we could see the end of the trail! Finally, we arrived!
Our arrival at the Sun Gate couldn't have been timed better; most groups camp for one more night and head to the Sun Gate for sunrise, but we got there around sunset which I'm sure was just as, if not more, spectacular since the sun was shining right onto the ruins. It was an incredible sight and it was made even better by the feeling of accomplishment that we all had, we had finished the Inca Trail! Our Sun Gate experience was a bit marred by the large amount of other tourists who were complaining about the “long and hard” 30 minute hike that they had done to reach the Sun Gate from Machu Picchu, but it was easy just to look at them and laugh, which I did. We spent a lot of time at the Sun Gate, basking in our success and taking a million pictures and then we headed down the trail to the actual ruins, the views becoming more spectacular with every step. We made it down the bottom, took about 100 more pictures and then caught the bus that would take us down into the town of Aguas Calientes for the night. We arrived at our hotel, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had my own room, yay! We were unpleasantly surprised when they informed us that our rooms were on the fifth floor and that the elevator was broken, meaning that we had to take….you guessed it, the stairs. You can't have everything in life I guess. I got to my room and had the most wonderful shower ever, Facetimed with my parents and told them all about my adventure and then headed to the lobby to meet the group for dinner. When I got downstairs, everyone was waiting and Laura said “guess what?” and held up her left hand, Justin had proposed when they got to their hotel room!! It was so exciting and I was so happy to get to be a part of their special moment! We had a great dinner together and then I had probably one of the best sleeps of my life.
The next morning we were up early for a quick breakfast and then caught our bus up to Machu Picchu for our official tour. The ruins of Machu Picchu are seriously incredible, and even though only about 40% of them are original, the Peruvian government has done a wonderful job at restoring and maintaining them. We got to walk all around the ruins and Chino told us about the history of Machu Picchu. The tour was great, but there were so many tourists and only certain spaces that we were allowed to walk in that I felt like a sheep in a conga line most of the time. I decided that only people who hike for three days on the Inca Trail should be allowed in, because then everyone would appreciate it more and it would weed out the people who can't climb stairs or who stop to take selfies on the middle of a narrow staircase full of people. I can dream I suppose. After the tour, I did a quick and steep climb to the top of one of the mountains that looks over the ruins and got some amazing birds eye views of Machu Picchu and a welcome break from all of the tourists. After checking out the ruins to our heart's content, we headed back down to Aguas Calientes for a last lunch together and to catch our train back to Cusco. The train was great, and in no time at all, we found ourselves back in Cusco, feeling as if everything we had just done was a dream. We had a last dinner together in Cusco and then said our goodbyes. It was an amazing trip to say the least and I am lucky to have met such great people and had to opportunity to trek with them for three days and share in their happiness at their engagement.
This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and if I could go back and do it all again I definitely would, sore muscles and freezing nights included! This trek was amazing preparation for my family's Kilimanjaro trek in August and after completing this one, I feel like I can tackle anything! I only have three weeks left here in Cusco and as much as I like Peru, I am very ready to move on. I have a few adventures left to take on before I leave, so there will be at least one more blog post from Cusco before I meet up with my best friend in Cape Town, South Africa! Thank you all SO MUCH for the good thoughts and prayers that you continue to send my way. I am extremely blessed to be able to do things like this trek and your support helps immensely!
Lots of Love from Peru,
LP
