The Inca Trail

Hi all!

So here is my epic Inca trail post! Below I have typed the day and date as I typed a blog entry each day. I'm hoping to put photos under each part so you know what corresponds. It's pretty long - sorry!

17/1 - Ollaytantambo photos (already did the blog that day)

18/1 - Day One - 8.21pm
So today we got picked up at 8am from our hotel by our guides Israel and Daniel. Rachel and I were feeling well rested after we went to bed at 9 and woke at 6.45! We took a one hour bus on a very windy and bumpy road to kilometre 82, the starting point of the inca trail! We met our porters here and got our equipment and set off. We went through a checkpoint where I gained another pretty stamp for my fast filling passport!!

We set off. The day really wasn't too bad to be honest. Including breaks it took 6 hours. The weather behaved, it was cloudy in some parts and even warm and sunny in others.

We saw some Incan ruins along the way which were amazing. Israel told us that the Spanish came to Peru in 1532. The Incan leader in this area cleverly ordered all roads and bridges to Machu Picchu to be covered up so the Spanish wouldn't find them. So when the Spanish came to this area in 1533, they evicted all the people in the Incan settlements to the jungle and destroyed some of the ruins. But fortunately lots of others were saved by the paths being covered up, and they lay uninhabited and lost until Hiram Bingham arrived in the early 1900s (more about him on day four, he discovered Machu Picchu!). 

I surprised myself at my level of fitness. Those who know me well know that I've had tummy issues for a few months now and then a throat infection that arrived a month before I left. Ash kindly found me some eucalyptus lollies so those paired with my salt gargle have meant it doesn't really hurt anymore and I could breathe easily. I was in the front group the whole day! It's not a race of course, but my normal pace was at the front of the group. Really happy about the fact I haven't completely lost all fitness!! Had to take a few weeks before I left off gym to try and get better. 

We stopped for lunch. Friends that have done the inca trail told me the food was nice and they weren't kidding! We had soup, trout and veggies and then peppercorn jelly. Yum!!

After a rest we set off for two more hours until we reached camp. We settled into our tents. I've never been camping before so this is another first! We then had a meet and great with our porters. There are about 25-30 of them and 18 of us. They are amazing. They carry 20kg each of our duffle bags, tents, food and cooking supplies. The youngest was 19 and the oldest 49. Apparently a 76 year old porter is in another group!!! Then it was our turn. I had to go first. I somehow said "hello my name is Claire and I am 22 years old" in Spanish - woohoo! Building up that vocabulary haha. The funny part was all of the porters had said whether they were married or not when they introduced themselves. So when I finished my introduction a few of them said something to Daniel in Spanish, which turned out to be them asking if I was single. We all had a good laugh!!!

We then had "happy hour" as the porters called it. I had hot chocolate and popcorn. We played some cards and then had dinner. Chicken, veggies, soup and pasta. Yum!!

So far I'm having a great time. Really surprised myself with my fitness and even though we are camping the food is amazing and the toilet facilities (while pretty gross) are manageable. I've had far worse in Asia. 

So far only a little rain. But tomorrow is the big test. Right now we are at 3000m above sea level. Tomorrow we climb for six hours to 4200m above sea level. Yikes!

19/1 - Day Two - 2.34pm
I went to sleep straight after I typed that last night. We are pretty much sleeping and waking in sync with daylight. Got a fairly good night's sleep. It poured with rain most of the night!! Back and neck a little sore this morning due to sleeping on a thin mattress but all good!

We were woken at 5 by the porters bringing us coca tea. Slowly woke up, got ready and had breakfast at 6. We really are being spoilt, this is the best and healthiest food I've had all trip. This morning we had cinnamon bread, quinoa porridge and pancakes. Quinoa is served in about every meal here. It's cheap to produce as it has to be grown over a certain level above the sea, so easy here! Not so much at home which is why it's so expensive. 

We set off about 6.30am. We all knew today would be the hardest, as we had to ascend 1200m to the summit of the inca trail - Dead Woman's Pass. And yes, it was hard. There was a smaller section of stairs which took a while, then we had a rest. Then came the big test. Again, I really surprised myself. I ended up reaching the summit second, only behind Anthony! It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, hard to breathe, so many seemingly endless stairs. A few things got me through. One was a pack of skittles and a Hershey's bar, as well as water of course! Apart from that replaying 'Shake It Off' by Taylor Swift up the hill helped, but the main thing that made me forget the stairs was chanting the names of all the people who believe in me that I could do it! ("Mum, dad, Adam" etc...). That helped a lot. After what seemed like an eternity of stairs I reached the top to cheers from Anthony and another group. We waited for a few others and got a partial group photo. The initial plan was to wait for everyone, but Jess has altitude sickness so took a bit longer and poor Nigel has a chest infection so was hours behind us all with the guide. 

So the summit was 4219m above sea level. It was cloudy but still a great view. I cheered Rachel and Courtney and then set off alone as I was getting too cold. Turned out descending was hard too, just in a different way. I caught up to Will and Anthony and the three of us powered down the hill. Nearly slipped once but my walking sticks saved me. The path was all uneven rocks. We saw a waterfall and the mountains here are so beautiful I can't describe them. You'll see the photos!

The three of us arrived first at 11.30am to applause from the porters. Israel is calling us the speedy Gonzales group. We were meant to arrive at 2pm!! The same happened yesterday, we arrived 1-1.5 hours early. So the 8 hour day today was actually 5 hours due to our speed! Again, surprising myself immensely, and have to say I'm very proud of myself!!!

We have so far spent the afternoon waiting and cheering for the others, had a bit of a wash and a lie down. We just had lunch which was quinoa soup, beef, rice and veggies and apple pie. Poor Nigel still isn't back but he's on his way and we are going to give him a huge cheer when he arrives!! It poured soon after we got here, we've been so lucky that it only rains when we are at camp!!

More happy hour later and then dinner. But for now Rach and I are lying down listening to our music. We are over half way - hooray!!!!

7.42pm
We lay about for 2-3 hours and napped on and off. Then we went to happy hour for popcorn and hot drinks. We then played card games and scategories and had dinner - creamy vegetable soup, chicken, rice and veggies. Now we are off to bed, it's freezing! I'm wearing the Richmond beanie to bed - reminds me of you years ago Dad!! Haha. 

20/1 - Day Three - 5.42pm
Today we got up at 5am again, had toast and eggs for breakfast. 

We set off. Yesterday was hard and finishing it made me feel like the hard part was over. I was wrong! Today was the longest day and it began with 1.5 hours of uphill. Oh dear!! But we powered through. 

Throughout the day we saw two lots of inca ruins, very cool. Looking forward to Machu Picchu even more now! 

We then trekked through what is called the Cloud Forest. The vegetation changed heaps here, as it has as we've progressed throughout the whole trail. Here there was bamboo and dense rainforest. I walked with Daniel and Anne (the German couple, they are sehr nett/very nice!) and it began to rain. Out came the ponchos! We soon made it to lunch though so didn't get too wet. 

Lunch was soup, rice, veggies, chicken and a mini omelette. Then came a surprise....a cake! How on earth did they make a cake when we've been hiking in the jungle with no power?! It said "welcome to Inka Trail" on it, so kind. And it was delicious!! At the lunch spot we also had another interesting experience...they had set up a toilet. Which involved a chair and a bag. I'll let you use your imagination! Slightly better than the squat toilets and bushes/trees/etc that became toilets along the way I guess haha!! 

During lunch it had poured and when we set off again it was showering and very cold. Then began the huge descent. Uphill is hard, but slippery downhill is dangerous. My walking sticks saved my big time today! They helped me keep my balance and when I started to slip I was able to catch myself. The rest of the day was spent descending. My poor knees! But we did it. It kept raining on and off and I got quite wet but the ponchos, plastic bags and backpack covers paid off. They're damp now but all my things are ok. Then the four of us went to some terrace ruins. It rained a lot, Ash and I put our ponchos on and we laughed that we looked like Greg and Murray from The Wiggles!

We arrived at the campsite. Only thing getting me down was the fact that my sleeping bag that I hired was saturated, bit annoying considering I asked whether I should wrap it in a garbage bag and was told not to. But the group convinced me to tell the guide and the porters just finished drying it. Again like the cake...how?! But I'm so grateful. 

Dinner at 6.30pm tonight, and tomorrow we hike to Machu Picchu! 

21/1 - Day Four - 4.54am 
Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu. That's all that's keeping me going right now. After dinner we went to bed and it rained all night! We woke at 3.30am to get ready and have a quick breakfast. We have to wake this early so the porters can get the only empty train back for all our gear. Right now we are standing under a small shelter, about 50-60 of us. It's still raining and I'm so tired! Hope it stops. Kind of reminds me of queuing outside the MCG for the 2011 grand final - cold, wet, tired. We move again through the checkpoint at 5.30. 

3.11pm
The tiredness was worth it! We had a two hour walk to Machu Picchu. On the way we enjoyed a good view from the Sun Gate, before cloud quickly descended upon the ruins. We walked down and it was very slippery, I nearly fell a few times. We got to Machu Picchu and it was very cloudy so we went on our tour before the viewpoint to wait until the weather cleared up. 

Hiram Bingham, an American professor of history and geography of South America, stumbled upon Machu Picchu in 1911 when he was looking for other ruins. When he arrived there were some families living there but it was covered in a lot of vegetation. In the 1920s the train line to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes was built and ever since, lots of tourists have flocked to Machu Picchu. As with many other Peruvian ruins and sites (eg. The Nazca Lines) the incas and other ancient peoples didn't leave any documents behind. For this reason, it's unclear what purpose Machu Picchu served. Some say it was a royal retreat, others say people lived there. Oh my god! As I was typing this, our carriage on our train just detached itself and came off the tracks!! Why am I such bad luck?! Anyway continuing...

As we descended the last stairs, the "lazy people" as we jokingly termed them with their clean hair and clothes realised we had done the hike and gave us a bit of a clap!!

Machu Picchu was amazing. Again it's something I can't really describe in words so you'll just have to look at the photos below. Initially there was a lot of cloud, but the four of us walked uphill to an inca bridge and by the time we came back the cloud had cleared. We spent a couple of hours walking around exploring various temples and ruins and then caught the bus down to Aguas Calientes. The seats were SO comfy. We had lunch with everyone, I had one of the best carbonaras I've had in my life. 

Now we are on the train. It reminds me of the Glacier Express Mum, lots of windows! We were just thinking that the train was really comfy and nice (apart from the hideously loud pan flute music playing) and then BANG there was a loud noise and we came to a stop, and our carriage has detached from the front carriage. The snack cart flew down the aisle and the man serving snacks and coffee nearly fell on me! Update - we are being told it has not derailed! Initially we thought it had partly. We are ok. The music is making it a bit more intense though! I'm such bad luck with overseas transport, this time last year (almost to the day) the axle on our bus in Cambodia snapped in two and we flew off the road. Let's hope bad transport incidents don't happen in threes....!

For the last couple of days the group has been talking about having a night out tonight, but I can't imagine anything worse! My plan for tonight is wash myself/cut nails/wash hair etc, use the wifi (to post this!!) and Maccas for dinner. Just feel like a cheeseburger, I feel I've earned it! After three nights of pretty much sleeping on the ground and no showers, I think so! We have just started moving again, so hopefully we make it! The train ride is 1.5 hours to Ollaytantambo followed by a 1.5 hour bus back to Cuzco. 

Overall, the Inca Trail was hard, but definitely worth it. I think it made me appreciate Machu Picchu a lot more than I would have otherwise. And after all that, I managed to escape with just one mozzie bite, one blister on each heel, a tiny bit of sunburn and not TOO much rain - miracle! I've added a new first - camping, and I'm further proving to myself that I am capable of anything I set my mind to!

Four days worth of love to all,
Claire
Xoxox 

PS: Mum, Dad, Adam, Ash, Brendon, Claire, Em and Brad you can all "technically" say you've been to Machu Picchu and done the entire Inca trail. I carried little pictures of you the whole way and took a photo holding them!