Inca Trail

Our pilgrimage begins

We are off on an unexpected adventure

Four Days of Walking, thousands of metres to ascend and descend, and 42 kilometres

We are undertaking the Inca Trail. It promises to be a challenge and a life lesson. Hopefully we will all complete it and come out the other end a bit wiser with a few stories to tell.

We are on the Intrepid tour. If you are ever to do the Inca Trail I highly recommend Intrepid but if you do not use them make sure you do your research into socially ethical companies for the Trail. We saw examples of porters for other companies climbing in unsuitable footwear, clothing and sleeping in the toilets at night as they did not have shelter of their own. It is worth paying a bit more money to be a decent human being to the people carrying all you gear and cooking your food for four days.

03/11/2018: Day 1

This morning we were picked up from our hotel at 5.30am to make our way to the start of the Inca Trail. Last night we had sorted all our stuff into three categories. One small bag for the porters to carry which would have things like our sleeping bags, clothes and toiletries. One day bag that we would carry on the track, as we do not see the porters for the whole day you need layers, water and snacks. Everything else was to be left at the hotel for us to collect again in 4 days time. We drove for about an hour and a half to Ollantaytambo where we picked up the rest of the group. Then it was a short drive to kilometre 82 where we would begin the Inca Trail!

Our first day of walking was quite easy. We were only walking 6km and climbing 400m. Day 1 is what our guide calls practise day. We are getting used to walking at altitude, and what the track might throw at us. They are getting used to us and seeing what our pace is like which will help them make decisions for the next few days.

After about an hour of walking we got to our first Inca Site, Llactapata, and then walked up the hill to our second, Wilkaracay. It was here we got our first lesson on the Inca people. We learnt that one King in particular was responsible for most of the development of Inca Sites along the trail. His name was Pachacuteq. We also learnt that there are in fact two paths that take you to Machu Picchu. The Runaq Nan, or everday man’s path, which followed the same path the train now takes and was used for supplying Machu Picchu, and the Ccapac Nan, or Royal Path, which is the track that we are on. The Royal path was for spiritual royalty so is in fact best described as a Pilgrimage, designed to test those walking it before arrival at the final destination.

From here we walked to the town of Tarayoq, where we were applauded into camp by the porters. It is both very sweet and a little but humiliating that these men who are carrying 25kgs on their backs, and walk faster than we do, applaud you as you arrive to camp. Here we were having lunch. Lunch consists of soup followed by a main dish of rice, veggies and meat. You barely get a chance to get hungry on the Trail before you are being fed again. YOu start the day with a massive breakfast, get sent on your way with snacks, a two course meal for lunch, afternoon tea when you arrive in camp, and then a three course dinner. I think I am more likely to gain weight on this hike.

After a couple more hours of walking we arrived at camp for the night. We have not yet entered the national park so tonight we are staying in the town of Wayllabamba, in someones backyard. Louise and I are in a cozy enough double tent, and Pete is sharing with an Aussie who hopefully doesn’t snore. We have quite thin bed rolls but I get the feelig everyone is going to be too tired to notice very much. We met all 22 of our Porters before dinner. We have an age range from 20 to 58 mostly from villages around the Inca Trail. Tonight we are only at 3000masl but it is already cold. Thankfully we have lots of warm layers, I think we are going to need them tomorrow as we climb up to 4215masl.

04/11/2018: Day 2

Today is what our tour guide calls personal challenge day. We are to climb 1215m before decsending 815m, all before lunch!

They do not like us to do the climb with food in our stomachs so we are having a massive breakfast before being sent off for the day, we will get lunch at the next camp. Also as today is so difficult there is no pace set by the guides, instead it will be up to us to set our own pace, with set meeting locations along the path. There are no Inca Sites to see today, today is just about conquering the dead womans pass.

We started walking for the day and immediately started climbing, there was no easing into it today. There are no downhills until we start our decsent. A nice silver lining of the day is that a local man is walking the pass with his dog, Chicatiqua, who I have become fast friends with.

Our first big stop was at Ayapata which is 3300masl. We have only climbed 300m of our 1215m and we are already feeling it! Stop number 2 was at Llulluchapampa, 3800masl, this will be the last official stopping point until the top. It is also the last place on the track that you can buy snacks and drinks from the locals before we get t Machu Picchu. Louise and I got some biscuits, and Pete got some rum so that we can celebrate once this day is over! Pete and I are now walking from here by ourselves, Louise has fallen back a bit to walk with other people on the tour as our pace is too fast for her. It was that last 400 odd metres climb where mind over body really kicked in, and I became a big believer in the Agile methodology of small realisable goals. Pete and I were walking for about 5 minutes before resting for about 5 minutes, and making the next tree or bend in the path our goal. Then we looked up and we could see the top about 100m away. From there there was no stopping and we conquered the dead woman!

We only had to wait about 20 minutes and then Louise arrived! I was so proud of us for making it!

At that point the weather decided to turn. There was no big group shot at the top as we were all heading down into camp as fast as we could. We made it about 20m down from the top when the skies opened and we were soaked within minutes. It was a pretty miserable 2 hour walk down into our camp in Pacaymayo which is where we are staying for the night. We arrived into camp and quickly stripped out of wet gear and hunted for places to dry everything out. There is no hope for our boots, they will have to dry on our feet tomorrow.

It was then time for lunch and I was so excited for our warm soup! Our afternoon was spent relaxing in camp, appreciating the amazing views of the valley we were in when the weather cleared, and eating. It was also extremely cold from a combination of the damp and the altitude so it was very welcome when we were given a punch of tea, sugar, lemon and pisco before bed. Though even in all of my layers I was so cold that night. Despite being so tired from the climb I barely slept.

05/11/2018: Day 3

Day 3 is Culture Day on the Inca Trail and we got to visit 4 Inca sites over the course of the day. In terms of the trail; our third day was definitely the most senic of all of the days. Do not be fooled by the beauty of it though, the third day was also our longest day. We had been walking for almost 12 hours by the time we made it to camp!

Fortunately day 3 dawned with no rain. It was a relief not to scamper between tents to avoid the rain as we got ready for the day. Many people, including Zoe, Pete and me, had assorted items draped over day bags to dry out. As we hiked out of the valley the camp had been in, we got an incredible view of the valley and the snow capped mountains on the otherside of it.

The first Inca Site was Runkuraqay, which they believe was a temple due to its symmetry. We had a history lesson about the site and also about they different types of energies that the Incan believe in: Yanahti which is the joining of similar energies, and Masinti which is the joining of different energies or duality. Then it was up to our first summit (of three) of the day where we got a great view back down on the site.

Site number two was after the first summit (and after walking downhill for a good hour). Louise initially went much slower than Pete and I because of her bad knee but she got into a rythym and managed to catch up with us. The second site was an optional visit as you had to climb some steep steps off the track up to it. Of course Pete, Louise and I chose to go up to it. You only are going to be on the Inca Trail once in a lifetime after all! The site was called Sayaqmark and was an inn, or resting house, in the days of the Incan. We also learnt how Llama got their name! When the Spanish arrived in Peru, they pointed at a Llama and asked “como se llama” (what is that animal called), the Incan had no idea what they were saying so shrugged and replied “llama”.

Between our second Inca Site and lunch we had two more summits to conqur (lunch was on the third summit). Fortunately for us day 3 is “Incan Flat” so the up and downhills between Sayaqmark and lunch were very gentle. The pathway was also beautiful. The path on day 3 is the original Incan path to Machu Picchu and it winds itself along ridgelines, through tunnels built by the Incan, and through some of the more stunning landscape we saw. At times we were the only people around and it was truely magical.

After lunch we began our 3 hour downhill decent, of which the first hour is very steep! We had a quick stop at the third Incan Site; Phuyupatamarka. Our history lesson here was mostly about the Incan’s beliefs in symmetry and duality (all represented in the Andean cross), but it was cut short when it started to rain. After the previous day everyone was very quick to scramble into all wet weather gear. Poor Pete didn’t have his good poncho anymore so he had the stylish option of using double thin plastic ponchos to ensure both himself and his pack were covered!

Our downhill marathon was paused towards the end of the day with the final Incan Site. Winaywayna is a massive agricultural settlement created by the Incan. The site faces the East as the Incan would build their agricultural terraces in this direction to make the most of the morning sun on their crops. From here it was just a short 30 minute walk to camp and our 12 hour day was at an end! Our final night on the Inca Trail was also the night we thanked our Porters and said goodbye to them as they would be leaving at 3am on day 4!

06/11/2018: Day 4

Day 4 was Machu Picchu!

We had an incredibly early start. As the Porters have to meet the train in town at 5am, we are all up at 3am. Zoe and I were up first as our tent was next to where the Porters slept, so when they were up we were up. We decided to go straight away to go and save some space in a shelter just in case it rained. Fortunately, as it had rained all night (and boy did it rain, we had a thunderstorm right on top of us), there was no rain in the morning.

When the path opened at 5:30am we started on our way. The walk to Machu Picchu is not difficult, but it was longer than some of us were expecting. The hardest part of the walk was the Gringo killer stairs. Which are 50 stairs so steep that you literally have to do hands and knees up the stairs. When we arrived at the Sun Gate we all got a rest to eat breakfast and got a great view of absolutely nothing. There was so much mist you couldn’t even make out the general direction of Machu Picchu. If you ever go here, do not be alarmed if this is the case. Only on 1 day out of 3 can you see the city from the Sun Gate.

From the Sun Gate we walked down for about 40 minutes until we reached the ideal photo spot. It was as if the Universe was smiling on us as when we arrived the mist started to clear. We got some awesome photos (just a few 100 or so), and then we had to exit the city to drop off our bags for our tour, get our passports stamped, and use bathrooms which had running water and toilet seats!

We then had a tour around Machu Picchu for about 2 hours. It was amazing how connected we all felt to the city having completed the pilgrimage to get there. Having learnt a lot about the history and engineering of the Incans over the three days to reach Machu Picchu it was as if we had a greater understanding of them and the city. The city really was stunning, but we were all pleased to get to the bus to go into town when the tour was over.

Overall it was an amazing 4 days of our lives. The Trail really is a once in a life time experience (if only for the fact that I don’t think I’d want to ever do it again). We were challenged mentally and physically, but we had a great time and felt that our relationship with each other and with Pete was stronger for the time spent together and in achieving something so massive.