The highlight of my trip to Peru has arrived: the Inca trail! This is a 4 days / 3 nights trail through Andean mountains from km82 (82km from Cusco) to the holy city of Machu Picchu, a site considered as one of the new 7 wonders of the world! Must be worth it! :)
Walking the trail cost a little fortune, as the operators know that this is the prime attraction in Peru... and so does the Peruvian state! God, they charge USD80 just to enter the trail, which is a LOT of money in Peru!!! So overall, the whole experience is a 0 journey, but what the hell you only do that once in a lifetime, and it was also about pushing my limits! 3 days of camping in the mountains, that´s something!!
The first walk was an easy warm-up, where we walked from approx 2600m to 3300m for 6 hours, where our first campement was. Easy when you ignore that you need to wake up at 4.30am of course... That´s where i got to know the rest of the group, i.e. a couple of Czecks who live in Ireland, a couple of Californians (one of whom is journalist and sent to Palestine and other lovely countries), a couple of Kiwis (the laid-back, eco-friendly type) and one Chinese-American fellow... So obviously i was sharing my tent with him, and guess what... he happened to work for KPMG in New York, well looks like I will never escape the auditors´ world!! :) Nice crowd, genuinely interested in Peruvian culture and inca stories as i was, so that was really good!
The guide was a funny dude, initially i thought he might be a bit oldish and not as athletic as i would imagine for the trek, but well i was completely wrong!! I learnt how to walk at the right pace in order to avoid getting cramps or getting exhausted at such high altitudes, so very good tipps! Speaking of altitude, this is definitely where the difficulty of the trail lies. It is amazing how quickly you lose your breath, and every time you try to hurry to catch up with the group, you know you have made a big mistake!! We chewed coca leaves and drank coca tea non stop to give us some strength and avoid altitude sickness, I am glad i am not starting work tomorrow again as you apparently test positive to cocaine tests for 3 days after you drink coca tea!!
The guide really knew his stuff as well, he described a number of plants and animals such as hummingbirds everytime we saw some (that´s where we tend to fall asleep or sit down with an empty look!). The highlight is of course inka ruins, where he gave us an insight about inca traditions, the way houses and temples were built, how walls resisted earthquakes, and all the theories haunting each place (nobody ever knows for sure!). The structure is pretty similar for all cities, with a temple of the sun, temple of the moon, living houses, terraces for agricultural purposes where coca is cultivated at the bottom, corn in the middle and potatoes at the top. Peruvians get really excited about potatoes, as these originate from there with 2500 species out of the existing 3000! I otherwise especially love the stories about the winter and summer solstices where the first ray of light goes past a mountain to hit exactly one stone in the temple of the sun, there is something magical about that!!! Overall, Incas were an incredible civilisation - perhaps not the most advanced in terms of constructions compared to Mayas for instance, but look at the environment they had, with steep mountains everywhere they managed to build amazing cities!
Coming back to the trail the best part remains... the food!!! Nobody expected the food we had, this was amazing quality!!! Can you imagine, for breakfast we had pancakes on one day, omelette on the other, and always plenty of toasts and fruits. For lunch and dinner, trout the first day, beef, chicken, and everything was properly cooked and really tasty, all this prepared on a camping place!! Every meal was a treat.. People around here say that you get the best South American food ... on the inca trail!! Well, this might be exagerated, but everyday we were just all gobsmacked!! I think i even put on weight while walking the 34 kms!
Also, we had porters that carried the equipment such as tents, cooking material, sleeping bags, matresses, tables, etc. I hired half a porter to carry part of my stuff as well, not willing to break my back once again as i did last August!! This is crazy what these fellows can carry. Apparently previously there was some abuse where 14 year old would carry 50kgs, so a new rule has been implemented and the maximum is 25kg and they all have to be over 18. But even with that, I must say that you feel bad... These guys were so dedicated to our comfort, like they would clap everytime we make it (each day that is), bring hot water and towels in the morning and before each meal to wash our hands, bring water and any drink on request, I mean sometimes I really felt like a spoiled child! You may remember the visit to the jungle in malaysia where i thought that was luxury jungle, well there that was definitely even more luxury camping!! What is a bit strange is that they apparently all slept in the tent where the cooking was done and the dinner taken, that is 12 people in one tent, this is still a bit on the verge of human rights...
All we had to focus was the trek, as the tents and meal are ready when you get to the lunch or camping place! The second day was very hard though, 10 hours of walking from 3300m to 4200m first, where the air is so thin that you lose your breath every other step. And down to 3600m, up to 4000m and down again to 3600m. The weather was not best on top of that, with heavy rain on day 2 and 3. As i am very experienced in this kind of trekking, I took only one pair of shorts and one pair of jeans, so i was properly wet and cold a few times!!... But well, that is part of the experience... At night at 3600m, the temperature drops to 3 degrees while it is around 18 at day, and I am not used to this anymore after my south East Asia trips!!
What was important was ony the weather in Machu Picchu, and we were not disappointed: blazing sun until 10am (after 2 days of rain, yeehee!), when our visit ended. Then it rained but all we wanted was to head to the bar to celebrate anyways! Oh speaking of timetables, it has been a week that i am waking up between 4am and 6am, because of this trail, of night buses, of the visit of the sacred valley, etc... I am properly exhausted right now, and cannot believe i am taking a nightbus to copacabana in Bolivia tonight!! Tomorrow will be sleep, sleep, sleep!!!
Back to the big star, the Machu Picchu is definitely something to be seen! So much bigger than the other ruins we saw, so much more complete with multiples temples, a palace, huge terraces... And the setting with dramatic mountains around is just so pretty! After waking at 4am and trekking for 1.5 hours, we arrived at the sun gate and saw the sun slowly filling the Machu Picchu valley, that was just a dream... It may not seem when you arrived straight away from town by train, with no efforts, but when you walk 4 days for this, it is just this feeling of self achievement / team achievement, which was just overwhelming!! I am so glad i did this experience, and once again i pushed a bit further my limits, all i can say is that i am so happy right now!! |
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