After a few days doing some last minute preparations for our trek in Cusco, we were picked up from our hotel at some ungodly hour (5am!) to head to the starting point of the Inca Trail in Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley. We were introduced to our group at a quick breakfast - an interesting bunch of 15 people from the US, Australia, the Netherlands & England. The group included all sorts..... from a father & son team from the North Shore who were the ultimate private school geeks in matching outfits to a dutch hippy who decided to do the trek in a silk dress and fashion boots! We definitely come across some interesting characters on our travels!
The first day was challenging but a good warm up for the days that would follow and involved walking through some tiny indigenous communities and past a few Inca ruins to reach our first camp site at 3,000m above sea level. We were pretty excited to be camping for the 1st time ever and not a bad way to do it with 21 porters who were there to carry the camping gear, cook and set-up our tents! We were kept awake by a donkey munching grass right outside our tent through the night (jeez of all the places!), before being woken up around 5.30am to start the second day's hike.
Ouch is probably the best way to describe day two which involved a 6 hour steep, uphill hike to reach Dead Woman's Pass at 4,200m above sea level. Dealing with the altitude was really challenging and we needed to stop for mini breaks every 50m at one point near the top. The view from the top was beautiful and it definitely was a feat to have made it. But the celebrations started a little too soon! The next section was also tough, going down thousands of steps to the second camp site.
The third day was bearable but l o n g .... around 15kms that involved constant trekking up and down hills. But we survived (just) and made it to the final camp site which was in front of Machu Picchu mountain. It was a relief to know that Machu Picchu was sitting just on the other side of the mountain, only 1.5 hours away.
We had to get up at 3.50am to walk to the entrance of the final section of the trail to reach "Sun Gate" with the goal of watching the sunrise over Machu Picchu. Fair to say that we were a little disappointed to be greeted by dense fog as far as the eye could see as we approached the famous viewpoint : ( After almost 50kms of difficult trekking, sleeping on rocks, no showers and waking up at crazy hours, Pacha Mama (mother nature) wasn't on our side. Thank god, by around 11am the fog lifted and we were so grateful to see the spectacular Machu Picchu ruins. The only spoiler was the hoards of tourists who had arrived by train and kept on getting in the way. We were very close to attacking them with our walking sticks!
We really couldn't have made it without the porters & cooks from the group. They were tiny but amazingly strong, carrying 25kg packs and virtually running the trek in their sandals! We couldn't believe what the cook was able to prepare with camping gear, whipping up delicious pizza, pastas and even a cake on the last night! Each section of the trek was so much easier knowing that there was a delicious, hot meal waiting for us.
Reaching the highest point of the trek on day 2 with our group
Trying on one of the porter's packs
Our first night camping, the amazing cake our cook prepared and the porters
I think the guy on the left sums up how we were feeling when we finally reached the fog-covered Machu Picchu sunrise!
The postcard shot of Machu Picchu!
We were smelly, sore and sleepy by the end of it, but the Inca Trail was an incredible experience and completely worth the effort.
In Cusco's main square enjoying some sun
Viewpoint of Cusco from a nearby mountain
The hole in the wall lunch spot that we became obsessed with! Best value food we have had so far
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