So much has happened in the last week that it{s going to be very difficult to type it all up in the space of an hour but I'll try my best.
After flying up from Arequipa to Cuzco we had an easy day in Cuzco. We just wondered the local streets soaking up the culture and atmosphere of this huge city. It's the 3rd largest city in Peru (I think) with 300 000 people. Later that afternoon we met with our local Inca Trail guide called Coco who ran through what we'd be doing on the Inca Trail over the next 4 days. He English was pretty good so it was easy to understand him, he was also an easy going guy.
The next day we had to be ready for 6:30am to be at 82km (the start of the Inca Trail) for 7:30am. It was a beautiful day for hiking. We hiked for 14km the first day which was mostly up hill. Along the way we passed many houses with goats, horses, pigs and chickens. The hike was extremely tiring for me and I really regretted not doing any active exercise before leaving Oz. The majority of our group did really well, with dad ploughing ahead and keeping up with the front of the pack.
We had so many porters on the hike too. They all helped carry our gear, food, water and camping equipment. The youngest was 18 years! It was truely amazing to see the strength, balance and endurance of these guys. They would leave the camp sites after us and then overtake us along the hike! Each man carried about 30kg on their backs.
After the gruelling first day it got easier from then on. The food on the Inca Trail was soooo good too! The chef, Ilario was an expert in preparation and received many complements from everyone. Every meal of the day had three courses!
On the 2nd day we were introduced to all the porters in the morning; 15 of them! They introduced themselves, how old they were and if they were single. It was very funny. Our group also did the same but of course I mentioned I wasn't single. :) When it came to Coco's turn he was reluctant but after some pressure from Joe (the funny Aussie guy in our group) he gave in and said he was 28yrs and single to which Joe then jokingly ran to him! lol
Before we headed off on our journey we shook hands with all the porters, including one I won't forget who had one hell of a crushing hand shake which left all the ladies holding their hands in pain! :) Funny yet painful at the same time.
We headed off on our trek once again, and began uphill. With stiff legs from the previous day it was difficult to get them working again. I took my time near the back with Julia (one of the lovely English girls in our group) who acted like my first aid kit whilst dad wasn't nearby. We had to stop three times along the way.
The first to remove my thermal singlet which was making me extremely hot and exhausted, I forgot to remove it at the campsite. Julia acted as my shield from being seen from the male guide behind called Jemil. After that we stopped another two times; one to take an Imodium tablet (as soon as we left the camp site I was busting to go to the loo!) and the other to put on some insect repellant. It was all my doing.
By the third stop we were quite a fair way from the majority of the group so we took our time. We climbed to about 4000m bove sea level at one stage. At that point of time the coca leaves really helped me out. I left poor Julia behind with Jamil and Colette (her friend, also English) to race up the last steep mountain climb that day. I was cheering when I reached the top.
The rest of the journey we proceeded downhill to get to our second campsite. Dinner was beautiful once again with dessert being a flamming hot presentation from the chef himself. Quite spectacular!
After dinner Coco shared some stories with the group, most of which were scary stories of experiences on the Inca trail. Many of the girls didn{t want to go to the toilet on their own that night thanks to Coco.
The 3rd day was an easier day as the majority of the trek was Inca flats. I stayed near the back though to take loads of pictures of the changing scenery and beautiful orchids along the way. The scenery had changed to jungle now and everywhere we looked you could see abundant moss, butterflies, and birds. The temperature also ranged from 12 degrees to 30 degrees in the same day. The majority of the trek was downhill and my left leg and knee wasn't coping well at all. I was struggling quite a bit and was one of the last to arrive at our 3rd campsite at 2:30pm for lunch.
Jamil had some good laughs calling me an old woman the day before and today once again. I really felt bad though and a little ashamed about how unfit I was.
At least today we had our chance for a refreshing shower at last! :) After this I felt a lot better.
The evening was also very exciting. It was our last supper and the final farewell and thanks to all the porters who played a huge part to such a successful trip. We had all made it this far and everyone was feeling quite good at this stage. The first 2 days maybe not so much. :)
After dinner the porters sang in Quechua and Julie (elderly Aussie lady) and I were plucked from our seats to dance with two of the porters. Very fun and the dance was very easy which helped! :)
The 4th day started at 4am for the main reason that we had to be one of the first to get to Machu Picchu. There were several other groups with us, all eager to be the first in line at the checkpoint. We were the second group in line at the checkpoint at 5am. At 5:30 they opened the gates and it was a mad rush up the gradual ascending inca flats, to the Sun Gate which overlooks Machu Picchu.
The pace was extremely quick and the troublesome leg I had was pretty much gone this day so I was racing up with dad ahead of me.
In about an hour after scaling the 55 vertical monkey steps to the top where the sun gate was we waited for the morning clouds to clear to see magnificent Machu Picchu.
It was beautiful and really made our hike so much worthwhile. It was another 20 minutes down to Machu Picchu where we took several photos, including group shots. Coco and Jamil being the paparatzi, holding all our cameras. It was very funny to see!
We finally made it after an incredible 4 days. Machu Picchu, one of the most beautiful sites in the world was right there waiting for us. After about 10 am there was a flood of tourists who came in so photo opportunites were a little more difficult. However that didn{t stop me from snapping away. My only regret was not taking a panoramic shot from the top. Ah well. I still have some great shots which I will share with you all very soon.
There were about 30 llamas in Machu Picchu as well! One nearly bowled me over when I was caught by surprise after shooting a video of one of them! It stepped on my toes though, it didn't hurt though. Coco gave us a two hour tour of Macchu Picchu;explained the Inca culture, the Beliefs, founder of Machu Picchu and several temples within the magnificent place.
Thanks to Coco and his team for taking good care of us all, this experience was hard but incredibly satisfying at the end. It was truely unbelieveable and I'm so happy that I undertook this journey to Machu Picchu.
After flying up from Arequipa to Cuzco we had an easy day in Cuzco. We just wondered the local streets soaking up the culture and atmosphere of this huge city. It's the 3rd largest city in Peru (I think) with 300 000 people. Later that afternoon we met with our local Inca Trail guide called Coco who ran through what we'd be doing on the Inca Trail over the next 4 days. He English was pretty good so it was easy to understand him, he was also an easy going guy.
The next day we had to be ready for 6:30am to be at 82km (the start of the Inca Trail) for 7:30am. It was a beautiful day for hiking. We hiked for 14km the first day which was mostly up hill. Along the way we passed many houses with goats, horses, pigs and chickens. The hike was extremely tiring for me and I really regretted not doing any active exercise before leaving Oz. The majority of our group did really well, with dad ploughing ahead and keeping up with the front of the pack.
We had so many porters on the hike too. They all helped carry our gear, food, water and camping equipment. The youngest was 18 years! It was truely amazing to see the strength, balance and endurance of these guys. They would leave the camp sites after us and then overtake us along the hike! Each man carried about 30kg on their backs.
After the gruelling first day it got easier from then on. The food on the Inca Trail was soooo good too! The chef, Ilario was an expert in preparation and received many complements from everyone. Every meal of the day had three courses!
On the 2nd day we were introduced to all the porters in the morning; 15 of them! They introduced themselves, how old they were and if they were single. It was very funny. Our group also did the same but of course I mentioned I wasn't single. :) When it came to Coco's turn he was reluctant but after some pressure from Joe (the funny Aussie guy in our group) he gave in and said he was 28yrs and single to which Joe then jokingly ran to him! lol
Before we headed off on our journey we shook hands with all the porters, including one I won't forget who had one hell of a crushing hand shake which left all the ladies holding their hands in pain! :) Funny yet painful at the same time.
We headed off on our trek once again, and began uphill. With stiff legs from the previous day it was difficult to get them working again. I took my time near the back with Julia (one of the lovely English girls in our group) who acted like my first aid kit whilst dad wasn't nearby. We had to stop three times along the way.
The first to remove my thermal singlet which was making me extremely hot and exhausted, I forgot to remove it at the campsite. Julia acted as my shield from being seen from the male guide behind called Jemil. After that we stopped another two times; one to take an Imodium tablet (as soon as we left the camp site I was busting to go to the loo!) and the other to put on some insect repellant. It was all my doing.
By the third stop we were quite a fair way from the majority of the group so we took our time. We climbed to about 4000m bove sea level at one stage. At that point of time the coca leaves really helped me out. I left poor Julia behind with Jamil and Colette (her friend, also English) to race up the last steep mountain climb that day. I was cheering when I reached the top.
The rest of the journey we proceeded downhill to get to our second campsite. Dinner was beautiful once again with dessert being a flamming hot presentation from the chef himself. Quite spectacular!
After dinner Coco shared some stories with the group, most of which were scary stories of experiences on the Inca trail. Many of the girls didn{t want to go to the toilet on their own that night thanks to Coco.
The 3rd day was an easier day as the majority of the trek was Inca flats. I stayed near the back though to take loads of pictures of the changing scenery and beautiful orchids along the way. The scenery had changed to jungle now and everywhere we looked you could see abundant moss, butterflies, and birds. The temperature also ranged from 12 degrees to 30 degrees in the same day. The majority of the trek was downhill and my left leg and knee wasn't coping well at all. I was struggling quite a bit and was one of the last to arrive at our 3rd campsite at 2:30pm for lunch.
Jamil had some good laughs calling me an old woman the day before and today once again. I really felt bad though and a little ashamed about how unfit I was.
At least today we had our chance for a refreshing shower at last! :) After this I felt a lot better.
The evening was also very exciting. It was our last supper and the final farewell and thanks to all the porters who played a huge part to such a successful trip. We had all made it this far and everyone was feeling quite good at this stage. The first 2 days maybe not so much. :)
After dinner the porters sang in Quechua and Julie (elderly Aussie lady) and I were plucked from our seats to dance with two of the porters. Very fun and the dance was very easy which helped! :)
The 4th day started at 4am for the main reason that we had to be one of the first to get to Machu Picchu. There were several other groups with us, all eager to be the first in line at the checkpoint. We were the second group in line at the checkpoint at 5am. At 5:30 they opened the gates and it was a mad rush up the gradual ascending inca flats, to the Sun Gate which overlooks Machu Picchu.
The pace was extremely quick and the troublesome leg I had was pretty much gone this day so I was racing up with dad ahead of me.
In about an hour after scaling the 55 vertical monkey steps to the top where the sun gate was we waited for the morning clouds to clear to see magnificent Machu Picchu.
It was beautiful and really made our hike so much worthwhile. It was another 20 minutes down to Machu Picchu where we took several photos, including group shots. Coco and Jamil being the paparatzi, holding all our cameras. It was very funny to see!
We finally made it after an incredible 4 days. Machu Picchu, one of the most beautiful sites in the world was right there waiting for us. After about 10 am there was a flood of tourists who came in so photo opportunites were a little more difficult. However that didn{t stop me from snapping away. My only regret was not taking a panoramic shot from the top. Ah well. I still have some great shots which I will share with you all very soon.
There were about 30 llamas in Machu Picchu as well! One nearly bowled me over when I was caught by surprise after shooting a video of one of them! It stepped on my toes though, it didn't hurt though. Coco gave us a two hour tour of Macchu Picchu;explained the Inca culture, the Beliefs, founder of Machu Picchu and several temples within the magnificent place.
Thanks to Coco and his team for taking good care of us all, this experience was hard but incredibly satisfying at the end. It was truely unbelieveable and I'm so happy that I undertook this journey to Machu Picchu.
Comments
I will be training first though... :)