Conquistadores of the Mighty Andes

First of all, Happy Birthday Mum! Sorry we couldn´t get in touch on the day, but as you will see, we were far from any means of communication..... We got a bus to the starting point of the Inca Trail - the so-called Km 82 - and got our first look at our amazing porters; not only do they carry duffel bags of our clothes etc, they bring tents, seats, cooking gear, food, gas bottles, therma rests, sleeping bags, etc. Our group had 16 people and we had 22 porters to carry all that stuff. We had our day packs, and set off along the trail, which was gently downhill to start with. We were all feeling pretty happy with our progress when we recognised our porters passing us on the trail, running ahead to get to the campsite before us and set up our tents. The first day we were on the trail for about 5 hours, making lots of rest stops and thinking this was pretty cruisy. At camp, the crew had pitched our tents and set up a dining tent where we ate our 3-course dinner of soup, rice, potatoes, battered trout, and warm apple pudding. These guys were amazing, rushing over to shine a torch on your tent if they saw you having trouble unzipping it, filling your water bottle with boiled water, offering cups of coca tea when they came around to wake you up in the morning - which brings us to day 2. A leisurely start at about 7am to be on the trail at 8-ish. We had heard day 2 was the hardest, and boy, was it! Almost straight away the track went steeply uphill, and stayed that way the whole day. There were lots of big, uneven Inca stone steps to climb and it was tough going for me, and Aaron found it a real challenge. The altitude means you get out of breath really quickly and your heart pumps faster to get the smaller amount of oxygen around your body. A couple of times I looked back and thought he was going to die, as he leaned on his tripod for support! It took about 4.5 hours to reach the highest point of the trek, Dead Woman´s Pass (named for the shape of the mountain only!) at 4,215m above sea level. We stopped for a brief celebration, then continued downhill for another 1.5 hours of steep steps; (so it took 4.5 hours to ascend 1000m, and 1.5 to descend 700m.) It was the least scenic day, and the most challenging. The campsite looked pretty good that afternoon as we walked in on jelly legs! We had a fantastic local guide, Percy, (English names were popular here until a few years ago, now apparently everyone´s naming their kids after Brazilian soccer stars) who recommended we get an early start on day 3 so we could get ahead of the other groups on the trail. So we got our cup of coca tea at 4:45 and were on the move by 6. It was a beautiful trek; we went up through another mountain pass and down through green ´cloud forest´ stopping at some ruins along the way. Percy is a native Qechua, a descendant of the Incas, and he really knew his stuff about the mountains and sites we visited. We got the impression he was one of the best guides on the trail, certainly one of the most experienced, with 12 years on the job. We arrived at our 3rd camp, Wiñay Wayna, after about 7 hours walking, and at this site there was a lodge with showers and, joy of joys, COLD BEER! A brew has never tasted so good, although we were so tired it practically put us to sleep. We visited some ruins nearby the camp, and when thunder and lightning started to boom and flash around the massive mountains and valleys, most people rushed back to camp. We stayed behind (ever-cautious Aaron had insisted we bring our wet weather gear, YAY!) and were rewarded with the most amazing experience of being alone in the ruins, surrounded by huge claps of thunder and a sky full of purple storm clouds. Brilliant, the highlight so far. This was our last camp before Machu Picchu, so the campsite was full, and everyone wanted to get to the final checkpoint (an hours walk away) first. Percy reccomended we get up at 3.30am to be the first in the queue for the gates opening at 5.30. This is important because whoever gets through the checkpoint first, gets to the Sun Gate first. This is the site that overlooks the city of Machu Picchu, and is your first glimpse of it. Well, Percy was right on the money, and we were first in the queue so were rewarded with a beautiful view and lots of great photos. It was a cloudless morning, so we were able to watch the sun come up over the mountains and light up the city, then started our tour with Percy, who gave us a really good explanation of the Inca Empire, why they built this amazing city, and why it was ´lost´ for so long. It was the hottest day so far, and by about 12 o´clock the place was crawling with people - mostly CHEATS who got the train or bus up that morning. We took a million photos, and after a snack in the shade, left this incredible place and went to the nearest town to soothe our aching muscles in the hot springs at Aguas Calientes. Sooooooo Goooooooooooood. We met up with our group, who are all lovely people, mostly around our age and good value - more beer and guinea pig were consumed before the train and bus ride back here to Cuzco where we fell into bed and had our first really good nights´ sleep in a week. It has been an amzing few days, a real achievement and so rewarding. Now we´re looking forward to our next adventure, which is into the Amazon rainforest.

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