More Meat, Hold the Potatoes

Jan. 21 - Evening
On our last night in Cusco before hitting the Inca Trail we went out for a nice dinner. We ate at Fallen Angel, a place my mom had recommended. Frankly, I don't know how she ended up there. It's more club than restaurant and it's very funky. The tables are cast iron bathtubs converted into fish tanks. The chairs are day beds with leopard print throw pillows and there are cherubs hanging from the ceiling. After dinner it turns into a dance club. The food was great and we had several pre-trail drinks. I mean, really, if there is a chance you might fall off the edge of a mountain you need to live it up beforehand.
Before dinner we weighed our bags to make sure we weren't overloading the porters. Our group of 15 would have 20 porters carrying our duffels, food, tents, chairs, etc. I don't know how the Incas did it but I have heard they traveled light. After one last check to make sure we had everything packed up we hit the hay. We decided to shower in the morning for an extra 12 hours of cleanliness....

Jan. 22 - Inca Trail Day 1

No hot water!!!! The hotel forgot to turn the hot water on and all we had was freezing cold water in our shower. Matt was brave but I just couldn't do it - freezing cold hair on an already cold day was not a good way to start the hike. So, that's one more day of stank for me.

We boarded the bus at 7:30am to head to Kilometer 82 where we would start hiking. On the way we stopped at a small town where we could buy water, hiking sticks and use the bathroom. I decided to buy a stick and had to shell out a whopping 66 cents for it. I had heard it would help on the downhill and I was up for any help I could get.

We started the hike at around 10am. It was cloudy but the rain was holding off. We had been told that Day 1 was pretty easy and relatively speaking, it was. There were ups and downs but most of them were pretty short. Probably no more than 20-30 minutes up in any one go. Our total distance was about 13K. We followed along the left side of the river. The real Inca trail actually followed on the right side and we really wouldn't start hiking on that until Day 2. As we walked along we took in the scenery and chatted it up. I spent about an hour walking with our assitant guide, Julio. He spoke some English and since I speak a little Spanish we communicated well. He had been a guide for only 5 months. He told me that most of the porters were farmers. Since farming doesn't provide a great income many of the men would become porters for a steady income. In February when the trail is closed they go back to their farms to work.

It was an easy hike and everyone was enjoying themselves. Porters were passing us by frequently and most of them were running. They carry a ton of stuff on their backs. Some had about 10 duffel bags, others carried the propane tanks for cooking, while others had provisions. It was amazing how much they could carry and how quickly they could move! Along the way we saw several Incan ruins, mainly tambos, or rest areas. When the Incans hiked the trail they would stop at the tambos to stay overnight and there would be blankets and firewood available for their use. Before they left they had to replenish whatever they had used.

We stopped for lunch around 12:30 and found out how great porters really are. We couldn't believe it when we got there and there was a huge tent with a long table set for all of us. We all thought we would be sitting outside eating on rocks. It got even better when we sat down and were served our first course - avocado salad. After that we had bread and asparagus soup. The main course was chicken, rice, potatoes and vegetables. So much for losing weight on the hike! The food was definitely more than anyone expected.

Before we took off for the last couple hours of hiking we had our last chance at clean toilets. Of course, we didn't know this at the time. They were hole-in-the-ground squatter types but they had river water running through them so they were ok. It was a good thing we didn't know how bad it would get on the baño front...some of us may have turned back. JK.

We arrived into the campsite at Wayllabamba around 3:30. The porters had set all of our tents up - what service! They even put buckets of warm water and soap next to our tents. We had an official order for washing in our tent - face, hands, armpits, feet. I won't name names but there were some people in our tent that had stinky feet. We had a beautiful view of the mountains. The hike had been easy so we were in good spirits and did some exploring and hanging out. The report back from the toilets was of filth and stench so I started scoping my spot out in a nearby field.

We had tea time (!) at 5pm and they served popcorn. Yum! After that everyone hung out, read, played cards and just generally relaxed. Dinner was similar to lunch - we were impressed with our chef. It was dark by 8pm and the sky had cleared. The stars were stunning. I've seen impressive skies in Belize but this was incredible. So many stars! Of course, clear skies mean cold and I froze my butt off that night. I had on long underwear, sweatpants, a long sleeve hiking shirt, a sweater, two pairs of socks, my fleece hat and my mittens and still I felt like I was laying nekid on the bare ground. Brrrrr.

Jan. 23 - Inca Trail Day 2

I survived the night...barely...and was actually happy for our 5:45am wake-up call. Day 2 is the real killer. We hiked to our highest point of 4200 meters. It would be straight up and then straight back down. We would not stop for lunch until after we finished the 11K hike for the day.

We had a good breakfast of fruit, bread, porridge and pancakes (no one could believe it when the pancakes came out after the porridge). After breakfast I ventured down to the toilets. They were atrocious, just as I had been warned. It was definitely the type where you hold your breath and hover. I had to do it though because my "field trip" the night before had ended up with me falling in a hole and my hand getting way too close to a pile of horse dung! It was dark out!

Day 2 is basically 9K of hiking straight up and then 2K down. The steps start here so the hiking is difficult over the big, uneven stairs. The changing weather conditions don't help matters either. It can go from sunny to raining in about 3 minutes and the temperature changes right along with it. We made a lot of stops to shed or put on clothes and ponchos. Although the hiking was strenuous it was also very fun. The scenery was spectacular and the vegetation really changed throughout the day. At our last rest stop before Dead Woman's Pass I passed out chocolate for everyone...it was well deserved and appreciated at that point. The last 2 hours up to Dead Woman's Pass were slow going. We were at almost 14,000 feet, heading up on stairs that were made for giants. We had to rest frquently to catch our breath. When we finally reached the top it was a great feeling. After a couple photo opps and a short rest it was straight back down and it actually turned out to be the hardest part of the day for me. The uphill really works the lungs and heart but the down is a killer on the knees and calves. On the uphill you can stop and rest and feel better within a minute. No such luck on the downhill. You have to work so hard to slow yourself down and take such big steps down that stopping is the worst thing to do. The rocks are very uneven and various sizes so you have to be careful not to trip or roll your ankle. By the time we were half-way down my legs would shake if I stopped. I decided at that point that I was going to bust a move anytime I was headed down and I was one of the first ones down the mountain that afternoon.

Our campsite at Paqaymayu was just as beautiful as the site the day before. We were instructed to rest after having lunch so Matt and I played cards for a while in the tent. We felt pretty good after the day's strenuous hike. That night I wore Matt's long undies in addition to all of the other stuff and although I was still a little cold I slept much better (the 9K uphill hike may have helped with that too.)

Jan. 24 - Inca Trail Day 3

Day 3 is the longest day of the trail - about 15K. Although they say the second day is the worst I think Day 3 is pretty tough competition. The hiking isn't harder but at this point you are getting worn down. We all decided the one thing that would keep us going was a warm shower at the end of the day's hike. There is a backpacker hostel at the campsite at Winaywayna and you can have a shower for $2, which we were all in desperate need of.

The day started with 1.5 hours staright uphill. Matt was feeling chipper and ran ahead of everyone else. It started to rain so we slowly trudged along and got drenched. It rained so hard that when we stopped for lunch we had to continuously push the water off the roof of the tent so it wouldn't collapse. After lunch we had about 6K of steps going almost straight down. Five of us decided we would jog it and it seemed a lot easier than slowing ourselves down to walk each step. Plus, we knew there was warm water and cold beers waiting at the campsite for us. That's when we decided to do a full-on run and we raced to the bottom. Yeah, I know, we should have been taking in the scenery and enjoying the surroundings. But heck, we had been doing that for three days and it had been almost 4 days since my last shower! The stairs were still pretty rough and uneven so I hoped we would all make it down in one piece. We were having a great time and laughing as we ran along and (finally!) passed a couple porters.

When we arrived at the campsite our porters didn't know where we came from. We were about 2 hours ahead of schedule. This put Nina and I at a distinct advantage...short line for the girls' shower when you're the first down the mountain! We all cleaned up in the warm (but very dirty) showers and then congregated for drinks in the hostel. Everyone was in good spirits as we only had 2 more hours of hiking the next morning.

It rained all evening and continued into the night. Our wake-up call was scheduled for 4am but the guide said if it was raining we wouldn't get up until 6am. Getting up early would allow us to be at the sun gate early enough to watch the clouds part at Machu Picchu. We crawled into our sleeping bags, popped a couple Advil (I was hoping I would be able to walk in the morning after all those steps), and crossed our fingers that the sun would be shining in the morning.

Jan. 25 - Inca Trail Day 4

Rain!! Someone was knocking at our tent at 4am even though it was raining. We didn't know why but we were told to get up despite the pouring rain. After a quick breakfast we hit the trail and after about 30 minutes the rain let up (the guides must have special powers). I was glad we only had a two hour hike because I was stiff and slow. My calves were sore and my knees were aching. Maybe Day 4 is actually the hardest?!? Darn those stairs and who came up with that dumb idea to run anyway?

When we finally arrived at the sun gate we felt....relief. It had been a wonderful trek but a very long one. As soon as the clouds parted over Machu Picchu we started snapping photos. We didn't know when the rain would start again. Most of the group raced ahead to Machu Picchu but Matt and I hung back and took our time walking down. Now that we were finally there we wanted to take our time and enjoy it.

At the entrance we met up with the two group members who had not done the hike. Our guide gave us a two hour tour of Machu Picchu. Check out the pictures for some of my commentary on that. The village and surroundings were impressive and after the tour we sat on a rock and tried to take it all in. Honestly, we were so exhausted from the hiking we really needed another day to truly appreciate it.

We took a bus to Aguas Calientes around lunchtime. We were so hungry and tired of corn soup, potatoes and rice that we splurged on a really nice buffet at a cool restaurant overlooking the thunderous river below. The food on the hike had been better than any of us expected, but you still get sick of the same thing over and over! We did a little shopping in Aguas Calientes and that evening we took the train back to Cusco. Everyone was pretty quiet on the way back...

Jan. 26

Free day! Being his adventurous self, Matt used his free day to go white-water rafting. I told Ivan he was responsible for bringing him back in one piece. I bummed around Cusco and had a fabulous massage (ouch, my legs!). Matt made it back alive although the girls on a nearby boat had flipped and freaked out. Matt's boat had to take one girl aboard and another one lost her tooth in the ordeal. Yikes! Glad I opted for the massage.

That evening we had our farewell dinner for Bronnie and Nina. They would not be joining us for the Amazon portion of the tour so it would be our last night together. Matt and I were sad to see them go as they were two of the coolest poeple on the tour.