On the morning of Saturday, August 15th, we woke very early, made our way down to the SAS Tours office, and boarded a bus with ten other people. The bus left at 6:15, and took us through some very windy roads to Ollantaytambo village. There, at km 82 on the train line, we began our four day hike up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
Before I describe our experience, I would like to lay some ground rules for anyone thinking about hiking the Inca Trail. First off, you should be in decent shape. I don't mean that you have to be a marathon runner, or a super athlete, but you should be able to walk for long periods up and down steep slopes/stairs without a break.
Also, you may want to reconsider if you have severe knee problems. Anna did great most of the way on the trail, but when her knee gave out on the third day, it made it harder on her to get down some of the steeper slopes and steps.
Finally, make sure you come prepared. Bring Cipro for traveller's diarrhea. Because we are not used to unsanitary food prep techniques, foreigners are more susceptible to food poisoning here. Most people in our group got sick on the trail, and we overheard most of the other groups around us saying the same thing. I think the only reason we didn't get sick is that I had food poisoning while in Cusco a few days before, and Anna didn't eat much of the food in camp.
Now that I feel that I have done my civic duty by warning you about the dangers of the trail, let me move on to the good stuff.
Day 1
Once we got through the entrance to the trail (they only let 500 people on the trail per day), we crossed a suspension bridge over the Aorubamba river and started on the trail. The first day was relatively easy, with many flat areas interspersed with some ups and downs. We paused at several Incan ruins along the way and our guides, Hilbert and Valentin, explained some of the history surrounding the sites and the trail.
We walked most of the day through a large valley with the glacier mountain Salcontay behind us to the south. The locals call that mountain "the crying mountain" because the glaciers feed the rivers and streams the local farmers rely upon for irrigation. We had several great views of the mountain as we got further up the trail. To the east was the Victoria glacier mountain range, also white-capped.
We stopped for lunch in a small camp on the trail. The porters had run ahead of us and set everything up ahead of time. These guys are amazing. They are all local people who are hired by the tour companies. They carry everything up and down the mountains. The tents, dishes, tables, chairs, bags, and even those big propane tanks for gas grills since fires are not allowed, AND they walked at twice the speed that we did. Talk about tough.
After lunch, we kept walking. After five hours of hiking, we made it to the spot where most of the tour groups stop at for the first night, but we didn't. That camp is at the base of a very long mountain trail leading to Dead Woman's pass. Since the camp would be crowded and noisy, Hilbert had told us that we would keep on for two more hours. The last two hours were straight up hill. It was a healthy climb, but the scenery was worth it. We reached camp at about 6 p.m. and had a wonderful view of the valley below. We also had a two hour head start on many of the other groups in the morning. We got cleaned up a bit, had dinner and settled in for the night. The sky was clear and you could just about see every star in the sky. It was a beautiful, cold mountain night.
Day 2
On the second morning we awoke at 5 a.m. to calls of "coca tea" outside our tent. The locals drink coca tea and chew coca leaves to help with the altitude. Yes, these are the same leaves that cocaine is made from, but in the high country of Peru the leaves are legal because they are such a part of the culture and they contain so little active ingredient in leaf form.
After packing up our gear and having some breakfast we were on the trail by 7 a.m. This was to be our long day. The guides call it "survival day". We would be hiking for ten hours and climbing through two mountain passes.
The first four hours are straight up hill. We moved from the scruby vegetation of the valley into a cloud forest with leafy trees and moss growing on everything. The climb was fairly tough. Imagine being on a stairmaster for four hours, then imagine doing it with only half the normal oxygen.
After a couple of ours we came out of the forest into the high jungle. Since this is the dry season, it was still fairly scruby. Finally, at around 11 a.m. we reached dead woman's pass. The pass gets its name from the shape of the mountains around the pass. On the left, the cliff face looks like an old woman's face, then the pass forms her neck, and a large pinnacle of rock juts up on the right that looks like a breast.
The pass sits at about 13,500 feet above sea level. That would be the highest we would hike on the trail.
After resting for a while we began climbing down the other side of the pass. After two hours of going downhill, we made it to the site where most of the other tours would camp the second night. We used it as a lunch stop, and pressed on.
This might be a good point to describe the trail. It's mostly rocky. Large rocks have been use as rudimentary pavers, although they stick up and lay at odd angles. When the trail gets steep, which it is most of the time, the rocks are made into steps, albeit irregular and deep. This means you have to pay attention the entire time you are walking. This is not like a Sunday stroll through the park; much of the time the trail winds along the side of a mountain, and since it is only a few feet wide, one wrong step or stumble could send you tumbling down a slope that you might not get up from when you stop.
After lunch we began the steep hike up to the next mountain pass. Half way up we stopped at another Incan ruin that was used as a lookout post for the entire valley. From it you can see the back side of dead woman's pass, the valley below that we trekked to, and the majority of a valley that led down to the river. This gave the Incas tremendous power over that valley and the trails through it.
Another forty minutes past the ruin brought us to the second pass of the day. We were still fairly high up, and the clouds partially covered the pass. It was almost mystical how wisps of cloud would blow through the narrow pass as we sat there. After everyone had regrouped, we had a ceremony at the top of the pass. Hilbert asked everyone to sacrifice something for the mountain, such as some coca leaves, candy or a granola bar. We placed everything on a small pile of rocks just off the trail. Hilbert told us that this was an Incan tradition that asked the mountains for safe passage. He explained that the Incas worshiped the mountains as their gods, and had respect for the power of nature. He also told us that the local people who lived in the mountains still practiced the Incan religion and spoke the Incan, or Quechua, language. After that we descended two hours into the jungle to our camp.
Day 3
Dawn on the the third day of the hike was cold. That night there was frost, and the shirt I'd left to dry on top of our tent was frozen stiff, but the sky was clear, and the view of the mountains was spectacular.
This was to be our short day; only five hours to the final camp. Most of it was down hill, with some extremely steep staircases. It was so steep that Hilbert would often come into a resting spot joking "Bloody steps, bloody Incas!"
We made camp at about 1 p.m. and after visiting a nearby ruin and having lunch, we had free time for the rest of the day. There was a hostel nearby and we all took the chance to shower and remove three days of trail dust. Also, after a week of being careful not to have any caffeine or alcohol because of the altitude, I had what felt like a well deserved beer.
We went to bed at 9 pm since we would be getting up very early for the final trek to Machu Picchu.
Day 4
After the 3:45 am wake up call, we started the last 2 hours of the hike. The entry point to Machu Picchu from the Inca Trail is called the sun gate, and the next blog will pick up there.
As a side note, I had noticed that the bars in Cusco always had Johnny Walker whiskey on hand. On the third day of the hike I realized why. Johnny Walker's slogan is "Keep Walking". On the Inca Trail, that's what you do, just keep walking. - Scott
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