Hi everyone,
The Inca Trek day one,
We met two more people that joined the Tucan tour, Susie and Jackson. With the girl from Belgium, Beau, we were now a group of 5 trekkers.
We woke up early, in the town of Olliantoitambo and packed our bags for the Inca trek. We were given one bag that we could fill up with a maximum weight of 5 kg, that the porters would carry for us on the trek. We also packed our day pack with things we needed to carry throughout the trek ourselves.
A bus picked us up from the hotel and drove us 40 minutes to the starting point of the Inca trek. We waited there for over one hour before we met the crew that would take care of us throughout the trek.
Us somewhere on the treck on day one.
Between the five of us, we had a crew group of 9 people, 8 porters, 1 chef and a tour guide. The guides name was Santiago and he would be one of the most experienced guides as this was his 794th trip.
After meeting the crew we went to the starting point where we had to show tickets and passports. We started walking, over the wooden bridge and up a hill. I remember struggling with the hill and that there were other challenging steep hills on day one. I was super hungry by the time we got to lunch as it wasn't until 3pm. We arrived at camp two hours later and we had completed the walk for day one. The campsite had tents for each of us and I think the porters shared tents.
View from the trek.
The food we had for lunch and dinner was outstanding, full three course meals that you would get at a restaurant. Impressive how they carry all the food and equipment to cook meals like that. Original and traditional peruvian meals.
The day two is known to be the hardest day and it has good reason to be. It was hundreds if not thousands of stairs and we reached the highest peak of 4200m above sea level. Luke and I reached the top earlier than the rest of the group because I had to keep in a rythm to be able to get through the climb. We waited at the top for the other three to get a group photo on the top. As it was raining and we were in high altitude, we got pretty cold by the end of the wait. The down hill took longer due to Lukes injured knee but we got there in the end. Exhausted and in a little bit of pain we got to the camp before dark and was able to enjoy a nice meal before bed.
Another view from the trek.
Due to the challagne of the day before, day 3 was also rather challenging. It wad less stairs but still plenty to keep our legs feeling like jelly. Day 3 was the cultural day where we saw several ruins and platforms from the Incas. It was amazing to hear the storys of the Incas and to see the proof or their intellect. So smart and and advanced for the time of their lives. By the end of day 3 we were absolutely exhausted and in need of a good night sleep as we were to be woken up at 3.40 am for day 4. We were not getting a good night sleep as the people in the tent next to us was loud and disrespectful to other campers. When they finally fellA sleep, he snored so loud that it kept us up for a while.
Day 4 started early and we were on oyr feet at 4.20 am. Only for 80 m or so until we had to stand in a line, waiting for the check point to open at 5.30 am. We walked to the Sungate where we stopped for lunch. We had excellent views of Machu Picchu from here. Best brekky spot ever. After breakfast we continued to the final destination of the trek, the city of Machu Picchu. It was huge and very impressive but I have to admit that the absolute highlight of the trek was the actual trek and the views of the Andes on the way.
Luke and I at Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
To get back to civilisation, we took a bus and a train and a bus and we ended up in Cusco (the same hotel we stayed in before the trek).
Write soon. Xo
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