Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

Hola readers,

Thank god that´s over. Four days of hell, slogging through the cold and arid Andes, no food, no water, no sign of civilisation.

OK, not really, this is trekking the luxury way. First let´s meet the gang.

Left to right, back to front, Earl, Beth, your Hostess and Host, Sian, Laura, Debbie, Bev, Kate, Claire, Dave and kneeling Steve, Tara and Mel.

A happy bunch indeed, despite the 5.30 start for us (earlier for others).

Not really sure what to expect we followed our trusty guides Marcelino and Efrain on an adventure to who know´s where (well, to be honest, we were expecting Machu Picchu). Jen chose the hobo look, being new to trekking she wasn´t exactly sure what to do with her stick...

So, how does this trekking lark work I hear you cry. Well, basically, you pay porters and a cook to wait on you hand and foot while we took care of the terribly difficult job of strolling through the magnificent Andean mountains, looking at the flora and fauna, and generally enjoying life. An example of the local flora is below, something for the ladies (it´s an orchid apparently)...

Anyway, our first nice surprise came at lunch on the first day. As we arrived in camp we were all presented with a glass of juice, somewhere clean to put our packs and soap and water to wash our weary hands (obviously changed after every use (the water, not the hands - jen)). Did I mention that while some of us were carrying all our gear with us, the sensible ones had hired extra porters to do the donkey work and were travelling quite lightly - just the essentials of water and snacks (provided by the company, of course) and maybe a coat in case of rain.

So, surprise number two, a three course lunch, just what you´d expect 3000 metres up a mountain. Avocado salad was followed by mushroom soup and then trout for main course with veg, rice and potatoes. Obviously followed by tea, coffee, coca tea or milo (it´s Australian and it´s lovely, kind of chocolately and malty) as desired. All this was served in our dining tent with table cloths and an every changing cutlery display. Needless to say this was all prepared by the porters who had run ahead and were eagerly waiting for us to eat so they could run on and set up camp for the evening.

After another hour or two walking, which wasn´t entirely easy what with the blazing sunshine and full belly we arrived at our evenings campsite...

Not a bad view for an evenings rest (at Wayllabamba for those familiar with the route). Tea at 5.30 every evening consisted of a selection of hot drinks with popcorn and biscuits. While dinner at 7.00 was the usual three course affair - soup, chicken and a rather lovely hot jelly dessert if memory serves. I probably don´t need to mention that we had nothing to do with the setting up or breaking down of camp. We just sat around getting fat and watching hummingbirds in the trees - although it must be said some of the more energetic amongst us (neither me nor Jen) decided a game of frisbee was in order, something which doesn´t happen too often in these parts, much to the curiosity of the porters.

Right, the point being, to cut a long story (or walk) short, we were treated like kings for the entire trip. If somebody mentioned quietly to somebody else that they could do with a sit down, a porter was already there with a chair. We were woken every day at 5.30 with a cuppa (sounds early but we were generally in bed by 9.00 every evening as the rain quite politely held off until the walking was over and the feeding had begun).

There was, however, one small obstacle that had to be overcome, known as Dead Woman´s Pass. Frankly, the bitch deserved everything she got, which may sound harsh but at 4200 metres and in the blazing sun, harsh is what it was. The picture below should give some idea, we started all the way down there (no, right down there at the bottom) and personally speaking, it almost killed me. If it looks steep, that´s cos it is, very steep, and long, and hot, and not in a good way. Let´s just say we were all glad to see the top.

Of course, all this up had to be followed by a whole load of down - 500 metres of height lost on day three down endless Inca steps, and these fellas had really small feet, unlike my clown feet which spilled over the edge of every step...

Well done for making it this far, here´s a selection of snaps for your viewing pleasure. Firstly, a rare flat piece of "Inca Trail", the sheer drop is to the right.

Arty picture of a ruin anyone?

I believe they call this cloud forest. Hmmm, lovely....

And finally after four days walking we got to Machu Picchu. Slightly disappointed because we awoke on the fourth day to cloud so we didn´t get to see Machu Picchu from Intipunku (that´s the Sun Gate), but the llamas were there to greet us when we finally arrived.

The cloud lifted in an hour or two, and the full glory of Machu Picchu stood before us. And if this next picture doesn´t make it into the Hichrom calendar I´ll want to know why...

Nice. But friends, that´s not where our story ends. See that mountain in the background, yes the horribly steep one, well due to an annoying stubborn streak, and having got this far, I stupidly said that I´d climb up for the view from the otherside (my calves were saying otherwise but nobody was listening), and Dave stupidly agreed to join me. As if four days hiking wasn´t enough. Anyway, having said we´d do it we couldn´t really back out and half an hour of panting and sweating later...

The eagle (actually it´s a baby Caracara) was a bonus, not a bad picture if I say so myself, and just to prove I didn´t just download it off another site...

So there we go, 4 days and 3 nights in the amazingly sunny Andes, the best food we´ve all eaten in a long time and views to die for. Not a bad start to our little adventure. We´ll see you all in New York for the next installment. Bye for now...