Well what an experience the Inca trek was. It was a hard little trip, some really tough moments, but definitely one of the best experiences in my life. After getting to the entrance at 3pm, Cessar and I power-walked the 12kms in 3 hours. The first day wasn't that hard, we arrived at camp just before dark, with lots of claps from the rest of the guy. It was great to see them all again after all the hassles that I'd been though.
The second day was probably the hardest, it was another 12kms, but most of it was up hill. Just think of a million steps, and that's what it was like. The weather was pretty miserable through that morning, but by the time that we had reach the highest point the weather had cleared. The weather is so temperamental up there, one minute it's pissing down, then the sun is out.
I can't complain too much, my backpack was just over 6kgs, but the poor porters were carrying at least 15kg, and they needed to leave after us, and arrive at camp before us to set up the tents and get the food prepared. So you would regularly see them running to get in front of you.
Talking of food, it was amazing, so much great food. I gave Alpaca meat a try, and I was the tour's garbage can, always knocking back others leftovers.
The 3rd day was probably one of the best, lots of downhill steps and some amazing scenery. I was a bit worried about the weather, the last stretch before camp on the 3rd day it absolutely pissed down. All you could do was kept your head down and walk.
Every night on the trek it rained, but the last night was the worrying one, I had visions of Machu Picchu being completed covered in mist. We woke up at 4am on the final day, which was the earliest time, after a 5.30am and 5am start on the previous 2 days. Actually it was very weird, because even though we were getting up pretty early, we were expected to go to bed at 8-9pm. This didn't really work for me, and the rain on the tent meant it was hard to get a proper night sleep anyway.
We arrived at the final check point at 5am, and started through when it opened at 5.30am. Our group was at the front, so I decided to speed to the front (I tended to be near the front for the whole tour...except for the first day of course!) for the 5km walk before I got to Machu Picchu.
I managed to be the first to the Sun gate, which is the place that you can first see Machu Picchu below, but unfortunately there was loads of mist at 6am in the morning, so I had to wait for another tour leader to arrive to make sure I was heading in the right direction. After being there was 10 minutes, the mist gradually move, so you could start to see it.
We spent the morning taking lots of happy-snappys and learning about the site. I might be the first person that has carried Vegemite to Machu Picchu, hopefully Kraft might be able to donate a few jars for my effort.
After a few hours of a guided tour, the dutch sisters, Ishka, Sasha and me decided to climb Wayna Picchu, the mountain which gives you a great view of the whole area. The way up was reasonable tough..a 40 minute hike , but the way down was one of the scariest things I have ever done. The top section, the stairs were so steep and small that you needed to crawl down to feel like you were in control. It was great to finally get down after that, even though it was great to do it. Wayna Picchu was the hardest stretch for me, after 3 days of solid walking it topped it off for my body, we were all pretty buggered at the bottom.
One last thing that capped off the tour was the bus ride down to Aguas Calientes, down the mountain. A little kid ran down the mountain in Peruvian gear, going through a path while we snaked down the mountain. This was a fair effort, the bus ride was about 20 minutes, all this to earn himself a few bucks at the bottom when he jumped on the bus...and supposedly he does this a few times a day.
The second day was probably the hardest, it was another 12kms, but most of it was up hill. Just think of a million steps, and that's what it was like. The weather was pretty miserable through that morning, but by the time that we had reach the highest point the weather had cleared. The weather is so temperamental up there, one minute it's pissing down, then the sun is out.
I can't complain too much, my backpack was just over 6kgs, but the poor porters were carrying at least 15kg, and they needed to leave after us, and arrive at camp before us to set up the tents and get the food prepared. So you would regularly see them running to get in front of you.
Talking of food, it was amazing, so much great food. I gave Alpaca meat a try, and I was the tour's garbage can, always knocking back others leftovers.
The 3rd day was probably one of the best, lots of downhill steps and some amazing scenery. I was a bit worried about the weather, the last stretch before camp on the 3rd day it absolutely pissed down. All you could do was kept your head down and walk.
Every night on the trek it rained, but the last night was the worrying one, I had visions of Machu Picchu being completed covered in mist. We woke up at 4am on the final day, which was the earliest time, after a 5.30am and 5am start on the previous 2 days. Actually it was very weird, because even though we were getting up pretty early, we were expected to go to bed at 8-9pm. This didn't really work for me, and the rain on the tent meant it was hard to get a proper night sleep anyway.
We arrived at the final check point at 5am, and started through when it opened at 5.30am. Our group was at the front, so I decided to speed to the front (I tended to be near the front for the whole tour...except for the first day of course!) for the 5km walk before I got to Machu Picchu.
I managed to be the first to the Sun gate, which is the place that you can first see Machu Picchu below, but unfortunately there was loads of mist at 6am in the morning, so I had to wait for another tour leader to arrive to make sure I was heading in the right direction. After being there was 10 minutes, the mist gradually move, so you could start to see it.
We spent the morning taking lots of happy-snappys and learning about the site. I might be the first person that has carried Vegemite to Machu Picchu, hopefully Kraft might be able to donate a few jars for my effort.
After a few hours of a guided tour, the dutch sisters, Ishka, Sasha and me decided to climb Wayna Picchu, the mountain which gives you a great view of the whole area. The way up was reasonable tough..a 40 minute hike , but the way down was one of the scariest things I have ever done. The top section, the stairs were so steep and small that you needed to crawl down to feel like you were in control. It was great to finally get down after that, even though it was great to do it. Wayna Picchu was the hardest stretch for me, after 3 days of solid walking it topped it off for my body, we were all pretty buggered at the bottom.
One last thing that capped off the tour was the bus ride down to Aguas Calientes, down the mountain. A little kid ran down the mountain in Peruvian gear, going through a path while we snaked down the mountain. This was a fair effort, the bus ride was about 20 minutes, all this to earn himself a few bucks at the bottom when he jumped on the bus...and supposedly he does this a few times a day.
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