The Incan Trail

On our 3rd day in Peru Patrick and I were to awake early in order to be picked up by our tour and the rest of our fellow hikers to begin the 3.5 luxury bus-drive to the beginning of the Incan Trail. After having asked Patrick the night before to make sure (you can all see where I am going with this) that his alarm was set for 4:20am (they were coming at 5) I opened my eyes the next morning to.....daylight. Not full-on sunshine, but that said I knew it was a lot lighter than it should have been at, oh say 4:20!!! "Patrick...?" I woke him up, "What time is it???" "Curses!!" (Well, he didn't say that but he DID curse). Both of us jumped up to see it was indeed about 5 minutes till 5! Fabulous. Good one, Patrick. If I hadn't woken up myself who knows what would have happened.

After the morning drama of us getting our stuff together and downstairs (while trying to grab some of the free daily breakfast buffet that the hotel offered), we finally set off on the road to get to the Incan Trail. Andean Life was our tour and they ended up being even better than expected for the mid-range tour price - about $300 per person which included 4-days camping/hiking, our english-speaking Quechan guide, Romelo; 10 porters carrying the food, cooking equipment and tents and our fellow troop which consisted of 2 aussies, 3 brits, 1 german and us.I was most pleased with our WONDERFUL porters and our troop couldn't have been any cooler than the hip, game 20-somethings (I was in my element being with a bunch of foreigners). Meals were full of laughter and stories from everyone as we fortunately all truly got along very well. Our porters took great care of us: the food (from our 23 year old cook) was AMAZING: several courses made at each meal and TONS of it. Not to mention afternoon tea with bisquits (cookies) and popcorn (the Brits loved that special touch). We couldn't believe what could be made in that little cooking tent they would pitch next to our dining tent. Plus, they would do that on top of having trotted (that is: slowly jogged) past us bent over double on the way to the next plain packed up 3 feet high with bulky tents and such. We were amazed at their calves and the fact that these tiny indians (ranging in age from 18-46) had such strength. I hated that they essentially were pack mules - but the fact was that it is a high paying job for them and we made sure to tip them very generously on top of that. Like I mentioned previously: traveling in Peru is cheap, so I could be generous.In continuation, the porters would pass our hard-working selves on the trail and pitch our camp, make our meal and all the time - be it, day or night: take turns having one of them posted as guard by our sleeping tents (as bandits have been known to rob hikers). They really were remarkable and I understood from other hikers that they were not as pleased with their tours: leaky tents, not good food or attention paid. When our 2 British gals were put in an awkward situation with a rude porter from one of the other tours at one of the pit stops it was OUR porters who sought him out, surrounded him and confronted him (getting him fired from his good-paying job).

The Incan Trail, itself, is not a hike for the wimpy, out of shape, or prissy. It can be tough if you are over 30. One must be ready for anything regarding the weather changing in a snap from a downpour (pulling on the rain poncho), to cold, to foggy ("don't fall off the cliff", our guide warned), to HOT. You pretty much always use the bathroom in the Great Outdoors (although there are a couple "toilets" on the route - holes in the ground with a door), you don't shower for days, you wear the same clothes pretty much since you can't afford to carry more than 1 change of clothes, and you sleep cold nights on the ground in tents.

That said I HIGHLY recommend tackling the adventure. Mother Nature is absolutely splendid in her various forms there: you hike through plains, to steep summits, valleys, jungles, rain forests, rocks, cloud forests, the River Urubamba running below... and the final destination of the mighty ruins of Machu Pichu are absolutely breath-taking! (Just remember that no matter how young and in shape you are - you WILL need a hiking stick). And after 4 days when we did finally reach Machu Pichu, I felt a lump in my throat (akin to when I passed the finish line of my 1st half-marathon at 30 years of age) of pride that we made it. An old running injury definitely made the going slow and quite painful at times, with everyone suffering on the 2nd day (the hardest hike - with 2 very steep climbs and very steep descents - muy painful on the knees). It was as Patrick commented as we admired the amazing ruins along with the other 100s of tourists who took a bus there - "We REALLY earned it!"
**click on picture below to see photo album!!

The Incan Trail 10.06