Hi Everyone
I thought it was about time I let you know that I completed the Inca Trail!
The whole group arrived in Peru safely with the first night being spent in Lima (I do not recommend this! It resembled a war torn country).
The next morning we took a quick flight to Cusco where we would spend the next couple of days acclimatising and getting settled before starting the trail. The day before the trek we met our lovely guides Eddy and Valentine who took us all up into the hills for our acclimatisation walk. We walked from Tambo Machay, pronounced tanpu mach'ay in Quechua which means resting place and was located on the royal path to Machu Picchu.
We then walked through the Hills above Cusco looking at more Inca sites before eventually arriving at the major ruin above Cusco of Sacsayhuaman. This ruin is built of huge stones that fit together perfectly with no mortar.
After a tour round Sacsayhuaman and some good group photos....we returned to Cusco to get an early night before a very early start to drive three hours to the start of the trek.
Nice early start with breakfast at about 5am, three hour bus drive to arrive at KM82 where we start the trek. we stopped in Ollantaytambo which was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti who conquered the region. It is a beautiful little place with lovely stalls and its own fair share of Inca Ruins.
We met our team of Chasquis at KM82 who were amazing and looked after us all so well throughout the next four days, carrying all our stuff, tents, food etc and most of the time they run past us not breaking a sweat and only wearing sandals - really putting us sweaty tired people to shame! after showing our passes and getting passport's stamped we crossed the bridge onto the trail and that is when the fun started!
The first part of the trek was not too bad (compared to what was coming) and followed a nice path along the raging Urubamba River, stopping at little stands selling fruit and and drinks on the way. We stopped for lunch where our Chasquis prepared a delicious meal and we all sat down for a little rest before a "gentle" climb to our first campsite at Wayllabamba. Tomorrow we would find out that the Peruvian translation of "gradual" is VERY different to ours! Gradual in Peru means steep! Peruvian flat means steep and steep means nearly impossible!
Our second day was by far the toughest! After waking at about 5am, having a lovely breakfast of porridge and bananas, toast and of course some coca tea we set off....
We had to climb from 2700m to Dead Woman's Pass at 4200m and it was tough to say the least. The path is narrow and very steep with a few steps slipped in for good measure, we passed through grassland, cloud forest and pasture before stopping for lunch. I found this really tough and thanks to our guide from Discover adventure, Ritchie, he managed to control my breathing and save me from any altitude sickness. After taking it slowly and steadily, we reached the lunch spot. After about 3 mugs of coca tea I felt refreshed and ready for the nightmare of an afternoon!
The afternoon was slow due to the steep path and number of steps and the pissing rain did not help at all. The first half of our group got to Dead Woman's Pass first. We joined them slightly later in the pouring rain for a lovely photo!
After reaching the top of Dead Woman's Pass we had the joy of 500m of steps down to our camp site at Pacamayo where I was thrilled to be able to get changed and enjoy a cup of Milo (hot chocolate), popcorn and biscuits!
Day three is by far the longest day and we walked for around 12 hours! Setting off early to make sure we got to camp before dark that night, the path starts off with some nice Peruvian Gradual! We stop a few times to see some lovely ruins on the way and soon approach the second highest pass at 4000m with steps leading to the top and down the other side. By now I am a whizz with my sticks and no longer feel like I'm going to fall on my bum! We pass the Sayacmara ruin and continue along a nice steady path and through a cave to reach lunch. Lunch was lovely again and the coca tea really helped (by now I am on about 3 cups of coca tea at each meal!!) After lunch we go down yet more steps to the ruins of Puyupatamarca where we have a little sit down and Eddy gives us a good talk about the site. From here it is all downhill to our final campsite of Winay Wayna. The first section of the group went to see an Inca site before camp, but myself, Jen and Richard along with Ritchie carried onto camp, got changed and enjoyed a well deserved bottle of Cusquena lager! About four bottles later I was feeling ready for tomorrow!
We woke up at about 4am, had a quick breakfast and set off in the dark and rain towards Machu Picchu. After a couple of hours of walking and now being soaked to the skin. The path is reasonably easy compared to what we have done already, with some steep sets of steps in between and a few very narrow paths. Thank goodness it was cloudy and I wasn't able to see the drop down to the Urubamba River! After climbing the vertical flight of steps known as the gringo killer we reached the sun gate!
The feeling was amazing to know that we had all made it and now the real excitement of seeing Machu Picchu was just around the corner. As we reached the top, the sun started to shine and after about 40 minutes of walking down a nice path, passing sacred rocks and small ruins on the way we turned the corner to be met by this amazing view.............................
After an amazing tour round Machu Picchu and some wonderful photos, we had a lovely lunch and then a few of us returned to Aguas Calientes by bus (bloody terrifying ride!) and found a lovely little bar. Few Cusquena later as a celebration of course and we were all feeling very happy with ourselves! Mo, who got the pleasure of sharing a tent and a hotel room with me every night even felt the need to do a little dance and she had only been drinking Peruvian coffee!
After getting the train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo, we caught a bus to Cusco. Being a very good sleeper, I fell straight to sleep, then woke up as we arrived outside the hotel. Grabbed my bags and before I could even get into bed was fast asleep!
The next day I woke up with a very painful knee so one of the Jim's in our group kindly did some acupuncture to try and improve it and it worked wonders. We then popped over to the hotel opposite to visit a drop in group for local children and meet Robyn from SAS travel who runs the group. She is amazing and really does a fantastic job with the kids. As most of us didn't want to carry extra weight back we left all our medical type stuff including painkillers, anti bacterial stuff, baby wipes etc which was all donated to the hospital. Most of us also left sleeping mats, walking poles and other equipment which was given to our team of Chasquis.
The rest of Saturday was spent doing a bit of shopping, having a delicious lunch and then getting ready for a night out in Cusco as a celebration. After a long awaited week my curly hair was transformed back to its lovely straight hair thanks to Mo's good thinking and bringing her GHD's. Lots of Cusquena, sambuca and dancing later we all crashed.....ready for the 32 hour journey home!
I must say this has been the most amazing trip and it is thanks to all the people who were involved. Words really cannot describe how beautiful the trail is and I will most definitely be back in the very near future to do it all over again.....dragging some lovely friends with me!
If you fancy going to Peru or doing the trail the only companies you should consider using are Discover Adventure based in UK who work with you and help support charities and SAS Travel Peru.
www.discoveradventure.com
www.sastravelperu.com
Even if you just fancy a holiday and going on a short trek or a day trip, this is something SAS travel can help you with!
I am sure everything will start sinking in over the next few days and once my dreadful jet lag has worn off. I am still collecting sponsor money so please please donate by going to www.justgiving.com/Cazsperuchallenge
THANK YOU
xx
