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Climbing the Inca Trail looking like Forest Gump
So...for those of you who are following my blog i am feeling better and apologise for my stroppy outburst although i feel it was justified.
I arrived at our hostal in Cusco called the point. Its on one of the main streets in Cusco and is a party hostal but has a homey feel. I felt better catching up with Leanne about our antics over the previous week. Leanne pulled a guy before she left LaPaz, she showed me a picture of him. I was on the jungle trek with him and was out with him the same night i lost my camera. Small world but did make me chuckle.
I transfered 100pound into Leannes account and took it out here in Peru. I brt a knew camera. Im not going to lie its crap but its better then nothing and i felt better for having it.We started our trek on monday however we soon realised it was only a group meeting and a night in a hotel. The meeting inc the guides explaining the route, what to expect, important things to bring (waterproofs,passport etc) The trek started first thing Tuesday morning. The hotel was more like a snazzed up hostal, was nice for backpackers standards but if i flew in and was staying there i woudnt have been impressed.
Tuesday we left at 6:30am. After Breakfast we walked to the main square in Cusco and caught a bus. The journey was 3 hours then we were to start a 5 hour hike to our first camp site. 2 hours into the journey i realised (i dont even know why it came to me) my passport was in my money belt... in leannes main bag back at the hotel. I was put back on a bus to fetch it and the group had to wait for me in a small town. It was very embarassing. What is wrong with me???? Ive made some pretty huge errors in the past week. So anyway....i got everyone chocolate to sweeten them up so they wouldn't be cross with me for 4 days!!! Turns out it wasnt that big of a deal, we left over 2 hours after all the groups and still got to he camp site before them. The hike was nice, took us about 4 hours. Only acouple of hills about 100 metres. We only carry our day bags which include things such as a change of clothes, water and acouple of snacks. The porters carry everything else... tents, cooking equipment, our bags with all our other stuff in. Up to 30KGs...huge respect to these guys. They are machines. We saw acouple of arc sites i have no idea of he name of and afew farms along the way. The first camp site we stayed in was alot nicer then i assumed it would be. Saying that i didnt know what to expect. We were situated next to the stream, the sound of running water never fails to help me sleep. While we changed and chilled out... our porters cooked our dinner. We had 3 course meals 3 times a day...it was amazing what these guys could do with so little equipment. We were asleep by the time it was dark (in 3 jumpers...i was so cold) and up at 5 the following morning.
Day 2: We had been warned was the toughest of them all. I was looking forward to it, i love to exercise and enjoy a challenge. The first 3 hours were good but I could feel it getting tougher. Not only were the hills getting steeper but obviously we were climbing in altitude. I pulled my Groin (spelt right?) can't say i've ever done it before...so very painful. Not so much when i put weight on my leg but, more when i lifted it to and from the steps. Everytime we stopped for water and a breather it hurt more so i had to treck ahead of the group just to get to the top of the mountain. I was afraid if i stopped i would never start again. We trekked 16-18k and climbed over 2000 metres. It was a killer and at the time im faily sure i may have been mumberling to myself about why i'd chosen to hike when there was a train that took you to MP!!! HAHAHA. However...once we got the top it was a goooooooooood feeling. I waited about 15 minutes for Suzie and Ali (the other 2 on our group) to catch up. By this time i was freezing. It was raining and the wind actually hurt. We were at our highest point 18,000 feet. It was at this point I was hugely gratful i had experienced higher altitudes in Bolivia. If I went straight from Cusco to MP i'm fairly sure without exaggeration I would've ended up in hospital. My body does not react well to altitude. Lukily Suzie and Ali were happy to keep hiking and not hang around for the rest. From this point we trekked roughly 2 hours downhill to our campsite. The porters run down hill with there 30KGs on there back and by they time everyone arrives to the camp site the porters have eveyrthing set up. They are amazing it has to be said. We waited at camp for about 1.5 hours for the rest of the group, trying not to lay down because we knew we wouldn't get up again. When the rest of the group arrived we had lunch (i had a really dodgy tummy sparing the details but had to force myself to eat). After lunch we were given a choice. It was 1pm and we could chill for the afternoon and hike 10k the following day or we could hike 4-5k that afternoon and make the 3rd day easier. The group decided to keep going. Always a good idea at the time. The first part was the toughest. The 2 hour hike down hill we did shortly before....we were now having to climb back up on the other side of the mountain. I was only climbing with my left leg and dragging my right leg behind me using it as minimal as possible. I got a rythem going*smiles*. I was worried i looked like forest gump. Couldn't have been doing to bad because i was still ahead of the group. When we arrived at the camp site it was getting dark and we were in thick fog. Dinner was served faily quickly. We were asleep by 8pm. A successful but very tiring day.
Day 3 we were woke at 5am. I tried to get up and felt like an old lady that had just had a hip replacement. I feared for a moment that id be crawling the rest of the way. I think it had seized up overnight but after a warmup of walking to the bathroom and back i was back to my forest gump self. The view when we opened our tents was incredible. I was having the time of my life and we wernt even at Machu Picchu yet!! I was in alot more pain then i let on at the time about my leg but with the views and everytning that was going on around me it was easy to distract myself and try my best to carry on. The view was snow capped mountains (very beautiful and never fails to amaze me) in the distance and mass rainforest around us. We had breakfast involving pancakes and cereal. Everyday i was impressed about what the cooks could do with so little utensils etc. Leanne was feeling terrible and actually burst into tears. I didnt know what to do, usually im pretty good with tears. I didnt know if we were at that point of our relationship were i could grab and hug her. Usually does the job right?? I left her alone for afew minutes, i got the impression that is what she wanted. After a rediculous looking warmup from myself and Leannes moment we set off hiking.
DAY 3 for me was the nicest. It was a mixture of tough and easy walking. We went through Inca caves and stood on top of a mountain looking down at the clouds. A Cliche to say i literally felt on top of the world. It was an amazing feeling. We passed more ruins, lookout towers and farmer plantations. The Porters overtook us again with there 30kg loads on there back....walking in flipflops like there strolling along the beach. While we huff puff and look like we have ran marathons. We saw Machu Pichu mountian (i really need to look up the correct spelling as evertime i write it i spell it differently) It was the back of the mountain tho. Still....the views were incredible. The best i have seen in South America. Absolutley stunning. Leanne walked down to the camp site and the guide took myself Aly and Suzanne up to another ruin. The views from up here (as if it was possible) were even more spectacular. It was worth the extra hike in the pouring rain 3 times over!! The campsite on the 3rd and last night was a built up campsite opposed to a field. It had showers....a bar, food etc. After not showering for 3 days...getting into a shower is undescribable (even if it was cold and i was drying myself with dirty clothes) haha god i love travelling!!! In the eve we had a beer and toasted to the trek and to seeing MP the following day.
Day4. We were up at 3.45. That is not a misprint. We had brekkie and trekked 10 mins to the gates of the National Park. There we waited in line for about an hour untill it opened. When we were through everyone walked at an extra fast pace (i dont really understand why...did it make much difference if you got there half hour later?). When we got there...all exhausted...it was cloudy and you could see (excuse my language) f*ck all. It was so annoying. It happens everytime i go somewhere amazing!!!! The Empire State biulding the first time i could see only cloud. In Rio i saw Sod All. The Eiffel Tower i must have been having an extra special day. Anyway....we hung around for a while. Chatted up the Llamas. The guide then suggested we go down and do the tour and come back up later to get the "postcard shot". Relunctantly we all headed down. He new it was going to be cloudy in the AM, he hinted it over the 4 days. But seemed optimistic that all would be good in the afternoon.
He took us around Machu Pichu explaining half the site was still under forest and they were working on recovering it. He showed us the farming areas, where royalty lived etc. (They were all royal but the highest of the highest). Some (not many areas) have not been touched since the inca times. Incredible what they achieved so many years ago. He explained their religious beliefs and theories. More interesting then i anticipated it would be. In all honesty I should have researched it more before we left. After the tour (something you dont get if you get the train up to the national park....cheating and in my opinion missing an amazing experience) we got the whole afternoon to do our own thing. We headed back up to the site where we came in (i cant remember the name...thats awful) and we did indeed get the postcard picture. We then all sat in our own little world for about half an hour. Undoubtfully thinking the same thing. "WOW...I am actually here...in South America...In Peru....at Machu Pichu" crazy....i cant describe how i felt at that point. I think after nearly 2 months of being away it finally hit me. Im here....living my dream. All the crappy days at home were worth it because i am here now.
Running away was the best move ive ever made...
After the excitetment of it all, the exhaustion kicked in from the previous 4 days. We got a bus down to the neighbouring town, had some lunch and went to meet our guide. It was a 2-3 hour train/bus ride back to cusco. I just wanted to be back, to have a hot shower and to sleep in a bed.
I may have been abit of wreck throughout the trek but it was an amazing experience. Def up there on the best things i've ever done. One in all honesty i wasnt hugley keen on doing but Leanne pushed for it. Im grateful i didnt miss out...
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Mum .....really enjoying the blog!....hurry up n live a bit more.....coz I'm waiting....not very patiently for the next instalment :)