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Back to Cusco! We caught a very early morning flight from Arequipa on quite a luxurious plane, only 2 seats either side of the aisle and very spacious! So when we arrived we had a full day to explore. Rudy took us on an orientation of the centre which obviously I already knew well before going for a late breakfast/early lunch at Jack's Cafe. They always do yummy food! After that Lizzie, Tom and I decided to head to Paddy's (the Irish pub) to watch the England vs Scotland rugby game with a couple of beers. England won of course, boy have I missed watching the rugby! Afterwards we had a little wander around the centre before heading back to the hotel. We had an early dinner before our meeting about the Inca Trail and meeting our guide, James. We had an early start the next day for the Sacred Valley tour.
The Sacred Valley tour included seeing Pisac and Ollantaytambo which I've already seen. But we did get to visit a couple of the Planeterra projects (not for profit organisation) which G Adventures supports. The first one was a local community where they specialised in making textiles and clothes. We got taught how they make the fabrics using all natural materials which was fascinating. The second project was where we had lunch, delicious food! Again supporting another local community in the Valley. We had an early night in preparation for our Inca Trail starting the next day.
The big day!! The weather was nice in the morning which put everyone in a good mood and we were all excited to get started. We had a short transfer to KM 82 where the trail starts. There we met our chaskis (porters) who would be carrying most of our equipment for the few days. What incredible men. Their ages ranged from 20 to 62! And they were carrying up to 25kg of weight in their backpacks. We were in awe and they charged around the trail like it was nothing. Very very impressive. Anyway we started our first day which James called the training day. It was fairly easy, pretty flat with small ups and downs but nothing too extreme. The views were gorgeous and we made great time to the camp. We were going at a very fast pace so for someone with my little legs it was pretty hard at times. The steps were the worst as they were giant and they only got worse as the days went on. Once at camp we properly met our chaskis and everyone introduced ourselves. We sat in the tent playing card games and had some food. Our lunch on the first day had been one of the best meals I'd eaten in a long time, and it was trout! I don't normally like fish so I was even more amazed. Lizzie and I were sharing a tent, and Carl and Tom had the other. We were only a small group but it was nice that way. The tent was a decent size and the sleeping bags we rented were super cosy and warm so we actually had quite comfortable sleeping conditions.
Day 2, renowned for being the worst and the hardest day as it's mostly uphill. We climbed to 4215m above sea level. There were lots of stairs which was very tough on the legs, thank god for walking sticks. It was beautiful scenery, we went through jungle areas and more open and dry areas which was amazing to see the variety in such a small area. I was the slowest in the group but still faster than a lot of others as we were overtook many groups during the few days. James kept me company which was nice because at points during the hike there was a mental wall that you needed to push through to carry on. Especially on the last days where exhaustion was hitting. It was such a great feeling to have reached the top and I felt a huge accomplishment. I was worried about my fitness but I surprised myself with how well I did. The hardest part for me on day 2 was the downhill section to our camp. Only an hour and a half but my legs started to shake almost uncontrollably by the end. With all the strain of uphill and then using different muscles for downhill, my legs couldn't take it. I've never done anything like it so they just weren't used to it. The downhill part was mostly giant stairs as well which were harder to manage than slopes. Finally at camp I got a little emotional from the whole day. We made amazing time though and were smashing the averages. The rain began to start that evening and pretty much didn't stop for the restock the trek. Lizzie, Tom and I had a very entertaining game of Heads Up in our tent which raised spirits. "Sounds like... POO!" "Crabs" "pets, animals that fight... c*** " "biggest fish in the sea". Very amusing. My weak ankle had started playing up so I was a little nervous for the next day.
The next morning we had a shirt uphill hike from camp before the rest of the day was downhill. The heavens had just opened and my poncho and raincoat made no difference. I was soaked to the skin within an hour. Thankfully I was able to keep warm through the exercise otherwise it would have been even worse. The rain made it harder as it was so slippy! Once the downhill part started that's when I started to struggle the most out of the whole trek I think. The fog was so thick we couldn't see much and the stairs got steeper and steeper. I slipped over a couple of times which I think knocked my confidence a bit so I was being more cautious but I think that actually made it harder. We had a few inca ruins to see along this part which was really cool as they were very well preserved and different from the sites in the Sacred Valley. We had a very wet and soggy lunch but it was made better when our chef brought in a cake he had made for us! It was very yummy and had written 'muy rico' on it which had become a personal joke between us from day one. We all agreed to get going as soon as we're done so we could reach our final camp and get dry. I spent most of the afternoon walking with Carl and James which was nice and we visited a really large ruins right at the end of the day. The clouds were starting to clear and we had the most incredible view of the valley, river and mountains alongside with the ruins. We were pleased we went the longer way as we got to see them. This was our final night of camping before we got up super early for the last leg to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu. We had a lovely dinner and then a shirt ceremony to say thank you to our chaskis and present them with tips. It was very sweet and all the men were very humbled. The rain however continued...
The next morning the rain was still going strong. We hadn't been sleeping much the last nights due to how noisy it was on the tents. We were up at 3am in the morning to be one of the first in line to finish the last part. We were actually the second group but we had to wait until 5.30 to get going. The last section was pretty easy. It was what they call inca flat so small ups and downs a part from a ridiculously steep staircase at the top to the Sun Gate where I was pretty much using my hands to climb up it. It was slightly disappointing when we reached the Sun Gate as it was so foggy we had no view whatsoever from the top. We had a gentle climb down for maybe half hour till we reached the infamous Machu Picchu. And again we couldn't see much due to the fog but thankfully it did start clearing. Not fully but enough that we could see it from the lookout and try and get that all important postcard photo. We met Rudy, Jimmy, David and Daniel who were there to explore and have a tour of Machu Picchu with us. By this point we were all so tired and hurting that it was a struggle to walk around as it was so steep again, like all the inca ruins. It was definitely the most impressive of all the sites and such a huge accomplishment for us all. We had made it! Once we finished at Machu Picchu we caught a bus down to the town Aguas Calientes where we had some lunch and caught the train back to Ollantaytambo. There was some gorgeous views from the train but I don't think it compared to those of the Inca Trail. From Ollantaytambo we got a private bus back to Cusco where we didn't arrive until 7pm. It had been a very very long day! Rudy and the other boys went and got us take out pizza from La Bodega (best pizzas ever!!) so we could rest and eat in bed before getting well needed sleep. We had done it! 46km. And we were in the top 10 people to reach Machu Picchu! Incredible experience.
We had 3 days in Cusco city to rest up and explore. We all took it fairly easily. The Friday we went to the cinema to see Insurgent and had a few drinks and shisha in the evening. Saturday was Lizzie and I's girls day as the boys went white water rafting. We had a lovely massage in the morning to soothe our aching muscles and then a manicure and pedicure. However, the manicure and pedicure was a bit of a disaster... The lady barely knew what she was doing, we didn't have shaped nails and the varnish went everywhere. We decided to cheer ourselves up with a bottle of wine, lunch and the England vs France rugby game. After which we headed to the hotel to rest, continue drinking and get ready for a night out. We had a great night out but we also don't remember that much... Full of laughing and dancing we know that much but it meant Sunday was a complete write off. Oops!
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