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WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!
We walked the mighty path of the Incas. AND, I survived! (Would say 'we' survived, but we all know I am the unfit feeble one) We battled with altitude, rain, rain, rain, terrifying steep descents, rain, rain, rain, wet sleeping bags, walking in actual waterfalls, pesky prowling blood sucking insects and, you guessed it, rain, rain, RAIN! and, it was absolutely incredible. The best travel experience I have ever had. By a mile.
Basically, the Inca trail is so intense it's humbling. How, how did they build not just Macchu Picchu but the trail itself? The whole trail is made of stone, it's no dirt path! Huge stones too, not pebbles. Huge stones that are carved into steps, that at points take 3 hours to walk down and drop 1000m down a mountain. The dedication to the cause is quite incomprehensible! The trail is awesome because of the drastic changes in scenery, at points you are so high you are walking in cloud and rain, and then you drop low into jungle territory, trees all dripping moss etc. I saw my first real humming bird, but didn't see a 'spectacle bear' (more commonly known as Paddington) despite tripping over my feet many times looking!
My personal highlight was when in jungle territory, after 3 hours of rain walking and a panic attack about how steep the 3 hour descent had been (Mat had to hold my hand and walk one step in front to get me down!) we saw a rainbow and were on level with it. It was amazing. Reminded me of the wedding too as we had one then. Felt like I was being rewarded for not giving in to despair! By the way, it was ok to be scared as some of the steps were so narrow only half your foot fitted on it, and water was gushing down them!
Something everyone commented on was the porters. We don't carry our own stuff see, we just have a tiny day pack and they carry 6kg of stuff for us AND tents, food, water, chairs etc. Totalling 25kg each and they RUN the Inca trail! Rain or shine, they run and remember the Peruvians are a small people. The men are shorter than me! We are there taking half an hour to walk 50m uphill because we can hardly get enough oxygen and they were just running past us! Plus the porters were the kindest people ever, they literally attended to our every need. In the mornings they woke us up with steaming cups of coca tea (the leaves used to make cocaine, but also chewed or drunk to combat altitude sickness, tiredness and hunger) and a bowl of hot water each to wash in. We ate 3 courses for lunch and TEA (John, note my use of language!) and, when they found out if was somenone's birthday, they even baked a cake and iced it!
The funny thing about the whole trek is that it's all leading to the final morning. Getting up at 3:30 am, rushing to the check point, sitting in the dark for an hour waiting to be the first to tread the final path, walking at quite a pace for the final hour to reach the ominous steps to the sun gate, racing up them heart pounding to see Macchu Picchu from above. We did all this, a little team of 14 and 3 guides, all, except the last bit. Macchu Picchu was entirely shrouded in cloud! It was a bit gutting I have to admit, but we accepted it. Nothing could be done and it was eerily beautiful anyway, dark mountains and thisck cloud and swirling mist. When we walked to Macchu Picchu itself we obviously got to see it, just not from above so you can't see the fact it's shaped like a condor.
Anyway, bored of recounting! Plus I have to go plan a dance routine to Saya (Bolivian dance) for four 7 year olds as part of the voluntary work we are doing this week. You will be amused to knwo that the dance is for an end of week show that volunteers normally coordinate but don't take part in. This week we all have to take part! My 2 left, Inca tired feet have to dance in front of everyone! Hope this finds you all well, Big love, Kelly xxx
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