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Well we both made the hike to Machu Picchu...it was hard work but worth it!!
Day 1 - Lima
We did the trip through GAP adventures so we first had to meet up with the group that we would be hiking with. There were 13 of us of all ages, and from Oz, Denmark, Norway, Canada and England. We were very fortunate as we got on with everyone REALLY well!! We were briefed about the trip and supplied with a complimentary Pisco Sour (YUK! raw egg white cocktail!) We also started to take our altitude tablets to prepare us for Cuzco (approx 2700m)... but they made us have some seriously weird side effects - tingling fingers and toes, headaches, disorientation and weak legs - much worse than altitude sickness would have been. We stopped taking those straight away!
Day 2 - Cuzco
We had to get up really early to fly to Cuzco. Once we arrived we met our guide for the trail, Percy, who came across as being very enthusiastic and a spiritual type - good karma and all that! We then looked around Cuzco town, visiting the Cathedral and SunTemple (Santo Domingo). Cuzco is a lot quieter than Lima - less traffic and honking horns - however has a much bigger tourist influence. As usual in Peru everyone wants your money. Children constantly try and sell you things, shine your shoes when you are wearing sandals and dress up in traditional costume asking you for 1 sol to take a photo of them. When eating out you can guarantee that you will be dropped in on by Peruvian musicians playing pan pipes/guitar/drums asking for tips. However, the musicians in one restaurant were VERY good.
Day 3 - Sacred Valley
In the morning we left the hotel in Cuzco ready with our duffel bags and gear for the Inca trail. We headed down the SacredValley (so named because of the fertile soils beside the UrubambaRiver) by minibus and visited local communities that make pottery and textiles using traditional techniques. We also tasted Chicha, a local beer made from corn. It was actually quite nice! Later that day we had a mini ´tester´ hike to the Pisac ruins…the altitude really has an effect on your breathing! We were feeling positive about the Inca trail though…
Day 4 to 7 - Inca Trail
The 4 day Inca trail to Machu Picchu is a massive (well for us anyway!) 25 mile hike with 3 high passes to cross.
The 1st day was relatively easy, passing our 1st archeological site of the trail. Porters carried all of the equipment, tents, cooking things, and our bags (25kg each) while running ahead of us. They would leave after us, run past us, and set up camp and cook dinner/lunch before we even arrived! The food throughout the trip was VERY good…the porters managed to prepare 2 or 3 course meals along the trail. The soups were particularly good. The porters were SO impressive…
The 2nd day was the hardest of the trip as we had to cross the highest pass at 4200m, aka Dead Woman's pass. The trek was really tough, going up and down hill as well as coping with the altitude. Reaching the summit was a great feeling of relief, and made the down hill section seem a breeze. Although the steps down never seemed to end!! Percy had been a great guide up until now. At the final archeological sight of the day he sat us down to give us a talk, but strangely half way through stopped the talk and claimed that none of us were interested. This came as a surprise to us as the talks he gave were really good and packed full of knowledge. This was the first of many outbursts of "Bad Karma" from Percy, for which we still don't know the reason for. The camp site was really high on the 2nd day and so at night we froze.
On the 3rd day we put on our freezing clothes after a freezing night and headed over 2 high passes before descending to our final camp site. This was the most scenic part of the hike (see photos). The camp site was a lot busier than any of the others, having its own restaurant and showers! Considering we had no clean clothes a shower seemed a little pointless so we held out for 1 more day. Next to this camp site were our favorite ruins - Winay Wayna. It was very peaceful and beautiful here.
On the 4th day we went to Machu Picchu! We got up at 3.45am to get to the front of the queue to let us into the trail to Machu Picchu. To keep the place at the front we had to pretty much run for an hour before ascending the steps to the Sun gate where we had a magnificent view of Machu Picchu.
Unfortunately Machu Picchu was a bit of an anticlimax as it was SO SO busy with 1 day tourists that had got the train (tut tut!!). By this point the whole group was ready to get back to a bed and shower. Our legs were actually like jelly…the train and bus back was a welcome break.
The next couple of days were spent chilling out in Cuzco with Damien, Tora and Anders (members from the group) before heading to Puno on the 21st Jan 2008.
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