Inca Trail, Peru

The big trip that is the corner stone of most backpackers journeys in South America had finally arrived. The mighty Inca Trail. It was time to see if all the hiking Nicola and I had done earlier in the trip would pay off.

Day One:

After a brief orientation the night before, we were picked up at our hostel at 5am. The journey from Cusco to the start of the trail was about 3 hours, giving everybody a good chance to take in the Inca 'Sacred Valley' from the very bottom. Ignorant to what was in store for us, we could only hope that it was the smaller mountains that we would have to hike over.... no chance.

The start of the 42km hike began at a small town called 'Piscacucho' on the side of the Urubamba river (2750 mts above sea level). Before setting off we all met the porters and offloaded any luggage that we had paid to have carried. It has to be said, these guys are like miniature super heroes! 15 of them in total and not one of them reaching the dizzy height of 5ft. Carrying almost their own body weight in equipment, they raced off in front of the pack, setting everything up at camp before we even arrived! As each day passed, our admiration and gratefulness rapidly increased. Some of them were in their 60's!

After getting our passports stamped, we crossed the river to begin a 7 hour trek to our first camp site. The journey was a bit of a mixed bag with some relatively flat bits and a few steep parts that helped us both to dust off a few cobwebs. The weather was fantastic and the views absolutely stunning. About 5km in we got our first glimpse at some inca ruins, the town of 'Llaqtapata'; an absolutely amazing archeological site that demonstrated just how sophisticated the Inca's were. The town was built half way up the mountain with all the agricultural areas below in the valley so that the crops would get more irrigation. I'm not going to ramble on about every Inca ritual and technological discovery, but as the tour went on you couldn't help but feel more and more fascinated by their spiritual beliefs and cultivation techniques.

After a long day and a few more smaller Inca sites we arrived at our camp. During the day it was over 30 degrees but like most high altitude places, as soon as the sun went down, it turned subzero. Sitting around the dinner table in the dining tent that the porters set up, you could tell the whole group was feeling the cold. The food was worth sticking around for though and it was a great chance to get to know all the different people we had in our group. We had a few northerners, about 7 Americans, a Dutch girl and some Slovakian girls. A few of the group were in their 60's and one guy, Jim, from Yorkshire was 72! It was a really fun group and as the trip went on we got the chance to get to know them all well as we shared in the hardships.

Day Two:

By far the toughest day of the trek! Up at 5am again, we began an 11 hour hike along the toughest part of the trail. 95% of day two was either uphill or steep downhill. The first 3 hours were punishing as we climbed to the top of a summit called 'Dead Women's Pass' (4200 mts above sea level). As some of the first to reach the summit we cheered the rest of the group on to make it to the top. Jim, the 72 year old, was the 6th person to make it which was absolutely incredible. We can only hope we are half as fit as him when we reach his age. Massive cheers where made all round.

This was only the first of two summits though, as we had to hike down 1000 metres (punishing on the joints) and then back up another hefty summit after lunch. All legs were successfully shot to pieces. Before reaching camp at about 6:30pm we visited the inca sanctuary of 'Sayacmarca'. This site was a resting place for Inca travellers who were using the trail. People would use the temples to pay tribute to the mountain spirits that they believed controlled the destiny of their yearly harvests.

Overall day two was absolutely knackering but the archeological sites along the way were magnificent. The sense of achievement and scenery at the top of the summits were also a major highlight of the whole trip.

Day Three:

As night time rolled in on day two the temperatures plummeted dramatically. We had camped at 3600 mts above sea level. The coldest night by far was endured all round with barely any sleep had. Sleep deprived and aching from the day before we were all glad of the 7am wake up and that day three only involved 5 hours of trekking. It wasn't an easy trek though, in fact it was pretty steep and dangerous going downhill in places. Overall, in comparison to the previous days, it was the easiest.

We both agreed that day three was our favourite day. The views along the way were magnificent. As the trail went on we dropped down to 2500 metres and moved into a sub-tropical microclimate created by the Andes. We were at camp by mid afternoon and visited the nearby archeological site of 'Winaywanya'. This was probably our favourite place of the whole experience. We were the only people there and the location meant that we had views down two sides of a meander in the Sacred Valley. The site itself had been used by Royal Inca's as a place of refuge. You can see why when you stand there and take in the panoramic views. It was made up of several stone terraces that were built into the mountain and was really impressive.

As it was our last night we had a mini ceremony to say thank you to the porters. The Chef somehow even managed to bake a big cake despite having no oven and being in the middle of the Andes!

Day Four:

The final day we had to be up at 4am in order to complete the final 3 hours of trekking to Machu Picchu. The reason for the early start was so that we could make it to the final pass,'The Sun Gate', in time for sunrise. The last part of the trek was probably the most dangerous of all. We walked in the dark along narrow paths with sheer drops to the side. Our guide reassured us by telling us tales of drunk porters who had fallen over the edge! The final obstacle in order to reach The Sun Gate is known as the 'Gringo Killer' which is basically 50 incredibly steep steps that you have to pretty much climb up. After successfully conquering them we got our first glimpse of Machu Picchu as the sun came up over the mountains. A truly magical moment!

At this point everybody was incredibly excited. Unfortunately once we got down to Machu Picchu we all found it to be a bit too congested. Beautiful, fascinating and magnificent it may be, but overcrowded by tourists. We spent 2 hours getting a tour from our guide only to be frustrated by the zoo like crowds that lined every corner. A sad anticlimax. Still we were lucky enough to have another glorious days weather to end what was an amazing trip.

When we all returned back to town to wait for the train back to Cusco everyone agreed on one thing... The magic of the tour wasn't actually Machu Picchu like you would expect. The best part was the journey. The sites, hardships, and the sense of accomplishment is what provided the best memories. At Machu Picchu you felt like a tourist, along the trail you felt like an Inca!

Harry & Nicola

Copa Del Sh*thead Scoreboard: NH 125 - 142 HF