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THE INCA TRAIL
Landing in Lima, having left Mexico with a brief stop over in Panama for a few hours we had a about a day to fill, in a capital city where there is not a great deal to do. We did though see, a rather entertaining changing of the guard and visit the torture museum, before taking a rather impressive and scenic flight south to Cusco, which approaches the runway with 6000m high, snowcapped mountains either side of the plane... a pretty breathtaking experience! So there we were in Cusco, 5 days before we started the Inca Trail, a little longer than needed to aclimatise and definitely a little longer than needed to see the city, especially as we were too tight to buy the tourist card you needed to visit most attrations or sights in the city. So for 5 days we did very little. We did stay in a really cool hostel though, which was pretty much party central and met a lot of nice people in the process.
So after what felt a lifetime stuck in Cusco we finally started the Inca Trail. Our group of 15 consisted of Mark and I, 4 lads from England, 3 Aussie girls, an English couple, and older American couple and another Aussie and American, not forgettiong our two guides David and Will. Day 1 is the easiest day by far, and is pretty much training for the next three days which can get pretty gruelling at times and very tough on the legs. On Day 1 we walked 7km, relatively flat which took us from Ollantaytambo, our drop off point at Km 82, to our first campsite at Wayllabamba. The short walk, gave us time to meet our group and make the usual small talk before actually finding out anything interesting about each other and once arriving at the campsite we were challenged to a game of football against the porters (or chaskys as they like to be called), which to be honest was a huge mistake. Playing football at 3000m above sea level is not a good idea...I literally thought I was going to die after about 2 minutes... We then had dinner...a 3 course meal, the standard for every meal we had and some of the best food I´ve had since being away! Anyway, several games of cards later and in bed by 10pm I was out like a light before being awoken early the next morning at 5.30, ready for what was to be the hardest day of the 4. We would spend the whole morning walking uphill to reach ´The Dead Women´s Pass´at 4200m before walking for an hour downhill to reach our campsite at Runkurakay. 15km later, pretty tired and exhausted, on arrival we had lunch and as became the pattern of the trip played about 6 hours of cards that evening before going to bed under the stars. The Third day was a different challenge in itself, and probably the most enjoyable day. It was all downhill for 17km, through thick jungle and a lot of rain. Along the way we passed through the well preserved Inka Town of Sayaqmarka and down through Phuyupatamarka taking in some more ruins before reaching our last campsite at Winay Wayna, where we would spend our last night, before reaching Machu Picchu the following morning. That following morning we were up, in the dark at 3.45am ready for the control gate to open at 5.30am. We were one of the first groups through and a few of us decided to storm ahead in hope of beating the day tourists the Machu Picchu so we could get one of the 400 limited tickets to climb Waynu Picchu. Although, making it in double quick time, in the pouring rain, we did not get tickets, which to be quite honest I was not disappointed at, because by this time my legs were bloody sore! 45km of walking in 3 and a bit days had taking its toll and the lot of us were hobbling around like a casualty ward. Disappointingly the weather was the worst we had had on that last monrning, which meant the picture from the Sungate, was nothing more than me with a thick grey, and wet background. By 9am the cloud did start to rise, and within another hour we were given the postcard views of Machu Picchu City that we´d all hoped for. It was truelly impressive, and there was a great sense of satisfaction and achievement amongst the group after 4 long and tiring days.
Catching the bus back down the mountain offered its own spectacular views, but arriving back in Aguas Calientes, we spent the afternoon soaking our aches and pains away in the Thermal baths before boarding a train back to Ollantaytambo, the start of the Inca trail and finally a bus back to Cusco. On arrival back to Cusco, we wasted no time. After a quick shower, we hit the bar, deservedly so...and the drinking continued to the early hours, with just enough time for a catnap and a bus at 7am over the boarder to Copacabana, Bolivia.
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