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Day 2-The Inca Trail cont´d....
We stopped walking at lunch time on the second day, i don´t think i could have gone much further! After we had eaten we were told that it was probably a good idea to sleep as sleeping at this altitude was sometimes quite difficult. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and we ate tea at around 6.30pm. After we had eaten tea, Bobby asked who had been at the back of the group in the morning on the way up. Neil and i said it was us but only because we had been left behind as we were in the toilet. He ´suggested´that we have a head start the next morning! This was really embarassing and we quickly declined the offer saying we´d be fine!! We shouldn´t have been left in the toilet anyway and should have been trekking together as a group!
Day 3
This morning was a 6am start after breakfast. Bobby liked to be ahead of the other groups doing the trail so that we could see the Inca sites without all of the people. Today was definately the best day. The scenery was awsome and there were alot more sites to see. The walk was up and down (there isn´t alot of flat ground on the trail!) but i found this easier than one, long, hard slog to the top like the previous day. Lunch again was great and we got to camp in the afternoon at about 4.30pm. Shortly afterwards we were given tea and had previously been told that this was the best time to discuss the tips for the porters. Of course this is expected by the porters and i had no problems in giving them as much as possible as they had worked so hard. What i didn´t like was the fact that we had to discuss this in the group. Everyone could see how much money you were putting into the pot so i guess this would make some people feel pressurised into give the recommended amount (s/.65). The total amount was then added up and divided between the 19 porters. After we had eaten dinner the couple who were taking care of the money went to their tent to fetch it. The porters were brought into the main tent and a little speech was given about how brill we thought they all had been. The Canadians still hadn´t returned with the money and it began to feel quite akward. We were all sitting in silence and the porters were all stood waiting for their money. When they finally arrived they said they had been held up because the German couple had added more money therefore, it had to be recounted! I just thought that this was a really sillyway of handing tips over and maybe the company should think of another way to do it!
Day 4
The final day! Macchupicchu is near. It was dark and cold this morning when we were woken at 3.45am. We weren´t allowed tea in our tents this morning because it was too early. Apparently on previous occasions when people have been given tea this early they have spilt it and the porters wouldn´t carry their sleeping bags because they thought that there was pee on it! I couldn´t eat much breakfast because it was far too early. We set off to the checkpoint at 4.30am and when we arrived 5 minutes later we were the first ones there. We had to wait until 5.30am for the checkpoint to open and after that it was a 2 hour walk to the Sun Gate. The people at the front of our group shot off, i mean they were literally running. We were walking pretty fast but i wasn´t prepared to run! Soon after a few people from the group behind us came running past, it was ridiculous how fast people were going but i don´t think they managed to over take Gilbert at the front of our group! When we finally made it to the Sun Gate, i must admit, i wondered what all the rushing was about. From here on a clear day you are meant to be able to see Machupicchu. It wasn´t a clear day. The fog was thick and fast! We waited at the Sun Gate until all of the group was back together again and then we continued down to the ruins for another 15 minutes.
Macchupicchu
It wasn´t particually busy when we arrived at the ruins but the fog was quite low and so we couldn´t see very clearly. Bobby gave us a tour which lasted about two and a half hours, then he told us about the people who had discovered Machupicchu. Some American guy was a bit of a slug and came and stole all of the things that had been left by the Incas, he didn´t really discover the site but claimed to have. The things are all sat in some university in the States and Cuzco is trying to claim it back! We had a few hours to explore ourselves, by this time the fog had cleared and we could get a really good view of the ruins, got some fantastic photos! At around 11.30am we had to get a bus to Aguas Calientes to meet the rest of our group for lunch. We waited around in the restaurant after lunch because the train back to Cuzco wasn´t unti 5pm and Aguas Calientes is a fairly small place so there wasn´t really much to do. At 4.30pm Gilbert gave us all a certificate for completing the Inca Trail and then walked us to the train station. The train back to Cuzco took 4 and a half hours which was pretty tough as we were all knackered and the seats weren´t exactly comfortable! We didn´t manage to get to bed until after 11pm that night-maybe this was the hardest day!? We really enjoyed doing the Inca Trail and would definately recomend it although you can´t bottle out and do an alternative route or get the train!!!
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