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Inca Trail
A nice hot day to start things off. We had plenty of engery and in the sun everything was looking rosy. The first day wasn´t too demanding, with only two of us and a very sensible guide we just took it easy. There were plenty of people at the start of the hike. But we let them go racing ahead, Edid was happy to stop whenever we had any questions about the flora etc. There were plenty of interesting examples that we picked out but she was able to tell us about a whole load of others that could be used for such things as shampoo, dying cloth, easing stiff joints or simply as a hallucinogenic! All very interesting stuff, she even taught us some Quechua. Which she spoke fluently as that was the only language her grandma spoke and it was also helpful with the porters who rarely spoke Spanish.
We arrived at the first stop for lunch to an embarrassing round of applause from our porters - who had arrived about 2 hours before us each carrying 25 kilos and put up a tent with table and chairs, and of course made lunch. We weren´t expecting anything like the quality of food that we got, it was certainly better than anything we were eating back in Cusco.
While we stopped at our first archeological sight, Llactapata, Edid taught us, through a series of drawings in the sand, about the life and civilastion of the Inca people. I won´t bore you with the details but it did help fit everything into place for us as we looked over the huge sight at the bottom of a valley. If you look closely at the photo you will notice a haze, that was from the bush fire taking place around the corner. It was a very hot day and there was a strong wind but as Edid was more concerned for the animals and the plants we contented ourselves that if there were anything serious afoot we'd hear the screams from the other groups ahead of us. The next night it rained pretty hard but it wasn´t till we were on the train that we saw how far it had burnt, so we counted our lucky stars.
When we arrived at the first camp site Edid asked when we would like our tea and then after that, dinner! This was great! After plenty of coca tea and hot chocolate along with the other mountain staple - popcorn! - we were about ready for a wash with the dishes of hot water the porters had conveniently prepared for us…only one sheet of kitchen roll each mind you. After that we had our delicous three course meal and a nice chat with Edid about life on the hills and in Cusco and then went to bed while the porters cleaned everything up. Shocking!
Woke up at 5 with 'tent service'! That's a cup of coca tea brought to your tent! A nice way to start the day. Then 40 minutes later we had breakfast and did the off while the porters packed evereything up. The second day was a bit more of a slog, Edid called it meditation day, it was just a case of head down and keep going. We got up nice and early which gave us a head start on most of the others so we could more or less stroll along and after an hour or so the other groups came rushing past us, not sure what the point was in that. For us though, there was no more stopping to take pictures of flowers. Edid wanted to get us to the next base camp without stopping for lunch. So we soon passed everyone else who were stopping for lunch!
On the long way up to Dead Woman´s Pass we started feeling the effects of the altitude. The coca sweets helped a lot, but once Em's nose started to bleed it was time for Edid to bring out the magic potion. Not sure what it was, a red liquid, but it didn´t half have a kick when we inhaled the vapours and it gave us what we needed to get to the top. But no time for rejoicing, at 4200 metres it was more than a bit chilly so we headed straight down and down and down and down..for three hours! Wobbling to our tents with another round of applause from our porters, we had a quick wash and headed straight for the 'dining tent' for tea and apple pies and all this just as the heavens opened! Classic! We had a great view of the path coming down the hill as all the others who'd stopped for the lunch made it slowly down the treacherous wet steps in their multicoloured plastic ponchos! I shouldn´t laugh. But the contrast between the porters who were running down the hill with their 25 kg packs and the gringos gingerly taking it slowly step by step was just funny. We had a good guide!
Another early start the next day, more tent service and porridge for breakfast. It was still a bit moist in the air and very misty, or is it just cloudy when you're that high? Anyway, it added to mystery of the place and we had nice morning climb. We saw two archeological sites before lunch, one of which was a 'look out', but all we could see was cloud and the other had a very impressive water management system. From it we finally had an excellent view of the valley as the clouds started to clear. Afterwards we started the jungle phase.
Didn´t see another soul till we stopped for lunch hours later. Lots of stopping for cheesy photos and to capture the amazing Andean moss. Just as we finished off another delicious meal Pachamama punished us for laughing at those poor souls the day before and it started raining, panic! Luckily it was warm and light so it didn't matter too much and it stopped in plenty of time to dry off before we reached camp. So again we strolled it home while all the others marched ahead! And because of this, once the weather had cleared, we were treated to our first view of Machu Picchu mountain and it´s surrounding valleys!
We felt like death after the long descent into the valley but Edid squeezed one more site out of us and I have to say in terms of beauty and surprise, Wiñay Wayna, or 'Forever Young' knocked the socks off Machu Pichu! Sitting snuggly round the corner in it´s own little valley built on a series of terraces used partly to stop soil erosion and partly as an agricultural experimentation laboratory. Really nice.
That night Em had a hot shower and we charged the camera batteries for the big day tomorrow. After our dinner, trout I think, we had our ceremony with porters. This was a chance to make speeches about how much we loved each other. We loved them for making us feel like colonial explorers and they loved us for coming to Peru and spending money. After the niceties and amidst much shaking hands and hugging we gave them some more money. Perhaps a bit too much in retrospect (for our budget) but they definitely deserved every penny. When they´re not lugging gringos' stuff about and making them tea and breakfast they´re working the land to feed their families so we figured they needed it more than us philanthropists.
A slightly later than usual start the next morning and this time with two sheets of kitchen roll to wash with! As we were the only two on our tour our complany managed to get us tickets on the next day´s trains which meant we didn´t have to walk three hours to the bus stop after the site tour and hence no rushing about. It is difficult to put into words the feeling of coming over the hill and seeing the huge city in the clouds. Not to be too smug about it, but due to the train strikes there were about 200 visitors to the site that day, instead of about 2000! So when we saw it for the first time even our guide was shocked by how still and tranquilo it looked sitting there on the mountain. It was almost as if we discovered it for ourselves! Except that it wasn't covered in jungle and it had llamas employed to eat the vegetation that grows in between rocks on the terraces. Got to keep them clear, if left unattended it wouldn´t be long before the jungle hid the whole city from sight again. Indeed there is still lots surrounding the main site which they couldn´t clear as it was too steep. Anyway, it was just like you would imagine, it completely lived up to the hype in every way. Its amazing how they lined up various points to align at the winter and summer solstice, and how they moved the massive stones. It is thought that this city was never finished, but that as the conquistadors came, the Incas (or Quechua people) retreated further into another city in the mountains...yet to be discovered. There is lots more to tell but you can read that in a book, I´m tired of writing this and I´m sure you´re tired of reading it. You made it to the end?! :-)
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