Long trek, long blog

As you can see, we made it out for Ian's birthday. Pretty much the first thing he had to eat all day was to sample the elegantly prepared guinea pig. Everyone in the group had a try - unanimous verdict was that no-one would try it again! A good evening however was rounded off in traditional fashion with the birthday boy having a cake and being ill afterwards!



The next day saw us both in better health (just!) and a chance to meet our guide for the Inca Trail and first, the Sacred Valley. Also met up with Chris and Steph from San Francisco who would make up the rest of the group for the next few days.

On the way to the Sacred Valley, we stopped off at an animal rescue centre and Tina was very taken by the Peruvian hairless dog - very cute and bizarrely having a constant body temperature of 4o degrees- would make a great hot water bottle! Also got up close with the incredible condor - with a wingspan greater than our own! The Sacred Valley was really nice - but pretty cold. Interesting to see the devastation caused by the floods in February - houses destroyed, the only road and railway badly affected and tragic stories of villagers, guides and even hikers being killed.

We spent the night at a homestay in a family house near a large Inca site and were up early the next day to catch the minibus to the start of the Inca Trail. A mixture of excitement, trepidation and the porters body odour greeted us as we climbed aboard!

The first day of the hike was relatively uneventful - calm conditions, a surprising lack of people at the first checkpoint
(there are restrictions each day - roughly 200 hikers and 300 porters and guides) and a generally gentle start to the trail. Total distance was around 12kms - 2 more than normal due to the problems with the roads.

We met our 5 porters and one cook - each one having to carry a max. of 25kg on their backs - quite amazing given the terrain of the trail. We were restricted to 5kg for 5 days which had to include our sleeping bags etc - an equally impressive feat!

Just as we arrived at the campsite (which was in a farmer's field), the first rain for a month began to fall - and continued all night, thankfully stopping before we started Day 2 - and this was supposed to be the dry season!

Our two guides Ruben and Danilo gave us a great introduction to the trek and were pleased to see that we survived the first day!

The porters and cook have everything set up before our arrival at each stop and given the conditions the cook in particular has to work in, the food was incredible. Three course dinner, all freshly prepared and always on time and with 'waiter' service.

Day 2 of the trek began with wake up calls from the resident donkeys, cockerel and a visit from the sheep! The toilet facilities were rustic at best and were given the odour, were sensibly located at the bottom of the field - even the porters preferred to use the bushes!

Official wake up was at 0530 - with coca tea, a bowl of hot water and a good solid breakfast - much needed as today would be the toughest of the 4 with a continuous climb of 1200m to reach 4200m - made even more challenging by a series of stone steps and generally uneven stone pathways. We were actually pleased to have no sunshine as in hot conditions, hikers need to drink 5 litres of water during the day.

We walked from 0700 and reached the high pass after more than 4 hours walking - the altitude really did kick in and as we reached the top we were taking 'marathon runner in a diving suit' sized steps! Kept up with Chris and Steph (mid 20's) - much to the delight of the guide. we then had a pretty steep descent (one and a half hours non-stop) - again over stone steps and generally knee straining pathways - walking stick essential

At the top of 'Dead Womans Pass' - even the youngsters were struggling and we all felt a great sense of achievement at the top. Average age on the trek is probably around late 20's although a number of hikers were older than us.

Arrived at our camp in the afternoon (3600m) and spent a very cold night, first watching the cloud and mist roll-in and then trying to sleep in about 4 layers of clothing, soothed by the sound of the nearby mountain stream. Great location again.

Day 3 dawned clear and fine - wake up call 0545 (a lay-in) and a steep climb for 45 mins to kick start the day and to reach the second pass. Fantastic scenery - changing to greener, thicker vegitation and the first experience of jungle environment.

Weather much better for what is seen as the most picturesque day of the trek

Inca ruins on the way - the guide was really passionate and knowledgeable - even held Ian's attention - well most of the time!

Another great lunch stop before heading for the third pass.

Tina exhilarated at reaching the top of the last major pass - or was it the coca leaves!

A long day - walking from 0700 until around 1700 - the last descent of around 2 hours really tested the knees and the morale!

Managed to have the first 'hot' shower of the trek at the campsite - and even managed a beer! Celebrated the evening with the porters and the cook - little speech from Ian and Chris in Spanish to say thank you and then it was off for an early night.

More photos of Day 3

Day 4 - the big day when we would finally reach Machu Picchu!

Wake up call 3.45am - incredibly early start but all designed to let the porters pack-up and get the early train home and for us to hopefully see the sun rise over Machu Picchu. Breakfast at 0410 and a short walk to the checkpoint to wait for the trail to open at 0530. Began to get light at around 0600 with great scenes as the clouds and mist slowly tried to clear. We walked for about an hour and a half and a quick pace (and for the first time with most of the other hikers on the trail). The first view of the big site is supposed to be the Sun Gate but when we arrived, the place was shrouded in mist which gave it a beautiful mystical air.

Very gradually and almost begrudgingly, the mist cleared to reveal the much awaited views of

Machu Picchu - and those seen in every brochure and book on Peru. We were so lucky with the weather - it was picture perfect and although there were many tourists at the site, adding to the hikers, the place is big enough to give everyone room and a chance to take the classic photos.

The day was really hot but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of our guide on our private 2 hour tour

We stayed at the site until around 1pm (having arrived at 0800) and then had lunch in the local town before boarding the train, bus and minibus to arrive back at the hotel at 10pm.

A really long day and a pretty exhausting few days (46km in total) but an incredible experience and so pleased we had all those training sessions at the gym! The trek was harder than we envisaged and was really tough in places but we were still able to enjoy it all. We were lucky to be in a small group of hikers and were able to enjoy some really peaceful moments in the mountains.

Would really recommend the Inca trail - but be sure to have good weather, strong knees, and good toilet tolerance!

Recovering with a quiet day in Cusco today - Tina enjoying a massage and manicure, practising her Spanish and generally resting before flying tomorrow to Arequipa and the canyon region of Peru.