Welcome to the Inca Trail! An extremely popular trek amongst
tourists, it's a 3 day, 43km trek through the mountains from Km 82 to
Machu Picchu. I have been wanting to do this for many years, and the
threat of over-tourism potentially causing the site to be closed
permanently worries me, so I wanted to go before this might happen.
DAY 30 INCA TRAIL DAY 1
Bright and early I was up. I slept very
poorly so was not feeling refreshed. I had 45mins to organise myself which was
plenty of time. I even had time to straighten my hair. Winning!
Just before 5am, I took all my stuff to reception, put my camera bag & suitcase in the hostel storage and checked out. The G Adventures office is only a short walk from my hostel (5mins), so I got there at 5am. I had to just sit and wait for the guides & the other guy. I decided to check my passport (my Inca Trail permit has been issued for my Australian passport) and realised I had grabbed my British one! I was so mad at myself! The guides decided that we would drive close to my hostel so I could get it as I needed it, on our way out of town. This we did, and they told me to bring both passports just in case.
First we drove almost to the Star Lodge, to a little ‘restaurant’ for breakfast. It was essentially an outdoor patio, and it was freezing! We had bread, ham, cheese, fruit salad, sugary American cereals (who on earth puts marshmallows in cereal?!) & a scrambled egg. It was alright, but we ate quickly so we could get back in the van where it was warm.
We continued to the town of Ollantaytambo. Here we collected 11 other people who had started their tour yesterday. There's a British couple, an American family with 2 adult daughters, a Canadian family with 2 teenage kids, and a solo lady from Australia. I think she has Persian heritage.
Then we drove to Km 82. This is the
official start of the Inca Trail. We had to collect our sleeping bags, mats
& poles (if rented) then put them in our duffel bags. They were then
weighed to make sure they were 6kg or less. Everyone was fine except the other
Australian. She was 3kg over! She had to leave things behind & put more
things in her day pack.They were extremely strict with the weight limits to protect the porters.
Finally, the porters packed their huge bags with our duffel bags, camping equipment and food, and started heading to either our lunch or camping spot.
Then we went and had our permits & passports checked, and began the trail. There is 1 official sign, so we did a group picture and individual ones as well. At 9am, we were off!
Today is considered easy, and a training day for tomorrow. It’s 10km long, elevation gain of only 100m and a mixture of up & down. It started off sunny and by the time we started hiking, we were all in tshirts. I chatted to a few people along the way. It was quite flat and lovely for the first hour and a half. We also saw some Inca ruins.
At 10.30am our guides Edwar & Frederico told us that there would be a small uphill, a bigger uphill and then downhill to lunch. Well, the uphill sections suck, especially when they are steps. The final uphill was long and steep, and I couldn't catch my breath! The view once we got to the top was great though. Boy was it tough!
We had a chat about the Inca ruins below, then continued towards lunch. It took about 30mins of mostly downhill. When we got to the lunch spot, the porters were there to greet us and clapped for us. It was lovely 😊 We put our bags on the tarp, washed our hands, and went and sat in the dining tent. It was rather warm so we opened the windows & doors for a breeze.
Lunch was amazing! First we had guacamole with a fried wanton wrapper, then noodle soup, then the 2 of us non-fish eaters had a broccoli & pesto fritter with rice & veg, while the others had trout with rice & veg. For dessert, we had a hot pudding made from chicha morada (purple corn). We also had some lemonade, water and coca tea. It was very good, especially the guacamole.
We had some free time to let our food settle, so we laid on the ground, went to the toilet, played with the puppy etc.
Then we felt raindrops. We hurried under a shelter, and it started pouring. We got out our rain gear. For me, I had my bright purple Columbia raincoat and a plastic poncho. I put both on, along with the baseball cap. Eventually, we started to hike in the rain as it had lightened up a bit, but it had started thundering.
We had 1.5-2hrs to camp. The rain came and went, and became quite persistent, especially in the last hour. So did the thunder & lightning. I got really quite frightened because I was taught that when the lightning starts, you go inside, and here I was hiking in the open, with only trees around me and lightning everywhere.
We finally arrived at camp at 4pm. Man, was it a relief! We got applauded by the porters again. We have 19 porters for the 13 of us & the 2 guides. We collected our duffel bags and went to our tents. The 3 solo travellers all get our own tent, which is nice. I put my gear inside, left my wet boots just under the fly and crawled inside. I also took off my wet pants, as they were drenched from the knees down, and put my thermals on.
I blew up my little air mattress, unrolled my sleeping bag & climbed inside to relax. We are having afternoon tea about 5pm, which is now in 6mins, followed by dinner and then bed about 6.30pm. I'm cold already, so I think I may freeze tonight. It is still raining, it was thundering until about 10mins ago and I'm hoping the rain stops. Bring on a hot cup of tea!
At 5pm we had a meeting to meet our porters. Fortunately, it had stopped raining so we did this outside. They are very hard working, but very shy because most don't speak English. We gave them a big round of applause. They introduced themselves, we introduced ourselves and then had a group picture.
Then it was tea time. I had a hot chocolate, and we had some crackers and popcorn. It was very good.
We then had 45mins before dinner so I just hung out in the dining tent with some others & talkes to our guide Edwar, who told us about some places near Cusco and about some festivals in Cusco.
Dinner started with a hot rice soup, which was very welcome, given it was freezing cold outside. Then we had some chicken in a sauce, spaghetti bake & vegies, followed by tea/coffee. It was very good.
We were given the plan for the next day, asked to try and think of the positive while we do a steep 5hr uphill hike and told our wake up would be at 5am. Eww.
After
dinner, we got ready for bed and were
amazed by how stunning the stars were. You could clearly see the core of
the
Milky Way! The British guy Matt does astrophotography and had brought
his camera
& tripod. He set it up and was taking photos. I took my camera out
but
couldn't get my lens to focus so I couldn't get decent photos
unfortunately. I also didn't have my tripod so that was an issue. I
even tried with my phone, but handheld longer exposures always produced
blurry
photos. Here is one of Matt's beautiful photos that he sent us:
I gave up after a while and decided to go to bed. It was so cold! Our sleeping bags have a comfort level of -3°C and an extreme level of -15°C. I'm currently in my sleeping bag, wearing my thermal top & leggings, merino wool socks and my thermal ear band. Hopefully I don't get too cold tonight!
DAY 31 INCA TRAIL DAY 2
I was cold whenever I moved last night and I had to pee so I slept pretty badly. I also wasn’t overly comfortable which didn't help. We were woken at 5am and given a cup of coca tea to drink while we packed. We had 40mins to dress & pack our duffel bags and day packs. It was freezing!
At 5.40am we went for breakfast. First we were served toast. I only had 1 piece as the bread was very sweet. Then we were served an omelet rolled with vegies in the middle. That was very good. We also had coffee, tea & hot chocolate.
We had more time to finish getting ready, brush teeth etc. while the porters packed our tents, sleeping bags & mattresses.
At 6.30am we headed out. Today was the most difficult day. It is almost entirely uphill to Dead Woman’s Pass, which is 4200masl (metres above sea level), the highest point on the trail. But first, we had a 10min uphill hike to the checkpoint. This was a small challenge, especially as it was so cold and we were all in coats, beanies, gloves etc.
Then we had a 45min uphill hike to the first rest stop. We were allowed to go at our own pace, so I put some music on my phone and headed off. This was pretty challenging, and I had to stop and strip off the layers on the way. I was sweating when I got there! At the rest stop, which was a camp-site, we had some snacks, water & went to the toilet.
Then we began the first major challenge of the day. 1.5-2hr uphill section. It was HARD! I struggled so much! But I was 6th to arrive, out of 13 which is good I think. It also took me 1.5hrs. The uphill sections are made of ramps and steps, and it is all gravel & rocks. It is, by no stretch of the imagination, not easy. The poor porters have to carry all the equipment up this trail too! They carry 20kg and I'm only carrying 7kg. I walked a small section with one American guy, and he was struggling too. By the time we got to the next stop, which was a camp-site as well, we were both absolutely shattered. Here were some ladies selling drinks & snacks that people could buy. I sat in the sun, ate my chocolate bar & apple lollies for some energy and had some water.
Edwar said we could continue if we wanted so a few of us headed out on the next stretch. This was the second challenge if the day. Another 1.5-2hr uphill climb to the summit of Dead Woman’s Pass, which was 4200masl. Being exhausted from the other climb, this one was significantly harder in my opinion. A few less steps, but steeper and much greater elevation gain. I literally had to stop every 5 steps to catch my breath. At camp last night, the air had an oxygen concentration of 14.3% (its 21% at sea level), and at the summit it dropped to 12.3%. Breathing was hard. I took a Diamox this morning to help as I knew we were going to high elevations. The last 30mins or so was steep steps. Oh my gosh. I was dying with every step I took.
I finally made it to the summit and the Canadian family were there to congratulate me. They hike much faster then the rest of us! It was also freezing! I had to put more clothes on as the clouds were coming over and it was windy. They left, and I went and took some photos and videos.
From here, we had a 1-1.5hr descent to camp. This proved to be a challenge too! It was mostly steps, big steps, and it was very hard on your knees. Edwar told me 1hr down, but it took me 1.5hrs down. It was very slow going, and painful.
At this camp-site there are multiple sites for the different companies. At the top, there were some porters waiting to direct their hikers to the camp. There were 2 G Adventures porters waiting, and one took me to camp. We are on the second bottom level, which felt like it took ages to get to. I got a big round of applause from the porters at the camp when I arrived, who all rushed over when the porter leading me called out to them. One gave me a cup of chicha morada juice which I drank gratefully.
I went in search of my tent and found it. They were still setting up the fly’s so I sat on the grass with my Hydralyte. I was absolutely exhausted. My legs felt like jelly. I laid down inside my tent when it was ready and chilled out with a snack. I was starving all day today!
A short time later, Edwar turned up and announced we would get lunch in about 10mins. So far, there were only 6 of us at camp. This was welcome news! We washed our hands, got some water and went for lunch. First, we had a little appetiser of some hot dog slices and some fried yucca (like potato), with some sauce. Then we had a bowl of semolina soup. It was quite cool at camp so this went down well. Main course was a crepe stuffed with beef mince, tomato, onion and cheese, with vegies & potato on the side. It was absolutely delicious. Dessert today was a lemon meringue pie. Then we had a hot drink and went back to our tents.
The other people were still on the trail coming down, so some porters took some crackers & cheese up to them as it was 2.30pm already and they still had an hour to go.
It's now 3.10pm and almost everyone else has just arrived back. They must be completely exhausted!
We now get to just chill, hang out etc. until 5.30pm. We were advised not to have a long nap as we wouldn't sleep tonight. I'm not sure what I will do this afternoon. Rest sounds good though!
And rest is exactly what I did. I put my phone & watch on to charge, put on my Harry Potter audio book and laid in my sleeping bag. I had to stop myself from falling asleep!
At 5.15pm I packed my day pack for tomorrow with more snacks and got ready for afternoon tea. We had some sweet biscuits and hot drinks.
Most of us stayed in the dining tent until dinner as we would go to sleep if we went to our tents. Some of us played cards while the others talked.
Soup tonight was a corn based soup (not sweet corn, I think it was the choclo corn). Then main was chicken with a pasta bake and red potato mash. The chicken & the mash were absolutely delicious! I don't think I've ever had bright red potato before!
Several of us skipped after dinner hot drinks and got ready for bed. I made the journey to the toilets (it’s a long uphill trek through other camp-sites to get to the toilet block). Every step hurts. Tomorrow is going to be agony.
I finished packing my things, made a pillow from clothes, put my boots under the end of my mattress to stop me sliding downhill and curled up in bed. My tent is right next to the stream, which is gushing and rather loud. Hopefully it doesn't make me need to pee during the night!
DAY 32 INCA TRAIL DAY 3
Another very early wake up call at 5am, and I desperately needed to pee. I did have to pee during the night too but I went near our tents (don't worry, we were told to do this if we had to pee during the night). This morning, I got ready as fast as I could so I could go up to the toilet block to pee.
Breakfast was a pie filled with vegies and egg. It was really good. We also had toast with jam.
It got really cold during the night so we were all rugged up again. We had a VERY long day today, 12hrs approx, so we packed and left at 6.30am.
The first 45mins was steep uphill steps. All of us were feeling our legs this morning so this was a struggle. We had a rest break after 15mins at a lookout point. Then we continued the rest of the way to an Inca site. This is a round stone structure, overlooking the valleys & mountains. Turns out, it was used to house the llama & alpaca for the workers who were transporting goods between Machu Picchu and Ollyantaytambo.
Then we had another 45mins to the summit of the mountain. Again, this was a struggle. Every step was pain and it was very slow going. We saw quite a lot of people from other groups feeling the same pain as we were. At the summit, there was a further climb to a rock which had better views. A few of us climbed up there. From here, we could see the Salkantay Glacier, which is over 6000masl.
Then we had a descent to the base of
another Inca site, this one a fortress. Access to the fortress required 100
steps up, which meant 100 steps back down. It was optional so I elected not to
go. My knees were killing me. I was certainly feeling very old by now!
I continued towards the next rest stop, a camp-site with squat toilets. We had now entered the Amazon jungle, so this trek was very beautiful. Lots of lush green foliage and amazing views. It only took 17mins and it was lovely.
Once everyone arrived, and we braved the stinky toilets, we continued for another 1-2hrs to the lunch camp-site. We could go at our own pace again, so I powered through and was 4th to arrive in 1hr 10mins. I got my applause from the porters which was very sweet. Edwar arrived not long after me as he ran the path. He told me there were some llamas nearby so I went and saw them. They are rather large compared to alpaca! They also weren't very friendly.
Then I headed up to the viewpoint and saw the mountain of Machu Picchu. A guide from another company pointed some things out to me which was very kind of him.
Then I went to another viewpoint, this one with a view of the town of Aguas Calientes and the hydroelectric dam.
Finally, everyone arrived and we had lunch. Noodle soup followed by a huge spread, using up all remaining ingredients. Rice, beef casserole, fried chicken, mushroom ceviche, broad bean & vegie salad, quinoa patties, pumpkin patties and a mashed potato thing. It was delicious! We ate heaps! Then the chef brought us a special dessert. At 3700masl, with very basic equipment, he baked us a cake! It was chocolate with a strawberry icing & jelly. It was amazing!
It was then time to reapply sunscreen & bug stuff, fill our water bottles and head to the next stop. Our guide had decided to take a route that is usually closed, as the official route is all steps. Downhill steps. Around 1000. Stuff that! We took a lovely walk through the Amazon jungle with a gradual decline to some electricity towers. From here, we were treated to our first view of Machu Picchu! It was a distant view, but it was still clearly visible.
Edwar gave us some information about the sites we had passed today. Then we were running late so we had to go, otherwise we would have to hike in the dark.
We had a 1.5hr downhill hike to the stunning farming terraces we had seen from the lunch spot. The trek was tough. Soft dirt, rocks, overgrown plants, steps. A bit of everything! It was an extremely beautiful route though.
Finally we got to the terraces. From the top, they don't look so big. We took lots of photos as the views were gorgeous.
We then had to climb down the steps to the base of the terraces. There were 140 stone steps, and at times they were quite treacherous! Looking up from below, you can see the full scale of the place. Wow! It also made us wonder how the Royalty and Nobility climbed those steps.
As the sun was setting, we needed to get to camp as quickly as possible, as we were going to have to walk in the dark. A group of us were quite quick and it took us about 30mins. We got another applause which was very welcome. I was completely exhausted and my legs were killing me.
We quickly setup our sleeping bags and had a quick wash with the hot water provided by the porters. Then I laid in my tent for a while, listening to my audio book.
We had dinner at 6.45am. Pasta soup again, followed by chicken served with vegies, potato bake and broccoli & cauliflower. I had a hot chocolate for dessert.
As the porters have to leave very early in the morning, we gave them a thank you speech & their tips. They have certainly worked very hard for us!
It was then bedtime. Wake up calls will be at 3.30am, so we can quickly pack, have a hot drink & toast, then head down to the checkpoint. Tomorrow is the day we are all here for: Machu Picchu!
DAY 33 INCA TRAIL DAY 4
I had some of the porters sleeping next to me last night and they snored. Loudly! It was a night of tossing and turning, and the porters alarm went off at 3am. They came to wake us up at 3.30am and we quickly got dressed & packed, ready for a coffee at 4am.
By 4.30am, we were walking (with headlamps).
We had a short 10min walk to the entry checkpoint. We had to join the queue,
and we were the last. The rangers don't open the checkpoint until 5.30am so we
had a 45min wait, sitting in the dirt on the side of the trail in the dark.A plus was the beautiful stars!
At 5.30am, we went through the checkpoint and began the roughly 1hr walk to the sun gate. Overall, we were to gain 100m altitude, so when walked a fairly flat trail for a while, we knew we were in for a steep incline. We were all feeling sore & tired by now.
Edwar
told us the ‘gringo killer’ was
coming up soon, but wouldn't elaborate on what it was. It turns out this
was a
VERY steep and uneven stone staircase. We were recommended to leave our
walking
poles at the bottom with the guides and scramble up using our hands.
This was
actually fun and I flew up the steps! I overtook several people on the
way.Certainly wasn't a gringo killer for me, it was the most enjoyable
part of the whole 3 day hike so far!
Being last at the checkpoint meant there were no other groups around, and we had no issues with traffic jams.
The walk continued and after 1.5hrs, we eventually reached the sun gate. It was such a relief! I was so exhausted! There were quite a few people here taking photos and just sitting.
The view of Machu Picchu was amazing! The sun was rising but hadn't reached the site yet due to the high mountains, so we sat on the terraces and watched the sun light up the city. I took lots of photos in the hope I could make a time lapse video.
Once the city was lit, we did a group photo then individual photos.
Finally, the time came to go to the city. It was a 45min walk from the sun gate and mostly downhill. This felt like forever but mostly because I was so excited to finally get there! I was at the back, but overtook half the group and ended up being 2nd.
As we came into the edge of the city, we encountered some llamas! They were just chilling, eating grass and walking on the path. I even got to pat one, who wasn't fazed.
Then we went to the special hikers terrace for photos. The Government has put strategies into place for the people doing the Inca Trail to have access to special areas. This includes the sun gate and a terrace with excellent views of the city. We took lots of photos (of course! We didn't hike 3.5 days to not take photos!), and some group pics. We had picture perfect weather. Blue skies and sunshine. It was amazing!
Next, we went to the exit and technically left the site. The only toilets are outside and since covid, visitors must follow a one way circuit so you cannot leave once you start the circuit. If you do, you cannot return.
After 3 days of squatting to pee, and not having running water or unlimited toilet paper, these toilets were a dream! We ALL went. Oh my gosh, just sitting down was a relief for our tired legs. We also had some time to get a drink if we wanted so I got a Coke Zero.
We then joined the group entry queue and entered the site for our tour. It was given by Edwar, and could be as long or short as he wanted to make it. Its important to note that it was full sunshine, virtually no shade and at almost 2500masl, the sun really bites.
The tour was great. Edwar took us to all the different areas and the major temples. It was soooo hot, and my legs were losing the ability to keep me upright and walking. I could feel that my knees were swollen and stiff (happens sometimes).
It was really fascinating, seeing all the different places. The Incan's really knew how to build a solid building. The city is over 500yrs old and in excellent condition. It is the only place in South America that the Spanish didn't destroy. We took a ton of photos along the way.
After a couple of hours, we went to the exit to take the bus to Aguas Calientes. We had to wait 25mins in the queue, and the bus journey took 30mins.
In Aguas Calientes, we walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I had chicharron pollo (fried chicken) and a maracuya sour (passionfruit sour, like Pisco Sour but with passionfruit added). Both were delicious.
On the day we left, we had our photo taken on the trail, and today, that guy came to the restaurant to sell us our photo. I bought mine as it had a certificate and map, and it was only 10 soles.
We then had just 20mins to walk around the town before meeting for the train. We were advised to buy some drinks for the train if we wanted as it was cheaper than the train prices and supports local people. I got a Corona grapefruit & lime drink with a local chocolate bar.
The town of Aguas Calientes looks quite nice, but apparently it is a purely tourist place and there is nothing to do there. We headed to the train station and boarded our train. It is a panoramic train, with big windows on the sides & roof. We have assigned seating so I'm with the American guy in one carriage, and everyone else is in another carriage. We have a 1hr 45min journey to the town of Ollantaytambo. From there, we will take the minibus.
The train ride was definitely picturesque. It was also the bumpiest and wiggliest train trip I've ever been on. We were constantly being tossed from side to side. Worth it for the scenery though.
Upon arrival at Ollantaytambo, we made our way to the parking lot and found our driver and minibus. We then drove to the hotel the group stayed at before I joined them to collect their bags, and then we continued to a small restaurant and shop to use the toilets.
We then began the drive back to Cusco. We saw cows crossing the road, a tuk tuk that had smashed into a food stall and several burning off fires. The drive took about 2hrs from Ollantaytambo car park to Cusco.
I was dropped off first, near the G Adventures office, and walked to my hostel. The receptionist remembered me, checked me in and took me to get my luggage from storage. Then she got the cook to carry my luggage up the 2 floors to my private room. My legs barely got my body up those stairs! The room was lovely, with a nice big bed, window overlooking the city and a bathroom.
First
things first, shower. I knew I stank so it was desperately needed. I
made it nice and hot, grabbed the soap and
scrubbed every inch of my skin. I also gave my hair a very good wash! It
was
sooooo good! I spent ages cleaning the Inca Trail sweat & dirt off
me.This is why I hate hiking & there needs to be something extremely
worthwhile at the end! This little princess likes to be clean, with
daily showers & flushing toilets!
Then I just chilled in my room. I put in a
TV episode, and I'm not really sure what I did but I went through 2.5 episodes
of Supernatural before deciding to go to sleep. I think I completely zoned out, I was that exhausted.
Fingers crossed I sleep well.
The Inca Trail is most definitely the best way to visit Machu Picchu. It feels like you have actually earned your visit to the lost city of the Incas. For me, personally, taking the train/bus for a day trip was cheating, since my legs work perfectly well enough to hike the 3 days to Machu Picchu.
I highly recommend doing the Inca Trail trek with G Adventures to visit Machu Picchu. Stunning scenery, interesting history, amazing ruins.
Head back to the Peru part 2 blog for the rest of my time in Peru.