My Inca Trail Journey (part 2)

Inca Trail, Day 1

The first day on the Inca Trail was the easiest. We did not need to leave the hotel in Ollantaytambo until 8 a.m. After a final weigh-in of our luggage, we loaded into a small bus and drove to the start of the Inca Trail.

At the start of the trail, we were met by the bustle of porters loading up the gear they would carry, local women selling bandanas and hats, and excited hikers, anxious to start the trail! Our porters met us outside our bus and distributed the gear we had rented. We added the sleeping bags and mattresses to our duffels, and then made one last stop at the restroom. For the first day and a half, local women provided flush toilets (with seats and toilet paper) for a small charge of 1 sol. Women also sold snacks and water at various points along the trail for this first day and a half. I don’t think I have ever been as happy to see a Snicker’s bar as I was on the second day!

Before we could really start hiking, we had to pass through a check point, showing our passports and Inca Trail permits. Hiking the Inca Trail is not something you can decide to do at the last minute. You need to secure a permit a few months ahead of time because there is a limit of how many people can hike the trail at one time. This limit helps to preserve the trail from wear and tear. As an added bonus, it keeps the trail from seeming too crowded. While there are still about 20 groups starting the trail each day, it really doesn’t feel like it at all. Of course, we did run into other groups occasionally, but the groups are staggered enough that it did not seem like as many people were on the trail as there really were.

So as I already said, the first day was the easiest. The trails were dirt at this point, rather than rock, and mostly flat. The weather was excellent–sunny and no rain! This part of the trek was a great way to continue to adjust to the altitude, learn how to get out of the way for the porters to pass (always move toward the mountain side) and also learn about Incan culture along the way. There are many Incan sites to see along the four day trek to Machu Picchu, as well as a lot of great natural scenery. We learned about some of the native plants we saw along the way, including the parasite that grows on the cactus and can be crushed to make a dye, like we saw in the weaving cooperative. We spread some of this dye on our faces and became Inca warriors for the day!

When we stopped for lunch on the first day, we learned that we were in for a real treat when it came to the dining on this trip. Our lunch was trout, served with rice and vegetables! We would continue to be amazed by our excellent chefs throughout the rest of the trek, especially considering the fact that they were cooking on a portable gas stove!

Our trek continued after lunch, with more Incan sites along the way. In all, we hiked about 6 hours that first day, arriving at our first campsite in time to relax a bit before tea time and dinner. I was impressed that, despite the hundreds of people who began the trail that same day, we could not see any other groups from our campsite! And we had the best toilet that night. We didn’t have to share it with any other groups, and it was only a short walk from the tents! I slept pretty well that first night.

 

Inca Trail, Day 2

While the first day was the easiest, the second day was most definitely the hardest! We were woken up at 5 am by our guide, Mickey, with the offer of coca tea. We had 30 minutes to get our belongings repacked for the porters, then we met for breakfast at 5:30.

Today’s main goal was to make it up Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point of the Inca Trail at 4,215m. On this day, there weren’t really any Incan sites to see. The theme was just “climb up these steep stone steps and don’t die.” One girl in our group had unfortunately contracted a mild case of food poisoning prior to starting the trek and it was really draining her energy that morning. Other people in the group were struggling with the altitude that day. The steps are indeed quite steep, and we learned the best way to tackle them is to walk in a zigzag pattern rather than trying to go straight up. Oh, we also lost our nice toilets partway through this day and were left with the government-run squat toilets. On a positive note, the mountainous scenery really was beautiful.

Once we reached the top of Dead Woman’s Pass, it was all downhill until our next campsite. This sounded excellent–until we started going down! The steps were really steep and slippery, as a mild rain left the rocky surface quite slick! I fell once (on my bottom and didn’t get hurt). Someone else in my group actually fell over and rolled. Fortunately, she was not seriously injured–just some scraping and bruises. I am questioning on this part whether or not my walking sticks were actually helpful. Upon reflection, the girls who did not rent the walking sticks were moving really fast and had no trouble getting down the steep steps, while I used my walking sticks and moved more slowly and deliberately. I wonder if they were making me think too much and slowing me down? Then again, the girls in the front were also the youngest members of the group. I forget sometimes that I am 31 now and I can’t quite do some of the things I used to be able to do!

Fortunately, despite being the most difficult, this was also our shortest day of hiking. We reached our campsite by lunchtime. After some delicious food, we had time to rest and relax before dinner. At this campsite, we were able to see the other groups, but the sites were at different levels, so we did not feel like we were right on top of each other. We did have to share the bathrooms with the other groups, and they were quite a hike from our campsite. This was the coldest night out on the trail, but my sleeping bag was really warm.

So in the first two days of the trek, we experienced both the easiest and hardest days! I was sure happy to get the hard day over with! The next couple of days ahead would be pretty interesting…but I will write about those in my next post!!