Inka Trail Days 1 and 2

The first day we started out in Cusco, the SAS travel picked us up at 5:45am. It was a 3 hour drive to km 82 where we started our hike. I slept for most of the bus ride. Once we arrived at km 82 we had to have our passports checked at a control gait at the entrance of the hike. The group was comprised of 2 tour guides, 13 hikers and 20 porters (including a chef and sous-chef). All but 3 members of the group were under the age of 30 and the majority girls. The group was comprised of people from New Zealand (5), Norway (4), Holland (2) and Canada (my dad and I!) and our tour guides were Peruvians. It turned out to be a very good group with lots of good times and no conflict!

Day 1
Distance: 15km
Altitude: Start 2600m end 3200m
Time on the trail: 7 hours
Easy

Deemed the easy day it lived up to its name. We started out on a flat path following the Urubamba River. The first day our tour guides wanted us all to walk together so the pace was not very fast. It was VERY hot while we were hiking but there were no complaints since it is the rainy season. At lunch time we arrived to a place where the porters had already set up tents and where the chefs had already prepared lunch. We ate a delicious meal and then resumed hiking. Meanwhile the porters packed up camp behind us. No more than 15 minutes had gone by and the porters had already run past us with their 25kg ¨bags¨ heading to our campsite for the night.

Let me tell you, these porters (better known as Chasquis) are athletes. They basically run the entire Inka trail with a 25kg bag on their back. Most of them don’t even use bags, they usually tie a bunch of stuff together with rope and then use fabric straps as the back pack straps. Our group started calling the porters Chasquis because it doesn´t have a negative connotation like the word porter and is much more honourable. Chasqui is a word that comes from their native language, Quechua, it literally signifies ¨messenger¨ and was used by the Inkas time to call men who would run/trek through the Andes to deliver message. It was a very respected position and whenever we called them Chasqui they smiled. I seriously think these guys should try out for the Peruvian long distance running team they are in such good shape. Every year they have a race with all the Chasquis and some world class long distance runners. They race the length of the Inka trail, which is 49 km long. No world class runner has been able to beat a Chasqui and the record is 3 hours and 47 minutes which is amazing. Their bodies are so used to the altitude that it doesn´t affect them at all. I have so much respect for them.

By the time we arrived at our camp in the evening, the tents we already set up and they had tea and popcorn ready! Not only do the Chasquis carry the gear over the trail they also set up and run the camp. They help in the preparation of the food and any other camp duties that need to be done. I´m sure that there are many things they have done that I hadn´t even noticed. Another reason the Chasquis go as fast as they can on the trail is to reserve the lunch or camp spot. In the morning 2 Chasquis wake up around 4am and head out to reserve the best camp spot for the next night. We had great camp sites for the first 2 nights, with a great view of the mountains.

We ate like kings on the trail, the food was very good and definitely not what I´d call camp food, there were always at least 5 different dishes. All of this food came was cooked from scratch out of a large tent. Bedtime was 8pm and I was fast asleep right away. It rained all night but by the morning it had stopped.

Wake up the next day was at 5am. We had 1 hour to pack up all our stuff, except our tents which the Chasquis took care of, and eat breakfast. At 6 am we were on the trail ready to go.

Day 2
Distance: 15km
Altitude: Start 3200, highest point 4200, end 3600
Time on the trail: 11 hours
Difficult

Deemed the hardest day it definitely was. The first half of the day was uphill for 4 hours. On this day everyone could walk at their own pace and people quickly spread out. I hiked with my dad and a girl from New Zealand. It wasn´t sunny in the morning but we were happy because it would have been so hard if it was too hot. After 3 hours we arrived at Dead Woman´s pass at 4200m. Having arrived in abut the middle of the pack, we had to wait about an hour at the pass for the rest of the group. It was nice sitting at the top and lots of pictures were taken. By the time the last of the group had arrived the clouds had rolled in and we couldn´t really see much more. We began a 3 hour descent to 3600m. Going down was almost harder than going up. The entire trail is composed of mostly stairs made of big rocks. The size of the stairs varies so much that you have to focus where you place your feet at every step. We had lunch at 3600m and then started a 2 hour climb up to another pass at 4000m. It started raining just after lunch and didn´t stop all day. At the top of the second pass we descended for 2 hours to our campsite. We first stopped to see an Inka site right before our camp. By that time it finally started clearing up and we had a great view from the Inka site.

We arrived at camp soaked, apparently my rain pants aren´t water proof. Maybe I should have checked that before I left and I probably should have expected it since I´ve had them since I was 13. It started raining again after dinner and we once again retreated to our tents around 8pm to go to sleep. It rained most of the night again, which unfortunately meant that nothing had a chance to dry over night.

To be continued.... Days 3 and 4!