Peru // The Inca Trail: Part One
/The Inca Trail (or Camino Inka) is undoubtedly one of the most famous hikes in the world. The standard four-day/three-night hike is twenty-six miles long starting at Kilometer 82. Thought twenty-six miles doesn't necessarily sound like much when you spread it out over four days, the real killer is, you guessed it: the altitude. The maximum altitude reached on the second day of the hike is about 13,500 feet above sea level. And while climbing vertically isn't that awesome to begin with, going in the opposite direction is even worse -- especially down the 1,300 plus wet and slippery stone steps.
When you factor in the fact that three out of the four of us had no more exercise in the past year than walking to and from the car, a daily trip up sixty-two steps to your fourth floor apartment often proved to be obstacle enough (read: heavy breathing). Still, we completed the hike without any breakdowns. If you are planning on hiking you will read about how difficult the trail is and while it has its hard stretches, we found that overall it was perfectly fine. I mean, were not talking Navy Seals boot camp here -- pace yourself and you'll get through it.
The general rule of thumb when planning your hike is to book somewhere between three to seven months in advance. Our trip planning was a bit tumultuous due to unforeseen circumstances but in the end our stars aligned and we were able to pull the trigger and make it happen. Given our (fake) busy lives, we opted to visit just post the Christmas holiday in order to maximize our vacation days. This is the second biggest downfall to living in America (the first being the FDA rules regarding pasteurized cheese, obviously). Why can't I have eight weeks off to eat all of the unpasteurized brie I want? #firstworldproblems
December-January falls into the rainy season category but simultaneously coincides with the second swell of tourism in Peru given the US holidays (i.e., Christmas and New Years). I can say with only a small amount of embarrassment that I started to plan for my December trip in April. Ok fine it was March. Of the ten people our group was originally supposed to consist of only four of us made the journey. In retrospect that big of a group was wishful thinking. I knew everyone was hoping that s'mores would be included in this camping trip and that it was only a matter of time before people faced with the harsh reality: there was zero percent chance that we would be roasting marshmallows/finding graham crackers in the Andes.
Our gear. Literally.
After much deliberation we decided to go with Pachamama Explorers as our tour operator. Two days before our hike, our tour guide David (pronounced: DA-veed) met us at out hotel in Cusco to go over our itinerary. This two day before gimmick is a common practice of most, if not all, tour operators. This forces you to at least spend two days acclimatizing before your hike. Ain't nobody got time for you to drop dead, be helicoptered out (I don't even know if this is really an option) or pull a Forrest Gump and say, "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now."
Main square of Ollantaytambo in the shadow of Wiracochan's image.
Anyway, David and his crew picked us up promptly at 4:30 am for our departure towards Ollantaytambo. Even though it was offensively early, the first leg of our road trip really set the tone of what was to be expected in terms of beautiful scenery. Sorry I don't have any pictures - I was too tired (read: semi-horizontal) to move. Once we arrived in Ollantaytambo we had about an hour to grab a bite to eat and buy any last minute necessities (e.g., coca leaves!) before heading towards to Kilometer 82.
People will often spend time in Ollantaytambo before heading towards Cusco since it's located at a lower altitude. I found the main "plaza" to be like the Peruvian version of Time Square -- everyone is pushing you to buy things you don't need at an inflated priced. I am only basing this on the sixty minutes that I spent here eating breakfast -- I know that people love Ollantaytambo!
After our one hour elapsed it was back to the car for the two hour drive towards the start of the hike. The first half of this car ride was on a smooth paved road. The second part, however, made you feel like you were Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls when he's driving out of the African Bush and appears to be driving on unpaved terrain in the middle of nowhere. Of course when the camera pans out he's in a developed area, on a paved road driving towards a Subway billboard. That was us -- sans the paved road and the Subway sign.
The railroad that brings you to Aguas Caliente, the town at the base of Machu Picchu.
Someone's emergency donkey. Oh, you don't have one of those?
When you finally arrive and Kilometer 82 you have to go through passport control. This is where they confirm whether or not you hold one of the five hundred allotted daily permits. Of the five hundred permits issued daily there are generally only about two hundred tourists on the trail -- the remaining 300 are the porters. This area is also known as the point of no return/where you start to question your sanity ("Why did I think this was a good idea again? Five hour days of walking up hill only to turn around and spend four hours walking down hill? Don't I have better things to do with my disposable income like save for retirement? I should be putting at least 15% of my income into my 401(k). I need to increase my contribution when I get back/if I survive.")
"Did you guys see that donkey? Anyone else thinking that's the way to hit the trail?"
Once our nerves settled, we posed for our obligatory pre-hike photo op. Fun fact: there are people standing by this sign who take your picture like you just walked into the entrance of Disney World. Unlike Disney World, however, there is no ticket system. Instead they just sort of look out for you once you descend back to Aguas Calientes post Machu Picchu on Day Four.
Here we are -- the Bandana Crew (that was our street (trail) name). All smiles -- those lasted about 3.5 seconds.
In the words of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone: "This is it. Don't get scared now."
Porters with baby elephant sized backpacks.
And we were off! The first five minutes of the hike really terrified us. I remember getting to the top of the small grassy knoll and thinking to myself -- if the next four days are as hard as the last 30 seconds I am a goner. Luckily, that first hill is just a warm up. Overall Day One was relatively easy. Sure we were out of breath but compared to the next few days, Day One was a breeze.
View on Day One
Our tour guide, David, has been guiding people on the Inca Trail before guiding people was a thing for about something like fifteen years. Turns out this was his last tour with Pacahmama Tours and quiet honestly it felt like he checked out a little bit. Most of Day One consisted of us just slowly following behind him -- every now and then he would stop and explain what plants we could eat nearby if we had to live in the wilderness. Not a chance in the world I remember any of them nor would be able to pick them out the next day. By Day Two he had basically given up on our snail pace and would actually just tell us to go ahead and not worry -- "I'll catch up." Most of the Porters speak Quechua, the Native South American language of the people who live in the Andes, so having two Spanish speaking friends basically proved to be useless. We had no idea what David and our Porters were saying about us but something told us that they thought our pace sucked.
She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes.
Our first Inca ruin, Llactapata! This site was used for ceremonial purposes.
Maybe it's because I don't hike.. ever, but I didn't realize how often I would be left with my own thoughts; there really wasn't much talking. Maybe it's because I was so out of breath that I couldn't communicate. That was probably it. I'm sure regular people can hold conversations while they're walking.
After walking for what felt like a million hours, we stopped at our first lunch spot. Lunch and dinner generally consisted of some sort of soup with a meat course. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being Subway (barf), 10 being Eleven Madison Park) I would put the food at a 6.5. I might even give it a 7 given how much was made with exactly four pieces of "kitchen" equipment. Remember when the Porters carried a propane tank on their backs for four days? I do.
Trail map/dream crusher
"No, no we're only here."
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner tent equipped with a table and chairs.
After lunch our hike continued.. and then it started raining. On went the ponchos and up went my body temperature. You know when you're in the car in the summer and it's raining and the windows get all foggy but the air conditioner is only making it worse so you shut it off but can't open the windows because everything will get wet? Yeah, that's what the second part of Day One felt like. By the time we got back to our first campsite I was completely soaked with sweat and rain. Remember that time that you had to bathe in wet wipes? That's when things got real and relationships took a turn a la Monica and Joey in friends. "Don't look at me I'm hideous."
First night's campsite.
Oh hey little guy.
... oh
View from our backyard.
Soon after we ate both a snack (pop corn and hot chocolate!) and some dinner it was lights out. Literally, it was pitch black. If I had to guess I would say that was approximately 7:00 pm -- you know, the time that Jeopardy comes on during the week. The next day was going to be the hardest of the hike so we had to get our rest.