We had a wild few days in Cusco (or nights) leading up to the inca trail and we didnt really tick too many cultural boxes..our biggest night in cusco culminated in will losing his iphone and the rest of us losing our shit as the night climaxed at a crazy little night club called mumma africas..we met some cool aussie girls and also some random locals, some of whom were kind enough to share their apartmnents with us for a few hours as we ran amuck..Lach also managed to commandere a taxi cab and shuffle the driver into the passenger seat, driving around the city (slightly under the influence) for 20 minutes until the driver took back control of the situation.
The next day we just cruised, made a few purchases, watched a movie and chilled with the aussie girls..that night the boys hit the sack early but i went and checked out a club for a bit with a few people from the hostel, went on a bit of a mission and then chilled out back at the hostel for a few hours in the courtyard..
Of notable mention was dads email which included the memorable sentence "hope lach is on top of his alcohol rejection issue!! maybe keep an eye on that one...the human body (with the exception of Keith Richards' and maybe Charlie Sheen's) does have it's limits!! classic..
But enough of the drinking stories (for 4 days anyway)..The INCA TRAIL AND MACHUPICCHU
We woke on the 6th at 5am, ready for the tour company to pick us up..we had already met the group we would be going with the night before and been brifed on the way things would work..in booking the tour we had declined the option of a porter and to our disgruntled surprise we had to carry our back packs plus our sleeping bags and mattress..
We drove the 1.5 hrs to the start of our treck (kilometer 82 sitting at 2380M)) and were again introduced to our guides (alehandro and cesar)..we made an offering of coca leaves to the mountains (for protection and good weather) and away we went..we trecked around 14kms of the first day and as promised the views were breath taking..we saw some raging rivers, inca ruins, had story time (which was a constant highligfht as the incas is an intrigueing story) and had the first of our amazing meals..i was lucky enough to score a tent to myself on the first night and after dinner and cards we retired to our tents, nestled inbetween 2 4000m mountains, directly facing the soon to be sunrise..We awoke at 5am (with coca tea brought to our tents to wake us up) and took in the sunrise, the sun popping up directly in front of us over the snow capped mountains..we were introduced to our amazing porters (they carry 25kgs, we carry 8kgs, the run, we walk, they set up our tents and prepare the food before we arrive) and embarked on the most difficult day of the trek..
Day 2 was approximately 12 kms and consisted of the 2 most difficult climbs of the trek, dead womans pass (4200m) and the high jungle..not to fear future women hikers, the name is based on the fact that the moutain is shaped like a woman laying on her back..it was raining (although not as heavily as it could)and was by far the most testing day. We were struggling up dead womans pass, sweating, but cold, puffing and wining..when we turned around to see a 40 year old obese male keeping pace..which naturally made us think that maybe we are not as fit as we thought we were..but it was an amazing day, good to be tested in some way, with constant beautiful views and cliff dròps..we arrived at the camp site soaked and cold but were glad to have conqured the section..after yet another amazing meal we shuffled off to bed, i with no torch in the pitch black which again made life difficult (i woke up in the morning on the wrong side of the tent, off my mattress and on all the wet clothes)...
Not to be out done the sunrise on day 2, the sunrise on day 3 surpassed the unsurpassable of the previous day and we got some amazing pictures whilst the sky was clear (luckily the rain had passed)..we pushed through 5 straight hours of trekking, through the mystical and enchanting high jungle and covered a solid 16kms to arrive at our camp site by 1..we ate and slept and tried to recover some energy to set us up for the trek to MP the next morning at 4am..We also visited some amazing ruins (as we did every day) and learnt more and more about the inca history and religion..the simplicity and aplicability of their religion was something that struck a cord with many, as was their battle with the spanish and their every day way of life..Their every day mantra of love, learn, work made particular sense..This being our 3rd and last night we again met our porters, had pictures with them and tipped them, which to their obvious delight was a substantial tip and something that we were all extremely glad to be apart of as they had unquestionable done an amazing job..
Waking up at 4am the next morning was surprisingly easy as we were all excited for the charge to MP..They only give a certain number of permits to climb the adjacent wynupicchu (WP) (which has the best views) so stupidly its basically a race to get to the check point in time..the sad part is that whilst the busses of lazy tourists can get to WP by about 6 and get the permits, hikers have to wait until 5.30am before a check point opens (which is still an hour (at pace) from the site)..so we all ran off at a hundred miles an hour, panting and sweating we arrive at MP too late to get the permits we wanted, but in spite, take permits for our second preference just so someone else misses out..(in fareness we were going to climbe our second prederence but were to stuffed anyway)..The view from the walk down (whhich only the hikers see) was amazing, as good as if not better than WP..We had a tour of the ruins (whih are, as their reputation presumes, amazing) and cruised around..lach and i bailed back to agua calientes and swam in the hot springs for an hour or so..we had our final luch togther and all caught the trin back to cusco..
It was an amazing experience and we met some amazing people..our group of 12 was extrremely diverse (with us being the youngest) with a ceo, engineers, bankers, head and vice chef for one of the most famous italian restrauraunts in the UK and IT experts..a great bunch of people and as i have añlready stated an insane and extraordinary experience.
