The Inka Trail Trek

I´m back from one of the toughest treks I´ve ever taken. It was 3 1/2 days of solid walking--along trails, up steep steps and down very slippery ones. The average trekker was about 25, though there was a scattering of older folks like me. Honestly it was the first time that I have ever felt a bit old. I could not sprint along the steep steps--every time I got winded I just stopped and sort of caught my breath for a bit. On the third day there was a tremendous amount of downhill, as I pounded down the interminable stairs, my toes would feel uncomfortably crammed into my boots. The next day I remembered the old hikers trick of wearing thin socks inside of thick ones, and that did help a bit.

So what´s the trek like? Well everyday about 10 tour groups (ranging in size from 4 to 20) descend upon the last portion of the Inka Trail. Each group has a bunch of porters who carry tents, tables, chairs, cooking gear and fresh food. Our group was served such things as beef, chicken and fish along with potatoes and rice as well as a creamed soup flavored with vegetables. Breakfasts included things like omelettes, hot cereal, bread, jam and tea. And the lunches were hot, too. The porters are super-fit men who run ahead of all of the trekkers, getting to the designated camp grounds (we stayed at three different ones) in time to set up the tents and make the meals.

Groups can enlist a trekking agency to arrange their trek or individuals (like me) can simply show up in Cusco and find a trek to join. My trekking group included three American guys (who I´d met on the boat in Puno), a Canadian girl from Alberta, a Chinese-American girl from San Francisco, two Argentinian guys, and a Brazilian woman. After four days, we did become a "family." On the last morning the cooks made a breakfast birthday cake which was covered with jam, they lit a candle and they all sang "happy birthday" to me.

We had two guides, very fit men in their early 30s who had attended guide school, in which they´d studied Inka archeology and group leadership. They were wonderful, pitching in to carry extra stuff as well as patiently answering all of my questions about every archeological site we stopped to explore.

On the first day we were all picked up at around 7 am at our respective hotels and then loaded into a bus which stopped at Ollantayambo. There quite a few other buses also stopped there to enable us trekkers to buy trip "essentials" like decorated walking sticks, pretty water bottle holders, rain ponchos and coca leaves (for energy). I bought just about everything...

Then a pile of porters boarded the back of the bus and we were driven a bit further to our starting point. Then more local sales people showed up to sell straps for attaching sleeping bags and foam mats to everyone´s backpacks. I took it easy and hired a porter to carry my rented sleeping bag (which was thin and had a broken zipper ugh!), my borrowed mat and my extra gear. After each group was processed by the authorities we began to walk. Our first stop was adjacent to a village where things like water, soft drinks and chicha (homemade corn beer) were for sale. As we walked further from village life, such products became increasingly expensive. Here in Peru I´ve paid between 30 cents and 3 dollars for a medium sized bottle of water!

The second day involved a hugely steep climb over a pass--at one point I doubted I´d make it, but I did. Being one of the last in my group to force my way up, they all applauded when I arrived:) The third day was a really long hiking day and by the time my tired body got into camp, it was already dark. That final camp was adjacent to a restaurant which became filled with loads of young Argentinian trekkers who whopped it up most of the night. I was just grateful that the restaurant staff willingly recharged my camera battery so I could shoot as much of Machu Picchu as I cared to the following day.

Arriving at Machu Picchu by foot is pretty amazing. One approaches the sun gate...and then gradually the classic overlook. As we got closer to the main site, day-trippers began to appear, people who were neatly dressed and bathed and who were being led around by guides in many languages. Having gotten up at 4 that morning (so that our porters could pack up the entire camp and get onto a train back to Ollantayambo in time to meet another group), I was truly exhausted during our tour of Machu Picchu. And then a couple of hours into exploring this once hidden city, it began to rain. Not just a little rain, but enough to pour down my plastic poncho and absolutely soak my pants. I began to feel progressively more and more miserable--the combination of being horribly sleep deprived and wet led me to take the tourist bus into Aguas Calientes. There I met up with the rest of my trekking family for a final meal, goodbyes and then a hot shower and much needed sleep.

Today I did very little other than take a long soak in the thermal baths that give this town its name and buy a T-shirt that proclaims that I survived the Inka Trek. Tonight I catch the train back to Cusco. And then tomorrow I fly to Lima and then onward to Ecuador, arriving in Quito. My plans are to catch a bus to Otavalo for a couple of days before connecting with Andy to go to the Galapagos Islands.