Day 11: Inca Trail Day 1

Though early, we were all excited to get things going on the Inca trail today.   The main reason we are in Peru is Machu Picchu.   Of course, the main attraction makes you open your eyes to the rest of  country has to offer.  In the case of Peru, turns out there is a ton to see.   Still, Machu Picchu is the main draw.

The first leg was a drive to the sacred valley, about 90 minutes up and out of Cusco, then eventually along a nicely paved road (with the occasional diversion around a rockfall) that followed the winding path of the Urubamba River.  We stopped for a bathroom break at a little outfitters store where we picked up some ponchos in cas of rain.

Next was a five minute drive to our after trek hotel destination of Olantaytambo.  We dropped our main bags off and picked up a snack.  Our hotel was literally on the train platform so when we get the train back from Machu Picchu we will have a twenty meter walk to our beds!

Back in the bus, we were thirty more minutes up a rough dirt road until we reached mile 82 where we would start our trek.   We briefly met some of our porters and cooks (16 of them) but they quickly grabbed our duffle bags and were off up the trail.

Nep led us on the a small road that quickly turned to an up and down path that generally hugged the train track and Urubamba.  

The terrain was spectacular... very similar to the start of the Annapurna treks... a little civilization connected by paths and the occasional suspension bridge, dotted with small farm houses.  



The main difference was here we were surrounded by cacti!  

We hiked for about three hours, broken up by several rest breaks and a snack break until we reached our lunch stop.   There was a large dining tent set up with table cloth drinks and cutlery.   Some of the porters were there, resting, while others busied themselves with food prep while still others were presumably ahead of us setting up camp.   Nep walked us through how to use the toilet tent (reminded me of Ron’s national ride eco-toilet!).

We had a great lunch of corn soup with vegetables followed by some kind of rice, curry, potato and bone-in chicken.   We drank lemon grass infused water, and generally tried to avoid the sun and heat... it was getting pretty hot and we were now all super conscious of our proximity to the sun at these altitudes.

After lunch, we passed through some kind of passport control before crossing the Urubamba on a bouncy suspension bridge.   We would now circle back on the opposite bank before heading up a valley cut with a smaller tributary to the sacred river.   It wasn’t long before we saw a huge structure/ruins on our right side and Nep announced “we are here!”.   We hiked into a small village up a small road with a fast flowing aqueduct beside it and turned into a field where we saw our tents and dining tent set up.  

Now this is glamping!

Normally, Nep would have toured us around the ruins, but because of the soccer game we’d requested (and they’d happily obliged) to see, we will do that tomorrow.  It wasn’t long before the kids were playing card, and the adults, three other Canadians staying at our site and all of the porters and locals were crowded around a TV at one of the village’s houses cheering on the Peruvian national team in their final against the Brazilians.

The game was fun, in as much as it was a chance to watch this mixed group of farmers and tourists watch a big match.   Unfortunately Peru lost 3-1 so there was no big “hoe down” after the game.   When Brazil scored their third goal late in the second half, and older man took off his ball cap and slammed it on the ground, then walked across the field to his farm house... everyone laughed... the Peruvians we’ve met so far are not huge on reactions, so it was pretty funny to see this outburst.

Snack was “queso and guacamole” - which meant a kind of egg roll with a small slice of cow-feta cheese and guacamole made from avocado that the cooks had pulled off a tree in the afternoon... so good.  Dinner followed soon after, delicious trout and veggies among other courses.   Camping / fresh air meals make everything taste so good.

During dinner, somehow, Alex’s story of when he made the mistake of rubbing hot chilli over his entire body came up (yeah, not sure either), but he was soon screaming at the top of his lungs “my balls were on fire!”.   Nep was laughing hysterically, and the rest of us went from out of control to Robin outright crying.  Alex never fails to bring the energy and is always entertaining at break times and meals.

We know tomorrow will be a tougher day, but it feels like the group is working well and I’m sure we’ll get through it ok.  I’m looking forward to getting higher up in the mountains.