Happy Inka Trails

The whole trip in South America, even the contretemps airline adventures, was such an amazing experience. Actually, I think trouble getting to Peru made me appreciate the whole trip even more, it definitely made it more memorable. If George Bailey is willing to work his way to Europe on a cattle boat, I am sure I can spend an extra day in Atlanta.

The first day was maddening to say the least. It really wouldn't have been so bad if wasn't for the luggage debacle. I checked my big backpack because I thought it would be to big to carry-on the plane. Well, that might have been the biggest mistake of the trip. I went to go get my backpack and it took 5, yes five, hours to get my bag back.



The next day was kinda fun looking for alternate routes to Peru. It was just like an episode of the amazing race. We found the best route through Bogota, Columbia and we were on our way. Another cool thing about diverting our route was we got to spend a whole day in Bogota. We got to sit in first class down to Columbia which was cool because I don't think Dad had got to go on a long overseas trip in first class.

When we arrived in Bogota it was getting late, at least later than I would want to be out roaming around one of the largest drug producing countries in the world without a clue of where we were going and no ability to speak the language. So we got in and saw the hordes of taxi drivers outside. We brushed off several of them but then as we were looking for the ATM (máquina del banco) one guy approached us and asked if we needed to get money. He showed us were it was and politely waited for us, then asked if he could be our taxi. He seemed like such an honest chap, we negotiated a price and headed for the hotel.

Everything in Columbia worked out very well. The hotel was actually really amazing. The sights were interesting. I think we saw just about all of the "cultural" sights that I really cared to see in Bogota (the monetary on the hill, the Botero museum, and the transvestite hookers). After a full day of all this we were off to Lima, by way of Quito. One note about the flight, the flight from Quito to Lima was about 1hr 45 min. On this flight they showed a movie, Stranger than Fiction, a fine movie but a movie that lasts 1hr and 55 min. Right at the climax of the movie, the flight landed and they stopped it. I had to go through Peru for 7 days wondering what happened to Harold Crick.

The first day in Lima was pretty much a blur. The thing we learned today is that in Peru, the time printed on a ticket is more of a ballpark rather than an exact time. In way, we got on the flight to Cusco fairly uneventfully. The flight to Cusco was really quite amazing passing by a couple of 20K peaks that you could almost reach out and touch. When we got to Cusco one of the first thing that struck me was the size of the city. It was nestle in between several mountains so there wasn't a ton of room to spread out but the city seemed to go on for quite some time.

We decided to make up for a little lost time and go out exploring. We hired a taxi driver for $20 for the whole day to drive us all around the local ruins. The largest, Saksayhuaman, provided a great first look at Inkan architecture as well as a magnificent view of the city below. We traveled through several other ruins and ended up in Pisac where our taxi driver took us down town to the market to get some lunch. We ate at a stand run by a little old woman who gave us a three course meal (soup, veggies and chicken) for three people all for about $1.40. It was a ton of food and a little "exotic" tasting for the first real day.



The next day we hit the Urubamba river or maybe it hit us, I couldn't tell which. The morning started out a bit chilly, which made us a bit leery about getting wet and speeding through a canyon. By the time we got to the river the sun was out and it was getting warmer. This was nice because when we walked down to the river we did not start on the beach or a nice calm section of the river. We were in the middle of a class 4 rapid that was moving rather quickly. The river was fun and our guide Javier was very talkative with good info about the area. By the time we got to the end of the run the rains had formed again and it was getting cold. I could not wait to get on the bus and start warming up even though I don't thing the bus had a heater. We made it back to the raft house and they had hot showers and a sauna. That was really nice! Then we got cleaned up and had a late lunch (I was starving by this point.) Overall it was a good time.

On the Inka Trail

Now we get into the meat of the trip on the Inka Trail. Since 2001 the trail has been quite regulated by the Peruvian government. So while each tour group is a bit different the hike is virtually the same with each one. They are all right around four days with the same camping spots along the trail.

Day 1: The First Steps

The bus picked us up first at 7am and then made its way through the narrow streets of Cusco to gather the rest of the group. By 8:00am we were on our way. We stooped at km 82 on the road to Agua Calientes, here the group got out and made preparations for the journey. As everyone got things together the first thing I noticed was my bag was considerably larger than any of the other travelers. I wondered if this was lack of planning on their part or lack of efficiency on my part. After a brief check in with the government control, we were on our way.

The trail was beautiful - verdant green with snow-capped peaks in the background. You could hear the rush of the river below me. As you would descend in and out of clouds, the mist helped to keep you cool. The only uphill stretch of the day was short -- about 30 minutes -- but very steep. During the first day, we traveled through several small Peruvian villages that were dotted along the trail. The houses were mainly an adobe material the interesting thing was there was almost nothing inside each of them. You could see there were a few mats to use as beds and table with chairs but not much else. It was a sobering reminder of the vast economic disparity between Peru and America.

We were only 2 miles and about 2.5 hours in the trail when we stopped for lunch. This was our first experience with our amazing trail chef. The porters quickly set up a couple of small tents, one for cooking and one for dinning. Each meal was at least 3 courses with soup, vegetables and then a meat or pasta dish. Some of the meals would have dessert as well. This was amazing to me considering how much we paid for the whole trek. The other astounding thing was as soon as we were all done with lunch we started to mosey back down the trail. Within 30 min, the porters would come running past you on their way to the next camp. By the time we got there all of our individual tents were set up and afternoon tea was ready. It was truly incredible to watch these little 5 foot porters move up and down the trail.

Day 2: Stairway to Heaven

The second day is the hardest day of trek. It is almost exclusively uphill and includes the climb over the 15500 foot, ominously-named Dead Woman's Pass. The day started out somewhat easy. We were going up but just a standard up hill through the rain forest. The guides kept saying pace yourselves, this is going to be very difficult today. I thought how difficult can it be. We traveled for about 2.5 hours and then came to a large resting spot and the last place to purchase water on the trail. Everyone rested but felt fairly confident in their ability to make it

Then came the really hard part: the climb to Dead Woman's Pass. I could see it as I rounded the corner from the last resting spot. It was almost straight up. We began trudging up the 1000 year trail. It was a long arduous climb, I tried to just focus on the stairs in front of me. Halfway to the top, icy rain began to pour down intermittently. It was along this portion that Dad realized that he was 61 years old.

Reading stories and watching documentaries about people climbing Mt Everest I have often heard about those that get 100 -200 meters from the top and just can't make it. I thought "How can that be? How can you be so close and not realize your goal?" This was the closes I have been to that. As we neared the top I would hike for about 5 minutes then stop and look at the top to get my bearings. It seemed every time I looked I was no closer than the previous. Dad had to rest after ever dozen steps or so and he was breathing very deep and laboriously. I thought that we would not make the top. But as the saying goes "Slow and steady wins the race" and we eventually made it to the top. That was a great feeling to be at the top and look at what you had just conquered.

Ironically, going down was as much if not more difficult for me to traverse. After using all of my strength to get down the mountain, trying to steady myself down the shear steps on the back side was quite a chore. Also, at that point Dad's body gave out and we just had to get him to the camp and put him to bed. At the end of the day, everyone felt it was very difficult but very rewarding.

Day 3: Clear Skies Ahead

All through the night the rain came down continuously. I woke up about 5:45, an hour before breakfast, and thought, "I hope it is not going to rain all day." We prepared our camp stuff and got everything ready for that days activities while listening the rhythmic percussion on the tent's rain fly. As soon as we got everything together and made our way out of the tent, the rain stopped. The rain was done for the rest of the hike, which was really great.

We started the day staring up at a mile-long staircase over the next peak. It was nowhere near as bad as the previous day, partly because there was some ruins along the way that we stopped to wander through and partly because Dad hired a porter for the day and didn't have to haul anything up the mountain.

The whole day was simply beautiful. The hike was a good mix of stairs and flat ground winding through the snow-capped mountains all around. This brings up an interesting point. Upon getting home and inspecting the pictures from the hike they don't even come close to reproducing the view of the surroundings on the trail. The mountains were so grand and the views were so vast that the pictures don't convey the same feelings.

Day 3 ended at a more established camping spot. There was a cafeteria that mostly served as a bar for everyone to get beers. There was a hot shower for 5 soles or a cold one for free. Since I did not have 5 soles and they actually looked just about equal, I went with the cold. That night we had a celebration of sorts, sitting in the dining room eating a huge meal. The last thing we did that night was invite in all of the porters and the chef and give them a standing ovation and a bunch of money we had collected. When I was thinking about it, the amount we collected divided among the 13 porters would end up being about $20 a piece for 4 days of fairly exhausting work.

Day 4: Meeting the Old Mountain

The day started early, getting up at 0400, to try to bet the sunrise to Machu Picchu. Talking to the guides they said it is about a 50/50 chance to see the site through the Gate of the Sun at sunrise because often it is cloudy first thing in the morning. We rushed over the last 2 hours of the hike (with some very difficult parts like stairs that literally were at an 80% grade for about 50 feet) in the darkness but the odds were not in our favor. It was ok though, we were able to see the clouds lift up like a big, slow curtain revealing the goal of our trek.

Once we got down to Machu Picchu we all rested for about an hour, then had a very detailed guided tour of the site. It was amazing to see what these ancient people had built and in an inhospitable location. The the hike was capped off by one last big hike up Wayna Pichhu, the peak the towers over Machu. I know Dad was not really keen on doing it, actually I wasn't either. Looking up another 1000 feet and motivating start climbing was difficult. I think we were both glad we did as it gave some of the best views of the area and made you feel like you were on top of the world.

I am always amazing when I get to visit someplace that I have seen in so many pictures and on TV. It is almost surreal thinking that you are actually there. I felt that way in Russia and then again in Italy, the first two big foreign trips I did. It is not until you get back that you really appreciate the experience. Especially something like this where the hiking was very taxing and sometimes in the moment the appreciation was lost a bit.

The rest of the trip paled in comparison. We got back to Cusco that night and barely made our flight to Lima the next morning (they changed the flight time without telling most of the people on the flight). We spent the next day in Lima resting and recuperating, watching paragliders along the beach in Miraflores. Then we made the trip back to the USA with a few hiccups, Santiago being a 12 hour continuous hiccup, retrospectively not much to worry about. All in all, another amazing trip complete...........how lucky are we!

Check out the video compelation!