The Inca Trail!

The first day of the trek started VERY early, so I was terrified AND knackered. Great start. However, it quickly got LOADS better. The first bit of good news was that I could breathe properly without any pain, the next good news was we had a great group and our peruvian guide Lobo spoke great english and was very funny! So we started off about 10.30am from KM 82, backpacks all packed and ready to go! Chris and I were the only people in our group to carry our own backbacks..which I was really surprised about, apparently its the norm to pay an extra $50 and get a porter to carry your clothes, sleeping bag and sleeping mattress. Quite sensible really!! The first day we walked for about 6 hours and had an hour break for lunch. The walk wasn´t too difficult with just a few steep sections, but my breathing was feeling loads better so it was no trouble. The highlight of the first day was definitely lunch time. This was when I realised we weren´t going to be fed crackers and noodles for 4 days which I had expected, quite the opposite in fact!

Lunch was a 3 course affair in a tent set up by the porters before we´d arrvived. We had our own chef and he had been busy preparing our lunch while we were walking, amazing as he had set off at the same time as us from KM 82, he´d got there and made us a 3 course meal before we´d even arrived! So the first course was stuffed avocado salad, then asapargus soup with garlic bread and for the main it was a delicious spaghetti bolognese. You can imagine Chris´excitement at all this food..and I was pretty happy about what was to come after this great first meal! I was definitely feeling better about this Inca Trail thing.. I was really enjoying myself!

The first night we camped at a beautiful spot with amazing views of the mountains in the distance. The porters had set up our tent and we collapsed into it with relief..we were tired! However we did have enough energy left to eat a large amount of popcorn and fried wanton crackers with dulce de leche the chef had prepared for us as a snack-brilliant! Dinner was at 7.30pm and I was not disappointed..another 3 course meal had been prepared: mushroom soup, grilled trout with vegetables and rice, and then banana flambe with very strong rum! It was really cold as soon as the sun went down at 5pm but we slept very well that night-what a great day!



Our guide, Lobo told us the second day would be the hardest as we were hiking over 2 passes, the first one, Dead Womans Pass is 4,215m above sea level and it is a VERY steep walk up. So I mentally prepared myself for the worst and we set off after breakfast at 7am. Breakfast was great- fruit salad, granola, yoghurt, honey pancakes and toast and jam! Fantastic start to the day. Lobo was not wrong, the walk up to Dead Womans Pass was tough, the climb took us about 3 hours, we had to stop to catch our breath a fair few times as we were climbing so high up, you could literally feel the lack of oxygen up there- it was crazy! But I didn´t feel anything like I had in Cuzco, my breathing was ok and I felt fine once we reached the top! It was a great feeling to have completed the hardest bit of the trek without too much difficulty! The next part was an hour downhill-which was surprisingly difficult as my legs felt like jelly! We made it down for lunch which consisted of causa (a Peruvian dish similar to shepherd´s pie, but made with tuna instead of beef), barley soup, quinoa salad, grilled alpaca (which I didn´t eat..they are too cute to even think about eating!), fried manioc, mashed potatoes and pasta salad.

After filling up on much needed carbs we started the climb to the second pass which was 3,950m so still pretty high up! The second half of the day was hard as we were all so tired form the mornings climb, but we did it in good time and arrived at our second night´s camp about 5pm. After scoffing down more popcorn and fried wantan with banana we collapsed in our tents and waited for dinner. The chef once again produced a masterpeice of vegetable soup, steak in tomato sauce with rice and potatoes and for dessert, pears in wine sauce. We were passed out in our tents with as many clothes on as humanly possible by 9pm. Another fantastic, yet tiring day!





We had a bit of a lie in on the third day, being woken up at 7am by the porters offering us tea. Breakfast was amazing again, with creamy porridge, ham and vegetable omelettes and toast and jam. The view from our campsite was stunning watching the sunrise over snow capped Andes peaks. Unforgettable! So we set off again and walked for about 4 hours, passing ruins on the way, a couple of Inca tunnels and the third pass which was 3,700m. The scenery on this section of the walk is incredible and definitely our favourite part of the trek. The hour before we stopped for lunch we had to make our way down over 3000 original Inca steps, the steps are tiny so this was harder than it sounds! One of the highlights of the whole trek was stopping at a ruin called Intipata, the views of mountains, the valley and the Urubamba River below. The views from there were simply amazing and we would have been happy to end our trip there! We arrived at about 1pm at Wiñay Wayna, the campsite where we spent our third and final night. We had a great lunch of mini pizzas slices, quinoa soup and roast pork with vegetables, chips, rice and salad. We had the afternoon free which was great, some people used this time to have a hot shower (costing about 50p) and I had meant to but instead I fell asleep in my tent for an hour or so…great nap!!

The afternoon raced by and it was time for dinner again, sadly our final dinner! It was pretty special, I think the chef saved the best til last. The final feast was barley soup, Russian beet salad, rocoto relleno (stuffed bell peppers), chicken rolled with bacon in a rich mushroom cream sauce, rice pilaf, hungarian goulash with fried potato slices and raspberry jelly for afters! We said a big thank you to all the porters for carrying our tents, cooking equipment etc and a big thank you to the chef for all the marvellous meals, and we thanked our guide Lobo for being hilarious and making the trip so much fun! We then collapsed into our tents for the last time and fell fast asleep.



The 4th day we were up early…VERY early. 3.45am to be precise. Breakfast was quick but still yummy, banana pancakes, jam and toast. We got ready and left the campsite by 4.30am. It was still completely dark so we had to walk with our head torches on. The 2 hour trek was very fast and quite exciting as we all knew what we were walking towards…our first view of Machu Picchu. We arrived at Intipunku (Sun Gate) at about 6.30am just in time to get our first glimpse of Machu Picchu while the sun was rising. Another unforgettable view and the pictures just won´t do it justice! It was so great to finally be so close to what we´ve been walking towards! We walked a further hour down to the ruins and we´d made it!! It felt so good!



We spent about 2 hours walking around Machu Picchu with a very informative Lobo telling us all about it. Chris and I then decided to punish ourselves a little more by walking up Wayna Picchu Mountain just behind the ruins, it took us about 2 and half hours up and down and it was tough...and painful after 4 days of walking! It did offer amazing views over Machu Picchu tough so I´m glad we did it.

So after dreading the whole thing, I am very pleased to say I had the time of my life, it was so much fun, the people were great, the views were absolutely beautiful, the ruins were incredible, the food was delicious, the walk was tough but rewarding and I´d do it all again in a second! (after a month’s rest!!)