Inca Trek

Wow... what an amazing week! On Tuesday morning our group left Cuzco very early to head to the Sacred Valley of the Inca. After much preperation we finally arrived to the Inca Trail.

Part of me wants to paint the picture of this trek as very hardcore and the other part of me wants to say that is was easy, I really can see it both ways... It was easy because we had great guides, chefs and porters (who carried our tents and sleeping bags and stuff) who made the trek much easier. It was hard because the trek was difficult, we did some serious climbing and trekked for many hours.

The first day was a warm-up day and the trek was long, but there was not much climbing. We saw some cool Inca ruins and really got used to how the trek was going to go. Each night we camped at different locations along the trail, the first night we had an awesome spot in this very lush valley that overlooked some massive mountains. The second day was the most difficult, we crossed a huge mountain pass - known as Dead Womans Pass (luckily the weather cooperated). The pass was about 4200 meters, about the same size as Pikes Peak. Everyone was really tired after the big hike... a nap was in order for nearly everyone. That night we camped in the valley between some massive mountains - it was quite a spot! The third day was by far the best, the weather was great, the terrain was up and down (a couple small passes) and the scenery and ruins were amazing (I really need to get some photos on this thing!). That night was arrived just a short hike away from Machu Picchu. The last morning we woke up at 4 a.m. to head for the famous Inca spot of Machu Picchu. We arrived to the Sun Gate around 7 a.m. to see the wonderful view and first spotting of the sacred city. We spent much of that day hiking around the ruins and learning about the place. It really was rewarding to have hiked for 4 days to arrive to such a special spot. Granted everyone was really tired and dirty, it still was an awesome way to get there! With some free time I made the mistake of hiking up WynaPicchu, the mountain right next to the site, when I arrived at the top after the grueling hike the mountain was covered in clouds and a thunder storm was brewing... needless to say I hurried back down. After that unecessary hike I had enough and took the bus down the mountain where we got a bite to eat and waited for the train back to Cuzco.

I am not back in Cuzco and will be relaxing and recovering here until Monday. It is nice to be back to having regular showers and food (though I have to say the food and service on the trek was nothing short of amazing).

If you have facebook a couple of my trip-mates have posted some pics online, there is also a group that I belong to called Atlantic to Pacific, where there are some others photos. I promise I will work on getting mine on a site soon, it really is a pain though!

I hope this finds everyone well!