Acemuzzy’s Positronic Blog

Day 11 (Thursday 10 July) - Sacred Valley

Up pretty early to head to the Sacerd Valley, our one-day stop en-route to the start of the Inca trail.

We got a public bus from Cuzco, which was pretty crowded - to the extent that we felt we were knicking the locals seats which was a bit unforunate.  We had a nice empanada for elevensies, then headed off the main road to a small school in the mountains.

The kids enjoyed us being there, but the teachers didn’t seem to quite know how to use us to help with the lessons, so it all felt slightly forced.  But the kids were fun.

After an hour, we met some local women who did weavings to earn a living.  I bought a traditional peruvian hat, a bargin at 10 soles (2 quid).

Lunch was a struggle.  A huge bowl of potato soup, followe by a huger plate of rice and vegetable stew.  It was hard to stomach either, so both went back far from empty.

We then headed back to Pisac (where we’d first left the public bus) and got another for one more hour.  We then had a minibus on to Ollantaytambo, a really nice old Incan town. Highlights included meeting (not eating) a LOT of guinea pigs, before dinner at a delicious restaurant which served, amongst other things, ‘The Best Burger Ever’ (it was, according to those who had it!). 

Day 12 (Friday 11 July) - Inca Trail Day 1

First thing, and we were off!

Except we weren’t, as our sleeping backs were still on their way from Cuzco.  Bobby the guide got in a rant.  Finally we drove off to km 82 and the start of the wark.  We had to sign in (with a different group due to an admin mix-up), accross a bridge and away we went.

Things were pretty flat to start with, at under 3,000m.  The first ruins were down below us at Llaqtapata and looked great.  We then started uphill for lunch at 3,000m or so where we were met by the porters clapping us!  Food was good!

The afternoon was harder, an uphill graft till camp 1 at 3,300m.  Slept pretty well after a beer and more nice food.

Day 13 (Saturday 12 July) - Inca Trail Day 2

The hardest day of the walk.  Up at 5.00am an straight onto a 900m assent to 4,200m.

We bought more water at 3,800m and could see the pass above us.  Going was tough due to the altitude.  Finally we got to the pass and realised… it wasn’t the pass, which was in fact still above us.  It then got really tough for the final stetch, but at about 9.30 we were there! 

The other side was easier on the longues, but just as tough on the legs.   Down 800m to 3,400m and lunch (couldn’t have tasted better!).

The afternoon, though lower and less long, was pretty hard work.  We passed by a set of ruins in a blur, then hit the second pass and descended to some more ruins by which point everyone was knackered.  We were there for a while, getting cold, but the place was interesting.  At last we hit the 20min walk through to camp 2.

Day 14 (Sunday 13 July) - Inca Trail Day 3

A much shorter day, we had a slight rise in the morning to the third pass, with the rest of the day dominate by a 1,000m descent to camp 3.  It wasn’t quite as bad as we’d feared. 

There was lots of interesting terracing, but we were mainly interested in reaching the bar and warm shower’s that greeted our arrival.

We had a final dinner & thanked the porters, before talknig ghost stories with Bobby, Ryan and Roishin and hitting the sack before the last night.

Day 15 (Monday 14 July) - Inca Trail Day 4

Up at 3.45am (!) for the short dash to the sungate!  I was feeling chirpy so sprinted ahead, managing to be the first there out of all groups!  Quite a sight - Machu Picchu clearly visible below us.

The group caught up, we took photos, and walked into the site itself.

Things had cleared up from overnight rain, and the weather was perfect blue sky.  It really helped give a magic feeling to the place - fascinating buildings and history with the most stunning of backdrops.  Hard to say more in words, so I won’t attempt to!

We then bussed down to Aguas Calientes and lunch, before a train back to Ollyantaytanbo and bus back our Cuzco hotel.   Tastiest dinner of the trip, followed by a sleep and a hard-won lie-in!