Last Friday we embarked on our four day hike on the Inca Trail. Our group was comprised of the fifteen students, Scott (on of our program leaders—one got sick the day before and the other had this enrichment week off,) three guides, and 24 porters including a chef and assistant chef. But before I say much more, I feel it’s necessary to clarify that this was as close to luxury camping as you can get. I’ll explain.
In the morning, we were woken up when hot coca tea was brought to our tents. A few minutes later, a hot bowl of water was placed outside our tent door. Then we’d have breakfast. The first day we had hot quinoa cereal and pancakes with fruit and chocolate sauce, the second day was a spinach pancake with chicken sausage, the third day was omelettes. After breakfast, we’d pack up (although I don’t even know if I can call it that because the porters even took down our tents and rolled up our pads) and hit the trail. We were given snacks for our breaks, which were mostly cookies, fruit, and candy. When we arrived at our lunch spot each day, we’d find a tent set up with tables and chairs. Then we were served a three course meal. First was an appetizer, then soup, then a main dish. After each meal we had tea as well. After lunch, if we had more mileage to cover, we’d finish our day’s hike. Arriving at our campsite, our tents would already be set up with sleeping pads placed inside. At 5:30, we had teatime, which consisted of hot chocolate, coffee, tea, and more snacks. Then around 7 we had dinner. I don’t know if you can get any less rustic than that. Having said that, it was definitely nice after a long day of hiking to be somewhat pampered. I feel a little bit whimpy for saying that now.
The first day, we took a bus out to kilometer 82 of the railway that takes the non-hikers out to Machu Picchu. After passing through a checkpoint (the first of many along the way), we began our trek. That day’s hike was a fairly mild , mostly flat 11 kilometers. I was surprised to see places along the trail selling drinks and snacks. I guess I didn’t realize how touristy the Inca Trail was. Day 2 was by far the hardest day—nine kilometers with a 1200 m elevation gain up to Dead Woman’s Pass. What was harder for me though, was the downhill that came after that. After we reached the top, we had to descend down steep stone stairs. Not fun on the joints. We were all really tired when we reached our campsite, and most of us just lied around in our tents for the rest of the day. Well, we came out for meals and of course, our Halloween celebration! We all wore costumes and trick-or-treated at each other’s tents. As much as we missed having our Halloween back at home, I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was definitely a Halloween we’ll remember for quite some time. Our hike on day three was 16 kilometers long. We went over two more passes, but they weren’t nearly as hard as the first. Then we descended about 1000 meters to our last campsite. We walked past many Incan ruins, and got to learn about their architecture and history of the Incas. Our fourth day began bright and early when we were woken up at 3:30 in the morning. The porters had to pack up our tents and gear so they could make their train at 5:30. We waited in a little lodge until 5:30, which was when the checkpoint opened. After that, we hiked the last 6 km past the sungate and down to Machu Picchu. It was a bummer because the third and fourth days were rainy and cloudy, so we missed out on a lot of views and scenery. When we got to the sungate, we couldn’t even see famous view of Machu Picchu. Luckily, it cleared out a little later on in the day, so we were still able to see it from a bit further down.
It was pretty incredible seeing Machu Picchu. All of the building and temples and water fountains that are still standing today amazed me. It was crowded with lots of people though, which personally I didn’t find appealing. The mountains were breathtaking. I can’t even explain their beauty. I was surround by these giants, and it made me feel so tiny.
We all went out to a buffet lunch after. Turns out that was NOT a good decision. That night, eight people, including me, got food poisoning. And we all went to the hospital the next day. It was miserable. And to make things worse, it was the day before our crazy long trip to China. I’m still not feeling great. Let’s just say I’ve been eating lots of bread and crackers. Hopefully it’ll pass soon.
I have custody of one of four program computers during our time in China and Cambodia, so I’m actually typing this on our flight from El Salvador to LA. We woke up this morning at 5 for our flight from Cusco to Lima. The plane got delayed and hour for mechanical failure, so in Lima we had to sprint through the departure tax and security. Adrenaline rush. Then we flew from Lima to El Salvador. Our next leg will be from LA to Hong Kong, and then we’ll fly from Hong Kong to Kunming, China. I could be done flying already. But we aren’t even halfway done.
I’m really excited though because my family is meeting me in the LA airport! Knock on wood everything goes well. I can’t wait.
I guess I should conserve the battery on this computer. Unfortunately I signed up for this computer before I knew it was the computer with the charger that doesn’t actually charge.
Wish for no more flight trouble!
No comments:
Post a Comment