Cusco & The Inca Trail

Cusco is busteling city of 1.5 million people, although you wouldn´t think so to look at it. It sits at over 3000 metres, so the air was a little thinner than Arequipa. It was originally the Inca capital and then conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors about 5 centuries ago. The spanish influence is apparent everywhere you look.

We sat at a bar overlooking the Plaza de Armas (seems every town here has a square of the same name), and were spoilt by the brightest rainbow we´d ever seen - no wonder the Inca flag is like a rainbow...

We had our briefing for the Inca Trail that night so were well prepared for what was to come the next day.

We were picked up from our hotel at 6am and taken Ollantaytambo (not sure of spelling there) where we picked up some walking sticks and last supplies. The first days trekking was fairly easy, more undulating than anything, but the last half hour to our first camp was pretty tough.

There were six of us in the group, 2 guides, a chef and 9 porters to carry all of our gear, tents, sleeping bags etc. The porters are absolute machines, they each carry 20kg of gear and practically run the entire trail. When we arrived at the first camp our tents were all set up and they were waiting with hot cups of coca tea, amazing service!

Day 2 was very different to the first day. We left camp at 3200m and climbed for almost 5 hours up to 4215m to Dead Womans Pass - it was by far the most physically challenging thing either Cate or I have ever done. Towards the top we´d take 10 steps and have to have a break. Running on a treadmill at the gym from now on will be a piece of cake compared to that pass. We arrived at the second camp again to tea and later a lush dinner prepared by our chef. There´s not exactly any nightlife at these camps, everyone goes to bed at 8pm and gets up at 5am.

Day 3 was really enjoyable, two passes but nothing like the first one. Lots of undulation which was a welcome break for our now tired legs. We stopped at several Incan ruins that were fascinating how they just clinged to the side of the moutain. The descent to the last camp was excruiating, over 3000 steps down - and not your average steps, the Incas for some reason built steps at least 40cm high

Day 4 was a really early start, we were woken at 3.30am by the porters, breakfast waiting for us. It was only a short hour and a half walk to the Sun Gate, to catch our first glimpse of Machu Picchu, and wow! what a sight! Just breathtaking to see the "Lost City of the Incas" after 4 days hiking, covering over 40km and plenty of elevation change.

We had all morning to explore the ruins, our guide Orelia gave us so much information, it was hard to take it all in.

This is the photo we came for...




We took a combination of buses and a train back to Cusco for a well deserved hot shower (we didn´t shower for 4 days and we stank, yuck!) and a good rest.

It´s definitely true what people say, walking the Inca Trail and seeing Machu Picchu is a life changing experience. It really made a difference walking the trail and not just taking the bus there. We got a really good understanding of what the Incas were all about and how advanced they were over 500 years ago. They definitely didn´t use a back-hoe to build this place!

There´s so much more we could say, but you´ll have to wait till we get home to tell you more.

Finally, Cate made some new friends in Cusco...

We leave today for Lake Titicaca for a couple of days, then onto Bolivia - the last leg of our trip.

Hasta luego!