Inca Trail - Day 1

C, D and I got up VERY early this morning to meet our guide at 6 am and drive to Ollantaytambo where we met the rest of our hiking group. We got to Ollantaytambo early, so the three of us wandered around the town, found a free bathroom, and got a cup of coffee. The others finally arrived and we were off to kilometer 82 where we began our trek.

It took a while to actually start the trail - the porters had to gather all the stuff together. We were finally off after about half and hour of standing around and walked down across the train tracks and took the requisite picture under the Inca Trail sign. After another ten minutes of walking, we got to the first check-point. This was the only place we were required to show our passports to verify that we were registered to walk the trail. (Only 500 permits are given out for each day and over 60% are used by the porters and guides.) I now have a stamp in my passport to prove that I hiked the trail!

After crossing a footbridge, we hiked for two hours down the Urubamba canyon, and were able to see the Inca farming terraces and the settlement of Llaqtapata on the banks of the Cusichaca side river. We then climbed a short way up the Cusichaca valley to Huayllabamba, the last inhabited village on the trail, where we camped. If the hike had been at a lower altitude it wouldn't have been much of a challenge (there was only one big hill), but I could definitely notice the high altitude. R and I tended to be at the back of the pack, taking our time (and a few more breaks). At least by stopping, I was able to get some pictures of the trail. The assistant guide was laughing at me for it, but hey, I figured "It's my trip, so I'm going to enjoy it!"

The trail goes through a few villages, each with a stall set up to sell snacks and drinks to the hikers. We stopped for lunch near a stream (all the porters clapped as we came in and one handed us a glass of juice) and were able to use the "toilets" while we waited for our meal. It was my first time using a real squat toilet, which is actually easier than squatting over the toilets without toilet seats. After being given a basin of water and a bar of soap to wash our hands, we had lunch - soup for starters and trout for the main course. I was amazed at how fancy the food was - I was expecting something simpler to make!

Our campsite for the night was just outside a village, so the chickens were roaming around most of the evening. Our tents were already set up by the time we got there and our duffels were inside. A porter came around with hot (well, luke warm) water for us to wash ourselves and to blow up our mattress if we wanted. At 5 pm, we had "tea" - tea, hot chocolate, crackers, popcorn ... it was great! We relaxed a bit more before supper - a few people went an bought themselves a beer to reward themselves for a hard days work. Supper was soup, a main course, and then desert (I can't remember what we ate, but it was all very good), then after the guides had told us some stories about emergency evacuation off the trail (they CARRY you on their backs either to km. 82 or Machu Picchu, whichever is closest), we were off to bed.