Trekking the Inca Trail
- The team
On the 9th June 07, Community Fundraiser, Michelle Price and eleven other brave souls packed their bags and headed off to Peru. Their aim was to raise funds for Compton Hospice by completing The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. Here is their story:
Saturday 9th June 07
- Plaza De Armas, Cuzco
After twelve months of training and fundraising the day had finally arrived. We loaded our luggage, including sleeping bags, waterproofs, first aid kits and sun cream, onto the minibus and headed for Heathrow Airport. The two long flights to New York and Lima allowed plenty of time for us eleven women and one man to get further acquainted. In high spirits, we had all bonded by the time we had left New York, partly due to half of the group getting on the wrong train at JFK Airport and taking an unplanned tour of the city. Approximately 32 hours later and one holdall lighter, as it hadn’t left the tarmac at Heathrow, we reached Cuzco.
Sunday 10th June 07
- Local women selling their wares
Cuzco sits 2400m above sea level and most of the group noticed the altitude straight away, headaches had started to set in and some of us suffered with slight dizziness. At the hotel, aptly named The Savoy, but not ‘The’ Savoy as we know it, we were given coca tea, which apparently helps with the effects of altitude sickness, we were just glad of the cup of tea. After lunch was a brief tour of the city where we were given the chance to browse an array of hand made handbags and alpaca wool jumpers. We bought souvenirs from the many street vendors, mainly homeless children, some of whom were only seven years old, selling postcards and woollen finger puppets in every animal creation you could imagine. Then it was back to the hotel where most of us took an early night.
Monday 11th June 07
- Lunch was grand!
Today we started our acclimatisation process with a walk up to 3750m above sea level, to an ancient Inca ruin called Tambo Machay. Our Inca guide informed us that if we drank from the stream we would be forever young. Our group, consisting of mainly women, would have been glad of anything to help with the ageing process, but thought better of it, as with a four day trek looming we didn’t want to catch a poorly tummy.
Lunch was amazing; tents had been set up with tables laid as well as any UK restaurant. We were serenaded by Peruvian musicians playing pan pipes whilst being served dishes of rice, potatoes, chicken and various salads. We were told that all of our lunch stops would be like this – this was the life!
- Sacsayhuaman
Pleasantries over, us happy trekkers were off again, this time up to the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, known as ‘sexy woman’ by the local guides. After a brief history lesson we headed back to Cuzco, where most of us, still a bit jet lagged, retreated back to the hotel for a briefing and much deserved early night.
Tuesday 12th June 07
- The start of The Inca Trail
Trek day! After an early start we jumped aboard a bus which took us the two and a half hour journey to Ollantaytambo. A brief stop in this small town amongst the mountains allowed us to purchase beautifully hand carved walking poles and coca leaves.
After a final thirty minutes driving we reached our destination, Kilometre 82, the start of The Inca Trail. This was the point that we needed to show our passports. We had already been warned that we would not be able to get on the trail without them; in fact our guides had explained that they would have found it easier getting us into another country than getting us on the trail without them. Nerves started to set in, not knowing what to expect we crossed the rickety bridge and followed the rocky dirt tracks that winded along side the Urubamba River. The sun was blazing and we soon had to put on our factor 30 sun block, no sun tans for us! Although the pace was quite fast and the route undulating, everyone managed to keep up, taking in the breathtaking scenery, I think the guides were breaking us in gently!
- Our team of guides, chef’s and chaski’s
On arriving at camp we were greeted by a long line of porters, or chaski’s (Inca Runners) as they liked to be known as, applauding our first day efforts. After an introduction ceremony with the chaski’s and a tasty three course meal we were briefed on the next days climb. Shockingly, we were informed that after a 5am wake up call, we would be given thirty minutes to get washed, well wet wiped, and packed up ready for the off. Knowing that we eleven women couldn’t possibly do all of this in thirty minutes, we set our alarms for 4.30am so we could get a head start. Time for another early night!
Wednesday 13th June 07
- At the top of Dead Woman’s Pass
The day the group had been dreading! This was the day of the five hour climb up to Dead Woman’s Pass, 4215m above sea level. Aptly named dead Woman’s Pass as the mountains in the far distance were literally in the shape of a dead woman. Our guides advised us that the best way to tackle this climb would be to pigeon step, walking as slow as humanly possible. As we slowly ascended the mountain, other groups were shooting past us, the altitude kicked in and they were soon resorting to a ten step stretch before having to stop to regain their breath. Meanwhile, we slowly but steadily plodded on, overtaking them in places, the game of the hare and the tortoise had begun.
About a quarter of the way into the climb, the group decided that for physiological reasons we should name the climb ‘the fairytale walk up to the reclining lady’.
- Our campsite
After the adrenaline had been pumping and the renaming of the climb we reached the pass, at 4215m this was the highest point on the trail. Everyone had an overwhelming sense of achievement, we were buzzing at the fact that we had beaten the faster groups to the top, the tortoise had prevailed! Our group was lucky we had acclimatised well, with members only suffering minor headaches. The view at the top was amazing, Mt Veronica standing tall on one side, and the marked out path of Thursday’s route amongst dense vegetation on the other, this was a photographers paradise. After some more coca tea and group pictures we started our descent, two hours of uneven steps back down to 3600m and the sanctuary of our campsite.
Thursday 14th June 07
- More upwards tracks
Still please with ourselves at completing Dead Woman’s Pass, we had another early start and another pass to climb, this time to 3950m. Distance wise, this day would be the longest and some say the most grueling yet, covering 16km of undulating rocky tracks, some of which down to two feet in width in places with a sheer drop on one side. After an hour we reached the top of the first climb and were rewarded with views of snow capped mountains. A short break was in order to again take more photos, before continuing along the path through pretty bamboo forests containing various type of orchid and plenty of humming birds if you were quick enough to spot them.
- Disappearing tracks and sheer drops
We reached the second pass at 3950m and got our first glimpse of Machu Picchu Mountain in the distance, standing apart from the others and topped with the rainbow coloured Inca flag. We knew that the lost city was just over the other side, our goal was close and excitement started to set in. However, it wasn’t over yet. What goes up must come down and boy did we come down, four hours of climbing down steps to be precise. The four thousand steps that followed took its toll on our knees, but the promise of a hot shower and a cold beer at the campsite kept us all going. Eventually the promise became a reality, it was heaven, we hadn’t been clean for three days, and after a nice dinner we ventured to the bar to celebrate, we were so close!
Friday 15th June 07
- Machu Picchu seen from the Sun Gate
This was the morning we would have to say goodbye to our chaski’s. They had looked after us so well, nothing was too much trouble for them. After an emotional farewell we set off for Machu Picchu, all wearing our yellow Compton hospice t-shirts. We still had three hours to trek, but after what we had to endure the previous three days we felt that this would be relatively easy. This final path was undulating but as expected did not pose a problem, until we reached the final steps before the Sun Gate that was! The steps were so steep that we literally had to crawl up on our hands and knees, but it didn’t matter, we knew what was on the other side.
- A time for reflection at the Sun Gate
The whole group agreed that walking through the Sun Gate was one of; if not the most emotional experience we had ever had in our lives. What greeted us was a breath taking view of Machu Picchu, spread out in the shape of a condor, the sacred bird of the Inca’s, several miles below. The view of the lost city and knowing what we had all achieved to get to it reduced most of us to tears, we couldn’t stop hugging and congratulating each other. As a group, we had come a long way and had become so close, we wouldn’t have liked to share that moment with anyone else. We gave ourselves plenty of time to take it all in before starting the forty five minute descent into the city itself. On the way down we were passing complete strangers, tourists who were congratulating us on our efforts, including a couple of people who actually worked for UK and American hospices.
- Team photo at Machu Picchu
At the city we were rewarded with a two hour tour by our Inca guide. As he explained the different buildings and the history of Machu Picchu everyone could see how proud he was to be an Inca, and we could see why he was proud. The city was phenomenal, a true new wonder of the world!
