Tracing the Inca Footsteps- Cusco and the Inca Trail

After a short bus journey from Puno (7 hours which is a breeze after some of the longer nightbuses) which included a stopover where there was the fluffiest alpaca I have ever seen in my life, we arrived in the beautiful city of Cusco, which reminds me very much of Sucre in Bolivia. There are several sites in the city where you can see original Inca ruins, many of the Inca foundations still exist and the Spanish just built on top of them.

There is plenty to see in the city including a couple of pretty good museums. The Inka museum was a must stop before the Inca Trail to inform ourselves about the history of Peru, the pre-Inka and of course Inka cultures. The other museum I visited is the Pre-Colombian art museum, which is Cusco´s only international standard museum, and you can tell straight away, the lighting was excellent and the description of the exhibits was really informative and perfectly translated into English unlike other museums I have visited which have had some hilariously bad translations. The collection of artefacts was wide ranging and it is always a bonus to get in for a student price!

Cusco is another South American city host to a Cristo on top of a hill. It was a steep 40 minute walk from the city to the top where the Cristo stands. It was a beautiful view of the whole city and the surroundings. From the Cristo you are also able to see some of the Inca ruins at Sacsayhuaman, there are stacks of Inca ruins in the surroundings of Cusco, but I did not want to get too Inca´d  out before the Inca trail. One of the most interesting Inca Sites is the Koricancha right in the centre of the city which is the most obvious example of the clash between Inca and Spanish styles.

The most annoying thing about the city is that it is very touristy, which you notice even more when you have come from Bolivia which is completely the opposite! You cannot walk through the main Plaza (Plaza de Armas) here without being constantly harrassed by an array of people offering their wares, massages, restaurants, clubs etc to you, which can get pretty tiring.

After two days of acclimitization in Cusco at 3300m it was finally time to head out onto the Inca trail. I did not suffer with altitude sickness at all during the trail which is probably due to the fact that I have spent a considerable amount of time at altitude and have properly acclimatized. After packing a duffle bag for the trail-it cannot be over 6kg as the porters have to carry it, we just carried our daypacks-and armed with my sleeping bag and walking poles (best investment ever!) we headed for Ollytantambo in the sacred valley, it was a small little town and so we mostly just chilled and carb-loaded in preparation for the trek.

The first day we set off from Ollytantambo at 7am to drive for an hour to the beginning of the Inca Trail. The first day was not particularly difficult trekking wise. It was supposed to be the easiest day, but I have to say on the whole I think I found the first day the hardest. Probably just because we were just getting started and I did not know what to expect, but also because the sun was absolutely burning hot. Also the first day the whole group had to trek together and we kept stopping and starting which made it difficult to get into any sort of rhythm.

 Highlights of the first day included a horse which stumbled into a stand outside a locals shop causing general chaos! We also took in quite a few Inca ruins. I got bitten by a cat at the lunch stop (thankfully did not break the skin!) which was ironic considering I was the only one out of the group not eating trout! We arrived at the campsite around mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing around our little campsite and visiting another Inca ruin which had a pretty cool view of the valley.

The second day was the start of the real hardcore trekking. We awoke at 6am and after fueling up with brekkie and being introduced properly to all our porters, which included not shaking hands with them, but shaking feet, we headed off for what is deemed by many as the hardest day of the trek. The group started off all together at the bottom of the climb towards the highest point of the trek the dead womans pass at 4200m. The climb took us from 2900m to 4200m at the top and is supposed to take 5 hours. However, equipped with my walking poles and zigzagging method of walking up the hill (which is very effective!) and my ipod in tow I got into a zone and just absolutely blitzed up the hill. We started off with a method of trekking for 10 mins and taking 2 minute breaks but once I felt comfortable and got into a really good rhythm I did not need to stop as often. I lost the rest of the group and managed to get to the summit of the dead womans pass in 3 and a half hours. I have absolutely no idea where that came from, as I have done sod all exercise since I have been in South America, but I just felt really comfortable and loved every minute of it. The views from the top were amazing and after soaking them in, and with my legs starting to turn to jelly I decided to head for the camp which was just under an hours trek downhill. I actually found the downhill section a lot harder than the uphill, it is pretty tough on the knees, and you have to be really careful because some of the "steps" are pretty steep. I was the first one to make it to the camp over an hour ahead of anyone else in the group, so I just chilled on a ledge and soaked in the beautiful surroundings.

The third day we again arose at 6am, and in the morning took in a further two passes, the climbs were only about an hour in total, though steeper than the day before at times. The next two passes were at 3700m and 3900m and there were some ruins which we stopped at along the way. That morning was the first time I really saw a lot of people on the trail, the trail is restricted to only 500 people at any one time (which shows how incredibly lucky we were to have done it) this includes porters so it is probably only around half that number who are trekking, it made for a pretty peaceful few days, for long periods of hiking you would not see anyone, maybe just a porter, which was great as you could really soak in the scenery without being disturbed. That morning it seemed like everyone set off at the same time which was annoying because the climb became congested and you could not go at your own pace. However groups stopped for lunch at different times so after the climb we did not see anyone else for quite a few hours. Infact in the trek to lunch-which was absolutely beautiful and took in so many different ecosystems and even an Inca tunnel-we did not see anyone else the whole way. If we had not seen the one porter I would have been convinced we had gone off the trail! Thankfully we were heading the right way and we ended up at our lunch stop which was at a beautiful place atop a mountain, the views were stunning. After a carb overload of rice, pasta, potatoes and bread! we carried on for another 2 hours, all of which was downhill. We only saw porters the entire way, and we followed their lead in running down the steps, it is just so much easier, though I do not know how they do it in their sandals and with their heavy packs! We came to a crossroads at one point the shorter route going to camp and the longer route going through an Inca Ruin, we chose the longer route which was a great choice, because it was fantastic, the terraces were amazing, and the views of the valley below were great. We carried on for a bit more downhilling before ending up in the camp after a long day of trekking. The final camping place had shower facilities, it was a bit like butlins. We payed for a hot shower which was absolutely fabulous after three days of dirt and dust had built up on the skin, it was nice to be clean, if just for a little while!

On our final day we were awoken at 3.40am to make the final pilgrimage to Macchu Picchu. We woke to rain, and so we started our trek in the dark and the rain making it slightly lethal. We got to the gate where you have to queue to get in any closer and had to wait for 30 minutes. This was broken up by the fact that some complete fool managed to fall off the ledge while standing still! Thankfully the fall was not too steep as we had passed some places where he would not have been getting back up from had he fallen. At 5.30am the gates opened and we started our hike to the sungate, after an hour or so the rain stopped (obviosuly due to the sun dance we performed) and we arrived and got our first glimpse of Macchu Picchu. We carried on for a further 45 minutes or so and arrived at our destination of Macchu Picchu, the trek was over and it was all incredibly worthwhile.

Macchu Picchu is absolutely incredible, the morning fog giving it a mystical feel as it disperses and reveals the different sections of the ruins to you. It was just epic in scale and so sophisticated in its construction. We had a tour around all the main sections, temples, houses, towers. My favourite part was the sundial which was surrounded by a load of freaks who belonged to some sort of cult and were worshipping the sundial, passing around some potion and looking into a crystal ball (I kid not!). After the tour finished my body completely seized up, the last 4 days had finally taken their toll, and my calves became difficult to move, going downhill was a complete nightmare! We spent the rest of the day soaking in the beautiful views and relaxing in the sun on the terraces.

The weather was great the entire time, if a little hot for trekking, the sun was incredibly strong too. The perfect conditions were on day three when it was a bit more cloudy and there was a nice breeze. We did have some rain on our final day which is apparently a good thing as it clears the fog and smoke from Macchu Picchu. Although the mosquitos came out in force on the final day, and I am currently itching like crazy from the buggers!

The food was absolutely amazing the entire way through the trek. Our two chefs fed us incredibly well and were great with the vegetarian food. We ate several times a day, they would even bring us coca tea in our tents in the morning! Breakfast was brilliant: porridge, omelettes etc which fueled us for the day. They would give us a little snack pack each day with biscuits, fruit and sweets. Then for lunch and dinner we would have delicious soups followed by a really good meal usually rice, veg and something egg based. We also had afternoon tea consisting of crackers and popcorn. The chefs even made a cake for us on the second day and iced it as well, I have absolutely no idea how they made it, apparently in a soup tin and they can smell when it is ready! It was absolutely delicious. I think the only thing I did not like was some sickly corn pudding on the first evening which just looked like syrup, and the jelly on the last night (obvs. not veggie friendly!)

The porters did an outstanding job they carry your duffle bags and all the tents and equipment. They run along the trail in their worn down sandals, I just have no idea how they do it. When we would get to the camp for lunch or at the end of the day, everything would be set up waiting for us, they would have wash bowls and our tents all set up, they are just absolutely brilliant. They do not get paid a huge amount which is a crying shame considering how hard they work. The guide Wilbur was also great, he had a wealth of knowledge and was a really interesting guy to listen to, afterm dinner we would listen to his tales, for instance about the evacuation off the Inca trail in February due to the flooding.

The Inca Trail was an awesome experience and one I will never forget. I would definitely do it again , although not for a considerable amount of time!

After a full day exploring Macchu Picchu, we headed for the town of Aguas Calientes which was pretty grim, it was so touristy, and it is all the more noticeable after being away from large groups of people for the last few days. We boarded the train back to Cusco and it was a complete nightmare. Obviously the last thing you want when you are completely ruined from the Inca Trail is a train that constantly breaks down but that is what we got! It ended taking an hour longer than it was supposed to, and it was full of mosquitos which gave pretty nasty bites! Finally we arrived back in Cusco and the sight of a bed for the first time in days!

We spent another two days in Cusco, mostly just relaxing and recovering from the trek. I can finally start to walk normally again! We also had an epic night out to celebrate completing the trek, this was obviously well deserved though! Today I have spent in a very hungover state which is not great considering I have a 10 hour nightbus to Arequipa later!

I have really liked Cusco and obviously the Inca trail has shot to the top of the highlight of my trip! First impressions of Peru are really good. Tonight, I head on to the second biggest city in Peru, Arequipa which is supposed to be beautiful and then onto the Colca Canyon, which is twice the size of the Grand Canyon! It should be a good few days!