I made it! The Inca Trail was crazy--after 4 days, I got the sense the the Incas were nothing if not hardcore. It was both great and terrible, as the day to day breakdown will show:
Day 1: 5:45 am Departure from Cusco. "Easy" hike for most of the day through some beautiful Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley. Gain 700 meters by the end of the day, mostly in the last hour and a half of the hike. The porters or "chaskies" (Inca term for messenger) do a great job and produce amazing food for us at lunch and a beautiful camp at the end of the day. Day 1 Evening: Feel sick. No dinner.
Day 2: 5:15 wake up. Get ready for the hardest day of the trek, which includes over 5.5 hours of steep uphill hiking, gaining over 1000 meters of altitude in one morning, and climbing through something ominously called "Dead Woman's Pass." All of the hiking today is either straight up or straight down, and it is a very long day. Day 2 Mid-Morning: See dead woman's pass from far far away. Feel like Dead Woman. Day 2 Later Morning: Last one up Dead Woman's Pass! Collapse at top while LauraK takes "entertaining" photos. Altitude Sickness begins. Day 2 Evening: Guides treat my blisters with "home remedy." Severe Altitude Sickness, no sleep.
Day 3: 6:30 wake up. Coldest camping spot, with temps below freezing. Feel 175 years old, look at least 150. Blister home remedy makes things worse, get told I now have "chasky" feet. This is not a compliment. Sick, so no breakfast. Easier trek today, just 6 hours, most of which is steep STEEP downhill and into a jungle, but the beginning is uphill, and I notice that we are ABOVE the clouds. Not doing so good. Lead guide sends me and the 2nd guide on a shortcut to make camp faster. He fails to mention that while shorter, it is HARDER. Begin to feel feverish during shortcut. Make camp after everyone else, raging fever begins. Day 3 evening: Apparently I passed out.
Day 4: 4 am wake up. 2.5 hour trek to Machu Picchu!!! Feel better after fever breaks. Manage to eat! Yay! Trek in complete darkness, group is told to "walk not too slow, and not too fast." I soldier on to keep up, do not want to get lost in the dark. Misty. Wait....is that....wait....yes! Machu Picchu!! YES!! And it is BEAUTIFUL!! Wow!! Fog (eventually) clears and we take our tour in the sun. While group hares off to do "optional" additional mountain hike, I lay down and try not to die. Day hikers walk past and say "ooh, look at her sleeping...she must be on an all-day hike!" I try not to sarcastically scream "4 DAYS my friend, 4 DAYS!!" But it was worth it. Too bad it will now take us approx 7 hours to get back to Cusco....
Anyway--I've been pretty sick the whole trip, and am only just feeling better today. Laura and I have huge hopes that my appetite will be back and we can have a nice dinner. Regardless, I've learned a lot and am glad I did it. I'll do a high and low points post soon!!
3 comments:
Mims! What did I tell you about flying American Airlines??
That's right, nothing! You should listen to me more often.
Anyway, I'm glad you had a great trip! Except for the whole "almost died from starvation, violent fever, and lack of sleep" thing.
If nothing else you have story for the rest of your life. Picture yourself as on old lady in a rocking chair telling a gaggle of young kids, "Did I ever tell you about the time the Incas tried to kill me? It was back in aught-seven..."
Now post those pictures that LauraK took!
Sounds amazing!! ANd you made it!! A real trooper!!!!
Cant wait to see picutres and hear more of the stories!!
Will call to catch up once I am back - off to Macedonia for 2 weeks of work...
Hope the appetite is comong back - cannot imagine how you do all the hiking without food!!!
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