Inca Trail

Finally back after four amazing days in the Andes - we got picked up at 6am sunday morning and started our Inca Trail not long after. The first 4-5 hours was both up and down, and I found myself struggling with my breathing when we arrived at our lunch spot - figured out later that Becky's astma-thing worked quite well though.

Arriving at our lunch spot we were served a delicious meal of soup, stuffed avocados and rice and tea - we did not expect such a nice service, as the company hires porters that walk ahead of us and prepare tents and food for us - which I did not realize till we had our first stop.

Apparently we had 14 porters in total - a cook, an assistent and a head of porters. Our group was only of 10 people and 2 guides, so when I found out what these guides get paid according to what we paid to go on the trek, I immediately felt bad.

The first day we walked up 700 meters in total, including lots of ups and downs. When we arrived to our first campsite, we were introduced to our porters - from 21 to 60 years old, all carrying up to 28kg - absolutely crazy!
We had been struggling to get up the damn mountain with our maximum 10kg bags, and they were litterally running up the mountains almost not breaking a single sweat. Hard to believe!

We slept in tents in an altitude of 3700 meters - and damn, it was cold! I woke up in the morning feeling like ice, but in a good mood because of the amazing view we had over the valley. The second day we reached our highest spot, 4200 meters about two hours after waking up to pancakes and porridge. Slept in about the same altitude as the first night, not as cold though. The third day was not as tough, as we were mainly walking down - although that is damn hard as well when the mountain is crazily steep!

The third day we arrived at our campsite quite early, and I found time to take a nap - after getting up 5.30 the last three days, I was completely shattered. We had a great meal once again, and said goodbye to our porters that were leaving on the morning of the fourth day.

The fourth day was special - we got up at 3.30 am in order to be the first in line when the gate to the last hour of the Inca Trail opened at 5.30. By the time the gate opened, we had about 200 people behind us, all waiting desperately to get to the Sungate, a place from where you can see Machu Picchu. We started out almost running because our guide wanted our group to be the first to reach the Sungate - and so we did.

We spent a couple of hours in Machu Picchu, getting a tour round the ruins, absolutely amazing to learn so much about the Incas and their culture. Great, great experience - and, of course, we have lots of pictures (when haven't I...)!

We walked down to Aguas Calientes from where we were to take the train back at 9pm - which meant we had to kill about 8 hours in a tiny town. I chose to go with a girl from our group to check out the hot springs - and that turned out to be a great idea! It was soooo nice to relax in hot mineral water after four days without a proper shower.

So, now I have developed a hatred for steps and staircases - we were literally all walking like old men at the end of the Inca Trail, especially after climbing 53 steps of "Gringo Killers"!
Good thing we're going on a cruise soon - my legs would collapse at the sight of more than ten steps in a row now... At least for a couple of days :D

We were absolutely shattered when we finally got back to our house - Mary waiting for us with cake at 12.30 am. So nice!

Got up this morning to a mixed experience - we are SO excited about finally being assured that we are definitely going to Galapagos, but at the same time, we had to say goodbye to the Rainbow Centre.
The goodbye was so tough - the kids telling us that we have been great teachers and that they love us and they'll miss us and getting cards from them, was absolutely not something I could stand without crying. Alex got a bracelet and a necklace from Lizandra, one of the girls from the Rainbow House, and I got the nicest card from Marco (also a kid from the Rainbow House) that he had written all by himself.

For me, one of the hardest things was also saying goodbye to Becky and Mary. We've had such an amazing time together in the Volunteer House, so it was tough to realize the fact that we might not see them again in a very long time.

We went back and did some packing, went to Cusco and bought a ticket to Lima - an 18 hour busride, so we should be in Lima tomorrow midday if the Peruvian system doesn't fail us once again.