The Inka Trail

August 2024 (P.S. I'm sorry this is so long.)

Day 1 - 11km, 500m elevation gain.
Day one is the test run of the hike. To start, we took a bus at 5 am from Cusco to Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo was the final Inca city that was left untouched. In the 1500s the Spaniels were on a mission to take over the Incan Empire, so the Incans destroyed the bridge to prevent them from finding Machu Picchu in which they succeeded. After breakfast, we took another bus to KM 82 where the trail begins. The first 30 seconds were hands down the hardest, but my guide Joseph (spelled Yossep) assured us that it’s just a beginner's shock and it’s hard. Before he could say anything you start to question your abilities but we’re told very early on that it’s all in our minds. The start of the hike is mainly dry, with lots of up and down terrain to warm up and we start with more stops. We also saw a lot of locals that lived in the mountains that day - their houses were where we would stop for snacks, ice cream, and gatorade if we needed it. At my first stop, there was a little girl and a puppy that would play with all the visitors and it was like a scene from a movie. She was so cute and would swing on people's legs and cry if someone picked up her puppy. A few hours in we learned that slow and steady is the only way to succeed and keep going - I also learned it was the best way to regulate my heartbeat and also hold conversations. When we reached our second viewpoint my guide asked us to line up next to each other, hold our walking sticks horizontally in a line, and..close our eyes in front of a cliff. We were all thinking he was gonna ask us to charge ahead, but instead he told us to take 10 steps forward. SOME PEOPLE HAD A DEATH WISH OR SOMETHING TAKING BIG STEPS. Then he made us take another 10 steps and when we opened our eyes we saw our first Inca site. It was amazing.

Our first lunch was when we learned all our lunches would be four-course meals including dessert. With such a small appetite up in the mountains, I couldn’t eat much but it was really good. The porters that come along with us carry our bags and food and set up our lunch sites and camp before we reach our points. They were the definition of strength and were also amazing chefs. I learned that many of the porters were farmers and they wouldn’t make much per harvest so they took on jobs as porters and were provided with everything they could need including health care benefits and proper trekking equipment. When porters passed us we would say "haku! haku! papi" or "hola!" and let them pass. In Peru there is no word for friends everyone is brother or sister so they say papi and mami. At the end of the day, I felt accomplished but also scared because it was difficult and day 2 is known as the hardest day of the Inca trail. When we reached camp we had happy hour and dinner I learned a new card game called Cabo with my roommate and a few others, while everyone went to sleep. There is a tea leaf there that’s only legal in South America, it’s called the coco leaf. People chew on it for many benefits and it also cures altitude sickness. It tastes good, almost like green tea but less grassy and on day 3 I learned that the same plant is used to make cocaine. One of the things I learned this day is, that the life of these locals that we met along the way could’ve been my life. It was sort of mind-boggling that I just happened to be born in the West while others continued to live on farms and wouldn’t want it any other way.

Day 2 - 12km, 1115m elevation gain.
On day two we woke up before sunrise to a rooster and a donkey and the porters dropped off coco tea to our tents. I slept amazingly after day 1 and it was dark but within 40 minutes I was able to see the sunrise in the mountains. I told myself and Celina that today I would be "channelling my turtle energy" because I knew it was the only way I was going to make it. The weather was nice and cool - like fall weather with bits of sun peaking. I brushed my teeth outside for the first time and that was surprisingly very easy. It was almost as if I got stronger overnight because I was doing well with my breathing and all my fears just disappeared as I went; the views also became more stunning. Our group was one of the fastest according to my guide. We started the day with 5 hours of uphill and since we would be reaching the highest point of the trek - dead woman’s pass - this day we didn’t eat lunch until later. I added liquid IV to my water and it worked well. The last 2 hours before reaching the dead woman’s pass were the hardest because we could see just how much was left but we still had a long way to go. At our second stop before this point, I swear I had just sat down and eaten my orange and my guide said "Okay time to go everyone!". And since I was getting comfortable with everyone I snapped at my guide saying “BUT WE JUST GOT HERE” and he started to laugh. Finally, at 4215m above sea level, we reached the highest point of our trek. By now we were in the clouds and the air was much thinner. At this point is also when I realized I was going to make it.

After this, we just had a few more hours of downhill until we reached camp and by now we had all gotten very close. I had a nice time talking to Celina because she was 22 and oh I should also mention I was the youngest in my group. The Danes were all 25 and the rest were a bit older. At night Joseph told us scary stories about the camp and I was like great now I’m not gonna sleep but people thought I was joking. Then at around 10 pm one of the guys next to us had a night terror and it was so funny. My tent-mate and I heard an AHH AHA AHHGHH next to us and then shuffling and a headlamp turning on. We had a really good laugh about this the next morning.

Day 3 - 16km, 1000m descend.
Day three was going to be our longest day but it was my guide's favourite day as the views only got better - he was right. You can also see a shift in ecosystems as we started with very dry land and it was starting to turn green, mossy and more alive. By this day I had gotten to talk to everyone and we were hiking like a family. Andrea even gave me medicine to help me with the eating. This day was more about the views and conversations and it was really really fun. I could also breathe normally this day and wow did I mention the views. Going downhill was easier but our knees were gone because we had 1 hour of uphill then 7 hours going down. We also started to see more of the original Inca trail as the first part had to be rebuilt from natural erosion. No more locals were living during the second half of the trek. We also came across some Inca sites where they had sun and moon temples. They worship Mother Earth in their culture, and in the past, they used to sacrifice humans considered beautiful and black llamas as they were considered special. Our guide joked that if the weather wasbad we would have to sacrifice the youngest (me) for the weather to be good. I didn’t tell them I was the youngest until the first day when all the young ones had to share their age and Celina exclaimed "YOU WERE JUST GONNA LET ME DIE". At lunch some of the guys wanted to try the weight that the porters carried for us and seeing James (6’8) carry that bag made him look 8 foot tall and even the porters were laughing and taking videos. After lunch, James asked Joseph how much longer we had and he said “Oh! 3 more hours down" James started laughing in delusion and then everyone started laughing and then he breathed and said “Ahhh so how much longer do we really have left?" and Joseph giggles and says "3 hours”. The tired laughs were unstoppable that day. At the end of the day, we sat down 20 minutes from camp at one of the best view spots with the Amazon in front of us as shown in the image below.

Day 4 - 6km.
Day 4 we woke up by the Amazon forest. I was afraid to go outside my tent in the dark but knowing that nobody has been hurt before on this trek helped. It was foggy and cool and also very very early. Wake-up time was at 3 am that day because there were a lot of people headed to Machu Picchu that day and we needed to make it to the sun gate on time. We also weren’t allowed to hike in the dark, so we got up early to wait at the entrance and in the meantime played some Cabo at 4 am with headlamps. The best way to start the day. Just an hour into our hike that morning, I could hear the amazon waking up. Slowly but surely the fog started to clear, and the Inca trail was coming to an end. When we finally reached the sun gate and climbed 50 monkey steps, the end was near. As we reached the long-awaited Machu Picchu I was eating my sandwich the porters prepared and we met several other hikers. We then took some time to take photos as a group and freshened up before going into the city of Machu Picchu where my guide told us several stories about the temple and the rooms where the king and queen stayed - this was about 2 hours long, it was really large inside. Laying there listening to the stories I started to tear up because I knew this was the end and I was going to miss Joseph because he’d been such a great guide. Afterwards, we took a bus down to the town of Agues Calientes to celebrate the end of our hike. I finally got my appetite back. Lastly, we took the train back from Aguas Calientes back to Cusco - here you can see the hike in reverse and you can visibly see the change in ecosystems and how far we really trekked.

Thoughts
This was no vacation. Hiking 8-10 hours a day starting at 5 am each day (3 am on the last day) was what I’d signed up for but less oxygen, and the loss of appetite was unplanned. We just put one step after the other. Eventually, you do learn some tips to build endurance and you can feel your body getting stronger - especially after day 1. It was easier for some more than others because altitude affects people differently. Fortunately, we did get lucky with the weather, it rained in the morning of day 3 but it stopped right when we started hiking at 6 am. The breeze was god sent up there. It was a challenge but after this year I felt like I owed it to myself - it’s just something I was drawn to. The most significant fact is that I did this all alone. Peru does contain one of the seven world wonders - Machu Picchu but I really think that’s just the tip of the iceberg and if that’s all you’re there to visit then you’re missing out on the best parts. There are also glaciers, the sand city of Ica, the Amazon jungle (parts of it haven’t yet been discovered or the people living in it!), and of course the Spanish style buildings with Peruvian architecture in Cusco. With this being a more difficult solo trip with no cell reception in the mountains, I did my part on research. I learned so much about the human experience and it's surprising what our bodies can do if we just have the courage to do so.

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