The Inca Trail (Long)

So here i am, returned from 4 day hike from the inca trail.

There is so much to write about these last 4 days and yet, i am kinda lost for words, which you all should know is quite a rarity.

For this trip, it truly was the journey that was important and not just the destination. Machu Pichu was beautiful, of that there is no doubt, but i think the 4 days that it took to get there was much more important.

I knew before i left for this whole trip that i was horribly underprepared to go on a hike, much less one that goes uphill for long periods of time. But i didnt realise how unprepared i was until i actually started the hike.

I think the best way to go through this is to go through each day.

Day 1:
The day started early, at 0530, which would become normal for the next few days. We started off learning to chew coca leaves, whihc are sposed to help with altitude sickness, as we were at 2800m and rising to a peak of 4215m during this trek. Coca leaves are also the raw product used to make cocaine, but anyway...

On this day, I started my hike with my buddy arrogance, and took off at a quick pace for the first part of the day, even on the first 2 initial climbs, which came after about 2 hours of flat hiking. Needless to say, after each hill, i could barely breathe and my legs were burning. But my other friend stubborness insisted that i push on as hard as I could, and i did, right up to lunchtime on day 1.

By lunch time, i was buggered and already hitting the gatorade. Gatorade would become the symbol of success and glory as this trip went on.

After lunch, we began our proper accent to our campsite for the nite, which was at an altitude of 3800m. At this time, i met a new friend, Mr pain. 1 hour after we left the lunch site, i was really struggling. My legs had pretty much died and i had 3 hours of solid climbing to go.

As i dropped further and further behind the group, Ger, an amazing 54 year old woman jono, andrew and alby, all stayed with me to encourage me in my extremely slow progress up the mountain. Literally, i would need a 5 minute break after every 5 minutes of hiking. That day will prolly rank as the most strenuous physical day of my life. It was just a pure mindless ascent with no stop, everytime i looked up, it was more stairs, more steps and more pain.

Somehow, i made it to the campsite, and the sense of achievement and the breathtaking view from the campsite made all the pain worth it. There isnt really much point trying to describe the views taht i saw on these days, but i have to say that being in the middle of the mountains, looking down on the path that you came from, not being able to see where you started, really is a feeling that must be experienced to be understood.

ill post this now incase i lose it...