When talking about how we were going to chronicle this journey, we decided to do it two different ways. Since my wife isn’t a big fan of writing big, long posts, and since she says I can be a little long-winded (I like to say descriptive), we decided that I would post a recap of the entire four-day trek, and then she will post a cliff-notes, highlights version of our experience. So if you don’t like my thousand-plus word posts describing everything in detail, you may want to wait for her highlights, which will come soon. So without further ado…
Day One
We had to wake up early on Wednesday as our bus picked us up at 5:15am. We knew it was going to be a good day as we watched coverage of President Elect Barack Obama before we left. After getting picked up, we went to pick up the other members of our group. We somehow got very lucky as we only had five people in our group, as compared to 16 in the other two Peru Treks groups. Not only were we lucky to only have five people, but the five we had were great. We all got along very well, and it was fantastic to have such a great group of people to share this experience with.
After about a two hour bus ride, we stopped in Ollantaytambo for breakfast, then continued on the way to the starting point for the Inca Trail trek. We talked to the rest of our group for the first time and also started getting to know our guide, Cesar (who was incredible, but you’ll hear more about that later). It was rough for me, as I was the only guy in the group along with my wife, Maddy (from Holland), Lisa, and Jackie (both from the Bay area in California).
After the obligatory picture at the start of the trek, we were off. After crossing a bridge, we got a glimpse of the views that would become common to us throughout our trek. The first day was the easiest day, but we still covered 12 kilometers.
Anyone hiking the Inca Trail has to go with a company as the trail is regulated, and the government only allows a certain number of hikers per day. We went with Peru Treks, who was absolutely amazing from start to finish and from top to bottom. As I mentioned earlier, Cesar was our guide, and he had a great knowledge and passion throughout all four days of our trek. He made the trek so special for us, and I truly believe it would not have been the same without him.
In addition to Cesar, we also had 11 porters and one cook for the five people in our group. One thing that interested me on that first day, and would continue to amaze me throughout our trek, was the porters. These guys are tough, hard-working farmers who carry 25 kilos per man, and they don’t do it with ergonomic backpacks like we had. They carry our tents, our food, the cooking gear, chairs, and even some of the trekkers gear (each trekker had the choice to pay extra to have porters carry their stuff; we’re tough, so we chose to carry our own stuff). These men not only carried over 50 pounds of gear, but they would practically run the entire time as to get ahead of us to set up camp and get our meals prepared. It was truly remarkable.
We hiked for several hours that first day before coming to a stopping point for lunch. It was at this point that we had our first taste of the fantastic food we would be eating throughout the next four days. We started off with an avocado salad that was one of the highlights of the food for me. Next was a bowl of soup and garlic bread. Then they brought out a huge plate of fried rice, grilled chicken in a tasty sauce, fries, lightly battered and fried trout, and fresh veggies. Are you kidding me? Unbelievable!!
The only downfall of lunch was that we still had several hours of hiking to go, and we were all stuffed. After we finished our meal, the porters broke down the “dining tent”, tables, chairs, and all the cooking equipment. They packed it up and raced ahead of us so they could get to our campsite and set up our individual tents, the dining tent, and start preparing our dinner. Though the hike itself was extremely tough, Peru Treks made sure we were pampered when it was time to rest. You will not hear me say one single negative thing about Peru Treks throughout my review of this trek. If anyone is considering hiking the Inca Trail, I STRONGLY urge you to go with this company. They were spectacular.
The rest of the hike on day one was rather uneventful. It was up and down, but the terrain was manageable, and it was nothing compared to the next two days. We made it to camp by about 4pm, and we arrived to find all of our tents set up, chairs set out, the dining tent set up, and the porters standing there clapping for us as we arrived (not to make this sound like an advertisement for Peru Treks, but seriously, where do you get customer service like this, much less in the middle of the Andes?). We had several hours to rest and check out our campsite, which was in someone’s backyard (along with their kids and many animals, including the roosters and dogs that would serve as our alarm clocks the next morning).
We got to chill out and get to know each other better before dinner, including our guide, Cesar. The conversation spanned a multitude of topics, including our careers, the election, Peruvian politics, history of the Inca Trail, and many other interesting tidbits about each other. It was a great first day, and after another fantastic dinner, we were off to bed pretty early, as the next day would prove to be the most grueling and challenging.
I’ve been waiting to hear about this since last Wednesday!! I’ll take the thousand word version please. (sorry, Meg!) You’ve introduced us to the world of travel blogs and websites– Thanks–Yours is still one of the best!
One of?
Awesome commentary. Can’t wait to read about day 2. I’m sure Gretchen meant THE BEST blog. Almost makes me want to hike Macchu Pichu. I’ll reserve my thoughts though until after I read all your days experiences.
I loooove reading books like yours, Adam, and will take your “descriptive” blogging, and Meg, you write terrifically, too, no matter if it the short version or the long! Can’t get enough of these pictures, and feel humbled as I read about the porters…I crab about carrying my bag everyday from the shuttle stop to my office, for crying out loud! Hope you are healthy and resting up…love you both!
So excited to hear how happy you guys are with the Inca Trail experience so far. I’m blown away by the food. I really pictured you all heating cans of beans over an open fire.
You know, if they could just find a way to eliminate all the walking and hiking, it might actually be something I’d want to do myself. Until that time, I’m content to follow along on the blog.
Love and miss you both! Adam – please give Meg a huge hug for me. Thanks!