Days 44 - 48: The Inca Trail

Well we made it! The Inca Trail was hard, really hard. Well Sam found it easier than Sarah did. The first day we had to start really early as there was a public transport strike where they planned to block roads in and out of Cusco, so the guide and van driver had to get up in the middle of the night to get to the start point for us. But day one of the Inca trail was very do-able, as we passed through small villages and some Incan ruins. At the end of the day Sam played goalie in a six a side soccer match against the locals where he helped hustle them out of two Nuevo Soles each!

Day two of the Inca trail was not easy. We had to climb from 3000m to 4200m over 8km in a part of the trek called Dead Woman's Pass, so it was very steep and the effects of the altitude started to take its toll on Sarah. But after a wee tantrum 80m from the top due to lack of breath, we made it! The view was spectacular, very hard to believe we had just climbed so far up! Then we had to endure nearly 2 hours of down to get to lunch, arriving at camp very weary, but in the leading pack of six. Our arrival time was 1:15 pm, with the last girl coming in at 4:30 - a very long day for her.

That night it rained. Sam's bag was under a drip leak in the tent and Sarah's sleeping bag cover was saturated. But we were well off compared to others! Because of the rain, we had cloudy misty weather on day three of the trail, so despite the gentler walking we were a little disappointed not to be able to see the view from the top of the mountain ranges. However we did get to see a number of impressive ruins clinging to the side of the cliffs!

On day four we woke up at 3:45 full of anticipation, ready to race from the line at the check point to the sun gate. The view Macchu Picchu from the sun gate was awesome, and we were there in plenty of time to see the sun rise and beat some of the crowd!

We spent a few hours exploring Macchu Picchu, which was definitely the most spectacular of the ruins to date, due to size, remote location and completeness. We felt a pretty big sense of accomplishment! We also couldn't wait to get back to Cusco for the first shower in five days! So you can imagine the disappointment when the hotel ran out of hot water!