The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

After a few days relaxing in the pretty town of Cusco it was time to start my Inca Trail hike to the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. I was still recovering from getting very sick but was starting to feel better and was looking forward to the change of riding all day to hiking all day! Starting out early on the first day it was a bus trip to the beginning of the trail via a small Inca village where I was talked into buying an Inca walking stick and a drink bottle holder. I was so excited with my new purchases I totally forgot to buy the most important item, a wet weather poncho!! My group consisted of 16 people from a range of different nations and ages plus a bunch of porters, cooks and a couple of guides. Getting the obligatory group photo under the 'Inca Inca' signpost marked the start of the trail and where the walking began. The first day was easy going but the weather decided to make it a bit harder and we had driving rain for the next few hours before hitting our first camp. The fantastic thing about these organised tours is the porters get to the destination first and set up all the tents and start preparing the meals. It was a welcome change from how I travel on the bike as when camping it's all up to me to get everything sorted. The only problem was the rented backpack I had wasn't waterproof so all of my gear was soaking wet including my sleeping bag!! Never mind as being on the trail and heading towards Machu Picchu was all the motivation I needed and a bit of rain wasn't going to spoil that. It was two people to a tent and the only other solo guy was this huge Scottish bloke so him and I ended up sharing a tent for the duration of the trek. He was a great laugh and it made the experience all the funnier. The next day was the hardest of the trek and we climbed from 3200m to over 4200m before dropping steeply to our second camp at 3400m. The hiking was amazing with surreal high mountain and deep valley scenery which at some points totally took my breath away. Thankfully the weather held out and I got into camp early and managed to dry out all my gear. After this an older German/American couple gave me a poncho for the wet weather trekking which certainly helped in the coming days. After a early, quiet night it was up early again where we were greeted to a beautiful morning with absolutely stunning views of the surrounding mountains. Each morning consisted of being served hot coca tea in our tents before getting up to a breakfast served in the main tent where all 16 of us would sit around eating and joking. Day 3 started with a very hard climb but was broken up by stopping and exploring old Inca ruins along the way. After another great lunch it was time to pick up the pace and get to the third camp site as the weather was coming in and there was a promise of a hot shower in our future!! Myself, the big Scottish guy and an English couple broke away and over the next 3 hours walked hard to try and be the first to get the hot showers and a cold beer! Again the walking was breathtaking and we descended 1000m into camp three with sore knees from the uneven Inca steps. Showers, dinner and a couple of beers before climbing into a soaking wet tent concluded the final night on the trail. It felt like I had just got to sleep when the porters knocked on the tent door at 4am so we could prepare for the final trek to the ruins. After a couple of hours walking we came over a ridge and through a place called the Sun Gate and looked direct down on the Machu Picchu ruins with the mountain Huayna Picchu in the background. It was certainly a moment I will remember for a very long time as it was just an amazing site. We walked the final stretch to the ruins and spent the remainder of the morning exploring them and soaking up all the history of the Inca empire. Hopefully the photos give an idea of how amazing the place was but I'm not sure any photo of this place would do it justice as it was truly an awesome site.
Getting back into Cusco at about 6pm after a train and bus ride it was a long hot shower before heading out on the town to celebrate with my new trekking mates!! The plan is to have another day or so in Cusco before I head northwest towards Lima. The road ahead is supposed to be extremely hard with a couple of high passes to cross before descending into one of South America's biggest cities. All things going well I should make it there within a week or two where the treat of staying in a 5 star hotel will be my motivation! One of my leaving gifts from Fonterra will be a welcome change from the campsites and hostels that I've been staying in!! Stay tuned....