The Inca Trail

We hadn’t anticipated being able to hike the Inca Trail, as you usually have to book months in advance, but we were chuffed to find out we could get a place if we stayed in Cusco for a few extra days (albiet giving Lima a miss to get back on schedule – sorry Lima!). After four days building excitement in Cusco we finally set off on the Inca Trail laden with ALL the necessary gear.

Our group was an eclectic mix of Europeans who, lucky for us, spoke English. It was early into the trip we both realised that this wasnt the ‘walk in the park’ excusion we originally thought. It turns out the Inca’s were determind people and walked through several valleys and up large mountains to get to the sacred Machu Picchu. 4 days of fun turned into 4 days of tough walking (mainly due to the weight of the bags on our backs) but we loved every minute. The scenery was stunning and the Inca sites were fascinating (‘tambos’ resting sites, agricultural land and religious temples) which made the trail well worthwhile. It was great to hear about the Incas from our guide who, as an Incan descendant was truly passionate about the history. It was also amazing to see the porters rushing past us lugging up the mountain all our food, gas and tents. Whilst we panted and perspired with our 10kg bags, these guys almost ran up the trail carrying 20-25kg… quite incredible.  3 nights in a tent, 3 early starts, several layers of thermal clothing and one ‘luke warm’ shower, and we finally earned our place in Machu Picchu…

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