The Inca Trail

Just arrived back in Cuzco after four days and three nights on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Words really cannot describe the experience, but I will give it a short go. The first day for me and my three new Swedish friends involved an easy hike to the first camp, all while enjoying warm, sunny skies. Dinnter that night, as with all other meals throughout the trip, was unreal. Along with our guide and cook, we had seven porters lugging the gear over the 30 miles we would cover. These guys are amazing. With about 50 pounds of gear on their backs, they RUN up the mountain so camp can be set up for meals and sleeping. Most wear sandals. Anyway, the second day is the tough day and we thought we were well aware as to what was to come. Not a chance. In an off-and-on rain storm, we trudged up the mountain to close to 14,000 feet. There really is no sugar-coating it... day two is brutal beyond belief. Every time I turned a corner it was just mroe and more uphill. More cold. More pain. Finally, we reached the pass and worked our way down into camp two which was not as nice as the first camp... but welcome nonetheless. Somehow, the sun came out about 30 minutes before we got there, so we were treated to super views of the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains. The next day was non-stop rain... NON STOP. The first part involved more uphill climbing to the point of mental numbness. All of us were soaked to the bone, and it got to the point where it just wasn't worth trying to put on dry clothes because they would onyl get wet too. Again, however, as we neared camp three, the sun came out and allowed us to enjoy our biggest and grandest Inca Site yet. The camp was more fun than the others because, well, it had a bar. As the 15 km day three marked the last day of heavy walking, everyone (our group and all the other groups) celebrates after dinner. Drinking cheap Peruvian beer with our guides and porters, we Salsa danced the night away until the wee hour of 10:30pm... wake up for day four was 4:30am. Up into the darkness, we quickly had breakfast and made our way to the sun gate to watch the sun light up Machu Picchu... this was our first view of the ancient city of the Incas. From the gate, it was about 40 minutes to the actual site. We checked in and Flavio, our guide, gave us a 2-plus hour tour of the ruins, bringing this 15th century civilization to life. From there, we had free time to kill until the train back to cuzco... I took a well deserved nap int he shadows of the ruins and then did some more exploring. Once I get back to the states and put up photos, hopefully I can bring more life to what was one of the grandest experiences of my life. Now I am back in Cuzco, and plan to head down to the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka (ha ha ha... it still makes me laugh). More than likely, however, I will have to spend one night in the Peruvian nothign town of Puno. Anyway... my first shower in days felt great, and I'm ready to move on to week two.