Thursday 2nd till Sunday 5th Inca Trail

We have to get up early eat breakfast and be ready to leave by 8am. We can only take about 2-2.5kg. I think we are both over a little as bag weighs 0.5kg.
Our two new members joining us for the trail are from England and on their honeymoon; dean and Sarah.
We drive 40min to 1 hr, mostly along a dirt road that follows the river and train track. Ppl live along the way and have fields and homes. It's pretty much a one way road so occasionally we have to pull over or have others do so or back up so we can pass. We get to kilometre 82 which is how far along the inca path we are, but we start hiking at 82. The pilgrimage actually starts in Cusco near where we were staying.
We meet our two extra guides fletcher and harvyer. We pack our duffers with our rented sleeping bags and self inflating mattresses.
Our porters then pack there bags with our duffles. They are only allowed to take up to 25kg. There are regulations now as previously used to take up to 80kg.

After going through a passport check point we get many group and single photos are start on our walk. The path is mostly undulating ( our main guides favourite word).
We stop regularly and try some cactus fruit tuna. It is very nice. We see some ruins, some amazing. It is very beautiful in the mountains. There are many ppl living along the trail and they are allowed to use donkeys and horses, unlike tours, to preserve the track.
We stop for lunch early afternoon and the porters have set up tents, boiled water and are ready for us. We wash our hands with special biodegradable soap made for the trail. Lunch (& most meals ) consists of soup, rice and vegetables, And a small desert finished with tea. We are all very impressed.
I use a squat toilet for the first time ever and survive. My legs feels like jelly from the unusual position.
We walk till early evening to a terraced campsite.
We get warm water to wash, then we meet all our 26 porters. The guides talk how g adventures has helped them etc and how they like G. After meeting everyone we have 'happy hour' of tea, coffee or hot chocolate with crackers and popcorn, then dinner at 7pm of soup, veges, rice and tea. The night is warm and we go to bed after dinner. The sleeping bags are big synthetic bags with -3- -15.
It's an early start of 5am with coco tea. We have breakfast of porridge and set off. Day 2 is hardest with 80% climbing up to the dead women's pass and down the other side to camp. It's fine in the way up but raining on the way down in uneven rock steps. It rains heavy far into the night- lots if singing frogs too. Apparently this is normal. I wake at 2.30 am and can't get back to sleep.
It is fine in the morning and day 3 is another climb over a smaller pass. We see amazing ruins just before a lunch stop. We walk only a few hours to reach our very high camp site. It is very cloudy, but it clears and we see amazing ruins and majestic mountain tops. Lamas are employed to keep the grass down on the ruins, but they climb the stairs to get selfies with the tourists.
We have early happy hour and dinner, and after that we present thank you'd and tips to the porters. Then off to bed. 2.30 am rise and shine.
2.30 comes too soon and we arise for bread and tea. Then we make our way down steep stone stairs for a few hours. I'm feeling off and dizzy. We eventually make it to the camp site by the checkpoint where we are supposed to have stayed the night before, but has been changed due to safety issues and landslide issues. Thus the early morning rise. Past the check point we walk about 40 min to the sun gate overlooking Machu Picchu. There is way too much fog do we see nothing. I'm exhausted and my feet hurt. We make our way down to Machu Picchu about 30 min down where we meet our CEO and hand over our hiking sticks as they are forbidden on the ruins. I try and catch some zzz's before heading back through the gates to the ruins where our guide gives us a tour. Then we are free to explore. I am feeling worse and worse the pain from my feet gone and nestled itself in my gut with nasty nausea. We get some beautiful pictures and the view is amazing. More and more tourists arrive through the day. Just before lunch we catch the bus down the mountain to our meeting spot at the restaurant. I'm feeling very ill and rest on the table until it is time to catch our train. Once on the train (which is very nice) I sleep till we arrive at our stop. I am feeling a bit better with some sleep and we walk to our bus. We discover most of our group missed the train and some on the next and then the next. We have to wait for them about 40 min. We walk around the stalls and return to a bus stop cafe and order some fries. The service is shocking and we wait about 30min for s./7 fries! We have to get them take out as the others from the train arrive and we leave on the bus. After all the wait the fries are not even cooked through! The bus takes us to cusco about 2 hours and when we walk to the hotel I shower and go straight to bed.