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Hello everybody,
In my last blog post I left just before the Inca Trail, the next exciting adventure planned in our trip. From Cusco we went to the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo. The Sacred Valley is where our 'Inca adventure' started. The Sacred Valley is scattered with Inca ruins and around every corner you find some sort of monument or rare rock formation that local people can tell you a story about. That day I could feel I was getting a bit nervous for the Inca Trail... There was no need to be nervous but I guess it was just overall excitement that it was finally going to happen. Another one of my 'big things' this trip.
We had to get up quite early on our first day, as we had an hours drive to the start of 'Camino Inca'. We chose to do the original Inca trail. There are also alternative ones, that are longer (5 days) or shorter (only 8hours). I must admit, a few times (in weak moments) during the trail we weren't sure why we hadn't done the shorter one! In total, our group consisted of 11 people who were hiking, 2 guides, 2 chefs and 18 (!!!) porters. We were all allowed 6kgs of luggage, which included your sleeping bag and mat. So in the end, you were only allowed to bring 3kgs, which isn't a lot, I can tell you. Mind you, the trail is 4 days and 3 nights and there aren't any showers so that saves you in bringing a lot of toiletries and towels. You were allowed to bring your own daypack and take as much as you want in there. Mine was 7kgs and I thought that was quite heavy... until I saw the backpacks the porters wear. They each carry 25kgs of luggage, tents, food, water - one even carried a 22kg gas cannistar for cooking! And the thing is, they walk about twice as fast too. I must say, when you're having a bit of a tough moment it isn't very motivating to be taken over by running porters on their sandals. The first day was relatively easy though. We only had to walk 11kms, which we did in 6 hours. The weather was nice, we weren't at too high altitude. When we got to camp lunch was waiting for us - a 3 course meal! Prepared in a camp 'kitchen' by two chefs who sat on stools whilst chopping vegetables with the biggest knives. We were spoiled to death by day 1. The scenery while walking was out of this world too, beautiful mountain ranges, trees and the higher we went, the dryer it became. We stayed in tents every night, which was a lot of fun. Both Aniek and I were really tired and were in bed by 8pm the first night! So was the rest of the group. On day two we had to climb 1250m, to Dead Woman's Pass, which was quite strenous to say the least. It was steps nearly all the way going up, and they aren't your regular size steps. I still wonder how the Inca's walked up there as they were a lot shorter than us. It was a good feeling to have made it to the top though. In total we walked 8km in 6,5hrs, quite a long time for such a short distance! That night we stayed overnight at 4000mts and it was the coldest night of all. When I woke up on day 3 (at 5am) was when I started feeling my legs and knees. The third day was the longest day, in which we did 14kms in 11hrs. It was my favourite day as the landscape was so diverse - there were wild orchids everywhere. I couldn't stop taking photos! That was the beauty of the whole trail that everyone could do their own pace, and there would always be one guide in front and one in the back to make sure everyone was alright. We stopped regularly for breaks and to listen to some Incan history stories given by our guide Jeremy. The night of day 3 we all went to bed at 7.30pm as we had to get up at 3am the next morning for our final stent of the trail, the last 5kms to Macchu Pichu! Everyone was so excited, this is what we did it for! The thing with the final day is that everyone wants to be the first to arrive at Macchu Pichu. The only problem is that they only open the gate from the camp at 5.30am when the sun starts to rise, as the trail is pitch black otherwise and dangerous to walk on even with flash lights. We got to the gate at 3.30am and were the second group to arrive. Then we could only wait for them to let us through and we literally marched to the Sun Gate and on to Macchu Pichu. It was like being in a movie. Waving around our flash lights whilst focusing on the ground not to fall. We arrived to Macchu Pichu at 6.50am, just to see clouds and fog! Everyone had a good laugh about it though and, according to Jeremy, we were the fastest group in 7 years so at least that's one thing we were able to tell you guys at home!
Around 9am the clouds drifted and the picture postcard view revealed itself to us. It was such an adrenaline kick, incredible. Definitly one of my favourites on this trip. After receiving our final stamp in our passport of Macchu Pichu itself, we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes and the train back to Cusco. Everyone was dying for a shower!
We celebrated the succesful end to our trip with a nice dinner in the romantic city of Cusco. From Cusco we flew to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city. Arequipa was our starting point for a 2 day trip to Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon is the third deepest canyon in the world and famous for it's condors, of which we only saw 2. Yes, we were lucky that day. We stayed in a really nice place though, which overlooked the canyon and we went to a natural hot spring where we soaked for an hour whilst sipping our pisco sours (Peru's national drink). There are numerous vulcanoes in the Colca Canyon/Arequipa region which heat the water in the springs. From the Colca Canyon it was back to Arequipa where we had one last day to enjoy the beautiful city, which was preparing itself for Semana Santa, the holy week before Easter. There were loads of people streaming out of the cathedral on the main square after mass, so it was a busy beehive! After a relaxing day in Arequipa we hopped on a nightbus to Nazca. Nazca is famous for the Nazca lines, which supposedly have been there since before Christ. I chose NOT to get on an airplane to fly over the lines, as on average every week a plane crashes, at least 1 person is sick on every plane due to the pilot's skills to show everyone the lines on the left and right side of the plane, and it was 100 US dollars. In stead, we climbed up a tower from which we could see 2 figures, the hands, and the tree. It was impressive but I was happy I hadn't gone on the plane, even though so many people are histerically enthusiastic about it.
After Nazca we only had three days left before we had to be in Lima. We went to Huachacina on a day trip, which is famous for it's sand dunes. We had lunch at a place in an oasis in the middle of the sand dunes, which was pretty awesome! It had a really nice pool which we could use too, which overlooked the sand dunes, quite surreal I might say. From there we stopped at a 'pisqueria', or a pisco brewery, before driving on to Pisco itself (whilst enjoying the purchased pisco on the bus). Pisco is on the coast of Peru, on the Pacific Ocean, which meant this was the place to eat ceviche. Ceviche is raw fish 'cooked' in lemon and lime juice and pimienta, which you eat with popped corn kernels (not popcorn guys) and corn on the cob (they love corn here). It was out of this world. Quite different to anything I've had before, but very very tasty. We left Pisco in the morning to catch a 4hr bus to Lima. In Lima we had a lot of things to organise, like sending home 14kgs of stuff... Thank goodness we got rid of that! Then it was time for me to say 'hasta luego' to my bestest travel buddy Aniek who was off to Miami and then home. I can't believe 4,5months travelling with her went by so fast! I was quite sad actually, but luckily I still have a lot to look forward to. Yesterday I flew from Lima to Quito, the capital of Equador. Today's Easter Sunday and most shops and museums are closed. I walked down to the main square where apparantly the whole of Quito was. I had a special 'Semana Santa' soup, made of corn, lots of grains and beans, salted fish (backeljauw) and fried banana. Too good to be true, especially on a rainy and now stormy Sunday afternoon! The thunder and lightning is getting worse by the minute, but fortunately I'm off to the Galapagos Islands on Tuesday for some sunshine.
It's only 5 weeks untill I'm home now! 28th of May I'll set foot on Dutch ground again :)
Will update again soon!
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