Day 6 SA First day on the Inca Trail

Well the about to begin, after all the years of training we are embarking on a great test of physical endurance, or at the least a four day trek of 44 km. Day one found us boarding the bus around 7:30 in the morning for a 1.5 hour ride to the trail head. It was an interesting ride through rural Peru. I don't know if we have commented on the number of stray dogs in Peru, but they are so common that we developed the game of "spot the dog" and it continued on the drive. The last half of the drive was along a single lane road beside the Urubamba river. There were frequent occasions when we met oncoming traffic, but the drivers handled it well. The Urubamba River is one of the main tributaries of the Amazon and is quite large along this section as just one continuous set of rapids. We arrived at the trail head at 9 and after a short bano (bathroom break) we were on the trail. Due to a glitch in the system Dawson did not get the one walking pole he had ordered but so be it. There was 3 or 4 groups at the trail during the same time as us with more having left earlier and more to come later. According to Davis our guide there will be about 500 people on the trail; about 200 tourist and 300 guides and porters. Should be interesting.

The 1st day was stated to us as the easy of the 4 days with it being a hike of 11 kms. The hike started at the village of Piskacuchu located at an elevation of 2,650m and finishing at the village of Wayllabamba Elev. 3,000m. The is setup with two guides one lead and one tail, with multiple scheduled stops along the way. We are given a snack each at the start to be eaten at the official snack eating break, along with a hot lunch with camp being reached around 4 to 5 in the evening. In our group we have 9 hikers, 2 guides, 2 cooks, and 14 porters. The guides are both from Cusco and the porters from the local villages, the porters carry ~25 kgs each and are not big men, I would guess their avg height at around 5' 4". For people carrying 25 kgs they use a variety of footwear, anything from sandals to converse running shoes, Doug even reported seeing a pair of penny loafers.

It turned out that the 1st day hike was not on the Inca trail but a new trail that will connect to the original Inca trail at the start of day 2. The hike started with a short walk to the offical sign where we got our starting photo, then over to the check in station to get our passport checked, crossed the Urubamba river on a suspension bridge and we were on the trail. Along this section of the trail it was open to local traffic so we passed locals with motorcycles, donkey, and on foot. We walked for a while with a family of four. A father, mother, and two daughters one about 8 and the other ~1 year old. The 1 year old was on her mother back in a traditional sling. The mother and daugthers made for a photo. About 1 hour into the hike we reached our first Inca site, this one was located on the river so we viewed it from above. This was explained to be a military post guarding access to Machu Picchu along the Urabamba river. The interesting item about the Inca is that they left no written record and all that is known about their civilization is from the Spanish chroniclers and from guesses by archeologist.

We made our lunch stop around 1 and learned that it was not simple camping chow we would be eating but something you would expect from a good resturant. One member of our group was so impressed she took pictures at lunch and would continue to this for the rest of the trek. Lunch was a 3 coarse meal with soup, followed but a main of fish and vegetables and desert.

We made our camp around 4 to find all tents up. The only item for us to do was to spread our pads and sleeping bags. One of the features of this camp location is that a local woman dropped by to sell cervaso (beer); a much deserved treat. Camp was in a small village which featured two ruins, one from the 1500's (Inca) and one from the 1990's when the government tried to develop a fish farm. According to our guides the fish farm failed as the local boys were stealing the fry at night. We headed over to the Inca ruins not only to see the ruins but the ruins provide a flat spot for viewing of the porters playing football (soccer). There are a number of trekking groups in the village providing lots of players.

At 5 we headed back to camp for "tea" - cracker, jam, tea and coffee, with dinner to be at 7. We have no worries now of being hungry on this trip. To entertain ourselves while waiting for dinner we played a game of charades which was assuming. During the charades game the clouds lifted and we were provide a beautiful view of one of the Andres snow capped peaks. Dinner was excellent (almost to much food), followed by a clear evening for viewing of the stars from the Southern Hemisphere. With the help of Davis we were able to see the Southern Cross something we had not seen in 25 years. Bed was 8 with us both off to sleep in short order, as tomorrow we were to cross Dead Woman's Pass. At 4,215 meters this was to be the highest of the trek.

The last picture attached is a view from our tent.

Cheers
Dawson and Julie