On December 19th we were picked up at our hostel at 6am and brought to one of the cobble-stone side streets of Cusco where about 50 porters lined the wall. A bus arrived, filled with 16 others - all made up of Canadian, Australian and British tourists. We all nervously made small-talk and watched the snow-capped mountains of the Andes out the window for the 2 hour drive to Ollantampo, where we would begin our 4-day journey together, on foot, across peaks and valleys to the lost city of the Inka's, Machu Picchu.
18 tourists, 18 porters and 3 guides made the trek together. We camped each night, nestled amongst white peaks, to the sound of waterfalls.
The porters carried all of the tents, food and gas and it was absolutely incredible to see them running ahead of us on the trails, with their well-worn rubber sandals and propane tanks and tents strapped to their backs.
I was the luckiest girl on the trip, having my very own handsome porter to carry all of our things...apparently prior to the trip everyone (but us) was given the option to hire porters to carry their big packs and extra water for the journey. Oblivious to this option, we packed all of our stuff on Brendan's back (ok, and I did have a pack with water, sleeping mat, etc on mine...) and he hiked the entire Inka Trail carrying all of our clothing, 1st aid kit, toiletries, 2 sleeping bags and at least 5L of water. This obviously became an ongoing joke..and a seriously impressive feat to watch amongst the whole group.
Over the 4 days we walked up, up, up...and then down, down, down...then up again and again. We summited 3 peaks - the highest at 4,215 meters above sea level (13,829 feet), it rained...some days a lot, we had LOADS of laughs with our amazing group, managed to deal with the high altitudes well, ate amazing food prepared by the porters every night, and made it to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu after waking up at 3:00am on December 23rd.
Such a huge accomplishment, an amazing opportunity and an incredible experience to have shared together
y...las fotos!
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