Sunday, June 30, 2013
7am
Right now I am on day 4 of a 5 day trek to Macchu Picchu. Today we got to sleep in! Every other day it has been up at 5:30 to a steaming cup of coco tea from our 2 tour guides, Adolfo and Marcelino (and occasionally by a few rooster crows).
The first day of the trek, we left our hostel at 4:50 am to meet our fellow trekkers (12 total in our group) in a small plaza for a 2.5 hour bus ride to the first check point. We had breakfast and rode in the back of a pickup for a 40 minute ride to the start of the hike.
The first morning had several little hills followed by flat spots. It wasn't too hard to hike, but was not easy either. It was quite hot, so I ended up wearing my convertible pants as shorts. The company we trekked with, Llama Path, gave us several breaks so it made the journey quite manageable. After hiking for several hours, we stopped for lunch in a nice tent and enjoyed a three course meal, complete with swan napkins. Major props to the food on this tour. I have no idea how the staff did it in the middle of the trek.
In terms of the staff, there are 12 trekkers, 4 horseman, 3 porters, 1 cook/porter, 12 horses, and 2 tour guides. Quite a lot of people for 12 trekkers.
Anyway, after lunch we hiked about 4-5 more hours and made it to camp. That first day I managed to be perfectly average, which meant I walked by myself for most of the journey, which was actually quite nice to have the silence.
The first campsite was absolutely freezing. I should note it was at the base of a freezing cold mountain. There were also no showers or toilet with a seat. I was quite surprised at how clean I could feel with a baby wipe "shower". The bathroom was a different story.
Once I managed to scrub a decent layer of dust off myself, it was happy hour time. Normally, happy hour for me involves a Ketel One dirty martini with blue cheese olives. Here, happy hour involves coca tea (yes the same coca that cocaine comes from), hot cocoa, popcorn, crackers and jam. Since our first campsite was so cold, the warm drinks were quite welcome. After happy hour, I wasn't feeling so great, so I took off for bed (this was around 6:30!). Going to bed at the base of a mountain involves a clean base layer, 2 pair of pants (leggings plus the same pants from earlier in the day), clean t-shirt, long sleeve top, a sweater made from alpaca, north face fleece, socks, hat and mittens. I also was curled up in my sleeping bag with a blanket and still froze.
I managed to fall asleep rather quickly, but since I skipped dinner our guide was worried and came to check on me. I assured him I would be fine in the am and he left. I was so happy he cared, but really needed to sleep. After he left, I went to use the seatless toilet. Apparently, someone else had used it, missed, and the entire thing was covered in shit. I did not use the bathroom. I fell back asleep and managed to wake up 3 times in the middle of the night due to the fact I was freezing. My sleeping bag is only made for 15 degrees Celsius. Plus, I didn't want to dirty more socks because I only bought four trek socks for a five day trek to save $15usd. Dumb. I also only bought one pair of convertible hiking pants to save $90 usd. Also dumb, but slightly less so.
We packed up our tent after enjoying the hot cocoa tea and went to a breakfast of bread, crepes, delicious porridge, fruit and more tea. I will need a diet after this.
The second day of the trek, especially the a.m. was the hardest. I knew this in advance, but was not prepared. We were at a high elevation (6,271 meters), hiking the longest distance (18km), it was freezing, and was uphill. I consider myself healthy and fit. I run, stay relatively active and eat right. Even since leaving Brazil I have been drinking way less. Going out all the time gets old fast. Anyway, nothing could have prepares me for this. I could barely take 20 steps before needing to stop. Me and a 280lb man were the weakest links. After about an hour of this, the horseman relieved us of our day packs by having the horse carry them. This helped some, but I was just struggling on the hills. I was then places on a lovely horse named Santiago to go up the mountain.
On this trip I have realized I love riding horses, so aside from this being a bit embarrassing, it was a blast. In fact, i was having so much fun, I convinced the guides and myself I needed it a bit longer than perhaps I really did. The ride was also a bit scary as I was on a path about 1-2meters wide on a mountain side cliff.
Well, time to go hike, more later!!
So that is what I have the energy to type now. I will post more later. Last night in Cuzco!
Adios!
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