Inka Trail to Machu Picchu...

After leaving Huancayo, Tino, and the kids, we set off for our next adventure-hiking Machu Picchu! We took the bus back to Lima, where we were determined to keep ourselves busy until our flight left at 5 am the next morning, without getting a hostel! We found a hostel that was kind enough to store our belongings and we managed to entertain ourselves until we headed to the airport at 3:30 the next morning! On the flight to Cusco, Toriann began to feel sick and by the time we had settled into our hostel, she had full blown stomach flu. This was more than concerning as we were about to set off on a 4 day hiking trip!! But, after some rest, meds and TLC, the next morning Toriann was feeling good enough, thankfully, to pack and start the Inca Trail!!
And so, we were off. We met our guides, Juan Carlos and John Carlos, our 10 porters, and the rest of our group-2 Canadians and 5 Slovenians at 6:30am and bused to Piskacucho. We hiked about 1 1/2 hr until we stopped for lunch, where I began to feel sick...uhhh. But luckily it wasn't our toughest day and we both made it to our camp site for the night at Wayllabamba. The porters are amazing, they not only carried all the gear, they also went ahead and set up camp, cooked the meals, and then cleaned up. The average career of a porter only lasts 2 years because it is such strenuous work, but the oldest known porter is 77!!
The second morning we woke up at 5am and forced down breakfast because we were heading into our hardest day of hiking. We hiked from 7 am to 2 pm straight up the trail to the Dead Woman's Pass, 12,000 fasl. It was incredible...the scenery breathtaking! They told us, take your time, dont go too fast, and fast is definitely not how I would describe how we made it up...we would go for about 2 minutes before we had to stop and take a break. But, we made it to the top of the pass, had a bag of skittles to celebrate and then prepared for the next 2 hours. The last 2.5 kms were down winding steep steps across the valley into our 2nd camp. To celebrate completing the hardest day we had popcorn at tea time! (Other than the popcorn, the food on our whole trek was below average!)
The third day was the longest, 15 km, but easier and more interesting than the 2nd day. We stopped at several ruin sites along the way and Juan Carlos was a wealth of information regarding the Inca buildings. The final camp site was buzzing when we arrived, full of tired, but excited hikers to be so close to MP...and also for the showers and beers!! We got the chance to clean up and relax a bit (still not eat much!) before sleeping a bit before getting up at 4 am to walk the last 2 hours before reaching MP. The last morning was a race! Noone wanted to be passed, and although it was only an hour to reach the Sun Gate, we worked up a sweat. Our first view of MP was quick, before the clouds covered it completely. But as we hiked down from the Sun Gate, the clouds lifted, the sun appeared, and we saw MP! The ruins are ridiculous, the best we have seen of the many ruins site we have visited, and are 80% original. After taking our pictures off the famous viewpoint rock, Juan Carlos gave us a 1 1/2 tour.
After the tour, the group was meeting in Aquas Calientes town to have lunch and visit the therapeutic hot springs. Our options to get there were either, one, take a $7 bus or two, walk another hour and twenty minutes down steep steps. Toriann and I, being on a budget, somehow made it down the steps to the town and arrived after the rest of the group had just finished eating lunch. But we had lunch, did the hot springs, and finally, got on the train to return to Cusco. Needless to say, when we arrived back at our hostel, we were wiped.
We packed, slept, and got up early the next morning to fly back to Lima! We spent the next day in Lima, seeing the sights, enjoying the city until our flight left for Buenos Aires at 12am. We then had a red eye flight to Buenos Aires and spent the next 15 hours in the airport, still exhausted from sickness, hiking and traveling. But at last, we boarded our last flight to get to Auckland, New Zealand-only 13.4 hours to go! The flight actually went by fairly fast, which was amazing, because Argentina Airlines was HORRIBLE. They only played 1 movie and fed us 2 very small meals...crazy.
It is hard to believe that we are saying good bye to Latin America. It has been a remarkable first 3 months of our trip. We have met amazing people, done and seen great things, and learned so much, about the culture, the people, and about ourselves.
Love, having no geography, knows no boundaries.
-Truman Capote