South America 2016 - The Inca Trail Day 2

Where else could I sit it my tent and get a view like this? Read on to find out how I paid for in a sweat, blood and tears. Ok - it was really just sweat. But it was a lot of it.

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Distance Covered: 8.8 km / 5.48 miles
Start: 3,000 m / 9,843 ft
Peak: 4,198 m / 13,769 ft (Dead Woman’s Pass)
End: 3,590 m / 11,788 ft
Climb: 590 m / 1,945 ft (+1,198m then -608m)

At 5am, there is a gentle knock on our tent door from our assistant guide, Rudy, saying “Buenos diaz, coca tea”. We had been warned about this terrible wake up service of hot coca tea being delivered to our doorstep - “tent service” they called it, the G Adventures Inca Trail version of room service.

Without the sun, we layer up to face the cold morning and make our way to the meal tent for breakfast. We’re all feeling pretty average as the night was cold, noisy with wedding celebrations and a series of commando crawls uphill as we attempted to get some shuteye on the gradual slope our campsite had been pitched on. There isn’t much chatter to be heard in the tent as we all do our best to remain civil after a long day of walking, no showers and not much sleep. Breakfast is hot oats, followed by pancakes with the names of animals written on them in caramel sauce. Bless those porters.

While covering 8.8km over 6 - 8 hours of walking doesn’t sound like much, we will climb 1,198 m / 3,926 ft from our campsite up to the peak at Dead Woman’s Pass at an altitude of 4,198m / 13,769 ft, before descending 608 m / 1,981 ft to the next campsite at 3,590 / 11,788 ft. We will make three rest stops in total, walking approximately 2 hours between each stop and then a final 2 hours to reach our campsite for the night. We’re expecting to climb 6 hours uphill before descending 2 hours down. With so little sleep, we know that this will be a challenge and to make things worse, one of our team, Erica, has come down with some altitude sickness. The sun hasn’t fully risen when we started walking at 6:30am and we don’t realise how grateful we will be for the shade in a few hours.

The uphill climb hits us right at the start of the day; sun rising as we walk

We reach our first stop break at 8:40am. It’s a short toilet break and a quick refuel at the local kwik-e-mart before getting back on the road. As the road continues to push us closer to the sun, the flora and fauna we see on route break up the monotony of the sand and stones beneath our feet.

The local kwik-e-mart; Bambi made an unexpected appearance to break up the monotony of Day 2 where there are no ruins to stop to check out. Some other animals below also stopped by to say hi.

Clockwise from top left: A sleep pig - something we all wish we were doing; walking the donkey; llamas!

Tim still doing ok and enjoying the landscape along the way.

The track between our first and second stop is a little bit more challenging and takes us just under 1.5 hours and we arrive at stop two at 10:15am. It’s the last chance for us to buy any snacks as there will be no more tuck shops from here on - not just for the day but for the rest of the trail. Our guide gives us “free time” to get to the next stop (Dead Woman’s Pass), meaning that we just need to keep to the track, resting and then tearing along if we want to. As they send us off, they sit to to tuck into their breakfast knowing that they will have no trouble catching up to the rest of us Gringos despite giving us a 30 min - 1 hour head start.

Peru's version of the "hawker center" on the Inca Trail.

Looking uphill with no end in sight and looking back and seeing no hope of return. To quote Macbeth, "I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go over."

As we pull out of the second rest point at 10:35am, I remember thinking to myself that while the walk had been a bit challenging so far, it was not too horrible and that the last part of the climb up to Dead Woman’s Pass might actually be ok. I was wrong. I’m not sure if this section was the longest in distance, but it was certainly the toughest. I need something to keep me going so for every 50 steps I take, I stop for a quick breather. There were some who struggled along with me, but there was definitely a number who just zipped up the path. As we are walking, we hear the sounds of a pan flute being played somewhere behind us. All I can think as I pause to catch my breath after 50 steps is “Who the hell has the breath to play a flute while doing this ridiculous climb?”! The trek is made more challenging as the path we are along is completely exposed to the sun. All of a sudden, I find myself wishing we had never stopped to sleep and had just trekked through the night so that we would not be feeling this hot. After just over two hours of suffering, I finally reach the summit at 12:45pm, only 10 mins longer than the estimated time. Most of the Sexy Llamas team has already made it to the top and have been taking in the view. Given my level of fitness, it’s probably no surprise that even Erica has beaten me to the top.

The end was finally in sight and even though it was still ways off, being able to see tiny silhouettes at the peak made it slightly better. Click to zoom in and see if you can spot the hikers who have already made it to the top.

Wasn't too tired to take in the landscape

After clawing our way up to Dead Woman’s Pass, we had an opportunity for some group photos and a short rest before we headed to camp. It was also here at the peak that we discover that the flute was being played by our guide, Leo, this entire time. Despite a 30 min head start, he manages to get to the peak before all of us, all while playing the flute.

It’s all downhill from here - that is definitely something I can get behind. It’s 1:05pm when we take off. I am feeling decidedly average at this point but keep close to one of our team, Teena, as we fly down the track to the camp. My goal is to get there as fast as I can just so I can lie down. We head down like we’re in the Fast and Furious and hit our camp ay 2:30pm, just 1 hour and 15 mins instead of the estimated 2 hours. It’s a warm welcome from the porters and cooks and I collapse in our tent waiting for the others to arrive. The last of the group arrives by 3pm and it’s time for lunch - a semolina soup followed by a beef stir-fry with rice and topped up with an apple cake dessert. Then, it’s time for a siesta.

View from the tent

Lunch at 3pm - first real food for the day since breakfast at 5am.

We nap for a couple of hours and then wake up for dinner at 6:30pm. Given how late we had lunch, the team is not overly hungry so dinner is served up “buffet” style rather than plating for each person to avoid wastage. We start with a potato soup, and then it’s grilled chicken, spaghetti with tomato sauce and boiled veggies. At this point, I am not feeling well at all and only have the soup. Once dinner has been cleared away, our guide explains the activities for the next day. Succumbing to the altitude, I tune out for most of it before exiting the dining tent to expel my soup and crawling back into our tent at 9pm. I am not looking forward to tomorrow and fall asleep almost immediately.

[End of Day 2 -> Click for Day 3]

2 comments:

Salkantay Trek23 December 2016 at 07:24
Salkantay trek is the alternative to the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu was recently named among the 25 best Treks in the World, by National Geographic Adventure Travel Magazine.
Inka Trail4 February 2017 at 06:05
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is rated among the best trekking trips in the world because of the exquisite beauty of its natural surroundings; these include different ecological areas from high deserts to Andean Tropical rain forests.

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