Cusco and the Inca Trail

I flew into Cusco and the first thing I noticed was that this town was alot greener - probably due to the floods that occurred in the rainy season in February.Cusco is my favourite city in Peru so far even if it is the most touristy. The only thing that was really annoying was the local women shoving random things in your face for you to buy (most bizzare = inner soles for shoes!!)The city was once the capital of the Incan empire which included Peru, Ecuador, Northern Chile, Bolivia and Northern Argentina. Cusco is built ontop of Incan ruins, there are many narrow cobblestone roads which I'm still not sure as to whether the roads were actually supposed to be one way or not..we were in a taxi one day and had to reverse back down the alley to let the other car go past.
Our tour group did a tour of the Sacred Valley - this included Pisac and Ollyantayambo - sites of Incan ruins. The Incan empire ruled between the 11th and 16th centuries, their amazing engineering skills have allowed these Incan cities to withstand time and many earthquakes.

INCA TRAIL
DAY 1
Anyone who knows me knows that waking up at 4.30am to go for a hike is usually not my idea of fun..especially when it is freezing!
We took a bus to the start of the Inca trail - 82km from Cusco. The Inca trail is (what I now know to be a very gruelling) 42km hike that ascends to 4200m (nearly 14000feet).We have to carry a day pack, including the essentials: toilet paper, mozzie spray, beanie, scarf, sun hat, sunscreen, bandaids, strapping tape, water purification and Gastro tablets. While our porters - who are about half my height AND weight carry all our clothes, sleepingbags, mattresses, tents, food, tables and chairs, cooking facilities and utensils.
We were introduced to the porters. Most of them are in their mid 20's but look much much older (in their 40's). Some have 3 wives and 10 children. They are very softly spoken, humble men and are always running!
After our first break - lunch, I realised that we wouldn't be slumming it on the Inca trail. The company - Pachamama "mother earth" was fantastic. Before eating they would prepare warm water for us to wash our hands with soap. The meals were served in a tent with a tressel and chairs. Every main meal consisted of soup, some sort of meat (alpaca, chicken, beef) with rice or quinoa and of course potatoes and tea! Afternoon tea was usually popcorn, crackers, or wontons with MILO! Every morning the porters wake us up and give us coca tea (to help with altitude sickness and energy) in the tent.

The porters always start treking about an hour after our group because they have to pack up the camp... but they always overtake us and get to the next camp a few hours before us and have the camp already setup!! There is alot of camaraderie within our group and our porters... always giving eachother rounds of applause and high fives when we reach the campsite.
The 1st day was a piece of cake compared to what was to follow....
DAY 2
Breathless is an understatement to describe the 2nd day. 5hrs of walking vertically uphill on an uneven rocky surface was the hardest thing I've ever done - but reaching the summit (Dead womans pass) (4200m) was an amazing feeling of achievement. It was so cold!Decending 5km to the camp was pretty hard on the knees!
The porters filled our drink bottles up with hot water tonight to use as hot water bottles in our sleepingbags... still didnt get much sleep though.. must be because of the altitude!

DAY 3
The chef this morning made us a cake.. "Bienveineudo Macchu Picchu" welcome to macchu picchu - it had mountains decorated on it.This day was all down hill - the whole 16km of it! But wasn't as difficult and I didnt have my head down the whole time watching my step - so I got to take in the sights! Being above the clouds was awesome. The trek today was like being in a rainforest... lots of orchids and moss growing on the trees, streams flowing beside the track...
Our tour guide Alfredo said that our group were like mountain goats! Apparently we were fast walkers.. this gave us alot of time at the camp every night to play cards..
Tonight was the last night with our porters. We had a thankyou
ceremony for the porters.
The chef and the head porter welcomed us to Peru and wished us a fantastic time at Machu Picchu. The porters then continued by saying in Quechua (Incan language) "Hi ladies and gentlemen, my name is Santos.. I carried the fruit"... "Hi my name is Pietro.. I carried the duffle bags"..."Hi my name is Herman... I carried the gas". And they all said what they carried. They were so cute. They are true superheroes, without them I would be at the bottom of the mountain.
DAY 4 - Reaching Machu Picchu
We got woken up at 3.45am this morning by the porters...
Our chef gave us pancakes for breakfast - he drew pictures of stickfigures walking up mountains on them with caramel sauce.
We started walking to the check point and had to wait 45min in the cold darkness (watching shooting stars) before it opened so that we avoided the ques. I am quite surprised actually at how we hardly ever saw anyone (except the porters rushing past) walking the Inca trail. Must be because we were mountain goats and no-one ever caught up to us!Seeing Machu Picchu was awesome. Machu Picchu (Old Mountain) was never conquered by the Spanish. It was a sacred place for the Inca's that only a select few knew about. It is still in such good condition.
I still cant believe that I made it! I have to sat that I am so proud of me! haha

After exploring we spent the day at a town called Aguas Calientes (Hot Water) and relaxed our aching legs before taking the train back to Cusco. Due to the mudslides and floods that occurred in February, alot of the track was destroyed. Making our train ride horribly slow.. and jerky....and having to take a bus for half the way back aswell.