IncaTrek - Blogabond

An early morning pick up of 4am - but hey we didn´t mind as we were so excited. Drove through the Sacred Valley and had breakfast at Ollantaytambo - pancakes and eggs, yummy! Back into the bus for another 40 mins arriving at the Trail Head - KM 82 at 2750m. A quick group snap, stamps in the passports, packs on and we were off.

Trail head

Hit the track at 8:30am, crossing the Rio Urubamba, and had a very nice 4 hour walk to our lunch spot at Wayllabamba (3000m) stopping at Llactapata ruins along the way. They think this place was used for grain storage as it is located between two valleys and is always windy, therefore good for drying. We were expecting a sandwich on the grass so you can imagine how shocked and excited we were when we saw the dining tent, individual wash bowls with soap and a tarp layed out for our packs! Impressed? We were! Lunch consisted of 3 courses finished off with sweets and hot tea.

Fresh faced half way through the first morning

Llactapata Ruins

Oh my, how were we going to get up after this? Before setting off again, our guide, Solay, taught us how to chew coca leaves to help with altitude sickness. It tasted kind of strange at first but rather sweet. We were warned that the afternoon hike was going to be challenging and Solay kept saying ´positive thoughts, positive attitudes and always smiling.´

Llamas on the trail

The next 4 hours were challenging, 700m all uphill, and Chris and I chewed those coca leaves like they were going out of fashion. They really did help - it was a strange feeling as our energy was renewed and we were able to keep pushing on up the mountain. We arrived at camp, Llulluchapampa 3750m, at about 5pm and got into our tent just before it started to hail. The last people arriving an hour later ( a little wet). We were totally exhausted but felt exhilarated at the same time. Corinne felt a little dizzy and nauseaus but after a lie down, some gatorade and chocolate she was back in full form. The terrain was fairly varied going from trees and grasslands to cloud forest and spectacular ravines.

We had another amazing 3 course meal and got to meet our fellow trekkers a little better. There was another married couple about our age from the Napa Valley, California, very cool, 2 girls from New York who were just lovely and a 64 and 62 year old couple from Alberqurque, New Mexico. They were interesting to say the least. We thought at one point they were going to sell us vitamin supplements. They had very strong opinions on practically everything to do with nutrition and were somewhat hard to take at times (apparently she has been reincarnated 20 times!). Oh well, it takes all types for the world to go round. However, if we´re that fit at that age we´ll be happy! Time for bed I think - sleep is much needed after 9 hours of walking.

First Camp site

written by

chrishoorweg on September 12, 2007 from Cusco, Peru

from the travel blog: and one last trip before we come home.........?

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Inca Trail Trek - Day 1

Cusco, Peru

Heading South?