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T-Bird and A-bomb keeping warm in the morning |
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Our bible for the next 5 days |
A rude awakening at 4am was the start of our 5 day Inca
trek, which was a sign of things to come. The following 3.5 hours were spent
trying to get back to sleep on a minivan, frustrated by the driver’s repeated
horn-honking, keeping his window open to the stiff breeze and the dodgy
Peruvian roads… Upon arriving at Mollepata, during our breakfast Hipolito (our
guide, a.k.a. Hippo, or ‘lito) told us that the first day was a boring 6 hour
walk over dusty roads. Great. Fortunately, there was an alternative – a 45
minute journey in truck for 5 soles each then a ‘delightful’ walk up to a lake
where he’d pay us the money back if we didn’t like it. Sounded like a
no-brainer, right? Wrong, obviously:
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And...stuck! At least we had a good view |
- Took almost 2 hours to organise the truck,
during which time we had no clue what was going on and the only entertainment
was watching someone in another group doing the same thing get more and more
annoyed with the situation. The guy happened to look like Michael Phelps as
well, which increased the amusement!
- The truck drive was 20+ people crammed like
cattle into the back of an open top van typically used for carrying equipment,
and you had to cling on to the sides for dear life to avoid falling onto the
floor and sustaining serious injury. One girl shouted out ‘can we walk instead’
after less than 5 minutes. She wasn’t joking.
- If that wasn’t enough, the road was narrow, so
you had to either take your hands off the side to avoid oncoming foliage and
increase the aforementioned risks, or literally take it head on…
- After 30 minutes in the truck, we caught up with
our supply vehicle (basically the same thing, but with our additional gear,
food, and tents in, along with the cooks and assistants) stuck at a point where
there were roadworks. This took approximately an hour to get through as the
truck was stuck in mud!
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The view of the lake made it worth it! |
- We arrived at our lunch stop at the same time as
our lunch, so had to wait longer than usual for that to get set up. 4 ½ hours
since we’d arrived at the so-called start of the trek, and still not a single
step walked…
- Due to the delay, we had to get back in the
truck after lunch, and were stopped shortly after following the driver scraping
a parked vehicle. The vehicle owner proceeded to throw a punch at our driver
through the window (providing some much needed entertainment!) prior to
extended negotiations of how to deal with the fallout. Unreasonably, according
to Hippo (but totally understandable from where we were standing), compensation
was requested, but denied…
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Reflecting on the journey |
Thankfully, we got to the campsite shortly after, and could
actually start walking! The ascent up to the lake was a slog, particularly
given the altitude. The lake was superb though, with stunning reflections and a
superb view of the surrounding snow-capped peaks.
Back at the camp we were served up a gourmet 4 course meal
(so much for losing weight on the trek!) and then into our tents. It had been a
while since we’d been in a tent – felt like home!
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Mixing it with the snow- capped mountains |
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After no small effort, reached the pass |
Second day was the toughest of the trek – a climb from the
campsite (c. 3,900m) to the Salkantay pass at 4,629m, then about 18km downhill
to c. 2,600m. The uphill section was tough, but this was rewarded with awesome
views and a fun Incan salute to the snow-capped mountain gods at the pass.
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A traditional salute |
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Feels like home |
The
long descent to lunch proved the back breaker, with altitude sickness
unfortunately getting to one member of the group. Luckily the break proved to
be the necessary tonic, and as the mist descended further, so did we for the
remainder of the day, ending up at camp at dusk. Walking through all daylight
hours meant a Cusquena (local beer) was well deserved over dinner, and Adam
introduced us to another card game – Asshole. Basically the equivalent of
Lemon, for any Sturge family readers. Needless to say, Tony was in the
presidential seat for the whole game!
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Waterfalls galore |
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Not our usual shopping centre |
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Dodgy bridge action |
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Coffee time |
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I love a bit in the morning! |
Day 3 was a morning spent enjoying the delights of the upper
jungle, with Hippo pointing out the remaining 4 out of 5 naturally growing
orchids in the area. Tony’s still not quite sure how it happened, but he ended
up being involved in a bet of who could spot these orchids first. Amazingly,
the guide won, and was a beer better off that evening! Got to the campsite straight after lunch,
then spent the afternoon is the Santa Teresa hot springs, an amazing tonic for
weary legs! Could have done without the giant cicadas, a scorpion (dead in the
springs, fortunately!) and the multitude of biting gnats around the springs
though… A quick lesson in making coffee
was given by the locals before another healthy feed and then wrapped back up in
our tents.
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Time to rest those weary limbs |
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llactapata with the gang (L-R: Siew, Poh,Adam, Shilpa, Aliza, A-bomb, T-dog, Li Li) |
You can see it, promise! |
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Inca steps - remind us again why we wanted to get onto this trail?!? |
A bit clearer now... |
We got involved with a proper Inca trail on the fourth day –
slightly controversially given we’d been told we wouldn’t be doing it at the
end of day 2. We put a massive guilt trip on Hippo following that news,
basically bullying him into doing it, but getting to the Inca settlement at Llactapata
made it completely worth it – we just hoped the rest of our group felt the same
way! The descent was another knee and thigh killer, and relief all round when
we were able to get a cold drink at Hydroelectrica. Not wanting to do things in
half measures though, we plowed on for another 7km alongside the train track to
get to Agues Calientes where we had the joy of a bed and a hot shower!
Annoyingly, we hadn’t been told we wouldn’t be getting our main bags until
later that evening, much to the disappointment of the ladies, who had to
postpone their shower… Restaurant food also awaited – we decided the tourist
menu on offer wasn’t quite enough, and a family size pepperoni pizza was
dispatched with ease by the group!
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Llatctapata - surely that's in a MJ song?!? |
Key Learnings:
1. Orchids and strawberries are frequent friends in the upper jungle.
2. Llactapa (yakta-pahta) is great fun to say aloud, and ended up being Adam's favourite word.
3. Asking a tour group for feedback at the end of a long day of walking is not always advisable.