Inca Trail - Day 1

Sign denoting the start of the Inca Trail

Bridge over the Urubamba river at the start of the trail.

This sign welcomed us to the Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary

Once we crossed the bridge over the Urubamba river, we were on the Inca Trail.  We started the trail around 10:00 AM.  Day 1 was described by our guide as a "training day."  We would walk several miles (6 maybe), but there would not be a substantial elevation change.

On the trail with our guide (with the colorful thing) and other group members

On the trail

The trail the first day was wide and gravel.  It was clear from the droppings that pack animals were used on this part of the trail.  The trail passed several groups of dwellings.  Before the area encompassing the Inca Trail was made a national sanctuary, people migrated into the park area to live.  These people were "grandfathered in" and allowed to continue to live in the sanctuary. The only access to their dwellings and small villages is along the Inca Trail, and they use animals to bring supplies in and out.  In fact we saw one such person and her donkey.

Pack animals are used on the first section of the trail by the local residents

Shortly after we started hiking, our crew of eight porters passed us on the trail.  The usual plan is that the passengers start hiking first, the porters break down camp and then hike faster to pass us on the trail and arrive and the next camp site (lunch or sleeping) before us to set up the tents and begin cooking.  Absolutely fantastic to have such a dedicated crew of porters on the trail.

Two of our porters.  Those packs each way 22kg.

Three more of our porters

Porters taking a rest, along with our guide (in front)

We stopped to rest at a small shop selling food, snacks, and basic supplies.  They also had a toilet for s/.1.  A bought a bandanna here.  At the start of the hike in Ollantaytambo, many people were eager to sell us last-minute supplies -- ponchos, hats, bandannas, waterproof backpack covers, and sleeping bag straps.  We declined everything on offer, as we had carefully packed everything we need.

Buying a bandanna along the trail

Taking a rest

Fast forward to right now, at our stop at the little shop, and in the hot sun A decided (rightly so) that she needed a bandanna to protect her neck from the strong sun.  It was actually cheaper than the one for sale before the start of the hike.

The trail climbed gradually up the side of the river valley.  After about two hours of hiking we reached the lunch spot.  When we arrived the cooking and dining tents were set up, the table was set, and we could tell that our chef Aurelio had a good start cooking lunch.  Three hot meals per day were provided on the hike.  In my estimation a combination of factors results in the three hot meals per day: (1) Passengers love hot meals, especially after hiking and while camping. (2) Cooking all the food alleviates many concerns of food freshness. (3). The porters, as a captive audience when at the camp site, can basically provide no-additional-cost labor to serve the meals and clean the dishes.

The cook tent setup for lunch.  Excellent food came out of that tent throughout the trip.

River in the valley below our lunch spot.

Lunch was a multi-course affair, starting with an appetizer of chicken salad over avocado, followed by egg soup, then pan seared trout with rice and a vegetable.  To drink was juice, and tea followed the meal.

The table is set for lunch

The campsite at which we had lunch was situated in a grassy area on the mountainside with a great view of the valley and river below. The weather was bright and sunny, and the grass was green and comfy to sit on. There was even a stream running through the campsite that looked as if someone had just carved a 12" wide groove in the grass with a pencil - the grass literally ran right up to the water on either side.

Stream seemingly carved into the spongy grass

While lunch was being prepared, our guide invited us down the hill. Yawar showed us as he made a small offering to the Mountains (The Incas treated the mountains like gods - fitting since they lived in the impressive Andes mountains). As part of the offering, Yawar added three coca leaves. He invited each of us to select the three most perfect coca leaves from the bag. These leaves we would each carry with us (in a safe place) to Machu Picchu, make a wish, and once there we would leave the leaves in a special place so our wish would come true.

Our guide Yawar showed us a traditional Quechua offering.

After lunch our guide Yawar asked us how much drinking water each of us needed to fill our bottles. Each campsite along the trail had running water, and our cook/porters would boil and cool as much water as we needed. Their method was quite ingenious. The boiling water was poured into a plastic bag submerged in cold water, and quickly the boiling water was a drinkable temperature.

Along the trail in the afternoon we passed some Inca ruins. (A "construction", as our guide would call it.) Down in the valley below was a much more elaborate construction, as well as a village that was clearly currently inhabited. While visiting the construction we heard several rumbles of thunder but felt no real rain.

Inca ruins in the valley below.

Inca ruins in the valley below.

Standing between the walls of two former Inca dwellings.

Inca ruins

Peeking through the window

In these ruins int he valley below you can see the residential area as well as the terraces used for farming.

C reenacting the "Silly English K-nig-its" scene from Monty Python.

C reenacting a scene from Monty Python 

Towards the end of the day the trail became a bit less flat.  As it got later in the afternoon, I (C) was surprised how much I couldn't wait to get to the campsite and be done hiking for the day.  Nothing about the day had been particularly difficult, but I still wanted it to be over.  Finally we came to something resembling civilization and we saw numbered campsites, starting with 1.   Our guide told us that we were campsite 13.  Man they seemed spaced out!

Campsite ahead

Sign for our campsite #13

Finally we arrived at our campsite, #13, where our trusty porters had already setup camp. Our tents and duffel bags were waiting for us and dinner was cooking.

Dinner is being cooked inside the cook tent (left) while some porters look on

Our dining tent (from the back) with the Quechuas Expeditions flag on top.

Our tents.  Our's was the third red tent (farthest away).  The blue tent was for our guide.

We arrived at camp around 5:00 PM, and we were informed with our guide that it was "tea time."  Tea Time consisted of hot drinks (tea, instant coffee, cocoa, coca tea), as well as munchies - popcorn (freshly popped and warm of course) and crackers with butter.

Dinner followed soon after tea time (6:30 I believe), and was just as excellent as lunch.  The meal began with a hot soup (vegetable rice soup this time).  The main course was lomo saltado -- stir fried beef and vegetables with fried potatoes, a Peruvian specialty. We were also served rice and mashed potatoes.  So began the tradition of two starches at every meal -- we must replace all that sugar burned while hiking.  After the meal was another round of hot beverages.  Definitely the most hot beverages I've had in a single day.

Inside our tent.  Those green pads were really comfortable.

Our tent had our (amazingly comfortable) inflatable pads waiting for us.  These camping pads were seriously more comfortable than the Aerobed we use sometimes at home. Our tent was a three person tent with only the two of us in it, so there was space for our stuff beside us.  Although it was cold outside, it stayed warm in the tent.  Bedtime was fairly early as we would rise with the sun (5:30) during the trip.  Peru is in the tropics, and there's only 12-hours of daylight.  With a full 8 hours of hiking planned for each day, we needed to get an early start.

We both slept soundly through the night, awakened only by one confused rooster at 3:15 AM, before the appropriate roosters and our guide woke us up at 5:25.