Thoughts on Peru and hiking Machu Picchu

So after getting to Peru and wandering around Lima for half a day by myself I met the rest of the group as part of the group travel experience. Through the first few days I started to get to know the group and find my stride in the pace of group travel.

Peru is an interesting place. On the surface the cities look really hard and tough but in seeing the people and communities it seems there is a good sense of connection and community here. Peruvians have been friendly, even though a number of attempts of being overcharged have been apparent.

As far as Peru goes, I'm just going to fast forward to hiking Machu Picchu. There was 4 days of hiking.

Day 1: we took a bus from the town of Ollantayambo to km 82 which is the start of the Inca trail. After getting our gear sorted out, the army of porters (small and ridiculously strong Peruvian men) began walking, and women attempted to sell tourists water bottle holders and buffs were poltiley declined it was time to start the hike. We took a group photo and got passports stamped and then it was on to the hike. The hike on day one was pretty simple. It was a few hours of straightforward hiking. We had some great views and passed by some ruins and it was all pretty simple. Arriving in camp the porters had set up all meals, tents, and give you a drink upon arrival. One thing that was a bit strange is that they clapped for everyone upon getting to camp. It was certainly a bit patronizing considering these men just walked the same route, carrying substantially more weight, and then set up camp, all while doing it faster than we walked. A solid day one.

Day 2. We knew today was "the hard day" with climbing over 1000 metres of elevation gained. It was basically a 6 hour hike straight uphill. Nothing fancy about it. We just had to grind out a huge uphill climb. Some of the guys in the group and I started naming parts of the hike to make them sound more intense and perilous than they actually are. This particular mountain we named in sections. After finishing "the gringo killer" I had to finish "the grinder" to get to the top. I was able to do it finishing about 5th in the group of 18. Day 2 hike ended and we were back at camp resting when the toll of the hike began to be noticeable. My legs were certainly very sore but I was getting off easy. During the actual hike some people really struggled and took a long time to finish, but it wasn't a race so didn't think too much of it. That night at dinner one member of the group actually fainted. She was put on oxygen and rested for the night. A couple more people said they were experiencing headaches and were worse for wear as well. The guides stressed several times the importance of drinking water, going slow, and taking our time on the trek. This was no joke. The rest of the group who seemed to get away unscathed were speculating as to what was happening: sickness, exhaustion, altitude? We weren't sure

Day 3. A few of the people who were not doing so well day day 1 had since bounced back and were feeling better but there was a lot of struggle going on in the group this day. One other person was in a lot of trouble and struggling to get through the hike. The hike itself on day 3 was probably my favorite hiking I've ever done. Big elevation changes, stone path, thick jungle growth, spectacular views, and great weather made for an awesome day. Again we passed by Inca sites which is amazing to think that these have been around for so long and because we were walking the Inca trail we arrive at these sites with either nobody or very few people there so it's almost as if having the place to yourself. Day 3 was awesome but after the number day 2 did on my legs and the distance of day 3 my legs were cooked.

Day 4. This was a short day as we were close to machu Picchu. 3 am wake up call so that the porters could pack up and get back to town. We had a short walk to a control gate where we had to wait around until 5:30 for it to open. Once it opened we were off. You could definitely sense the excitement in the group this morning as everyone seemed to be feeling better (except for aching muscles) and the pace of the walk was reflecting that. The path was a bit more narrow and with the drop offs you had to be careful. In no time we were at the sun gate which is where you can get your first look at Machu from. Being that it was so early the morning mist had yet to clear and so the view was a bit blocked, but it was fine as we had to get to the site itself. Once we were at the site it was interesting because most of the group was really excited to be there, but everyone was so exhausted that was hard to muster up the energy to truly absorb all the information being given to us. After a few hours of being at the site it was time to leave.

No amount of words I can write will do the trek any justice in terms of what it was like,  it was simply an amazing experience. Throughout the 4 days I told myself so many times "I'm actually hiking the Inca trail, this is awesome." Doing the hike was certainly a once in a lifetime time sort of experience and I'm glad I did it.

Keep the adventures coming!

As an aside. After the trek finished 3 more people weren't feeling well including myself. I was so hungry during the trek and run thin I think I was simply exhausted in the true sense of the word. A few of us went for lunch and when my food had come I had no appetite. After taking it easy the rest of the day and this morning (as I write this) I feel much better as some rest was in order.
That's all for now.