The Inca Trail

So, I did it. No donkeys! For those of you who don´t even know what Im talking about basically I went on a 4 day hike which ends up at the lost Incan city of Macchu Piccu and the hike is special because the trail was created and travelled upon by the ancient Incas. There were lots of Inca sights along the way to look at and of course, lots of scenery. They said we went through 8 different micro-environments during the hike. I feel I really did pick the best tour company to go with, Llama Path, especially hearing stories from other people (´My guide didnt even have a flashlight, he didnt tell us we needed to bring water, he said we could buy it along the way AND he forgot to give us our entrance tickets to Macchu Piccu´) I however ´roughed it´in the lap of luxury. There were 9 of us and we had 2 guides, 2 cook and 9 porters to carry all of the cooking equipment, food, tents, tables.
When we first got picked up I saw 4 couples, and me which was awesome. Talk about being the 9th wheel, but actually there was only one couple (married from Norway) and everyone else was just friends. I mostly hung out with Carlos and Rhianon (Ree-anneon) who were from Washington DC. They were both really nice and we had lots to talk about. Sometimes they would bicker and Id hang out with them individually cuz they were getting on eachothers nerves. THEN there were 4 friends (2 girsl 2 guys) who I nicknamed TEAM AMERICA (yes, like the movie). They were these 4 really tall ´trekkers´who all carried these huge packs and hike all the time and didnt even use walking sticks. I found the two girls of that group really hard to like, they were just really antisocial. Infact, TEAM AMERICA played cards in their tent more often than they hung out with the rest of us, which was fine.
The food was amazing. We would have breakfast, Tea, Lunch, Tea and then dinner. And these were all three course meals. But we were always hungrgy from the hike. Out of all the non team america´s I was the only one who DIDn´t hire a proter to carry my bag (thanks to some BAD advice, you know who you are) SO I had a really hard time the first day carrying my big bag (which wasnt even full, or very heavy) up and down stairs and being told that the first day is the easiest. I was ready to fake an injury so I didnt have to finish the hike. But on day two (the hardest day) Carlos carried my sleeping bag (which was surpisingly my heaviest item) and actually he carried it on day three as well which SAVED me. Our guides were really great as well, really passionate about the trail and maintaining it and really into the history and spirituality of the place. So the hike:

DAY ONE
We got picked up at like 430 AM and got bussed to the start of the trail. The first day is called the Inca Flat and we came to realize that comparitively to the rest of the trail it was flat but, not actually flat. We saw some Inca sights and took breaks quite regularly. By the time lunch rolled around I was dying of the weight on my back, plus the sun was blasting. Usually most groups stop and camp where we had lunch, but we walked 2 hours more uphill in order to make dreaded day 2 a bit easier.

DAY TWO
Was definatley the hardest day. We basically climbed up 900 meters to the high altitude of 4200 meters, only to directly climb down 700 meters on stone steps. Then we had lunsh and went up again, only to come down again. SO we basically did an ´N´ up and down two mountains. And let me say, going up was hard but so was going down, especially on the knees. And these Inca steps were definatley not even. I was confused because the Incas were short but some of these steps were at my stomach, just going up or down one step was really difficult. And because of the altitude, I felt so out of shape. Doing anything made you breathless sometimes it was rediculous. Walking from my tent to the bathroom I would be huffing and puffing, but so was everyone else so...

DAY THREE
Was the easiest day. Because we had gone farther than most groups on day one and two, on day three we only hiked for 4 hours and then got to chill in the afternoon. We went to a nearby Inca site and went for a drink in the bar located at the campsite. It was quite nice.

DAY FOUR
Woke up at 3 AM so that we could start hiking by 430. We wanted to be the first in line at the gate to get onto the final part of the trail. SO we did a 5 minute walk from the campsite just to wait at the gate for an hour. But we were first. Walked for another hour and arrived at the Sun Gate, which is where you get your first glimpse of Macchu Piccu. IT was kinda surreal being there because you work so hard to get there, and then there it is...just like the pictures. We took an hour long tour of it and were given free time to explore. Then we headed to th nearby town of Aguas Calientes (Hot water) and went to the hot springs, which was so nice after 4 days of hiking. Had lunch with everyone and then caught the train back into Cusco. Evryone came back to gether except (you guessed it) the people I bonded with the most. Carlos and Rhianon satyed in Aguas Calientes for one more night. The rest of us went out for dinner at 930 (after showers of course) to this place that the Norweigan couple went to Ç(and was reccomended in Lonely Planet) called the Witches Garden. It was pricey, but so worht it. I had (as if I hadn´t eaten enough over the past 4 days) fresh strawberry-mago juice, some wine, an Alpaca steak covered in Andean cheese and some sort of sauce, sweet mashed potatoes and stir fyied veggies. Then we all tried this dessert called the Black Hole (also reccomended in LP) and it was so amazing. Went back to my hostel around midnight and packed because I had a bus to Puno this morning.

Arrived in Puno around 4 today and booked my tour for tommorow.Ill be seeing and staying on the floating islands, back on Sunday, leaving for Bolivia on monday. So, yeah.