Old Inca Trail Day 4

Today is the day we see Machu Picchu!! We were so excited after all the ups and downs (literally) we will see MP today!! So waking up at 3:00 in the morning was not that hard considering we hardly got any sleep! All 200 plus trekkers that started on 23rd June were at this last campsite.There were too many people considering past 2 nights we have been avoiding crowds by being ahead of the crowd. Even though I have been complaining about having to go farther then most other groups its been great to have the whole campsite to us. Today the main gate opens at 5:00 and our first stop was to reach Sun gate by 6:00 and Machu Picchu by 7:30....

We waited in line for an hour and then as soon as the gate opened we turned on our lights and headed to the sun gate...We were so close to our destination that we had a new found energy to run;) plus it felt like a race so we had no choice but to run!

We reached the sun gate and were probably the first 20-30 people to reach sun gate. The fist glimpse of MP was amazing!! It's what we have been walking towards for 4 days afterall...we couldnt believe we did it!!!! We clicked few pics and then the cloud covered MP so we decided to continue towards MP to watch the sunrise. MP is truly amazing... The beauty is breath taking... Imagining this was built about 400-500 yrs ago at such a inaccessible location surrounded by beautiful Andes mountain range with such details in the construction is mind blowing!!

We explored the city for about 4-5 hours and then headed back on bus to meet our group for one last time for lunch. We were all stinking from no shower for 4 days and was the first time in 4 days we were with non hikers... probably people sitting around us could smell that too..We could see it on their faces;) I was so looking forward to going back to the hotel taking a hot shower and sleeping in a normal bed!! 

Lunch was super fun, everyone was so excited to complete the hike!! It was like we were seeing different sides of everyone... We finally ordered the famous Pisco Sour to celebrate our hike!! (a real happy hour for once instead of popcorn and cocoa tea) We shared our emails and headed off to 4 hour ride back to Cusco.

We reached our hotel at about 10:00pm and no points for guessing the first thing I did was took a hot shower!! Our flight was at 7:00am next day so we were to leave for airport by 5:00am... If I had known we will not be back by 10:00pm I would have planned better!!

So 3 highlights of the trek:

1) Crossing dead woman's pass

2) Making new friends

3) Rushing towards sungate at 3:00 in the morning

Lowlights of the trek

1) Restrooms/toilets

2) Sleeping in sleeping bag

3) No shower

This truly was an experience where the journey was more important than the destination!!

Old IncaTrail Day 3

I am now kind of getting used to (in fact getting efficient at) the routine of waking up,packing the bags, brushing teeth and getting ready in dark. Today was a happy day with an easy trek and I was determined to finally use my slr and click some good pics and enjoy since the most difficult part of the trek was behind us. We were keeping pace with the fast group, the views all along the hike were as good as yesterday but without the light headedness and headache as we were back to decent altitude! We clicked lots of pics and visited 2 beautiful ruin sites and got to learn a lot about incas! It truly was an easy day but the fatigue and lack of sleep of the past three days was catching on:( we reached our lunch site by 2:00 pm. After a great lunch we rested a little and went to see another inca ruins and we finally saw some Lamas. Today was the last dinner and happy hour with the group. I will kind of miss this. Our group is really funny and we all got along really well. Hopefully we will stay in touch:):)

Tomorrow we are suppose to get up at 3:00am and start the last leg of trek to reach Machu Picchu at sunrise. I will so not miss this waking up in the middle of night and start waking like a zombie... Thats exactly what we felt like!! Zombies!!

Old Inca trail Day 2

Not that it needed any validation or confirmation.... But I concluded one more time that saying I hate camping is an understatement.I couldnt sleep all nite, the restrooms were so horrible that I don't even want to talk about it and getting ready with a torch light at 5:00 in the morning is a nightmare. Somehow we were all ready by 6:00 with our day packs packed and duffle bags packed for porters. It was freezing cold and I wish I had more layers of clothing but I was reminded that we were on trek and not going to a relaxed 4 star vacation resort:( After a quick breakfast we told Roger that since we were behind the group last night we would like to get head start. He showed us where the trail continues and me and akarsh started marching along. It didn't help since we didn't get very far along before the group caught up:)

Today we had to climb two huge mountains, go to the highest elevation at 13500 ft and pass the 'dead woman's pass'. Most of the names along the Inca trail are given to them due to some occurrence.. Dead woman's pass is called so because they found a woman's skeleton there and also because it looks likes a women lying with her head facing the sky!! They called a Glacier Veronica because somebody by the name of Veronica attempted to climb the glacier and never returned... I was worried they might have to change the dead woman's pass to Jalpa's pass ... Akarsh was worried it may have to be renamed to dead man's pass;);) Luckily there was no need for any of this..we made it to the top of the pass in the allocated 4 hours!! Will not get into the details of how but  we were both so proud of each other and somehow felt like we accomplished something big!! The views of the valley were breath taking..infact the whole 4 hour hike had beautiful views all over.  But it was too cold and windy to click many pics. Plus I was too light headed and having altitude sickness. I still clicked a few pics. Btw did I mention that I carried my dslr with me all along the trek.It weights at 1kg which is a lot specially when you are already carrying your day's supply of water, snacks, medicines, torch light, different layers of clothes for different weather etc..anyhow my biggest lesson learnt would be to not carry huge camera. Its not efficient to take the camera out and click pic while trekking and when you are at the campsite you are too tiered to even think of clicking pics..iphone is good enough which is what we used for most of the pics!!

So back to the hike: I was so sure the tough part of the day was over and downhill was going to to be easy but there is nothing quiet easy on inca trail.The downhill was steep uneven steps made of uneven rocks.It was tough on knees specially for Akarsh since he already has knee problems... But we made it to the lunch site 30 minutes after the fast group (which was not to bad)..After lunch we had one more mountain to climb.I was giving hints to the group and Roger that we should just camp out here like all other groups, but all I got in return was 'we are stronger than others' so after an hour lunch break we were climbing uphill again. Again the views all around were beautiful.I wish I had some more energy to click pics. We had 4-5 more hours of hike ahead of us and we were enetering the cloud forest area...The views were breath taking but at the same time I was getting very anxious about how dark it was getting and how much more distance we had to cover, so was in a rush to get to the camp site. Our guide was on and off with us so that was encouraging. Looking back I wish I had enjoyed the views and took it easy. We reached the campsite with all the limbs intact and really not much in pain;) We felt exhausted but overall day 2 was not as bad as people had made it out to be! 

Day 2 campsite was the highest elevation for campsite in our trek and it was much colder than last night... I hate this part of the trek called camping!!!! I can walk all day but need a decent bed and moderate temperature to sleep. Again Aleve and Bengey to rescue! Tomorrow is going to be a happy day:)

Old Inca Trail Day1

Let me begin with saying the Old Inca trail is beautiful beyond words or pictures can describe. The trek on the other hand is sometimes so hard that you just want to give up and there were many times i was cursing myself for doing this to myself! 

However, in all its an experience everyone should have at-least once! I am so glad I did it (but also will not want to do it again).

So Day1 started with the alram going off at 3:30 in the morning... I struggled to wake up but on the other hand was anxious not to be late for our pick up (This was probably the only time I was on time and not behind the group).

So with our duffle bags and bag packs ready we got picked up for a 3 hour bus ride to where we start the hike..after multiple stops for breakfast, return train tickets and checkpoints we finally reached the starting point of the old Inca trail! We were 11 of us with two guides... Everyone was super excited to start the trek.. We took couple group photos and off we went... Our pace was good and the guide was giving us good info all the way.The trail was flat and on our way we also saw couple inca ruins sites which is accessible only through trail. Me and Akarsh were thinking 'Ok this is easy... This can be done... Yes we can do it;)' but we were concluding too soon...45 mins before the lunch camp site it got very very hot and the mild uphill seemed like climbing Everest...we were 15 mins behind our fast group but a lot ahead of the slow couple in our group. We finally made to lunch... Have to say the porters or the 'Red Army' as we called them do an amazing job... They carry atleast 25 kgs each (our luggage, tents, tables, chairs, utensils, food, water and everything else you can think of) and reach the camp site before us, set up everything, prepare lunch for us and have it all ready by the time we reach there!!  The lunch was yummy:) Most other companies end day one at the place where we had lunch but like our guide Roger says 'we are stronger' and so we had 2 more hours of uphill...Climbing uphill after lunch is always difficult and I was not proven wrong, somehow we managed to reach the campsite around 5:00ish and was so glad to see the tent set up already. All I wanted to do was sleep but we had to unpack, go to happy hour and have dinner.. We were all also introduced to the red army on day 1.. Some of them were as young as 20 yrs and some were as old as 60 yrs!!! I was so impressed... Roger told us that most of the younger porters are preparing for their guide certificate (which is a 3 yr university certification) and the older porters are saving up to send their kids to school/university so that they don't have to become porters... Its really very hard work and impressive what they do!

So after group dinner we were told we have to be ready by 6:00 am tomorrow and be on the trail by 6:30! How in the hell was I going to start hiking at 6:30 in almost zero degree temperature? I had to take 2 aleve so that I get good night sleep before the biggest and hardest day of the trek!!

Day 3: Preparation Mode

We decided to take it easy today since we start our trek tomorrow..

We walked around cusco city and did some more shopping actually lot more..mostly stuff for home:) We witnessed the beautiful carnival/ festival with local music and dances... Its was truly amazing! I feel like I can stay here for some more weeks.. I am already familiar with all the roads didn't need to see the map even once today!!! Akarsh is always surprised how can I be so clueless about my surroundings when at home and so focused and aware about everything while traveling... My answer is god has made me for travel;)

On another note I have to mention this story because every time i see red wool I am reminded of the weaving community we visited yesterday...  They had showed us how they color the wool using all natural ingredients such as cauliflower for yellow color and parasites on cactus for red etc.. The red color was very beautiful. She then applied the red from the parasite to her lips.. I was nervous for her... But she said the locals use it for lipstick and the color last for 24 hours or 100 kisses!! I asked her if anyone has tried 100 kisses....she shied and smiled;)

A little about Peruvian cuisine and most important their desserts. I have been trying different peruvian desserts which even included dessert made of quinoa!! But the best dessert goes to the one we tried today at Cicciolina restaurant!! It was chocolate something with blast of flavors! If I died today I will have no regrets! 

Today's photo credit includes the dessert,beat ravioli and me in cusco:)

In the evening we headed straight to the orientation for the trek.. There are 11 people in our group.. They all seemed very nice.. Most of them are from UK and Australia.I got complex just looking at them and how fit most of them were!! Thankfully our guide said there will be one guide walking with the last person... So we are good! We got lots of tips and have packed accordingly and now really looking forward to the trek!! 

The only part I am not looking forward to is waking up 3:00 in the morning tomorrow!! So have to sleep now....please wish us good luck and will give the updates from the trek when we return:):)

Day 2: Getting acclimatized

So everyone had warned us about high altitude and the importance of getting acclimatized but i didn't take it very seriously... Not until yesterday.

On our way to pay the remaining amount of the trek... We could barely walk the low incline streets of Cusco... Huffing and puffing we reached the office. Akarsh has had his doubts since last week but yesterday even i was almost going ask them to give our deposit back instead of us giving them more money for something that seems unachievable!! 

Unfortunately they don't do cancellations... Which is very smart of them;) 

So made the payment, enjoyed the street festival (Peruvian dances/music is beautiful) and went to an amazing place for dinner. There were shared tables so we got to share our table with few guys from SF and New Zealand... It was so refreshing to hear someone else as passionate about movies as I was at one time.We spoke for over 2 hours about different movies and have now 3 movies added to my list that I have to watch before I die!!

Day 2: Waking up with headache and dizziness is never good and Akarsh had a little bit of fever which is always worrisome... But Coca tea gets a special mention here...everyone had recommended it but i was not sure to try (because technically those leaves are used to make drugs). Its a miracle drug....The fever, headache and dizziness disappeared as soon as u took the first sip!! Its a must to deal with high altitude!

Today was the day of doing touristy things.. We went to 'Sacred Valley'and saw many inka ruins... 'Chinchero' was our first stop... I never include shopping time in my itienery.. Its such a waste of time specially when there are so many beautiful places to see.. But the driver took us to a textile weaving community.The stuff there was so beautiful. Ended up buying a few things... Next stop was Moray an archeological site and has some amazing Inca ruins..Then we went to 'Salineras Maras'..its site of terraced inca salt fields with almost 3000 small salt pans.. Again amazing!!Last but not the least was the 'Pisaq' ruins. I will not bore you with details.. You can look them up on google... And I have lots of pics on my camera so will upload them when I get back!

Some observations from today: 

1) Acclimatization is not to be taken lightly. All day today I had bouts of horrible headaches and breathlessness!

2) Cusco and its neighbouring places are beautiful beyond words.Pictures dont do justice and u have to visit yourself!! 

3) Our bnb owner Carlos and driver willbert are amazing... I recommend staying at this BnB if u visit Cusco... 

4) Potatoes and corn are everywhere and in every food.. I like them both so no complains there. I even tried boiled corn woth cheese!

5)There are a lot of female cops.. Which is unusual but yay to girl power!!

6) Lastly inca people loved challenges! All the ruins we saw were in such difficult geographical terrain and impossible to build at that time..makes me wonder why they chose such places!! Or may be those are the only places left where we have not  ruined their history yet!!

Ok thats a long blog for today....Its 7:00pm here and I am really sleepy and tiered...time to go to bed!! SURPAI (thank you in Ketchua - inka language)

IN TRANSIT

Day1: 19-20th June 2015:

This trip for a change we didn't have to wake up in the middle of night to catch a plane. The start of the trip was smooth... Shuttle arrived on time.. No traffic on the way to the airport..flight was on time and so on....

Funny things about international travel is u learn a lot about diverse people and situations;) For example if people only knew that once you have reserved the tickets and are at the gate for boarding, the plane will not leave without then then the boarding process could have been so different:) It was chaos getting on the plane... But as soon as we settled in our seats me and akarsh immediately looked at the list of movies and picked the movies we wanted to watch.For me thats the most exciting part of the long flights. Catch up on movies I have missed! (Btw if you are curious i watched the new Hobbit and Invictus.) 

Also like most trip i knew food was going to be an issue so I had some bars and chocolates in my bag which were suppose to last all day but disappeared in the first hour of the flight. Obviously the food they served had meat....they did have some baby carrots, so i asked them to give me some extra carrots instead of sandwich and they got me a bowl full of carrots .. The guy sitting next to me was looking at me wiered... I am sure he was thinking what am I doing with all these carrots!! Akarsh said its perfect meal for the energizer bunny;) luckily there were no crying babies on the plane and I was set for the next 5 hours:)

Immigration in Mexico was easy...however we didnt get the point of collecting our bags from baggage counter, going through immigration and customs and then checking them in again..when it was a transit stop only!! and the same process at lima too!!!

One more point to note... Be very careful filling the immigration form. This is what yours truly did:

1) Travel document: Passport

2) Number of the document: one

After completing the form i am wondering why didn't they ask for passport number because i do have some experience filling immigration forms;);)

If you are like me and didn't get it.. They actually meant whats your document number and not how many documents you are carrying..yes we laughed out loud for a very long time;)

3 connecting flight and 15 hours later we reached cusco! We were so glad our bed and breakfast had complimentary pick up... Have never been so happy seeing my name on the sign board!! The ride to the BnB was very informative...apparently we are in cusco at perfect time... There are dance festivals and sunday markets that we need to visit!!It can all wait for few hours... Its now time to go catch up on some sleep:) adios amigos:)

PS: I really regret not learning basic Spanish before this trip.