Peru - Inca Trail and On

Inca Trail and Machupicchu, Peru - Our trip then lead us to the 4 day, 48 kilometre Inca Trail culminating in the ancient hidden city of Machupicchu. The driver, Skank, and I set ourselves the challenge of doing the trek in bare feet and jandals (flip-flops). The first day was an easy walk passed some ruins and up a couple of little climbs. We only carried daypacks and all our camping equipment and food was carried amongst 25 porters. The company we went with was SAS and they were absolutely awesome. When we stopped for our first lunch stop we were amazed at the service and food we got. We got the feeling of how royalty are treated cos basically we turned up, ate like kings, lay around for an hour while they cleaned up and then we headed off again. By the time we reached the camp for the night our tents were already up and dinner was getting cooked so we could sit back and have some beers.



Day two was over Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point of the trail at 4215m (about 13,900 feet), which was a big climb after lunch. Over the course of the day we climbed up 1200 metres to the pass and then 900 metres down to camp for another great meal. I found it easier to go uphill in bare feet so I didn’t trip up and downhill in jandals for cushioning.



Day three was the longest walk at close to 16km. It was more up and down but not as bad as the pass the day before. For the first part of the day we checked out more ruins and then at lunch our guide, Jose, told us about the bar at the final camp so Skank and I ran the last 2½ hrs section in 45 mins, downhill in our jandals. We had our first shower for 3 days, which was freezing cold, and then downed 3 beers before everyone else rolled into camp.



The first three days were easy 7am wakeups and we usually headed off at about 8:15 but the fourth day we had to get up in the dark at 4am and headed off at 5:30 am for sunrise through the sun gate. Unluckily for us it was misty like it is 90% of the time and we couldn’t see the Machupicchu ruins until the mist lifted at 8am. Other than the mist we managed to do the whole trail without it raining which was brilliant due to it being the start of the rainy season. Skank and I achieved our goal, with Skank doing the whole thing in jandals and I did about 70% in bare feet and the rest in jandals with no injuries at all. Jose, our guide and a top bloke, said he had never had anybody do the trail in jandals or bare feet before in his 12 years of guiding and he thought we were nuts for doing it the whole way.



We then spent the rest of the day exploring the ruins and Mark, Rebecca and I climbed Waynapicchu, the near vertical walled mountain at one end, to look over the ruins and the valley. It was a very spectacular view after a tough climb. After a 2 hr train ride and 2 hr bus ride we made it back to Cusco and then hit the town to do the 24hr challenge, the arduous task of staying awake until 4 the next morning after completing the trail. Only Anna and I from our truck managed the feat with a few others making it close before crashing. Unluckily for Anna and I the next day was an early start and a long drive to Puno which was a bit rough.

Puno, Lake Titicaca, Amantani Islands and Uros reed islands, Peru - We got into Puno, had some really good and cheap ¼ chicken, chips and rice for $1.50 and then the next day caught the 3 hr boat out to two islands in the middle of Lake Titicaca. That night we were billeted out in pairs to stay with families on Amantani Island. Life on the island is very simple with the only power being supplied by a generator for the hall when the gringos (us foreigners) come for a party. A few tour trucks were there at the same time and I teamed up with one group to play a game of soccer against the locals on a concrete field. We got beaten 5-2 but I managed to score both goals for our team. We then went and had a traditional meal of rice and pasta and then got dressed up in local attire and then went to party to Peruvian pan pipes until 10pm. We got a traditional breakfast with the family but it was very quiet as their English was as good as my Spanish. Really bad. On the way back we checked out the floating reed islands where people have been living for 700 years.