Peru 2015/16 - G Adventures, Inca Trail - Day 1

I had no watch or phone with me so woke with the roosters. It was light so I assumed it was time to get up and upon going down to the reception area discovered it was 5:30am - darn roosters!

Sun just touching the ruins. Taken from my hotel room window.

I walked around and found the breakfast room. Breakfast at this hotel was excellent: eggs, fruit salad, toast, rolls, butter, jam, yogourt, juices, granola and another cereal, tea and the strongest coffee I have ever tasted (too strong even for me).
We gathered in the reception area and weighed our duffel bags as we could leave anything extra here and pick it up at the end of the trek. I was a little over and Casey took it in her bag as she was under.

After a short bus ride we were at Km82 on the railway track. This is where everyone starts for the 4
day Inca trail trek. It was a very busy spot.

Here we were given our sleeping bags and air mattresses to put in our duffel bags. Turned out Casey couldn't take my extra so she and Danny both took some. I was so grateful, I didn't want to have to give up having clean socks or a clean shirt every day. We were given a bag of snacks to last the 4 days. We all decided the oranges were too heavy and gave them to kids. My banana was pretty squished by the time I ate it later that morning but the rest were sensible treking snacks.

There are rules about how much the porters can carry that's why they are so strict about the weight of our bags. The porters carry our bags, all the tents, dining table and stools, food for the 4 days and cooking equipment. For the 7 of us there were 12 porters (including the cook) and one guide, David.

The porters packs are wrapped in a waterproof covering. Yes, he's carrying that
whole thing. They also go much faster than us, sometimes running down hill, to reach
the stopping spots before us and get set up.

From the organizing spot we walked down the railway line to the bridge that crosses the river.
We will be following this river valley for much of today's hike.

David had us organized and on the way before most of the rest of the groups. This became
the norm, we were a small group and he got us up and going early. 

We had to show our passports and trail passes before crossing the bridge.

Already out of sight of civilization

The first day is on a part of the trail where animals are still allowed and the locals
who live in this valley and up the mountainsides use them extensively.

Up until lunch time the trail is relatively flat, just some gradual inclines,
few stairs. A lovely "walk in the park" as we joked, knowing it would get a lot
more strenuous.

Bit of a diva.

Horses, cattle and donkeys roamed free in the valley.

Although we are hiking the main Inca Trail there are others and we looked down on this
site that served another trail going through the valley.

And a military fortification guarding it.

Time to stop for lunch. There was always a ground sheet laid out for our daypacks so
they could be quickly covered if it started to rain and we were greeted with a cup of "Tang".

David, seated, supervising the cooking. Because we were a small group we ate in half
the dining tent and they cooked in the other half.

Hot soup at every lunch and dinner. We were expending a lot of calories and they
made sure to replace them with hot, nutritious food.

There was also always tea (various varieties) and an ovaltine like drink.

A short rest and then we were on our way again. The trail got a little more challenging in the afternoon.

The occasional stair.

Crops are still being grown at this elevation.

I notice, on reviewing my pictures, that as I found the hiking more difficult, I took fewer pictures. Luckily I have the pictures that Danny and Fiona took too so will use them to fill in the gaps.

Taken by Danny or Fiona

Jason resting at the Wayllabamba Camp, the first night. 

We hiked 11km and it took about 5 hours. When we got to the camp our tents were set up, we were given a bowl of warm water and soap and we just rested.

The porters were having a well deserved rest too.

My little, single, tent in the foreground, the dining tent and the little village church.

"Tea" was usually at about 5:15 every day and consisted of cookies with butter and jam, popcorn and tea.

A young entrepreneur stopped by with buckets of beer and pop. Here we are retrieving them
from the "frig", a glacier fed stream. I don't often feel like a beer but I had half a one and
it went down very well.

Supper was at about 6:30, sorry no pictures, and then we pretty well fell into bed. The first days hike was very enjoyable. It wasn't too tough but had some challenge and was a long enough walk that I felt I'd accomplished something. It was so nice to be taken care of; food, tents, warm water to wash, boiled water to fill our water bottles. I slept like a log!