This 4 day hike is known as the Inca Trail, and it's not an easy walk in the park. We trekked around 26 miles over the 4 days, which doesn't sound that bad, except for the fact that:
1) It's done at high altitude - from 10,000 to 14,000 feet
2) We go up and down - so a whole morning's upward hiking can be canceled by an afternoon going downhill, only to be repeated the next day.
3) The steps are uneven and very steep at times
4) Incas didn't seem to believe in switchbacks. For the most part on Day 2 we hike uphill for a straight 4-5 hours.
Fortunately, they recommend porters who took the tents, food, and out nighttime belongings for us. That dramatically lessened the load so that I only had to carry water, spare clothing, and snacks which was probably around 8 pounds or so. These porters are AMAZING. They carry so much weight and they zip and up and down the mountain. A lot of them are from poor farming towns, and this is their way of making more money - which is pretty sad because for 3 days of carrying work, we gave each porter a $15 tip which is supposedly considered on the high side. I was very humbled by the experience.
This was also my first time to go camping for 4 days. Yup that means no showers for 3 nights and VERY non-ideal bathroom conditions. Two of the nights, the bathrooms (ie squatties) were far away and I almost got lost trying to find them in the dark.
All in all the experience was awesome though. The Andes mountains are beautiful and grand - I couldn't believe some of the views we got. And Machu Picchu, well it is truly amazing. It's located in this beautiful spot between mountains and streams and it is VERY big.
Here are a few teaser pics and if you'd like to see more, you can go to my Picasa album.
 |
| Spring Break in Peru - Machu Picchu |
3 comments:
hmmm...i've always wanted to go to macchu picchu, but four days of camping with squatty potties doesn't sound like fun. i'm sure it was an unbelievable experience. i will just live vicariously through you. :)
My co-worker from Peru enjoyed looking at your pictures. He said that you should do the 7 day hike next time. :-)
He said that he loved your creativity with your pictures: Godzilla, triangles, etc.
wow, how gorgeous! looks like it was amazing to see in person. Thanks for sharing!
Post a Comment