Alrighty people, now we're hiking! All 16 of us are excited and eager to get started. If anyone was apprehensive about the hike, they didn't show it. Thanks to the Peruvian government, there is a nice sign indicating the beginning of the hike.
After we got to that photo op, we went through the check-point at the trailhead. This is serious business. Only 500 people total (including guides and porters) are allowed on the trail each day, so everyone gets checked in here.
We had to show our passports, and we chatted and waited while some people got their passports crammed back in their bags.
And then we're off! Now, I should point out that terms like "flat" "steep" "moderate" and "easy" are very subjective, and this first day was a good opportunity for us to learn what our guide's version of these terms meant. As FYI, the trail below is "easy". And most of this day was easy, but I can't lie and pretend we weren't struggling a bit with "easy" hills due to the altitude.
For most of the first day's hike (which I think was a total of 5 hours?) we followed the Urubamba river. Gorgeous, and one of natures best white noise makers.
Juan the guide, and now David our second guide, build in many stops for us to rest. Here I chatted with Chair. Remember, these are nicknames and they usually have to do with something that happened on the trip, or the first thing I think of when I think of the person.
And remember yesterday when I said we smeared the parasite used for dyeing wool on our faces? Below you can see our hiking warrior marks, and here you can read more about the organism.
Also for viewing along the way, besides power lines, are more ruins.
And we continued on. This is still "easy".
But we have to rest again soon. Easy or not. Some friends joined us for the rest. Actually they just passed through.
Now here is where we started to question the "ease" of today's hike. Behind us in the picture you can see the trail we just hiked. That's awfully far down (or up, in our case) for something to be "easy". Really getting a weee bit worried about tomorrow. Juan said tomorrow is "difficult". Trouble.
After that rest break, we hiked to another ruin for yes, another break. And to learn a bit.
And consult the map. I had no clue where we were.
And about an hour later, we got to our lunch area. While I joined a few girls to find the perfect bush to use as a bathroom, a game of futbol started.
Where all this energy came from, I do not know. 
I, along with some other smart people, were saving our energy for the rest of the days' hike.
After an impressive meal the cook prepared in the little tent in the picture above, we set off to finish the last few hours of the day.
And we made it to our "hotel room" for the night. Above is the view from our tent.
The full view of our campground.
Some of the porters prefferred lounging al fresco.
It was about 3or 4pm at this time, so the group rounded up and started chatting. We were so lucky to have some really funny and very interesting people in our group. Here Stripes is telling a story.
Good Vibes and Veggie listen, and Smiles enjoys his Peruvian beer. Amazing what you can buy on the Inca trail.
And now Jester talks.
And Chair laughs. Poor Chair, she chose to sit on a small camping chair that just had seen better days and chose that exact moment to snap apart. She wasn't the only one to break a chair during the trip, but she was the first, and therefor has earned the nickname Chair.
We had some non-human companions, too. These two wanted to know what the hell we were doing in their roaming grounds. As did a horse that came into the area at about 3am. Let me tell you, waking up to a horse sniffing outside your tent at 3am will scare you.
And so with some laughs and conversation, a tea time snack and a great dinner, we ended day one of hiking. Not a bad hike, after all, and we finished much earlier than we all thought we might. We were all hoping for a good night's sleep since we were warned that the next day would be "hard". And hard by Juan's terms really means "brutal".
Unfortunately this night not only brought a horse to our campsite, but also some illness. More on that tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment