We were up at 4 am in the morning to begin the 4 day Inca Trail Trek. After a quick breakfast at the Pension, the tour bus picked us up and we were off on a 3 hour bus ride to the ‘Kilometer 82’ point where we would begin the trek. There were 13 total trekkers, two guides and 19 Porters in our group who would carry all of the gear needed for the next 4 days. Each Porter is ‘only’ allowed to carry 25 kilos (about 55 pounds) which would include tents, food, cooking equipment and everything else necessary to make for a relaxing and lazy ‘walk-in-the-park’ trek. Yeh, right!!! We carried our own personal clothes, toiletries, snacks, water, etc.
So off we were, with great weather, to trek the Inca Trail and ultimately see the Lost City of the Inca’s, Machu Picchu. With fresh legs and only 1,500 ft of altitude gain the first day of trekking, 7 miles was very enjoyable. The mountains all around us were lush green and beautiful. Along the path were homes (shacks) where people lived. Because of all of the trekkers passing through they offered resting areas and sold water, cola’s and other snacks. We saw our first Inca ruins and had our first ‘classroom’ session from Victor, our guide. While resting our legs, we listened to our guide explain that the small Inca village we were looking at from the top of a mountain was a terraced ruin where the village grew its various crops.
Victor was a wealth of information about the history of the area, the reasons for the different ruins and why they were located where they were as well as the vegetation, the names of the mountains and rivers, the types of crops that were grown on the many terraced ruins and anything else we asked about. After the half hour ‘class’ we were back on the trail again. By the time we all arrived to the camp site for the first night (in the yard of a local resident), the Porters had all of the tents up and we could smell dinner cooking on the gas stove. The three course dinner was surprisingly good and served to all of us in a large tent complete with a table cloth and a small seats to sit on. 
The second day would be the hardest. We were woken at 5:30 am with a hot cup of tea served to us in our tent. By 7 am we were on the trail to climb 3,500 feet to the summit at 13,900 ft. The trail to the top was a 4 hour hike up rugged stone stairs. The Porters were passing us at a fast walk while we were all huffing and puffing our way up. Reaching the first pass, called "Dead Woman’s Pass", everyone was exhausted from both the climb and the lack of oxygen but so proud of our achievement. WE MADE IT!! After a good rest we now had to hike down the same type of stone steps for about 2 hours until we reached our camp site. The day was warm, everyone was hot and sweaty and since we arrived in the early afternoon most of us decided to freshen up with some cold water from the stream that passed next to our camp site. Later we had another delicious dinner and afterwards crawling into the sleeping bag resting on the thin foam mat felt very good.
Day number three would be easier, by comparison, even though we would be ascending two more passes. Starting again at 5:30 we had to climb 2 additional passes. One at 13,100 ft and then after descending and again climbing to another pass at over 12,000 ft. At the first pass we stopped at a ruin where Victor performed a religious ceremony following the Inca sacred ritual where we were given 3 coca leaves each. After listening to the Peruvian chant where our guide acknowledged the north, south, east and west mountain ranges, one by one we added our 3 coca leaves on the rock formation left by those before us. It was a private moment for each of us being at the top of this pass. We were thankful for this unique experience and the chance to share it with our fellow trekkers. After descending again, we passed several ruins along the way (each with a classroom session from Victor) and hiked through an Inca Trail Tunnel. We reached the third and final pass on our way to the last campsite called Winaywayna at an altitude of 8,829 ft. Arriving at around 5:00 pm, we all dropped off our gear in our tents, and then hiked 10 minutes to a large amphitheatre shaped ruin. We were told that it was an agricultural testing area with perfectly shaped levels in which the Incas grew grains, tomatoes, corn, and coca plants etc. Since it was built into a mountain, there was a significant temperature difference between the bottom and top level. It was massive and very impressive. This camp site was a little different because it was part of a very small village. We were able to take a HOT shower and have a COLD beer. After another delicious and nutritious dinner, we fell into our sleeping bags trying to get as much rest as possible to be ready for the next exciting day, seeing Machu Picchu.
Our wakeup call was at 4:15 am (no ‘Tent Service’ tea this morning) since the control gate that we had to pass through opened at 5:20 am and Victor wanted to be the first in line. After not seeing many people on the trail for 3 days, this stopping point was the most crowded. As soon as the gate opened and our group was registered, we started our hike into Machu Picchu, the long awaited objective. After a 2 hour hike in the dark with a severe climb the last half hour, we arrived at the Sun Gate lookout and had our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. WOW. We were now down to 8,200 feet but our heads were still in the clouds. It was a magnificent sight. After another 45 minutes of hiking and reaching Machu Picchu our guides showed us around and explained the significant sights: the agricultural zone, the Three Windows Temple, Astronomical Observatory, Main Square, ceremonial rock, Group of Three Doorways, Royal Palace, Industrial Sector, Temple of the Condor and Temple of the Sun, the rock quarry, and various fountains. Machu Picchu was much larger than we anticipated, housing around 2,000 Incas at that time. After Victor’s tour we spent the next 3 hours just walking around looking at the many parts of the ruins from different observation points and, in general, just absorbing this incredible and beautiful work that dates back to the 1400’s. It took 80 years to build and was abandoned in about 1536 before the Spanish could find it.
After finishing the trek and touring this world famous archeological site everyone was exhilarated and forgot how tired they were. We all met at a restaurant in the small town of Agues Calientes below Machu Picchu for a celebration of pizza and beer.
The next day was spent in our Pension room resting our bodies. But what an incredible experience and well worth the pain and suffering we inflicted on our bodies.
Where’s Pat and Mike?