A traveller's guide to the Inca Trail
Zoe shares her (very candid) experience of the Camino Inca (The Inca Trail).Â
I have recently returned from a slightly modified version of Tucan Travel’s Ballestas 1 tour. As I work in the London head office recruiting our tour leaders and drivers, during my trip I am required to also spend a bit of time in our Cuzco office struggling with their Spanish-speaking computers. This means that I don’t conclude my tour in La Paz, in fact I don’t get any further than Cuzco on this particular itinerary. Nonetheless, my experience was definitely something to scribble home about.
Lima
Our tour starts in Lima, where you could be forgiven for cowering in your hotel room, surviving only on room service and take-away food, so as to avoid muggings, kidnappings and carjackings, just to name a few of the horror stories tourists post on forums. The reality is quite different; both of our joining hotels are in the downtown area shunned by the forum scribblers. However, the downtown is ideal for shopping, sightseeing, eating out and getting a real feel for the city. It’s also surprisingly picturesque.
Ballestas Islands
Lima is one of those unfortunate places with a great deal of cloud cover so sometimes can look a bit sad and grey but the buildings in the downtown go all out to try to rectify this boasting bright yellows and oranges with ornate gardens located in its fountained squares. Even as we stroll around, monuments are being painted and gardens primped and premed.
From Lima we head to Pisco, our base from which we visit Paracas. Here we take a motorboat excursion out to explore the Ballestas Islands, home to penguins, cormorants, boobies (childish snigger) and pelicans and of course a few thousand sea lions. I have a slight obsession with the penguinos so I’m very keen to see them. We are immediately advised that a hat or hood is required as the birds like to target the boats. They certainly don’t disappoint and we all look like we’ve been doing a spot of painting. I also come away with a full memory card.
An oasis!
Next on our itinerary is Huacachina, an emerald green Oasis sitting in the middle of an impressive desert. Here we can take a dune buggy out over the sand dunes and sand board down the big ones. After a romp around the driver stops on a suitably terrifying looking dune and starts explaining the important aspects of hurtling down a vertical sand dune face first. The driver waxes the boards, shows us the safest position to take, how to slow down and most importantly stop, and which way to go down the dune (you would be surprised that some might struggle with this). Those who don’t wish to participate are free to stay with the driver and the buggy or spend time by the oasis. After a few mouthfuls of sand, I feel I have mastered the dunes!
Nazca
We move on to Nazca where we can take a flight over the lines. My usual sceptical self is weighing up the pros and cons. It seems pretty pricey, so honestly, I am in two minds about whether I should participate. Do they even look like things or are they squiggles? Is it like magic eye where you have to squint? How many people are in the plane if someone gets in the way of the window? Why don’t we get breakfast today? But what if they’re amazing? In answer to anyone wondering the same things; they look like whales, monkeys, and trees. The planes are small and only 12 passengers per ride. However, you get two pilots so double safe. The companies we use are very professional (hence the price). You get weighed before boarding and no baggage is allowed on board. It was terrific, and I got perfect pictures. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. I thoroughly recommend it, but I’m still puzzled about how they managed it.
Colca Canyon (in the clouds!)
As our base for the Colca Canyon, do we stay in Arequipa, Peru’s highest city? And if not highest, certainly one of the prettiest. If you haven’t already, it’s an excellent idea to start taking your altitude preventative remedies, whether herbal or chemical, or just chewing cocoa leaves. Being a creature of very little faith, I go for chemical. We join a pooled tour of Irish, American, and Belgians and set off on our way to Chivay, stopping for pictures, a brew (Cocoa tea), and various loo and souvenir stops. We’re all also chewing on our coca leaves. The method of chewing them having just been demonstrated. I am quietly buzzing and feel like having a little dance but I am assured that overdose is not possible…
Intersting wildlife
Enroute to Chivay we make friends with various bambi/sheepy looking creatures. I have taken the initiative to Google them for the purpose of this blog (vicunas and alpacas). One orphan vicuna in particular was very friendly as he appeared to live by a café and had a nice time posing for photos and chewing my belt tag.
The wilder wildlife is also amazing and we see the condors in full flight riding the trefoils over the Canyon. Chinchilla’s bouncing around looking nervous. The scenery is spectacular and we can see for miles encompassing the villages, churches, rivers and farming terraces. We also visit the hot springs and watch the sunset over the valley before ending our visit with a trip to the local markets where a gentleman randomly pulls a python out of a sports bag. Who would buy that…?
Cuzco (watch out for altitude sickness)
We arrive in Cuzco by night, and I meet some office staff for a pisco sour (for medicinal purposes only).
During my sightseeing the next day, I found myself somewhat out of breath; however, I was told this was normal.
From Cuzco we fly to Puerto Maldonado for our excursion into the Amazon jungle. The first thing that hits us is the heat. Due to the altitude of Cuzco, it’s quite remarkable, making the humidity of the jungle very apparent. We take a cooling boat ride along the river to the lodge where we are staying. On the route we see macaws, capybara and cayman. Upon arrival, a football match starts in a clearing, and our tour leader immediately runs off to get his kit on. The rest of us, if not playing, watch and explore our new jungle home.
More interesting wildlife!
My jungle neighbours include a grumpy parrot rescued from animal traders (particularly dislikes women), howler monkeys, various multi coloured butterflies and a tarantula sitting in the roof of the football spectators’ area. There are also several tamarins hanging around the kitchen area with the intent to nab some leftovers.
During the night, I am woken by scrabbling and immediately switch on my torch to see who my visitor is. I am excited that I might have a new pet monkey to share clothes with. It turns out to be a mouse climbing up my mesh window. I’m slightly disappointed, so I leave it to scurry around. I check my shoes very carefully the following day. Well, I say morning, we get up for breakfast at some ungodly hour for our first nature walk to the lake in the hope that we will see the giant otters. Our efforts are rewarded, and we watch them swim in the lake in the morning.
Getting ready
On our return to Cuzco, we prepare for the Inca Trail trek. The part of the tour I have been most excited about, but found slightly worrying at the same time. We had a briefing with our guide, Santi, and were given our bags, which must weigh less than 5kg. Once we have an idea of how things will run and the itinerary, we spend the rest of the evening running up and down to and from reception weighing bags and deciding what we need and don’t.Â
The trek begins
The following day walking sticks collected and bags packed we are taken to the start of the trail. This is followed by group photos and the trek begins. Despite the number of people trekking, I am surprised that the trails aren’t that busy. We come across other groups at specific points of interest, but not at the volume I was expecting. We take hills at our own pace and the group walks together with plenty of stops for drinks, photos, snacks, and lots of stories and explanations from our guide. The latter half of the day is mostly uphill and we start feeling the strain, however, by dusk we are settled in our first camp.I sleep through the evening meal and wake almost 10 hours later.
You need chocolate (trust me!)
The next day, I felt revived and ready to take on the pass. We are provided with our snack packs (including chocolate) and travel together in stages. The weather is incredible, and we all motivate each other to the pass clapping and cheering when we each get to the top. It would be nice to gloss over this part of the trek, however, I am no mountain goat, particularly on the steep bits, although I am not at the back, I am not leading either! At one particular point I find the only way I can get a decent breath is to bend down and pant. It feels like a huge achievement to get to the pass and after photos for mum and a few snacks, etc. We begin our descent down the other side, which I am very cheerful about, in fact I’m practically skipping.
Amazing porters
Throughout the trek, the amazing porters carry all of our 5kg bags and camping equipment, resulting in a load of 20kg each. We are told that all porters are provided shoes by the Inca trail authority, but most choose not to wear them, preferring their boots. All trekkers are requested to give way to the porters and let them pass. As the trek progresses, we soon learn which porters are ours and we all say hello and cheer for them each time we see them on the trail. We get a little shy smile in response. They must think we are odd, but the fact that these people have done the trek multiple times, carrying the loads that they do, makes our accomplishments seem somewhat less significant by comparison. I hope they know how much it is appreciated.
Amazing views
The third day of trekking is particularly long, and we arrive at camp at dusk, but the scenery is stunning. We are walking above the clouds. We also stopped at several of the Inca architecture feats. It’s hard not to be impressed how advanced they were and how they adapted to surroundings many would find inhospitable.
The final day of the trek starts at 4 am when we queue up at the checkpoint for the trek’s final leg towards the sun gate. The group is chilly but generally excited as we wait in line. We also know that the majority of the steep bits are over with.
Worth every step!
I’ve also got bigger things on my mind. I’ve lost the bottom of my walking trousers somewhere, so I am feeling remarkably fresh this morning. This is the big day we’ve all been working towards, and nothing, nothing will spoil it. It gets light as we walk and my legs gradually begin to thaw. We eventually climb up quite a steep set of stone steps and at the top is the view we have all been waiting for. We all scramble over and take a seat to make the most of the view as the sun gradually creeps over the familiar site of Machu Picchu. Photos are taken for mum and everyone is in high spirits, nothing can ruin this moment.
