Machu Picchu: part 1

Our day started with a 5 am pick up at our hotel. We had packed up the night before and were ready to go. We had one stop to make to pick up two more people and then we were on the road to Ollantaytambo where we would have breakfast and pick up our porters. Then we continued to what is known as kilometer 82 and is at 2,600 meters. This is where we would begin our trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We would walk 45 km through the Andes mountains crossing three mountain passes in four days before reaching the Sun Gate.

We had a guide, four porters and a chef with us. We carried our own things; clothes, rainy ponchos, toiletries and our sleeping bag and mat. The porters were taking every thing else; tents, food and cooking equipment.

Our guide, Edward, is a 25 year old Quechua and grew up in the highlands around Cusco. He has been doing the Inca Trail for four years now and is very familiar with the history of the sites we visited along the trail as well as Machu Picchu. The other two members of our team, or 'familia' as Edward liked to call us, were from Australia. We slowly got to know Justin and Silvina and really enjoyed their company. They are both actors, both young and adventurous and were really good fun to be with.

We covered about 12 kilometers the first day of trekking and climbed up to 3,100 meters. It was a sunny and warm day, a perfect start to our journey. Remember, this is the rainy season and they have been known to close the trail due to heavy rains in previous years. The trail was sometimes quite challenging as we gained 500 meters in altitude. We travelled through beautiful alpine forests, passed several streams tumbling down the mountains, stopped at an Inca site and passed through some small highland communities. The clouds rolled in just as we got to our campsite and the rain came shortly after. Time for a short siesta before we gathered in the dining tent for some afternoon tea and snacks.

We knew the second day of the trek was going to be the toughest where we would be crossing our first mountain pass at 4,215 meters. It would be a shorter walk at only 9 kilometers but a gain in altitude of 1,115 meters. A steep climb for sure. We had a really great view of Dead Woman's pass from our campsite and could see what we were in for. So, needless to say, after a superb dinner prepared by our private chef, we headed to our tents for an early night.