Machu Picchu: part 2

The rain continued through the night but had let off in the morning leaving behind a sky heavy with clouds and mist.. Our porters woke us up at 5 am with some hot coca tea to get us going. We would need all the energy we could get for our day ahead and a hot breakfast was waiting for us in our dining tent. We packed our gear and set off to conquer Dead Woman's pass.

The trail started with a gentle incline although at the time, it felt pretty steep. But it was nothing compared to what was waiting for us just a couple of kilometers ahead. We were all breathing hard and sweating and I was glad for the cloud cover and cool mist. I was also thankful for the amazing scenery to distract us and to give us a good excuse to stop for photos and to catch our breath.

The last kilometer or so to the pass was extremely steep with stairs of stones to climb. The effect of the altitude had also kicked in and sometimes after only 15 steps, I found myself gasping for air. The rain started just before we reached the top so on came the ponchos. After what felt to be hours of climbing we reached the top before noon. What an incredible view and a feeling of accomplishment; relief, joy and I don't know what else. It was one of those moments when you are so exhausted but happy that you don't know if you want to laugh or cry.

We then had a two hour hike down hill, again stone steps of varying depths making it a bit tricky and slippery with rain. We reached camp at around 2pm, just in time for a hot lunch. It continued to rain through the afternoon so we spent some time recuperating in our tents.

A word about our porters. While we are walking the trail, they are busy taking down tents, packing the gear, and loading up packs that are sometimes bigger than they are and weigh up to 25 kilos. About an hour into our trek the porters come along the trail and pass us by. They have to reach the next campsite in time to get the tents set up again and prepare a meal. These men are amazing. They range in age from 20 to 50 and most do this work to supplement their income from their farm. As we are lying in our tents recuperating from the trek, they are busy preparing our evening meal. And then they quietly wait for us to finish with our dinner so can clear up the dishes and settle in for the night since they use the dining tent for sleeping. I have a lot of respect for these hard working people.