After a short drive from Ollantaytambo the Goonies arrived at the Kilometer 82 post… the offical starting point of the Inca Trail at Piskakucho where we got a cool passport stamp before crossing the opening rope bridge to start the historic trail.

Our guide, the ever reliable Aly, was very much in touch with nature as frequent stops were made to point out specific flowers (mainly orchids) and fauna of the valley. The valley we were hiking through was spectacular in terms of size and aesthetics. It really gave you a sense of wandering through a scene of one of the Lord of the Rings movies, as you trundle along with your head in the clouds and jaws on the floor. We hiked for about 2/3 hours following the river before turning away from its course towards our first lunch spot.

As the ‘Possies’ arrived we were greeted by our faithful hidden companions on the trail…our Porters. These guys carry all of the equipment for us on the trail leaving us to shoulder a small day pack. Porters are legally allowed to carry a maximum of 30 Kgs on their backs as they race ahead on the trail faster than you can imagine, just so they can have the tent village set up with next meal prepared ready for you. It really is astonishing how fast these guys plough up the trail given how much is on their backs, puts us Gringos to shame! So sitting pretty on our lunch tent we sat down to an amazing peruvian meal of fresh trout given the limitations of being in the middle of nowhere!

Setting off again we had a slightly more strenous second half of the day, with an uphill trek through a small valley to our campground for the night after a swift stop at the worlds smallest Shopping centre…hehe!

Upon arrival we were once again greeted by the trusty troupe of porters clapping us home. I’m not entirely sure if this was driven out of sarcasm or not, not being British I dont think they understood the irony of them (with their huge bags and advanced years) appluading the arrival of the hardly weighed down young gringos nearly 2 hours later! Ironic indeed!

It was here at the first nights camping ground where we were introduced to each porter. Most of them were local farmers who needed the extra cash for their families and the others were young guys making a good living. This was a nice gesture as we got to know a little about each of the 19 porters, putting a story behind the faces of who we would be tipping come the final day.

Dinner was spectacular and before we plodded off to sleep Ally took us spider hunting where we caught glimpes of some small and colourful tarantula’s nesting in the banks behind our tents! The knowledge they were there didn’t make for an easy sleep let me tell you! But sleep we did ready for day 2.

An early rise was needed today for this was the most strenous of the 3 day trail. We had a long and steep climb to overcome as we walked up towards dead womans pass at 3600m, a 1200m elevation change. The path up was pretty steep in parts but the regular stops and snack breaks helped to make this a pleasent climb. Once the Dead Womans pass was conquorerd we sat down for lunch over looking the stunning valley we had just mounted.

As the saying goes, whatever goes up must come down was never more true then today. The other side of the pass was a straight decline which took about an hour to descend. Me not being a big fan of going downhill make slow progress while the rest of the gang flew down at a rapid pace. Arriving at our next campsite early we sat down for tea and biscuits (yipee) before playing a quick game of how many people can play cards in a 2 man tent. The answer was 9! After some Cheat! action we had dinner and settled down for another well earned rest. My rest wasn’t so good however with a roll mat the thickness of a doormat, an Andean Pillow (aka a huge rock under my head) and an uneven camber, (which meant i woke up at the bottom of the tent each time) meant I strangely did not manage to get such a great kip.

Day 3 brought with it some more challenging weathers than the glorious sunshine of the previous 2. Waking in the drizzle and with fog rolling in fast we headed up to see some small inca ruins and temples as we made our way to the top of the first hill of the day. The ruins themselves were weathered and rustic but their locations perched over valleys were stunning. After the first incline of the day we had a stroll through a very different environment, a cloud forest. This place was pretty damp and murky place, but the wonderfully coloured orchids and the enchanting fauna made up for the lack of visibility.

Wet and weary we settled into our lunch spot high in the clouds. A welcome shelter from the rain and some more hearty peruvian nosh was just the ticket as we had finally arrived at a notorious section of the trail. The Gringo Killer steps! A 3 hours of descent down nearly 3000 steps which has seen many an slip and fall in it’s long legendary history. Thankfully today we did not become a gringo killer steps casualty! I for one am very thankful towards my trusty walking pole (Only 5 Soles) which saved me on more than one occasion on the slippy stone walkways.

I not being greatly trusting of my surroundings, dececended the steps slower than my counterpart Goonies. It was about 2 hours in when a encouraging message written in the mud from our guide was spotted by the trailside. Smiling we continued around the next few corners where we spyed some more scrawlings on the floor. This time the reaction ws part disgust, part disbelief and altogether hilarious! There on the floor was this

“Mike Shat Here”

Apparently he just could not hold it in any longer and used mother nature as his wc, poor guy (Poor mother nature)! Another hour past and we arrived at our final resting place. Here was practically luxury given the last few days of washing in a bowl of hot water and waking up to the porters sticking hot cups of Coca tea through the tent door at 5am. There was a bar with BEER!! and hot showers, food to buy. Things we took for granted before heading into the middle of nowhere. The last Inca ruins which we saw here on the trail itself were the most impressive. a large argricultural stepped area with a small village laying at it’s heart. The views over the valley below and the mountains all around was nothing short of sensational!

Dinner again was awesome and we organised our tips before settled down for our nights rest for we had a very very very early start. For some reason we thought we would be firsst to hit the gate to the ancient city of machu piccu. this however meant we had to rise at 3! OUCH!

Being at the gate first means nothing in hindsight. Because people Will run/barge past in an attempt to be the first to the cloud/sun gate (Intipunku) which infact was another 45 minutes down the trail. As soon as the gates opened at 5.30am, dozens of trekkers took flight including mike john and chris at top speed. I took the restrained option and walked for a while before taking off after the dust clouds of the rest of the Goonies.

They had opened quite a substantial lead … however toward the end of the trail i walked (very quickly) passed each of them as they tired. Apparently they got caught up in the competitive moment and started running! Arriving at the sun gate we were thorougly disappointed by the view we had of the lost city of the incas… CLOUD! Oh well, after regaining our breaths and the remainder of the group (Possies were first group up no less) we headeed down to the spectacle of Machu Picchu.