We are woken up at 5.30am by the porters. We are given hot tea and told that we have
half an hour until it is breakfast time and then another half an hour until it
is time to leave. The porters roll up
our sleeping mats and pack up our tents for us.
We just have to pack our clothes back in our bags, and the porters will
do the rest! While we are having
breakfast (porridge, pancakes and toast), the porters were beginning to trek to
the lunch spot (about half the porters stayed to help wash dishes and pack up
the dining and cooking tents). Today was our hardest hike, but I actually
enjoyed it. These antibiotics that the
doc gave me last week have really perked me up and I am feeling very fit. I can nail this climb today! We have 16km to walk and the first three
hours are all uphill to hike up to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass, which will be
the highest point in our hike with the pass 4,250 metres above sea level. We walk for an hour and half and stop at a
rest point for a break. We were allowed
to go at our own pace until the top of the hill since there would probably be a
large variety in fitness levels. Of
course Ann and I are at the front of the pack.... After a five minute break at
the halfway point, I realise that it is very cold! Best we continue climbing so we don’t get too
cold and sick!! We don’t even wait for
the rest of the group. There are other
groups hiking this trail (which started VERY early from the first campsite and
I have been passing them and the majority of the groups are full with guys in
their 20s. Ann is also passing these
guys and is pretty chuffed at her natural athlete abilities. I think our 3-4 weeks at altitude has
definitely helped us in preparation for this hike. After 45 minutes, we finally walk into some
sunshine. The sun has come out from
behind the mountain top. It quickly gets
VERY hot. I was already pretty hot with
the climb up. Good to see the sun
however. We still have another hours
walk to get up to the top of the pass, I’m really enjoying the challenge! This part of the hike is the hardest and it
is really steep with lots of stairs made out of rocks. We have the occasional break and pull out
some lollies for some temporary energy.
As we rest, the porters pass us (not running this time, running up this
hill would just about be impossible!).
We offer them some lollies and they are very grateful for them. As we get closer to the top, Ann is starting
to feel the pain a wee bit, but I keep going as the tough guy that I am.... I
get to the top and it is a great feeling.
Five minutes later Ann arrives and she is exhausted, but what a great
effort! It took us both about two and a half hours from our campsite, with the
guide saying it usually takes about 3 hours.
Nailed it! I look over the hill
at the view and it is fantastic. Ann
sits on the first rock she sees and admires the view of the hill and the
surrounds that we had just conquered.
Very satisfying feeling and a fantastic view to go with it! Also satisfying was the Cheese sandwich and
hot apple cinnamon tea we were given by one of the porters who had waited at
the top of the hill for us and organised a wee snack for our arrival. We had to continue our trek (downhill, which
was actually harder than going uphill because it was tough on the knees)
without a couple of our group as they were struggling with a 24 hour bug. Terrible timing but in the end they managed
to complete the day and make it to camp, super effort. This downhill walk took
us about an hour and a half to complete, down to our lunch spot. The stairs are very steep and they are not
very wide, so your feet can’t actually fit on the stairs. The tramping poles were useful going uphill,
but they are even more useful now going downhill. At the bottom of the valley is the campsite
for the other tours, this is our lunch spot.
We have lunch and at the end of our lunch, the two who were a bit behind
in our group arrive! After lunch we hike
up to the second pass which is not as high as Dead Woman’s Pass, but it is very
steep. We hike for 20 minutes and stop
at a look out point. Ann saw the
campsite where we had our lunch but since I was a half a minute behind her, I
miss the view as the mist rolled on in.
The mist can close in in a matter of seconds here, it is pretty
incredible. Think of the Grey River
Barber on a nice West Coast brisk winters morning as the thickness of this mist. We have just entered the cloud forest so we
are introduced in a familiar way. It
starts raining here, so we all put on the jackets and continue up. We walk for another half an hour and we
arrive at a set of ruins. Our guide
gives us some history about the ruins and we learn that this is another
communication point. They are set up
along the trail so that if enemies find the trail, they can quickly get the
message to Machu Picchu so the royals can get away. We then continue up for the last 45
minutes. Finally when we get to the top
we have a break and have a look at the pass we climbed. We then start another decent which takes us about
an hour and a half to get to our next campsite.
Along the way are another set of ruins.
It is a hideaway point for the royals.
The ruins are built on top of a very steep hill and there is only one
entrance, so it was easy for the Inca’s to defend from enemies. We then walk another 20 minutes to our camp
site. As it is raining, it gets dark at
5.30. We get in just in time before the
light of the day is over. When we arrive
to camp we see that there are Llama’s hanging around. As soon as we arrive we throw our daypacks in
the tent, organise a bit of our gear and head to the dinner tent for tea and
popcorn while we wait for dinner. While
we are having dinner we are told that the Llama’s are in our camp site and we
are asked if everyone has closed up their tents. Apparently the Llama’s get into open tents
and go to sleep in them. After dinner it
is bed time. We are being woken up at
6am tomorrow, so we get a bit of a ‘sleep in’, yeah right!!!
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