When we first booked our round the world flights we tried to book an inca trail along with them, but as the number of people allowed on the trek each day is limited we were too late (they tend to sell out 6 months in advance) so we looked into other treks instead. After reading about each trek online we decided to wait until we got to Cusco to book one - this was definitely the right choice because the average price of a trek online is around £350 but in Cusco we managed to haggle a 5 day trek down to 500 soles each (just over £100!!). I was sceptical of the trek at first as it was the only one we had decided against before we left as it's basically 5 days walking through the Andes in stupidly high altitude - not ideal if you're as unfit as I am! But Chris was excited so we decided to go for it (it look ALOT of convincing). The company assured us that we would be fine in trainers because it wasn't rainy season so we didn't bother to rent walking boots (big mistake). On the first day we got picked up at 4am and drove to the starting location, partly by car, partly by truck, resembling a herd of cattle.
After a quick breakfast we headed off into the mountains. The first hour was really hard as it was all uphill and in high altitude, anything is difficult! As I slowly plodded up the hills I definitely thought I'd be the first to demand that they take me back to Cusco - but after the first stop I was determined to at least make it through the first day, and as I wasn't last in our group that motivated me to keep going and stay near the front. The views were unreal and about 4-5 hours later we arrived at base camp. The porters were great, and had already set up our camp by the time we got there! As we arrived earlier than expected we had the option to trek up a mountain near the camp to a lagoon and even though all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and eat an endless supply of Oreos, Chris somehow manged to talk me into it. I was the only girl that went up from our group and that's when I realised how unfit I was compared to everyone else. I literally thought I was going to die the whole way up, but eventually (about an hour after everyone else) I made it to the top.
After admiring the view for a while we headed back down to camp, where we had dinner and the guide told us stories about the Andes - he even mentioned there had been a lot of unexplained activity nearby and UFO sightings (klkl, not like we were camping in the middle of nowhere). After about an hour of freaking out at every noise.
Before we even started the trek we got told that the second day was the hardest as it's a 5-6 hour climb up the mountain to 5000m above sea level, followed by another 6 hours down to the base camp. As it's so hard going they gave us the option to rent a horse to get to the top and most of the girls in the group got one but somehow Chris managed to convince me not to. AGAIN. So we started off (WITHOUT A HORSE) on our 12 hour trek. It was by far the hardest day of my life and the entire way up I found it so hard to breath. Even chewing on coca leaves didn't help. I managed to fall so far behind I ended up climbing most of it with a different group (that's right, Chris wouldn't let me get a horse and then he patched me so I had to walk up alone). When I finally made it to the last stop
point before the top I was happy to see my group had waited but I was not happy to see Chris. He
instantly realised how raging I was so stayed with me for the last hour of the climb (I know, how nice of him) but after him telling me to hurry up for the third time I decided that I'd had enough and
wanted to go back down but that wasn't an option so I had to keep going. After a while of me hating him for not letting me get a horse and having the nerve to tell me hurry up (I must of split up with him about 5 times) I FINALLY made it to the top. I was greeted by cheers by the rest of the group which was nice but then I realised how long they must have been waiting. Looking back, the view was worth it - but at the time it definitely wasn't.
After a well needed hot lunch cooked by the porters we headed back down towards the base camp. About a million years later we arrived. On the way down we had to cross rivers and lakes so when I took off my soggy Nike Roche runs I was greeted by about 5 blisters. Ouch. The guide had to give me potato surgery on the biggest ones so I'd be ok for the next day. This involved him burning off my blister with a boiling hot potato - yes, it was as sore as it sounds and no - I wasn't ok for the next day.
After another 5am rise I just wanted the trek to be over. But we still had another 20ish miles to go so we had breakfast and left. About half an hour in my blisters got the better of me and I quickly fell behind. Again. Luckily this time I wasn't alone and Ngara, who also had a million blisters was going
at the same pace. By the time we'd got to the first rest point we were so far behind that the rest of the group were half way into the days trek, so our guide told us to head along the river and take the car road. It seemed simple enough, but he didn't tell us that the only way across was via a thin shacky bridge - the kind that snaps when people walk across it in films. We made it across alive, and started to walk towards the base camp. After 3 hours of windy roads and blistering heat we realised that we'd
lost the guide and didn't have a clue where to go. Eventually we got to a town, but as the guide was nowhere to be seen we assumed that it wasn't the right place and kept going. By this point we had both ran out of water and our blisters were getting worse. We got to a farm about 40 minutes later and looked around for help but instead we were greeted by three vicious stray dogs that came straight for us, we screamed at the top of our lungs until a farmer ran down and batted them away with sticks. By this point we definitely thought we were going to die and had cried in each other's arms about 5 times. After another 10 minutes of walking aimlessly we heard the word 'chicas' being called from a van. It was our guide, finally we were saved. He took us back to the town we had walked past an hour before, where the others had already had lunch (we could have been dead - rude) and had started to wonder where we were. We all had to laugh about what happened, because if we didn't we would have cried (and would probably still be crying now) and we headed to the natural hot springs to relax/shower. As the next day wasn't as hard going as the previous 3 we had a well deserved drink, which turned into many - not the best idea when you need to get up at 5am.
Even though I'm terrified of heights we decided to zip line through the jungle as it cut our 5 hour trek down to 3 and as my blisters were only getting bigger I'd have done anything to do less walking. It was so much fun, well until I got stuck in the middle of the last one, 150 feet above the ground and I was too scared to pull myself to the end so I screamed like a baby until the instructor came and saved me. Chris went upside down on one and got stuck too but obviously he just shrugged it off and pulled himself the rest of the way.
hostels booked so we didn't have to camp again and we even got to have a hot shower! After freshing up we explored the town and went for a meal with the rest of the group, but as we had to get up at 4am to catch the bus up to Machu Picchu we went to bed at around 9pm.
The early rise was worth it, and even the past four days seemed worthwhile when we finally reached Machu Picchu. It's been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember and I knew it would be good but it was far better than I expected. When you see it in photos it always looks pretty small, but when your walking through the small city the size of the buildings are so huge it's overpowering. Our guide walked us around, telling us stories about the incas while we all listened in awe. After a couple of
hours we said a few emotional goodbyes (you really bond with people when you think you might die together) to our guide and the rest of the group and headed off to explore the rest of Machu Picchu. As me and Chris had got SUCH a good deal with the trek, we had to walk 3 hours back to the last town to get a mini bus back to Cusco (great). So after a couple of hours taking photos and walking around we set off to the bus. We literally had no energy left so barely spoke to each other the full way. We got there a little early, and spent the next half an hour watching as each bus driver called out who was on his bus from the sea of broken bodies. It got to the last couple of buses before we realised our company was a pile of shit and we definitely didn't have a bus. But thankfully, after our pleads one of the drivers felt sorry for us and let us on. The trek was over and we were on our way back to Cusco!
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