Sunday, Aug. 31, 2003 - 11:40 p.m.
"The Beginning"--Day One of the Inca Trail
My feet were still bothering me this morning. I've developed blisters, the worst my feet/fungus have ever been. Picked up for the Inca Trail tour, this is going to be a long 4 days. We left Cusco in a minivan and drove past lots of little villages. We stopped for a quick lunch where I bought a bamboo walking still for a dollar and coca leaves which are good for the altitude.
One hour later we stopped in Ollantaytambo, the last village before the trail, to buy supplies. I bought sodapop, water, water purifying tablets, a flashlight and talcum powder for my feet. All was more expensive than in Cusco. We then drove along a bumpy dusty unpaved one-lane road. The countryside was beautiful. I saw read earth and red mountains. And then saw some snow capped mountains. The entire drive I tried unsuccessfully not to worry about my feet and how I was going to survive the Inca Trail to it's final outcome, Machu Picchu, the magical lost city of the Incas. This is something that I have wanted to see for years.
We reached our destination by bus, stopped and unloaded everything. I told our guide, Martiza, about my foot infection. She said we'd take it slow. We loaded up our bags (here is where I realized that not only did I have to carry my bag, but also my sleeping bag and mattress roll) and started walking. We went about 10 minutes to the first checkpoint. We had to show our passports and ID which were stamped, then we crossed a wooden footbridge across the Urubamba river. This is the beginning of the Inca Trail (Km 82). There was beautiful scenery; mountain hillsides, yellow flowers sprinkled over dark greenery, eucalyptus trees, and snow topped peaks. The weather was perfect, nice and sunny with a light wind.
It was completely obvious right away that my foot infection was going to slow me down and it hurt a lot. Every step was painful, it even brought me to tears a few times. I had tears of pain, tears of worry that I wouldn't make it to Machu Picchu and tears of fatigue...I'd had a restless night the night before.
We had a group of 16. There was the 7 of us (me, Ross, James, Paul and the three ozzies--Corey, Trent and Callie) plus two girls from Switzerland (Judith and Crystal), a couple from Spain and Ireland (Maria & David), a couple from Columbia and Venezuela (Rapheal & Lula) and 3 from Israel (Dror, Allon & Merav). Because our group was the largest capacity allowed, we had two guides, Maritza and Haydee. The second guide, Haydee stayed with me, as I was the last one, the straggler. It was nice chatting with her a little. I told her about my foot fungus too. At one point she told me it's possible for me to turn back, take a bus and then a train to Machu Picchu but I choked back the tears and thought stubbornly, 'I want to hike the Inca Trail all the way, even if I'm in pain. I am going to earn my way to Machu Picchu!'. I just feared the guides would tell me or strongly recommend that I turn back.
We passed a minor Incan ruin, Llactapata, that was on the other side of the river, next to the railroad tracks. It was discovered the same year as Machu Picchu in 1911 by the same man, Hirim Bingham. The ruins were covered in vegetation at the time of discovery. Also, I learned that the Inca Trail originally extended from Chile to Ecuador, the extent of the Incan rule with Cusco being the capital (I also hiked a small part of the Inca Trail at Cajas Natnl Park next to Cuenca last October). The Inca Trail is about 34,000km, however much of the path we hike is not the original trail, the exact route has been lost. However, due to the ruins we know that the trail was in the same vacinity.
When we stopped for lunch I started chatting with Raphael and Lula, who seemed very nice. I noticed at this point that we had 13 porters (who carry all the equipment for cooking and camping, tents, supplies, food, etc) and 1 cook.
Then we had to climb the steep face of a cliff, about 10 minutes worth. Maritza said it was good training for tomorrow (the 2nd day is notorious for being the most difficult). Again I straggled behind, and was the last one to arrive at the campsite, which was already set up when I got there and the sun had already set. Haydee and I had been hiking the last part of the trail in the dusk. At this campsite there were no facilities. We were in a small field next to a few farmhouses (and a few farm animals too). We had tea and soonafter dinner in a large tent. During tea time I had to leave the tent because I started crying. I felt so out of it from the rest of the group and I was so afraid I would not be able to make it to Machu Picchu.
I was shown where my tent was and found out I had my own tent, which was nice. I also discovered that my flashlight didn't work very well! Then we were breifed for tomorrow. Maritza asked me if I thought I could hike tomorrow. I said yes, although I knew it would be very difficult. She said it would be OK for me to take it slow. Tomorrow will be a steep climb. Perhaps I will hire a porter to carry my bag.
That evening I saw the constellation Scorpion directly above our dinner tent. I also saw Saggitarious and the Southern cross. It was chilly out, but I hear that the second night is feezing (and at a higher altitude). We were at about 3,000m, actually lower than Cusco. My feet still had blisters on them. Our camp was next to a river and I fell asleep to the sound of the bubbling creek.
