Trek Day 2
Monday 7/14/08
We began hiking at another checkpoint today. This time we didn´t have to show passports, but had to wait for Carlos to show our other tickets before leaving the checkpoint. They only allow 250 people on the trail per day, and that includes all porters, guides and travlers. It is in an effort to save the trail from erosion and litter, etc, which is good. It´s part of the reason the travel company asked for us to sign up for the trip in Jaunary, or six months ahead of time I hear.
As I said before, I knew to expect it would be tough. But the sights were amazing! The mountains huge (my legs confirmed that) and the landscape diverse. We passed several ruins sites, where we would stop and CArlos filled us in on different facts on the Incas. It´s amazing, there are streams, even cactus here. It´s such a contrast, I took a photo of cactus in the foreground, with a snowy mountain range in the background! Ha! Who would ever think that would go together! There are also a multitude of wild flowers that are neat. We pass by local little villages along the way, and it amazes me that people live so remotely. And, again, I am amazed that even here we have little stations where the people are selling water, candy bars, gatorade. Carlos says there are a few along the entire trail, which is good, just in case we need refills. (At camp each morning we are given boiled water that is first filtered, then boiled, somewhere in between it is treated, so I¨m glad we don´t have to carry that much more than a liter each day.)
We saw some wild Ilpacas, and I´m surprised to see dogs around the villages. Not something I expected. (Did I tell you that we ate Ilpaca in Cusco the other night, it´s good, like steak.)
It was tough after a while going up so many stone steps. All of today seemed to be step after step after step. One man, the one in the single tent, didn´t continue on today. He had been dragging behind so dramatically yesterday, and mentioned something of having asthma like condition, so I wasn´t surprised that he didn´t continue. Why one would sign up for something like this in the first place is beyond me, but at least he listened to Carlos and decided to go back down and meet us later in the week for dinner at our ending point in Aguas Calientes.
I could finally see people standing at the top of the mountain, called Dead Woman´s Pass… no nobody died on the trail that I know of, but the mountain range is supposed to look like a woman lying down. I didn´t see that, but some guy must have in the past. I was starting to make mental goals for myself to get up the mountain. I would look toward a point, and think, ok, I´ll get there by the count of fifty. Counting, mostly to each step I took, I always seemed to make it to that visual point by fifty. I would take short water breaks here and there, and by the end, when I saw people at the top, and still so many steps in front of me, I started taking photos of the top, in an effort to realize that I was actually getting there! I made it til I had like three stone steps left. Carlos was standing there with many other of the group, saying, ¨what, only three more steps!¨ I ran the last few, giving him a high five on his outstretched hand. We had all finally made it to the top of Dead Woman´s pass! We took a group photo, then relaxed there admiring the view for a long while.
What I didn´t know was not only did we have to climb down the other side of the mountain, (on fewer steps, but more flat areas of rock, some flat stones, others more slightly raised so you had to still be careful of how you stepped…but also, after that hill was some more flat area of stone walking. I started taking more breaks to take pictures of wild flowers that were amazing… I hope my photos do them justice! We´ll see!
By the time I got to camp, my legs were shaking, and I was so ready to just lie in my tent and take a nap! I arrived at three forty five… we´d put in a long day. The amazing thing about this trip is the porters and cooks. They set up toilet tents, and the dining tent, and we eat lunch over an hour around between eleven and twelve. We had a delicious dinner that night… as many other of our nights, mornings and lunches. This is definitely cushy camping… arriving to our camp set up, then being cooked for, and we just roll out our own beds. It´s fabulous!
Tomorrow, day three, is supposed to be the most spectacular for taking photos, and an easier day for hiking. Thank goodness!
More later… A.
Tags: Travel
free2wander