An end to sedentary life, Machu Picchu trek day 1
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008Gina. Cusco, Peru.
We survived! I´m tired and in a good deal of pain, but I made it, and I plan to do very little physical activity for the next few days at least! I think it´ll be easiest to write about the trip if I break it down by each day. Here´s what I wrote in my journal after the first day:
We survived the first day! The fact that it´s the easiest day isn´t phasing me, though. We passed the train to Agua Caliente (the city closest to Machu Picchu–you can take a train to the city and then a bus to Machu Picchu, so you don´t have to walk at all) several times along the way today. I wanted to yell ¨Cheaters!¨at it every time. I´m feeling pretty exhausted. We woke up at 6:00 this morning in order to meet our group by 6:30. I slept okay last night, but this morning my belly hurt and it took a while for it to settle. I wanted to take a shower, but our hostel was out of hot water (and then out of water!). But I won´t be able to shower for the next 3 days, so who cares. We stopped in Ollytaytambo and had a pancake and some coca tea. We also each bought a walking stick and some coca leaves that you´re supposed to chew as you walk to help with the altitude and for energy.
montarsig