Day 4 “A knee to know basis”

We both awoke to the same thought "its way too bright for 0400 in the morning... A look at my trusty cell phone revealed that it was in fact 0450, ten minutes before the bus was due to take us to the beginning of the Inca trail. My trusty cell phone had not gone off! What a cliché how many times in my life have I used that excuse. What followed next was a series of curses, rants of frustrations and a mad scramble to get packed for both the trail and what we were not taking into a bag for storage. I could just see the whole group waiting for us while we got our "shit together". Luckily we were the last pickup on the bus route so the group did not arrive until close to 0530. That enabled us to do what was needed and even shovel some breakfast down but it was a close one. With our left behind luggage in storage we boarded the bus for the 3 1/2 hour journey to the trail starting point. Speculation the day before was rife as to what kind of bus would take us and we fully expected an uncomfortable bumpy ride. We were pleasantly surprised, the bus was quite comfortable and with most people taking the opportunity for a nap I intently looked out the window and watched the world go by. I find all that stuff quite interesting observing the everyday life of people on in a country I had never visited before, how the real people live outside of the tourist hubs. I was truly fascinated. The countryside was beautiful with simple adobe houses dotting the landscape and small villages here and there; generally it was a peaceful place and certainly did not seem to be too consumed with the usual hustle and bustle of most western countries. The only gripe and now that I think about it, this phenomenon appear to be the same in every Latin country I have visited. Almost every house/town had to display their political affiliation with such vigor. Entire sides of buildings covered in white paint and big bold colorful letters. I mean enough was enough already it was everywhere. We stopped along the way to pick up a few porters and the final stop in a town to purchase walking sticks and grab some breakfast. The staging area was just a dusty parking lot in which we all began to get situated for our start.
Some background is needed here. Elsa had a knee injury from a previous hike of the Grand Canyon that had been significantly aggravated during a recent hash run (see earlier blogs) and it was certainly letting itself be known during the past few days. Hence the purchase of a walking stick, but really you would need that anyway no matter who you are. We lined up to get our passports checked and stamped and crossed the bridge across the Vilcantoa river which officially starts the trail. We were all quite excited and eager. About 30 minutes into the hike Elsa’s knee began to really hurt and I have to admit that at this point I was really concerned about how this was going to affect the rest of the journey for her. But to anyone who knows Elsa there was no way this was going to keep her from completing the trail. God bless her she would let it kill her rather than give up. This was the easiest part of the trail and we passed a few small settlements that all used the opportunity of their location to sell water and soda to the daily Inca trail hikers. This was a 4 day hike in the Peruvian Andes but for the most part you could purchase beverages through most of the trail. Within a couple of hours we approached our first real assent where from the top you had a fantastic view of the Inca hillfort of Huillca Raccay. In comparison to the rest of the trial it was nothing but I mention it because it did provide us with one of the lasting images of the first day. While climbing the steep slope we observed a couple passing us back down the path being carried on ponies. They were a little over weight, looked exausted and for some incredible reason they must have never gotten the word that this was going to be more than just a leisurely stroll. They looked so un prepared and honestly if the first hill was such a problem then they did the right thing. Their walk of shame I am sure was quite embarrassing and the price was to face every other hiker and porter on the way back down with a look of failure and disgrace.
The porters; ahh these mountain goats. What ever you carried they carried 4 times as much and moved 3 times faster. Pleasant, quiet, hard working people who gained our respect more and more as each day went by. There job was to carry most of the equipment and arrive at the camp sites ahead of everyone to set up camp so all you had to do was sit down, eat and sleep. Our arrival at our first lunch stop was a real eye opener. Could you believe that we were greeted with a three course meal? From that point onwards we were all amazed as to what they could produce 4 times a day. Let’s be clear here you will not go hungry or thirsty on the Inca trail. After our delicious lunch and some coca tea we were back on the trail. Things began to get a little steeper here but all in all not bad, but we did begin to get a feel for how quickly the weather can change. It drizzled for about the last three hours of day light and by the time we got to the first camp site we were all cold and wet. But that was soon alivated with another 3 course meal and some hot tea. No camp fires allowed so after dinner it was a little chit chat around the table and off to bed, and I was certainly glad to lie down.

Inca Trail Day 1