Machu Picchu

Breath taking.....in more ways than one.





















We did it MAN! Wooohooo!!!


"Sometimes the object of the journey is not the end, but the journey itself."
- Fortune cookie from Rose Cafe - Union City, CA

Hiking around the mountains, in the clouds and through the jungle for 4 days was no joke. Not to mention the total filth factor: zero showers.

Thursday - November 20, 2008 (5 hours of hiking)

After acclimating for 2 days in Cuzco (10,000 ft), the Big Day had arrived. The bus picked us up at 6:30 a.m. from our hostel to take us to the start of the Inca Trail. On the bus were fellow trekkers, tour guides, and porters. These porters have a very distinct smell to them and not one that I particularly like. I took a seat towards the back of the bus going for that solo, no buddy, spacious seat steez. But we still had to pick up other trekkers at their hostels and more porters along the way so the bus was filling up rather quickly. I was too lazy to move next to Muzz and before I knew it, a smell ended up sitting next to me for the 1.5 hour drive. geez. When we arrived, we got the ultimate DIFAT (Definitely In For A Treat) surprise. The good news was that they had our sleeping bags & mats that we requested online when registering. The bad news was we didn't arrange to have the porters carry it for us and so we had to add the extra pounds to our backpacks making mine a solid 24lbs. total. Yesssss. There were also a handful of Peruvian ladies selling walking sticks, bandannas, hats and extra backpack straps. Their favorite line was "It's necessary." What a sales pitch. I didn't fall for any of it this time.


The Guide: Lito


The crew: Michael (Germany), Claudio (Portugal), Me & Jeff (USA), Manuel (the pimp) & his ladies (Spain).


The Inca Trail: Mile 1 of 28. Day 1 of 4


Let the hiking begin.





Lito is always schooling us on all the different plants and crops. "Smell this leaf. Rub it on your skin. This will keep the bugs away." Whatever dude. j/k. Lito's hella cool.




The porters carry all the camping gear: tents, food and cooking supplies. All this goes in their not so modern GIANT packs. These guys in the photo are actually wearing shoes, but most porters wear standard sandals. That's hard-core if you ask me. They put up the tents and prepare every meal for us.



All 8 of us would gather around a small square table and share meals together. Nice & cozy and the food was yum. We start with soup and end with some coca tea to handle that altitude sickness. Note to self: hiking resumes right after a meal. So next time, easy on the eats.


Its back to the trail while the porters are left behind (but not for long) packing up. They use the water from the streams to wash dishes and such.







Boom. We finally reach our first campsite and my back is sweating up a storm. And those same porters who were left behind cleaning and packing up amazingly beat us to the spot with our tents all ready to go and dinner in the works.
It was a clear night and literally all the stars were out. I had never seen so many in my life. Just call me Stargazer Man.




Friday - November 21, 2008 (8 hours of hiking)
6:00am.
Rise and Shine. It's pretty cool how the porters come knocking on your tent to deliver a nice warm cup of tea.


And now time for one of my favorite activities of all time; rolling and packing up the mat and sleeping bag. Now I remember why camping is never my idea. Deal withs.



This 2nd day of hiking was the killer. It had all the wildcards you could ask for:
- uphill mania -5 hours straight
- rain plus cold wind.
- slippery rocks
- sky high altitudes





At some points we would climb up like only 5 steps and then completely stop to rest. Heavy breathing and sometimes not even saying anything because we were too tired to even talk. The worst was when we would turn a corner and then look up ahead at yet another monster rocktacular incline. More huffin' and puffin' to go. It was so cold at one point that I couldn't feel my fingers when I needed them most; to open up a power bar. Slowly but surely, we crawled up Dead Woman's Path and made it to the top looking like NY Knickerbocker fans in a Missy Elliot video. My fingers are pointing to the elevation => 4215 meters.


The down hill trek for 2 hours to camp was a breeze. And when I say breeze, I mean GEEEZ!
I was slipping left and right on this wet trail of random rocks. I had to focus with each step of the way searching for safe and flat stones. My 30 year old knees definitely were not fans. At times I had to go with the 'step together step' technique to reduce slip potential and to ease up on the knee impact. Definitely not as fun as 'step together step' techniques on the dance floor.





Saturday - November 22, 2008 (10 hours of hiking)

Day 3 was not as strenuous but the thought of hiking for 10 hours was B-A-N-A-N-A-S. We danced around the jungle, crept through caves and visited different Inca sites along the way.














By the time we arrived at the camp for our 1 hour lunch break, there was a break in the clouds and the sun was shining bright. I couldn't wait to pack that silly orange poncho away and was ready to catch some Peruana heat. But mother nature had different plans. Out of nowhere, rain came pouring down HARD. We had to stop and stand underneath a rock for shelter and the poncho had to come out of retirement. But Lito told us that the show must go on. Yikes!!! Oh man...major splish-splash session down the trail with my non-goretex sneakers. My shoes and socks got soaked to death.










































Shout out to broogle for stocking up on these much needed CLIF bars.














Sunday - November 23, 2008

We had a short sleep through the rain-stormy night. Good thing our tent held up. We woke up to have breakfast at 4am and then it was off to see the treasure - the sacred ruins. We put on our Sunday fits and caught our first glimpse of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. It was a clear and perfect day.























In Machu Picchu, we had the option to hike up Waynapicchu pictured here. My mind was telling me 'yes'....but my body, my body. You know how it goes.











"We built this city (da dun, da dun). We built this city on ROCK & ROLL"

Literally.