WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we left at 5am from Cusco with our Llama Path group, headed for Ollanteytambo. We arrived around 7am for breakfast, where we spied a guinea pig farm next door and some fabulous ruins in the distance. We ate in a hurry, and then hopped back in the van for the final 45 minutes to Kilometer 82- the starting point! How exciting. We organized our bags with the porters (who are incredibly fit and friendly) and then set off, walking sticks in hand!

Day one was nice. Fourteen km, slightly sloping uphill but nothing insane. We passed many houses along the way, with locals going about their business, cows and chickens and a baby pig roaming around. So strange to think that these people live here full time, watching tons of backpackers pass by their front doors in the middle of nowhere. There were lots of baños along the way, ranging from slightly scary to life-altering trauma (towards the end, as well as some local women selling water, soda, and gatorade to the unprepared passersby. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and took tons of pictures along the way, clean and smiley, unaware of the horrors that lay ahead.

We passed two checkpoints along the way to our camp, getting the much coveted passport stamps that made us feel quite official. We camped at Ayapata, 3300m high. Our porters were amazing- they always passed us on the trail and had our meals set up and waiting for when we arrived, and our tents pitched, hot water to wash up, etc etc. We all felt quite proud that evening, and passed out very soon after dinner.

Day 2 was not as much fun, but was a lot more rewarding. We awoke to hot tea delivered to our tent at 5am, then rushed to pack and eat so that we could get to hiking. We had 9 hours of straight hiking, gaining 900m to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass, then losing 700m to the botton of a valley, another 500m up, then 400m down. This is all just the change in altitude, mind you, the actual hike was about 16km in total. The beginning was not so tough, but the trail quickly took a turn for the worse. At times, we were climbing up incredibly narrow yet very steep steps and thanking the Inca Gods for the lack of rain. We encountered a pack of llamas at one point, who turned angry when I tried to pose with them, and ended up chasing me up the trail for a while- very good incentive to run!

Everyone felt pretty downtrodden, but we pushed on, and made it to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass in much less that the estimated time. It was cold and windy up there, and the panoramic views were insane. The downhill was almost as bad as the uphill though, and as we went down the other side we felt our calves being pushed to their limits and knees getting a bit jerky. We had lunch at the bottom, then pushed up the next pass, which was much less intense but still tiring. We visited incredible temples and forts along the way, then entered the cloud forest right before our campsite. WOW, what a day! We shoveled our food in then passed out, freezing our butts off all night.

Day 3 was not so bad! Because we had pushed on so much in the first few days, we had only 7km to hike, mostly downhill (and down those damn steps!) visiting more Inca sites along the way. We arrived in Wiñay Huayna around lunchtime, napped for a bit, then checkd out more great ruins before heading to the small BAR(!)that was near the campsites. Beer to celebrate our new friend Chelsea´s birthday and to relax after our lengthy workouts. Dinner, then a ceremony with our porters and bedtime!

Day four- Machu Picchu! We woke up at 3am, ate a lovely cake that our chef baked for us, and hauled our butts down to the checkpoint gate, arriving second in line, and waited until the gates were opened at 5:30. We are not exactly sure why it is so important to arrive at that time and then wait, but whatever. As we sat there, it began to rain, then pour; our first rain of the trip thankfully but what a terrible day for it! As soon as the gate opened, we RAN as fast as we could, as it was the goal to reach the Sun Gate first. Well that didn´t happen for us, but 2 of the Aussie girls in our group made it there second! The trail wasn´t too tough, but there were some of those killer Inca steps thrown in that really put a kink in your pace. So tiresome! We finally reached the Sun Gate and there is was, in full glory. Machu Picchu in its entirety from a sort of arial view. There were few tourists in our view, so we shot some great pictures then headed down to the site, another hour of hiking, then there we were! We grabbed our bag from the porter as we waited for our tour to begin, and ran over to the Sanctuary Lodge to check in- we are SO LUCKY!!!!!!