Imagine
(Anushka here again 👋🏽)
“Imagine,” he said theatrically, waiving his small arm in front of his body while showing off his strangely long pinky fingernail. He pointed in front of him to show us exactly where to imagine what he was talking about. You could tell he, too, was imagining as his perpetually red eyes squinted to reveal rays of laugh lines around them as he stared off in the distance proudly picturing the bit of history he had just explained.
“Imagine,” he said again, “this is the original Inca Trail. The Incan engineers made these steps and placed these stones to get from one village of the Incan empire to the other. Can you imagine?” The 14 of us stood. Imagined. And listened to David, our kind-hearted tour guide, explain the bit of the trail we were on and what lay ahead.
Imagining a whole different world within the valleys. Our daily views on the trail often left us 😮
The Inca Trail and empire really was incredible to imagine but even more breathtaking to see.
Neal, Bijal, Sonia and I started our Inca Trail adventure with a prep talk the night before from David and his trusty apprentice, Max. Neal and Bijal were pumped; Sonia and I were terrified and were 100% sure we were not going to make it. This was also the first time we met our trekking crew. 14 Americans comprising of a group of 6 girl friends from NYC, 2 couples, and the 4 of us. To take the group through 4 days of trekking and into Machu Picchu, it would take 19 porters, 2 cooks and 2 guides. That is 1.3 people per trekker! We are clearly high maintenance.
Kicking off the Inca Trail after a prep talk from David and Max
The start of our adventure began at the crack of dawn. David and Max picked us up and drove us to kilometer 82 to stamp our permits and begin the trek. The stiff air of the unknown followed us from the night before, making the trip to the trailhead a silent one. There was no turning back.
The trail ascends quickly just after a few minutes, causing your heart to race, your back to puddle with sweat, and your mind to wonder why on earth you paid for this experience. All the while, you are being passed by local porters carrying your food, water, shelter and personal belongings on their back, doing it at double the speed with sandals on (the toenail situation was pretty ugly). If you give up now, they will most definitely laugh at you.
Badass porters flying past us with 40lbs+ on their backs. Mind you there are locals along the way casually hauling full wooden doors like it’s a kindergarten backpack!
As we got into our groove we began to meet our trek mates. The 6 New Yorkers were on a birthday trip and spent the better part of a year planning for this vacation. We came to find that they were an incredibly smart and funny group of girls that we would miss the most (still holding out for an Inca Trail reunion #incatrailmeetsbagatelle) after we parted ways. I can say playing Uno with them jammed in a single tent with over 10 people on the third night was one of my favorite memories of the entire South America trip. I have to also point out that there is no alcohol on the trail, so this Uno game was just super sober lit.
This was before the 3-hour Uno game, so friendships and relationships were still intact
Couple 1 had only been dating for a year but bickered in that cute we-know-too-much-about-each-other way as if they had been dating for a decade. They came to be the most open and wild people in the group and made hiking beside them a blast. Couple 2 was the slightly older, responsible ones and the husband was a former Spanish teacher! His fluent Spanish and deadpan humor made him a favorite amongst the hikers and porters alike. And lastly, hiking with both Sonia and Bijal gave me a real opportunity to learn so much more about each of them - I feel very lucky to have had the time together. The Inca Trail truly builds bonds, and by the end of the trip getting to know our trek mates was my fondest memory of the entire experience.
All smiles with our amazing trekking group and porters
The first half of day 1 was fairly uphill but, lucky for us, David has done this trek for 18 years so he was well-versed on when and where to take frequent breaks. We quickly made it to our lunch stop after casually passing many Incan ruins (which turns out is normal on the Inca Trail), stunning mountain views and breathtaking valleys. We realized the trekking life wasn’t so bad. Our group was reasonably fit and plenty of time was allotted for us to get from stop to stop. In fact, the only thing that slowed us down other than the crazy elevation and uphill climb was the delicious four-course lunch.
Views, views, views 😍
I have to take a sidebar and talk about our meals. Not only were they plentiful, they were delicious. Morning consisted of an early morning wakeup in your tent accompanied by hot coca tea, shortly followed by a breakfast of toast, coffee, jam, eggs and fruits of all kinds. Every lunch had a soup course, a salad course and several dishes of mixed vegetables and/or meat. The late afternoons were for tea time with a new tea each day, ranging from munya to coca, and accompanied by lots of popcorn. And lastly, dinner comprised of global cuisines from Italian to Chinese. Not only was the food delicious it was incredibly creative as well. I have never seen Chinese sweet and sour sauce used in so many ways before. But the standout dish was the surprise birthday cake for Bijal and Jessica. It took our head chef over an hour to bake the cake over a fire, and it absolutely melted in your mouth.
Meals not pictured because we ate them too quickly. Whoops 🤷🏽♀️. But here’s one of the birthday cake and Neal feeding it to a very happy Bijal.
Ok, back to the trek. Day 1 was our longest hiking day so we reached our campsite for the night right at sundown. Our tour company, Alpaca Expeditions, did an incredible job making you feel so welcome at camp each night. After you arrive, the porters, even though they worked twice as hard as you did, clap for you as you walk in! They then give you warm water to wash your hands and face and ensure your tent is pitched and has all your belongings stored in it, making it clear that our only job was to enjoy our time trekking and worry about nothing else.
Sunrise over the campsite
Day 2 and 3 were equally as fun and beautiful as Day 1. We climbed through the famous Dead Woman’s Pass up to 13,000 feet, had a photoshoot with a few resident llamas, stargazed at the crystal clear night sky, and continued to stumble upon amazing ruins.
At the top of Dead Woman’s Pass and…alpacas!
On our final evening we had the opportunity to explore the Wiñay Wayna ruins which highlighted the Inca’s ingenious agricultural terraces and honestly rivaled many of the more famous ruins in the Sacred Valley. Because Wiñay Wayna is a bit off the beaten path our group was lucky enough to have this space all to ourselves. Standing still with nothing but fresh air and silence, you could really take it all in. Just how did the Incas do it? How on earth did they bring flawless stones all the way up the same mountains it just took me 3 days to hike, and how do we know so little about them? It was spectacular and mind-boggling all at the same time.
Wiñay Wayna, one of my favorite ruins along the trail
After waking up at 4am on day 4 with no light other than the ones strapped to our foreheads, we started our final descent into Machu Picchu. It was raining. There were lines to get to the checkpoints. And somehow one of us always had to go to the bathroom. It turned out to be the worst morning yet after a beautiful 3 days. We trekked for hours and finally made it to the Sun Gate where our view was clouds, rain and fog. It wasn’t until we made it down the mountain that we finally caught our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. It was remarkable and worth the wait.
Machu Picchu - finally made it!
The Incas created something epic at Machu Picchu. Impeccably structured stone walls for temples, perfectly architected terraces for farming, and room after room for living. Once we picked up our jaws off the floor, David and Max gave us our official tour of the city, pointing out the sun temple and speculating theories on Incan culture. They led us through the masterful city past the drones of tourist, the adorable baby alpacas, and out to our own space in the back where we could take a moment, feel the sun shining on our faces, remember that after 4 long days (and no showers) we finally made it here to, most of all, just imagine.
Imagining 🦙
