We arrived in the pouring rain to the SAS tour office. We were the first of the group to get to the briefing room. It was lined with couches and on the center table was hot water and coca tea. Coca tea had become our staple since arriving in Cuzco a couple of days earlier to help us adjust to the altitude. We were only going to need more of it: Cuzco is at 3300 meters and the highest pass of the Inca trail is about 4300 m.
After a few minutes a number of couples start to file into the room and you could feel the excitement building in the room as we all tried to determine how we would get along over the next 4 days. Immediate thoughts: it seems like it was going to be a pretty fun group. Our guide (Saul) arrived to start our pre-trip briefing and he was very enthusiastic guy that looked like he belonged on the national soccer team. Saul provided a lot of detail about what we should expect and some last minute tips on packing. It was going to be an early morning; we were going to be picked up at 5 am the next morning.
At first light we drove for a couple of hours, ate breakfast and had a chance to pick up some last minute essentials like rain ponchos; they turned out to be one of the most important purchases of the whole trip. After breakfast we drove past Ollantaytambo to “Km 82” where we would start the hike to Machu Picchu. We saw a number of groups preparing (200 tourists & 300 chaskis (porters) start the Inca trail everyday). It was very organized and people were getting their kit on and the chaskis were even dividing up rum into pop bottles. We exchanged friendly nods knowing that I had already done the exact same exercise earlier.
The amazing men that carried our supplies are generally referred to as porters on company websites. This generic term is not preferred because it often refers to a servant. Our guide explained that we should call them chaskis because it means “Inca Runner”. As we were about find out, there was no more fitting a title…other than perhaps “superhero”.
It was incredible to see the amount of kit that the chaskis were about to carry. The bags were often bigger than them, as these guys don’t stand more then 5 feet tall. I later commented to our guide that these were Inca Turtles that were built for speed. As we lined up to check in at the entrance, we watched these super-human porters start the trail with a sprint across the suspension bridge, while they were cheered on by the crowds of trekkers. I, for one, felt like a lot less of a person knowing that they were not only carrying their own food, tent, sleeping bag, and other equipment, but also our tents, food, cooking equipment, propane tanks, chairs, tarps, first aid and oxygen, and our extra gear (including my rum). This group did not cease to amaze me during the whole hike.
The Inca trail is well trodden given that 500 people walk it everyday. It was a beautiful walk the first day and even though it was a long day, there was very little difficult hiking, just a lot of it. We stated to pass small villages or groups of 4 -7 homes where families lived and provide suppliers to the trekkers. They even sold pisco, the local hard alcohol of choice.
Each time we stopped for a break we watched groups of chaskis move past us at what appeared to be double time. These guys needed to make up enough time to get to the next lunch or campsite and set everything up before we arrived. I feel I have done a lot of hiking in my life and I have a routine in my head that I feel is necessary to make it through a sold 7 day hike in the back country with a full 60 -70 lbs kit on my back. I had my pack weighed at the beginning of the hike and I was only carrying 17 lbs. Basically, I should have been able to run the hike. Chaskis carried at least 50 lbs. and moved at incredible speeds.
We made it to our first lunch stop and I expected to have some boiled rice or rehydrated astronaut food. We walked into the site to find a clean tent, wash basins with hot water ready for washing, with chairs and lime-flavored water to get things started. Then we had a 3 course meal, including soup, rice, chicken, vegetables, all of it potentially the best food I had eaten in 5 months of traveling. It worked out that two of the chaskis were also certified chefs. This was going to be a completely different hiking experience! (As a bonus, it only rained during lunch, clearing up when we had to get moving again).
We moved out before the chaskis and within about an hour of hiking they were passing us again. It was unbelievable to witness. It was a long day and there was about 16 km of hiking, but the trail was good and the rain was minimal. We got to camp about 30 minutes before sunset to find all of the tents were up and the chaskis were making an afternoon snack of popcorn and tea for us. Again, I was absolutely amazed. We found all of our kit in our 2-person tents and we quickly got our gear figured out and got into clean warm clothes. Then we had a “Hola” from outside of our tent. It was one of these amazing chaskis with a basin of hot water for washing. Dinner was even better than lunch, again with three courses followed by amazing Peruvian special tea that included rum. By about 9 o’clock it was time to go to bed with an early 5 am wake up call. It was easy to fall asleep.
The next thing we knew one of the chaskis was outside of the tent providing tea service at 4:30 am. This is a brilliant idea to get hikers going: providing a cup of hot liquid at 4:30 in the morning to someone half asleep guarantees they will wake up very quickly because they will either spill it all over themselves or they will drink the lovely coca tea without spilling it. Either way, mission accomplished. Breakfast was on par with every other exceptional meal we had had and we were on the move very early for the hardest day of the hike and Dead Woman’s Pass at midday. Day Two is basically climbing a vertical of over 1000 meters in four hours. Then down almost the same distance, then up 300 meters and down 300 meters over a 10 hr day.
It was on this climb that we started to really see how incredible the chaskis were. They were carrying huge loads in the high altitude and they started to appear to get exhausted about 2/3 of the way up. Trekkers started to give them water, coca leaves, chocolate, and candies, and every type of moral support possible. Every time our group was passed, we would always say “Gracias!” to them. We all made the pass at around the same time and we were greeted by chaskies with snacks and drinks. It was impossible to explain the level of respect that we had for this group of men. Our guide pulled out a Peruvian Flute and started playing Beatles tunes for the group. We were definitely starting to become a much tighter group after that climb. The hike down was almost as difficult as going up, but the chaskis felt that it was easier to run down the slop using inertia to get them there. Our guide told us the most important thing on the way down was to stay out of their way. He wasn’t kidding, these guys came down like an avalanche. The last person back starting call out to the other trekkers downhill “chaskis –on the right” and we would all move as group to the side and make sure they could run through as quickly as possible.
By the time we got to camp, everything was set up and we were almost expecting a small circus to come alive based on how high our expectations had become. We ate another amazing meal and again got ready to move out for the next section. Most of us were feeling pretty exhausted at this point, but no one was saying anything because were watching the chaskis get ready to go again.
We moved out in the rain and we knew that the hardest part of the Trail was behind us and we would all be celebrating when made the next camp. We passed two incredible archeological sites but the clouds were moving in and out and we had very little opportunity to see them. We were told that if not for the clouds we would be looking at Machu Picchu mountain. By the time we got close to the next camp, the skies parted and we saw the amazing valley and it only built our excitement. We got to the beautiful camp (already set up) and we had a perfect view down the valley. The clouds were both below us and above us. This inversion made it seem like we had found a place in the sky where you could have walked out into a field of clouds. We spent almost an hour just standing there looking out and talking, but no one could move from the spot until the show was over. Once it got dark we move inside the dining tent and we were all high on the experience and a little rum.
Another morning, and another cup of coca tea at sunrise. This morning started off with rain and we all got moving and into the dining tent for breakfast. It was amazing again – with quinoa porridge – amazing! People were a little slower because of the rain, but we knew that it would be a short day no matter what. We got moving fast once we started and it looked like we would substantially cut the time to the next camp. Eventually we arrived at camp, the staging point for the walk to Machu Picchu the next morning. We spent the afternoon at one of the most incredible archeological sites, Winaywayna (“Forever Young”) and had one of those moments that really brought us together. Saul said that we would end the trek as a family and I believe that this was the point when we all felt that close. That evening we had a chance to thanks the chaskis for all of their help and service. We put together a group tip for them and thank you speeches, but I don’t think that any of us believed that we could thank them enough for their help. As we all shook hands and said thank you, their modesty and pride in their work came through in an indescribable way.
The next morning came early and under a blanket of stars where got up at 3 AM to move the check point and the 2 hour hike to Machu Picchu’s Sun Gate.
No comments:
Post a Comment