Tag Archives: inca trail
Days 29-30: Returning / Jul, 19
My return home was a gradual, multi-city one. I flew first to Lima, where I spent one night, and then Toronto, where I spent another. Then, anticlimactically, I took a short morning flight in a prop plane to Cleveland. At the Cusco airport the morning after Machu Picchu, I felt tired and craved sugar. I […]
Day 28: Inca Trail Day 4 / Jul, 18
I don’t know what time I actually woke up, but it was before 3:25 a.m., because I could hear the marching of porters behind and in front of our tent — preparing food and water, I imagined. A few minutes later, there came the official half-whispered call outside our tent: “Buenos dias! Coca tea!” I’d […]
Day 27: Inca Trail Day 3 / Jul, 17
Today’s hike was only a half-day, and we rose late — 6 a.m. I heard a groan from a tent one or two down from us. “Every fiber of my body is hurting,” a voice said. I scanned my own body. So far, apart from desperately wanting a shower and a clean pair of jeans, […]
Day 26: Inca Trail Day 2 / Jul, 16
This is known as the hardest day of the classic four-day trek, because you navigate two high-altitude mountain passes and hike for a total of about 10 hours. But we woke at a relatively leisurely 5:30 a.m. After breakfast, the sun was just starting to rise. As we ascended to Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest […]
Day 25: Inca Trail Day 1 / Jul, 15
It still felt miles from sunrise as we arrived on Plaza Recocijo to meet the Llama Path guides and porters. And it was: Only 4:15 a.m., with sunrise expected around 6:30 or 7. Seth and I were among the first present, along with an Irish couple, Suzanne and Rory. The porters handed us steaming cups […]
Day 24: Cusco / Jul, 14
Seth and I spent the day exploring Cusco. It was a Sunday, and a lot of stuff was closed, including almost all the museums. That, along with the dreary weather, meant I was probably destined not to like this city quite as much as Puno or Arequipa. Still, it’s a remarkable place. The San Blas […]
Day 23: Train to Cusco / Jul, 13
I had kind of rough night last night, woke up very early judging myself for not taking a “harder” trip. Something where I wasn’t spending any money, where I’d removed myself entirely from civilization and was roughing it. Something, in fact, like what Cheryl Strayed did in Wild, which I finally finished reading. I want […]