Inca Trail - day II - 28.06

wake-up call was at 5:20am, breakfast at 6, porters introduction at 6:15 and heading out to the trail at 6:45.

camping area had basic toilet facilities and cold running water. toilet facilities tended to be quite disgusting at some places.. just filthy and smelly. but in some places they were quite ok... no seat though, just a hole in the ground :) toilet paper you had to carry yourself.

water could be brought on the trail by local people who had set up small tables with water and snacks. after the second day there were no places to buy anything anymore and all the water was provided at the camp during meal times to fill up our water bottles.

second day is the most difficult at the trail. we had all agreed that we will wait to have lunch later as we have to cover 9km uphill to the first pass and then 2km downhill to get to the second camp. we took 2 bigger breaks on the way to have some snacks and to gather the group. everybody was going at their own speed at all times which was great.

ok.. so 9km uphill... well i knew it was gonna be difficult, i heard that it was gonna be very difficult... but i would have never thought it to be THAT difficult. the last 1km was just 2 steps and 20 seconds break - 2 more steps and another 20 seconds break :) uphill was stairs, steep stairs. people cried.. people were carried... people were exhausted. many were chewing on coca leaves which gives you energy. we went from 3100m to 4200m :D i´ve never been that high up before :D once i made it up there it took quite a bit to catch my breath. i have to say that big lung capacity comes handy :D - at this point i´d like to mention all my former coaches and thank them for putting up with me all those years! it was very difficult, but i was doing quite good compared to most of the people on the trail.

so at 4200m .. on the first pass called ´Abra de warmi wañusca´ or dead woman´s pass.. it was difficult to breathe.. it was cold and windy up there.. and cloudy. some people carried on to the camp after waiting there for about an hour.. i was there for about 2,5 hours waiting for everybody else to make it up there. i tried to keep away from the wind and warmed myself in the sun. my breathing did not get much better and i felt light-headed... but it was ok.. i was at 4200 and i made it up there and i was very proud of myself.

i should also mention that there were many many groups on the trail at the same time.. each day it is allowed for 200 people (or was it 500?) to go on the trail. and at times you had to pass like 20 people at a time.. and at times the trail seemed overly crowded.. but luckily not most of the time :D there were quite many times that i was walking alone and did not see anybody behind or in front of me. occasionally somebody appeared behind me... a porter.. carrying a huuuge bag on his pack and basically passed me like i was standing still :D

then we started the descent to the second campsite called Paqaymayu, at 3500m. oh my.. going down the same kind of steep stairs was soooooo difficult. my knees were on fire :( and it was just stairs and stairs and more windy stairs.. barely no flat ground at all. of course the scenery was beautiful with all the mountains and waterfalls and all the rest.. but oh it was bad going down.

then again the tents were already set up by the porters who passed us on the trail. we got to the camp around 4pm it think. we had tea at 5 and dinner was 7:15. after tea i took 1,5 hour nap :D and oh it was cold down in the valley :(... during night time some people measured 4C in their tent. in the morning when i got out of the tent the water drops that had formed on the tent had turned into ice. it was oh so cold. i got my long underwear on.. gloves + hat + thick socks while sleeping and only my nose was out of the sleeping bag and luckily i was not cold while sleeping. but getting dressed in the morning and putting on the damp clothes.. well that was a challenge.