Inca Trail Day 1

Km 82-Patallaqta
10.66 km
327m elevation gain

Today we started the Inca Trail!

We were woken up by a porter who brought us tea and coffee to our glamping hut. We had our last showers for the next few days and then went to breakfast. We had some fruit salad with granola and yogurt as well as some eggy fried bread. After not sleeping well due to a funny tummy, I took it easy at breakfast knowing we'd be hiking until lunchtime.

We left the site and headed back for the bridge we crossed over yesterday. We crossed the river and headed up some steps on the other side. I was confused because all of the other hikers were starting the trail on the other side. Jhon explained that they prefer this side because it is less busy, fewer people and fewer motorbikes. It definitely made for a more peaceful and personal day.

Throughout the walk, the river was always on our left. It was so nice to hear the river all day. We also got some pretty beautiful views with the river, mountains, and Incan sites along the way. At one point we were walking along the train tracks, which was a cool picture with the mountains and river. Jhon stuck a .50 Soles on the track just before the train went by and it flattened it like a penny press. A pretty cool and unique souvenir to mark the day.

We walked past a few sets of Incan ruins that we wouldn't have gotten to see if we'd started the trek on the other side like the other companies. We saw some houses, buildings, terraces, and what is believed to be a big water storage area. It looked like a giant Incan swimming pool! I also loved all of the different plants and flowers growing all around.

The sun was shining the entire day, which was both good and bad. Good because no rain, not so good because it was so hot with not many sections of shade. One section with shade after we crossed back over the river to the other side, was a small eucalyptus forest. It smelled so nice in there and the shade was lovely. The forest was right before Patallaqta where our campsite was for the night.

When we emerged from the forest, it opened up to some small farms and houses and the Patallaqta ruins on our right. They were pretty cool from the ground, but when we explored them after lunch, even better. The walking today was pretty easy and didn't have too much elevation and no steep bits, only some gradual incline. It only gets harder from here 🙃.

Lunch was surprisingly elaborate for camping! There were stuffed peppers, corn on the cob, quinoa fritters, tomato and cucumber, and we had a lovely corn soup to start. I was super impressed! And after not eating much at breakfast, starving and ate more than I probably should have with a dodgy stomach.

After lunch we chilled out for a bit and tried out our solar panels to charge things. It was so cool! We also went and explored the Patallaqta ruins. The more we walked amongst them, the bigger they seemed to get! There were extensive terraces for farming as well as a water channel to support irrigation. There were a variety of buildings and houses, some for one family, some for multiple families and others for allowing up to 100 builders or soldiers to sleep in one place. Jhon also pointed out some areas where the Incas planned to expand the site to support the growing population, but the Spanish invasion kind of got in the way of that one.

When we finished exploring, Allan headed back the way we came in the trail to some terraces we saw earlier on and I went back to the campsite and had some tea and toasted corn. I really love that stuff! After about an hour, the bugs were out in full force, so I took refuge in our tent and read for a bit before Allan for back and needed some help with his glacial water cold plunge after his longer than expected walk.

We had dinner of steak and potatoes, but again, vegetable soup to start and we also had a dessert of warm pear is syrup. They feed us very well! Hopefully my body will be able to hold on to it all 🙈. We went back to our tent after dinner to settle in. I'm looking forward to using my new sleeping bag and sleeping pad, but not so much all the bugs.... Stay tuned for how the sleeping goes.Baca selengkapnya