On day one we packed up all our stuff and drove out to the starting point. We had to stand in line to get our permits stamped and approved and then we were off.
(I did a really bad job of taking pictures on this trip and during the hike I was focused on the hike and not on pictures, so sorry they are lacking.)
It started out almost sunny on the first day and we hiked for a while and then stopped for lunch. At lunch time the porters set up a tent with tables and little stools inside so that we could sit down and eat. And the two cooks cooked proper meals, usually with soup and then chicken and rice or something like that. The portions weren't huge (which is good because with the altitude we all had to be careful because it's easy to get sick) but they were hot meals, with tea and instant coffee and plenty to eat. While we were eating lunch on the first day it started to rain, and it rained the rest of the day. Hard. We were all pretty much soaking wet. And when we got to where we would camp for the night, the tents were pretty much set up in the mud and everything was dirty and wet. There was no place to hang out, you just went into your little 2 person tent and had to stay there until dinner. And none of your stuff could touch the side of the tent because if it did the condensation would make it soaking wet. I learned this lesson the hard way.
My first night, our tent was sort of set up on a slope and I kept sliding down towards the door of the tent. And my sleeping bag was touching the end of the tent near the door, which meant it got soaking wet. At first it was just the outside of the sleeping bag that was wet, and I was like "That's weird," totally not understanding what was happening. I tried to ignore it and go to sleep. But then I woke up and realized that the inside of my sleeping bag was wet too. I remembered hoping that it was 5am, and I could just get up like 30 min. before everyone else and get out of and away from this wet sleeping bag, but noooooo, it was only midnight. I was horrified. By midnight the whole bottom third of my sleeping bag was soaking wet and for 5 hours I just laid there curled up in a little ball, freezing, trying to figure out what to do. I had a sleep sheet so I got in that and put my feet and bottom of the sleep sheet in a garbage bag and then put that into my wet sleeping bag, but it didn't really help. Everything was wet and cold. I was miserable. I think that was probably the worst night I've ever had. Just sleeping in a tent on the ground was traumatizing enough for me, and now I was also soaking wet and freezing. It was the worst.
And I didn't know how, in the pouring rain, my sleeping bag was ever going to dry. So I was thinking that I was going to have a wet sleeping bag for the next 3 nights and by 5am I was like, on the verge of tears. I don't think I slept at all that night. First thing in the morning, I told one of our guides that my sleeping bag was soaking wet and he said the porters would dry it and take care of it for me. I was so relieved. When they made camp the next night they held my sleeping bag over a fire/stove in the kitchen tent until it was dry. I was so thankful! The porters are my heroes! And after that I made sure not to let anything else touch the side of the tent ever again. The porters gave us a tarp to put down which Megan sorted of folded up the sides of our tent and that helped a lot. None of the other nights were nearly as bad as that first night... which was hell.
The second day was the hardest day. There were lots of big, uneven steps going up. It was a big UP day. We reached the highest point of the hike at 13,800 feet. This day is mostly a blur for me. I think the altitude was getting to me. I remember wanting to just hike by myself, and not have a bunch of people behind me, making me feel like I had to go fast. Also, I hadn't slept, so I was grumpy. I just wanted to be left alone to go at my own pace. And my own pace was pretty slow. I didn't feel like I was having a hard time, but I was definitely going slow. Megan and my dad were much faster, but I didn't feel like pushing myself and making myself miserable trying to keep up with them, so I just went slow and my mom stayed with me most of the time. When we got to the top of the pass it started pouring rain. Like, the second we got up there, seriously, pouring rain. I wanted to take a picture or rest for a second, but you couldn't. It was too windy and rainy and you just had to start down. And the decent was pretty rough. Now it was the big uneven steps going downhill for about 1.5 hours and the stones were all slippery in the rain. Again, we went really slow. Some other people went fast, and I think almost everyone fell at some point. I know I did and landed on my knee, but it wasn't that bad. My mom fell on her elbow and it got all scraped up and was bleeding and ended up getting infected. That was no good. My dad fell and hit his head so hard that people were asking him how many fingers they were holding up and what day of the week it was. Doh! Luckily, we were all essentially fine. That night we got to camp kind of early, but it was pouring rain and once more there was nothing to do but hang out in the stupid tent and not touch anything.
The third day we hiked for 10.5 hours. It was a long day but it wasn't really that hard and that day was really beautiful. The lunch that day was epic and the cooks made so many courses and even a cake. It was out of control. I don't even know how they made all that with just camping kitchen equipment. They were really awesome. But after I ate I started feeling a little sick. The whole second half of the day my stomach did not feel right. We got to camp that night at 530pm and I just went to bed and skipped dinner.
The next day we had to get up at 3:30am. I don't know if I've ever gotten up that early in my life. It was no fun and I wasn't feeling great. In theory, we got up that early so that we could get to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu in time to see the sunrise, but we totally didn't. (The real reason was so that the porters could break down the camp and be on the porter train by 5am.) We were standing in line to get on the trail when the sun rose and we still had to hike about an hour to get to the Sun Gate. The last little bit before the Sun Gate was almost like a steep staircase/rock ladder. It was really steep, but it was pretty short. And when we got to the Sun Gate it was clear and we had amazing views of Machu Pichu. (The day before and the day after it was all foggy and rainy and the groups didn't get good views at all so we were really lucky.) I still wasn't feeling exactly right, and I had woken up at 330am, so I was cranky, but I was really glad to be there. After taking a ton of pictures we walked down into Machu Picchu and spent the rest of the day there exploring the ruins. Most of us were exhausted by this point though, and I feel like I didn't get as much out of it as I should have. It was also crawling with tourists who had just taken the bus/train up for the day, so it was kind of a shock to go from being in wilderness to being smack in the middle of tons of people, feeling all dirty and tired and out of it.
Like I said, all in all it was a great experience, but it's hard for me to really call that "fun". It was rewarding and challenging and beautiful and historic/educational and I'm so glad I got to do it, and with my family, no less, but it wasn't exactly fun. Heh.
Anyway, here are the rest of my pics:
This is coming in from the Sun Gate
There's my Mom :)
This is the sacred rock. It's a big granite rock that they say is in the shape of the mountain of Machu Picchu. (I think there is probably more to the story of why it's sacred, but I didn't really get all the details.)
Here is a link to all my pics on Flickr, if you want to browse:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emvee510/sets/72157631977731264/
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