May 1, 2019
Today we got up at 3:30 am to get ready for our shuttle bus pick up. We were told by the company that they would store our big bags while we were on the trek and could pick them up when we get back to Cusco late Sunday night. We were quite unsure about the whole situation especially when they picked us up. There seemed to be a lot of confusion about where we could leave our bags. They finally pulled over in a back alley and had someone from down the street run over and unlock a door into a warehouse-type place and quickly tossed our bags in there. My computer and all of our most valuable stuff we couldn’t take on the trail was in those bags! I had my fingers crossed everything would indeed be safe and secure in that place for 5 days.
The bus kept driving until we reached our breakfast spot where we were divided into groups and introduced to our guide for the next 5 days. Out of all the groups leaving on the trek that day, I was surprised that we were the only people from the United States. In our group, it was the 2 of us, 8 people from Israel (6 of them being friends, and 2 others traveling together), 2 girls from France, and one girl from Scotland. This trek was so different from what we did in Patagonia where we carried all of our camp and food for the whole time. Here we could each give a 5-kilo bag to the horses to carry and all of our meals were prepared for us as well as the camps being set up and ready for us each night. It seemed like a luxury trek being that we only had to carry a daypack with our water and snacks. Brendan and I shared a daypack and it was my thought we would take turns carrying it, but Brendan actually ended up with it most of the time. Each time I tried to take a turn, he would refuse to give it to me.
When we reached our starting point, our guide Nico (Nee-co) discussed how things would work and the importance of the group staying together and being on-time for meals etc. I wasn’t sure how much I would like a “group” trek. In Patagonia we were completely on our own schedule. We ate when we wanted, we took breaks when we wanted and got up when we wanted. Realizing that on this particular trail I couldn’t fall too far behind I got a little nervous and worried I might not be able to keep up. All the Israelis were in their early twenties and just returning from the Army, so I was afraid I would be the weakest link. As we started hiking, I also thought it might be kind of annoying in a large group to be expected to be social and in conversation with other group members. At first, I had a thought, “carrying a heavy pack might be worth the freedom of hiking alone”. It didn’t take long though for me to settle into the group culture and actually really enjoy it. There is definitely something cool about being self-sufficient on a trek and not having anyone else’s agenda but your own, but I realized this was just a different type of trek that also had its benefits.
Once I got to know the other group members, they were all wonderful and a pleasure to talk to. It made the hiking go by quicker when talking to someone new and learning about their culture and experiences. I was relieved fairly quickly that Brendan and I were not the slowest ones in the group, and to know the pace that was set was reasonable and feasible for us. I was very proud of Brendan. On this trek, I realized how much stronger he was from when we began our trip. He was a little powerhouse on the trail even at high altitude, and a daypack that became quite heavy with all of our stuff. The first two days of this trek were the most difficult and at the highest elevation. We were above 10,000 feet these two days. The hike was pretty easy going, until we arrived at our first base camp. From there we picked our sleeping shelter, which was actually a very nice, resembling a little wooden tent that had a light inside and a power outlet!
We lightened our daypack a little since we could leave our stuff at base camp. I took the daypack as we started the hike to Humantay Lake. This was the most strenuous part of the day. It was fairly steep and difficult to catch your breath in the altitude. We made it up and the views were well worth it! It was a beautiful high mountain lake.
We came back down in time to have tea and a snack that was waiting for us at camp. We were able to rest before dinner. I fell asleep and debated on skipping dinner when it was time to go because I was so tired. It’s rare that I will miss a meal though, so I dragged myself up and was happy I did as dinner was awesome. The food that was prepared for us on this trek was really outstanding. After dinner we went straight to bed, thoroughly exhausted from the long day. We had a 4:30am wakeup the second day, and it was the most difficult and longest day of the hike.