Turned out to be a piece of cake, regardless of my cold. Since my birthday was the closest to the hike, I got my early birthday cake with mountain design and blessings during the hike.
The 1st day only walked beautul yet flat 3 hrs. We spent more time at a check point thus were forced to walked in the dark about 1 hr.
The 2nd day required 800 meter elevation gain to reach the dead woman's pass. I did it in about 4 hrs and 20 minutes with my 20 lb backpack. I was so bumped by the broken waist belt of my backpack. Fortunately, my hiking guide saw it back for me to last the whole hike.
The 3rd day involved 2 peaks, a lot of downhills and a few ruin sites.
The last day started from 3 am to line up to pass the last check point. Although it was cloudy in the morning, we could see the machu pichu site in the late morning.
I felt very empowered after the hike, considering my cold and the weight I carried. Many factors forced other people to drop the hike, injured or even died during the inca trail hike, yet I finished and enjoyed it.
Most importantly, I established the friendship with my hiking fellows, and our guide and porters. We assisted and encouraged one another, and shared our life experience.
I took many hikes harder than this one, yet this was the only one I hiked with cold and heavy load. I prayed many times before and during the hike to complete the hike under the conditions.
As i just shared with one friend, the more I travel, the more I feel the need of a higher purpose of life.
As to machu pichu, it was a place full of past glory but not much of the future. I feel sad for the disappeared incas who had the potential to keep the indians fed and enjoy prosperity for longer but defeated by Spanish technology. The history reminds me of china, but the incas never came back like china did.
The 1st day only walked beautul yet flat 3 hrs. We spent more time at a check point thus were forced to walked in the dark about 1 hr.
The 2nd day required 800 meter elevation gain to reach the dead woman's pass. I did it in about 4 hrs and 20 minutes with my 20 lb backpack. I was so bumped by the broken waist belt of my backpack. Fortunately, my hiking guide saw it back for me to last the whole hike.
The 3rd day involved 2 peaks, a lot of downhills and a few ruin sites.
The last day started from 3 am to line up to pass the last check point. Although it was cloudy in the morning, we could see the machu pichu site in the late morning.
I felt very empowered after the hike, considering my cold and the weight I carried. Many factors forced other people to drop the hike, injured or even died during the inca trail hike, yet I finished and enjoyed it.
Most importantly, I established the friendship with my hiking fellows, and our guide and porters. We assisted and encouraged one another, and shared our life experience.
I took many hikes harder than this one, yet this was the only one I hiked with cold and heavy load. I prayed many times before and during the hike to complete the hike under the conditions.
As i just shared with one friend, the more I travel, the more I feel the need of a higher purpose of life.
As to machu pichu, it was a place full of past glory but not much of the future. I feel sad for the disappeared incas who had the potential to keep the indians fed and enjoy prosperity for longer but defeated by Spanish technology. The history reminds me of china, but the incas never came back like china did.
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