Kate Gamble's Blog

Hey everyone!

Just got home from 4 days of the Inca trail, a trek (or pilgrimage as our guide called it) that takes you along 500 year old stony pathways made by the ancient civilization of the Incas.

It´s been a fantastic few days and although everyone, not just me, found it tough, it was worth it for a amazing once in a lifetime experience... I would highly recommend it (mostly because I´m a total sadist!).

The first day begun at 4.30am when our group was picked up from Loki and driven for 2 hours to Aguas Calientes, a small town next to the river that runs through the valley that ends up at Machu Picchu. Here we stopped to have breakfast, pick up a waking stick (vital as the terrain is rough as guts and gets very steep at times) a poncho (its rainy season here after all) and some coca leaves ¨the green gold of the Incas¨ which is the same stuff cocaine is made from. My backpack was much smaller than some because a few of us had requested a porter to carry some of the more bulky stuff... i didn’t regret that for a second!!

The group setting out - 14 in total plus 20 porters and 2 guides.

We finally arrived at the starting point and got packed up and head out to mountains. During the first day (easy we where told) we walked 16km... no mean feat for anyone who knows me! Finally we arrived in our campsite just on 5pm at Llulluchapampa that sits at 3800m in the Andes. Shit i was glad to arrive and sit down for a bit, relax and let the porters treat us to ¨happy hour¨ with popcorn and hot chocky!! That night I crawled into my tent and slept until i thought i could hear someone trying to wake me up, I started to pack up all my stuff until i Louis in the tent next to me asked me what I was doing and told me to go back to sleep because i still had 5 hours left... it was 1am!! A bit too keen perhaps…?

The Wallabamba Inca site... at this point i was so relived to get a rest in i had to remind myself to take the whole thing it!!

The second day is said to be the hardest with 4 hours strait up climbing and then 2 hours down, two hours up and then down again! My legs where killing after yesterday, the group was down 2 people who hadn’t made it through the 1st day, altitude sickness sucking the life out of its victims... we where out of camp by 7am and walking to the ¨Dead Women’s Pass¨ some 4200m high. Reaching the pass was a great feeling and the coca leaves really helped the climb, its like having large mint leaves, dried then you grab about 5ish, roll them in some black ¨trigger powder¨, made from the ash of particular plants, and pop it in the side of your mouth. As the coca takes affect you start to get more energy, your legs don’t feel so about-to-drop-off-ish and you get a bit wired... like cocaine itself but not as intense! (or so im told… ehummm) By about the half way point i had the ipod in and was dancing my way up the 1000m climb to Madonna’s ¨Confessions Of A Dance Floor¨... Everyone was feeling better with the Coca Power, but Im pretty sure i was the only one dancing!! Reaching the Pass was excellent and someone was handing out Dolce De Letch caramels... i have never tasted anything that great ever!!!

Going strong on the way up to the pass!


The Group having reached Dead Women’s Point - And me feeling a bit like that women it was named after!


Next was down to Pacaymayu, at 3580m... this started off ok, i was freezing after the rest at the pass, and needed to get going, i think i was hurrying and not concentrating as much as a should have and consequently rolled my ankle on one of the steeper Incan steps, landing in the bushes and not being able to get up again I guess the shock was the worst thing... my first thought was ¨how the hell am i going to get out of this one..¨ not a road for miles!! But Jose, the guide got it strapped up for me and after a bit of a swear and few tears i was back on my feet and stepping down towards the next campsite... much more slowly than before!

Me and Mots my Norwegian mate from Loki, getting together on the trail for Incan madness!

The group was great, we had 3 guys from the States, Lucas, Matt and Charlie, Donald from Ireland, two Ausy couples, a Dutchman, Luis from Brisbane, and Me (the only single girl… much to the porters excitement...!! Yikes!)

Camping was not exactly roughing it, the porters ran on ahead of us slow gringos, carrying up to 30kg some of them...! Then they set up our tents and sleeping mats, a large dinner tent with tables, table clothes!! and stools and by the time we arrived they had meals, snacks and drinks ready for us... I think i would have died without them!!

The third day was a bit rough for me, as i had a bit of an upset stomach, I was the 3rd in the group to get it... and trust me, gastro waits for no-one... or no loo or.. I was walking along, thinking mmm might need a loo soonish, when suddenly it hit me like a large Incan granite rock to the stomach... i let the group pass only just hanging on, then ducked behind a large (but still not large enough) rock and all hell let loose... luckily i was carrying my trusty toilet roll and a rubbish bag... still not an experience i would like to repeat. I popped 2 gastro tablets and prayed to the god of toilet business that that be the end of it... which thankfully, it was! The toilets along the way are squatters, and with a sore ankle you can imagine how fun that was! Still a girls got to do what a girls got to do!

Here is the gang at the last site on the 3rd day... Christian Rock Group anyone??

That night we where given the option to pay 5 soles for a shower (about AUS$2) and i jumped at the chance! Well actually i was too buggered to jump for anything and just wandered around trying to find someone in the group with soap and a towel i could borrow. Thanks Donald!

The nights in camp where good, I don’t think i could have done it without the great enthusiasm of the group and our excellent guide Jose ¨Maria¨...

Here is Matt and Charlie trying to get some gum of pants... or im told that’s what they are doing!!


Walking again... Steep paths and a sore ankle! Still amazing scenery in the upper jungle or ¨green hell¨ as the Spanish called it!

Because it was rainy season we expected the worst, everyday i packed my rain poncho, gortex jacket and rain pants (20 soles from a market stall in Cusco) but the rain held off, the clouds where intense and on the 3rd day we arrived at an Incan site but couldn’t even see the end off it... its called the cloud forest for a reason i guess!

Thanks to the lack of a mirror and the friendliness of my group i sported a rather becoming hair style for a few days before i realized that the 80's are over!

On the 4th morning we got up at 3am... FARK... and breaky was 2 big cakes made by our excellent chef... then it was a race against the other groups to get the checking point... We won!! Before brecky i had packed up my bag and thought ¨there is no way it can rain today...¨ because it had been clear for the last 3 days... Lo and behold, after brecky it began to piss down, the porter, with my rain pants, had gone and i said goodbye rain gear and hello soggy Kate.


Mots and Lars... Soaking wet on the last morning!

It was still dark when we set off practically running in the rain along the Incan rocky paths to try to make the sun gate before sun rise!! Naturally it was still raining so the sun rise ended up irrelevant thanks to intense cloud cover! On the way up the steepest steps so far i fell again, twisting the same bloody ankle and at that point i was so fed up... swearing i got back on my foot and hopped to the ¨great¨ Machu Picchu.

Me... trying to get excited with my swollen ankle, ripped poncho, soaking shoes and sleep deprivation!

By the time i arrived all i wanted was some food, the rain to stop and to sit down, It was only by about lunch time when it cleared up that i had the energy to explore the whole place, taking in the size of it, its amazing construction from granite, and the shagging lamas! No kidding!

Me relaxing and starting to enjoy it once the rain stopped!

After we finished up at the grand old Incan site, we jumped on a bus and stopped off at the little town to have some lunch and say goodbye to everyone... It was sad to end the trip because despite all the hassles it really was a hell of a lot of fun with a great group of people!

The group at last lunch!