Peru Day 9: Inca Trail start

Although we had to get up at 4:45am we were feeling much better compared to yesterday. After our hotel pick up the van driver picked up the other pair of travelers for the trek, a French-Canadian couple. Julien and Cynthia had only arrived in Peru a few days ago and were going to Bolivia straight after the 3.5 day hike. We stopped in Pisac for our last provisions stop. Even though I had a 20 sols note, the shop-keeper still had to go to another business to get me change. Using a restaurant's backyard toilet also revealed countryside life as there were a couple of guinea-pig hutches and chickens roaming free.

It took about 2 hours to get to the starting point where we met the rest of our party - 2 chefs, a waiter, our guide and 7 porters. Our first stage of walking was very easy stopping a number of times to look at flora and fauna whilst being overtaken by porters carrying doors, concrete blocks, pipes etc, and passing those hikers who couldn't quite hack it on horses going back to the start. Otherwise it was relatively quiet. Both our lunch break and final campsite was ready waiting for us with food almost ready to be served. Every mealtime drink had to be spilt as an offering to the Mother Earth and say thanks. The campsite itself was surrounded by huge mountains and had a small Inca ruin nearby. Lots of donkeys, dogs and chickens were roaming free around the site.

After an evening meal we were introduced to all the porters with Socrates translating their details of name, age, married/singe/kids, hometown etc. I was last to introduce myself (using the Robin Hood/red breasted bird explanation), and scarily, the oldest by 4 years although from some of the porters' appearance we expected them to be in their 40's. Even the youngest, at 18 looked like he was in his mid-twenties. Just shows you how tough a porter's job is.