Inca Trail - Day Three

This is Freddie, our guide. He always referred to our group as Family. Freddie was never without a smile. He loves the Incan culture and never failed to show his passion for the subject.

The porters. Before the trip I had heard how unbelieveable these guys were. Like they were Supermen. Well, I confess I had a fair degree of skepticism. This I had to see.

And in fact the first day made me think they were overrated. Sure they were hauling around 50 pounds on their backs. But they were all youngish, in the teens and 20s. On the first day I made a point to try to stay with them. Stride for stride I felt very comfortable. I admit I wasn't carrying as heavy a load, but I was also spotting them over 30 years. I felt pretty good about myself.

But, then came the downhills. I'm struggling down the previously described steps when here come these guys literally (and by that I mean LITERALLY) running. They were wearing these beat up sandals and carrying all that stuff. Some had propane tanks strapped. I saw a guy with a full pack AND two dozen fresh eggs. I take my hat off to the Incan Trail porters. They are indeed Supermen.

Cleansing my Shakra. At the exquisite little Inca site of Huinay Huayna ("Forever Young" in Quechua) we were encouraged to cleanse our Shakras in the flowing water of the ancient plumbing. The Incas set up the distribution of water in each village so the flow in the upper portions was only used for sacred purposes. The water then flowed down the hill to be diverted for household then agricultural uses. They built these magnificent terraces for growing crops. The terraces were massive and still in use today. You can see them all over the hills and mountains, some so high up the slopes it takes days to reach. Incredible.

The terraces at Huinay Huayna.

Huinay Huayna.

Last camp. There was a hostel at the last campsite. Every group arrived for the last night before Machu Picchu. I saw this rainbow while walking to the hostel for a shower and a cold one. In Incan tradition it is unlucky to point at a rainbow. So I just sort of...nodded.

The porters finale. Since it was our last night all the porters came out one last time to say goodbye. We all pitched in with tips, cocoa leaves and a brewski for each. They sang and danced. With our women.

This is Melissa enjoying herself dancing. Apparently one of the porters enjoyed himself too. Melissa got groped. All in good fun.

Tomorrow: Machu Picchu. There is a checkpoint a short distance from the last camp. It opens at 5:30AM. Everyone has to check in before the final 6 kilomter dash to the object of our quest. The camp area was aswarm with trekkers, mostly young (a few geezers like me) from all over the world. We had all crossed paths at various times the last few days. A great experience meeting them. But, it was important to get a good start in the morning. The Trail was too narrow, too steep and too wet to have to fight crowds of trekkers scrambling for the finish line. I haven't raced since the Athens Marathon in 1999 (4th overall, 3:11:09, my swan song), but I had the old "night-before-a-race" feeling.

Jennifer and Me.