OH BOY ! Look what I get to start my day with….

Day three on the Inca Trail. Even though we were able to rest early the day before, this was the first time in my life I was to hike for more than two days consecutively. I was starting to wonder where the fun was for my vacation. After all, this high altitude hiking has been really hard work!

Pacamayo Campground

Before we left Cuzco, our guide Isaac was kind enough to meet us at our hotel for a trek briefing. One of the questions he asked us was what our dietary restrictions or preferences were. My response – ONLY COOKED FOOD. Even with our request, at dinner the previous night our chef served us Ceviche. Beautiful, and delicious Ceviche made of trout from Lake Titicaca. When they served it, my bells went off. After my many repeated warnings to not eat raw food in Peru, here we were being served raw fish. Not only that, it was day two on the trail and I knew there was no way it could have been properly chilled.

So was I reluctantly cautious. After all – Isaac had assured us that he never had anyone sick from the food served while he was the guide. One of the group was served cooked trout, while the remainder enjoyed the wonderfully tasting Ceviche. I was careful and ate only a tiny portion. But my warnings were well deserved.

Overnight, the Ceviche invoked its revenge on my friends. I woke up feeling just fine, but at breakfast the story came out and I immediately dug into my bag and took a Cipro tablet. We had a 5:00 a.m. wakeup call, and I hit the trail by 5:45 a.m. hoping to get a bit of a start on my Jack Rabbit friends. They caught up with me by the time I had reached a beautiful egg-shaped Inca Ruin site named Runkurakay. By then, my friends were not the only ones that caught up with me. The Ceviche I ate struck its revenge on me as well. While Isaac shared the history of the ruins with my friends, I sat outside feeling quite loopy.

When Isaac came out, he saw that I was suffering and immediately pulled out of his bag some electrolytes. I knew that this was my salvation as I had already started the antibiotics. I guzzled as much as I could – a very salty drink – and continued my “Blue Llama Dance” step up the mountain.

Waahh… I missed it ! Runkurakay (12,502 feet)

The morning was misty and mysterious with the mountains shrouded with clouds and whispers of the souls that had walked these trails before. Today was to be our longest trekking day, starting with crossing over the first pass named Abra de Runcuraqay at 13,160 feet and then two more passes of Sayacmarca (12,234 feet) and Phuyu-Patamarca (11,906 feet.)

I particularly liked this section of trail and really wish I had been feeling better. By now, Isaac was concerned for both my girlfriend and I and now had two porters held back if they needed to carry us out due to the Ceviche Revenge. Both of us were determined though. It didn’t matter how tired or lousy we felt, there was NO WAY we would humiliate ourselves by being carried by a porter.

Mysterious Ponds High in the Andes

By the time we had reached the peak of the Abra de Runcuraqay (13,160 feet) the threat of rain started to become real. After my difficult climb to Dead Woman’s Pass the previous day, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the climb to this pass was much easier. Donning our rain gear, and checking my knee braces we prepared ourselves for the oncoming 5,104 feet descent to Winay Wayna. This day is “Gringo Killer” day with having to go down thousands of Inca steps that were now slick with rain.

While day two is strangely devoid of Inca ruins, Day three makes up for it with Incan ruins abound. The first one is where Isaac told us that it is thought that the Incas used Dinosaurs to move the huge granite boulders.

Sayacmarca (12,234 feet)

Arriving for an early lunch at the Chakicocha campground, the misty cloud forest provided a beautiful backdrop to the local Llamas. These llamas were clearly there to entertain the tourists, and this one posed perfectly on a large rock while the Llama Paparazzi took photos.

While sitting in our lunch tent, I happened to notice the three Llamas rush off into the woods. I wondered what caused them to leave the campground so abruptly. About three minutes later, the skies opened up and it began to rain heavily. But like weather in Florida, all you have to do is wait 15 minutes and the weather will change. The rain quickly subsided and we continued our downhill trek.

Along this stretch are also Inca tunnels that are carved well into the mountainside.

Perhaps my most favorite ruins of the day were this heart-shaped one named Phuyu-Patamarca (11,906 feet)

Getting closer to the end of the day, the skies cleared up and we were surrounded by the serene Andes Mountain range. We were close to our final campsite, Winay Wayna for the final night on the Inca trail.

START: Paqamayo Campground: 3600 meters / 11,811 feet Altitude

THREE OVERPASSES:

Abra de Runcuraqay 13,160 feet

Sayacmarca 12,234 feet

Phuyupatamarca 11,906 feet

FINISH: Winay Wayna Outpost Campground: 8,056 feet Altitude

Start time: 5:45 a.m. / Finish time: 5:00 p.m.

Total distance: 10 miles