Day 1: After one last night in civilization, we headed out bright and early to km 82 by bus where we started our trek on the Inca Trail.
Take in the scenes because the first day’s hike is relatively easy; there are some small hills but they’re manageable. Along the way, we passed by some Incan sites strategically built along the Urubamba River. I was blown away at how large and majestic the mountains were–I honestly believe I’ll never see anything so grand!
If you’re worried about whether or not you’ll be able to take a break or use the bathroom, fear not! I recommend that you carry small change with you because there will be several resting points on the first two days where you can buy water and snacks from the village people who’ve set up small shops on the trail. You’ll also have to pay 1 sol at these stops to use the restroom but it’s worth it if you’re not quite ready to “green bush it” yet.
Before we knew it, it was lunch time and we were STARVING. Luckily, we booked our trek with a proper company, so by the time we got to our lunch stop, the porters had prepared lunch for us. All of us in our group were both utterly grateful and completely surprised at the service and how good the food was! During lunch, we had a period of heavy downpour but by the end of our lunch, the rain stopped to a little drizzle.
After lunch, we hiked for a couple more miles to a check point and then to our campsite at Wayllambama. Again at the campsite, we found that the porters had set up our sleeping tents and started preparing dinner. It’s not quite glamping but it definitely felt like a undeserved luxury. Nevertheless, by the end of the first day, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t complain. After we settled into our tents, the porters came by and brought us a warm bowl of water to wash our hands and face before dinner. That felt so good I almost cried (…well, almost).
Dinner was amazing and because it was my birthday (hip hip hurray!), the chef even made me a birthday cake! After a long first day, we retreated to our tents early with bellies full of delicious food and butterflies.
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