Gallavanting around PeruThese days are so good. I sleep well, to the sound of gentle rain on the tent, and I wake up to roosters crowing at 5. At 6, two porters stop by my tent with a tray bearing tea bags, Nescafe, hot chocolate powder, and hot water. I go for the coca tea, and have nearly finished my cup when the porters return bearing a bowl of warm water to wash in. Talk about pampered . . . this experience is spoiling me for all future camping trips!
Today is the most challenging day: 4,000 feet elevation gain in 4 hours. We have camped at about 10,000 feet, and Dead Woman's Pass is at 13,800. At breakfast, Marco tells us we will go slowly but steadily, taking breaks for rest and food as needed. As we hike, I find that it is not as bad as I expected. We are taking our time, enjoying the journey. We walk through the cloudforest and a misty rain that feels wonderful on our warm faces and skin. The hardest sections are those with stairs; there are points when my breath comes in gasps and my heart is thudding crazily. But we always stop before any of us are too tired, and stop to breathe and break chunks off the huge chocolate bars we brought along. Chocolate is a life-saver on the Inca Trail.
The last 1,000 feet or so we are above the tree line, and the view is incredible. Clouds and mist rise from the mountains--these living green hills are breathing as we hike through them. I turn often to look behind me down the trail, to the very bottom of the valley and the place we started from this morning. It's hard to believe we've come so far. And suddenly, we're at the top! Victory! When all of us have reached the pass, we stop to take victory pictures before heading down again. The rest of the hike today seems a bit anticlimactic after the morning's big push. I'm glad for my hiking stick, though, on the downward slopes and stairs.
We arrive at our campsite at Pacaymayu at 3 o'clock, and we're more than happy to be done a little early for the day! We spend the rest of the afternoon stretching sore muscles and resting. This campsite has bathrooms as well, though they are not quite as nice as those at Wayllabamba. Our tents are quite far from the bathrooms, too, so we're all happy that our porters have set up a small 'emergency toilet' tent at our site.
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
1 month ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
2 months ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
3 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.