Viva el Peru 2

Happy 21st Birthday to my brother! 

Yesterday was crazy. I had my thesis presentation and I was the last person to go cause they messed up my last name as Zaffa. Dannng! So I sat there waiting "patiently" and "anxiously" for 14 people to present before it's my turn to go. Gahh! Luckily it was a lil dark in the room, so you don't really see anybody. I kinda messed up a lil bit on my last sentence! Can you imagine that! On the last sentence!!! I was a lil freak out about that, but then there are some people that walked up to me and said that was a great talk. So, I shouldn't worry too much I guess. Hehe Oh, later that day I went out for dinner, bowling and dessert with a bunch of friends. I enjoyed myself last night! 

As the title suggests, ni post pasal trip to Peru. I wrote story last time. Read it here

OK, that was Cusco. 

Just because we had 2 weeks to spend in Peru, which is not enough if I may add, I initially thought of skipping the 4 day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu. Tapi I sure glad we didn't  make that decision and still went on that hike. 

It was $290, but we forgot to ask if there is a student price. It would have been cheaper. One thing I noticed is most of the "pay to enter" or tour package in Peru has student price, which is awesome for us!! If you google 4 day Inca Trail hike, you will see that the price would be about $400. OMG right? So, we found our deal from the hostel we stayed in Cusco, The Walkon Inn. Even some would just walk around Cusco and they might find some other good deals, but I'm not taking that chance and $290 for me is a reasonable and affordable price.

Day 1 

We left Cusco very early in the morning. The bus picked us up at our hostel. The drive to KM 82, which is the starting point of Inca Trail was very scenic. Before arriving there, we stopped at Ollaytaytambo for breakfast and quick last minute beli2 barang. 

Valleys and mountains along the way.

Good Morning y'all. See the people at the back? They were our porters and cooks! Zar tgh tidor time ni hehehe.

Ollaytaytambo. A beautiful Inca Town with lots of ruins all around us.

A farmer's house and his crops. 

This is in a valley. 

Grr! Lawa kot bangun pagi2 to the view of the mountains!

A lil girl playing all by herself?

At KM 82. I told myself, shit is this really happening? that I will be walking for 45km for the next 4 days? I can only hope for the best. Huh.

This is how hectic it was at KM82. 

Mbn and Zar borak2. Nampak pakcik in the middle tuh? 

We talked for a bit during the hike (he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Spanish, pakai common sense jer) and sy banyak kali mencapub dalam video camera die without him noticing it. Paling tak tahan, buat gaya ikat tali kasut. HAHAHA

So that is my detailed story of what happened in the first few hours. Apehall!! 

Ok Ok. Sorry. Ni belom hike pon lagi. Anyways, for the hike, bring a small backpack and leave your other stuff at the hostel (secured laah). Zar and I switched backpacks :P I forgot why. Maybe cause my bag is big. Ntah. I had 4 helai baju jer. So I don't need a big bag, but the sleeping bag is taking half the spaces in the bag already! I was so dumb, I didn't bring a sleeping bag from Canada. The thing is I don't even have one! I don't know what I was thinking but seriously folks, bring a sleeping bag, you will need it for sure cause it will be effing COLD in the mountains (which kinda makes sense). In this case, Zar gave me his sleeping bag. HOHO Thanks Zar, pengorbanan ini saye ingat smpai bile2. Pastu Zar guna his brand new Alpaca blanket yang according to him, sangat bagus and tak sejuk pon. OK. For other needs, basic je kot. I could easily end up bringing more stuff than I should, but these boys made me not to. Haha. Even so, I brought a towel and toiletries with the intention to take shower, but duhhhh there is no shower place and even when there is one, it was tooo cold for me to take a shower. So, what I'm saying here, I didn't take a shower for 4 days. Haha. But if you ever go here, pls bring paper towel :( I forgot about it altogether. Huh

So, let the hike begins!

Locals getting on board on a local train. The starting point is at some railway "station"

All 8 of us. 2 Americans, 2 Swedish, 1 Korean and 3 Malaysians. Wooot!

Walking towards the first check point. Zar, Mbn and Juan Carlos (tour guide) leading the pack. 

Crossing the bridge after the checkpoint. 

I'm wondering if I have a picture crossing this bridge in the boys' camera. Hummff

From the bridge HOHO

Well, the hike on day 1 was ok. No crazy climb uphill or steep downhill. I had a good "walk" that day cause it wasn't too physical, but this is just a personal opinion. Some might find Day 1 was tough. Idk that. But essentially, anybody can do it :) with a lil bit of work out prior to this. But the even dangerous part is altitude sickness. I was ok with altitude (Thank God!) but I still brought some pills for that, just in case.

Photos along the trail:

Houses are mostly made of clay.

Laluan...

US at the lunch place on Day 1

My hiking boots and pakai stokin pink. LOL

(apekejadah letak gamba ni pon tak tahu)

Everybody is taking a break while watching the locals playing football (or soccer)

Cooks are preparing our food.

Spaghetti on Day 1. Delicious!

Continuing the hike. 

Some random flora shot

Llactapata. Used to be a "town" back in Inca time.

Sometimes, me and Mbn talked geology. Geek! 

:)

End of Day 1. At our campsite in Wayllabamba

GRRR This is really long! And it's only day 1. I will continue the rest soon :( 

Have a nice weekend yo.

TTYL Gators

FZ