The first stop was to pick up the porters. The bus stopped in front of a building on the outer-range of Cusco. Russell told us Llama Path built this dormitory for its porters. We were then shown around in and out while the porters loaded the backpacks to the bus. It’s basically to showcase the operator was running an ethical and responsible business. They provided warm and waterproof equipment, comfy boots and hats to its porters. Since the porters were from villages quite far away from Cusco, they can stay in the dormitory while they had trekking assignments. The room itself was like a hostel room which was fitted 20 bunk beds inside. It’s a smart move. I believe one of the reasons that Viv strongly recommended this operator to me was because of this. As tourists, whether you genuinely believe in fairness and kindness or you are just too cowardly to face the fact that you are selfish, no one wants to build their happiness on openly exploiting other human beings. The business model on the other side of the world, like what I’ve experienced in Indonesia, was graceless and unsustainable.
It’s a brilliant operator. It had already made us feel good about ourselves before the trek. I was so anticipated about the coming four days.
We continued our trip on the bus. I can never forget the view when we were driving down to the sacred valley from the higher Cusco town. After one-hour zigzag drive between mountains, suddenly we got an unblocked view from one side. Down there grew a city at the bottom of the valley. Most of it was greenery. I can also see a river. And then houses and streets. It was like entering a new world hidden in a most remote mountain area. My heart started pumping and I knew at that moment I could never let this feel go.
The bus ride lasted for another one or two hours along the valley, passing Maras and Ollantaytambo. Around 10 pm, we made to the starting point of Inca Trail.
Russell helped us to register with the Inca Trail office with our documents. We got our first stamp on our passes.
The first day of Inca Trail was like hiking at the backyard of the civilized world. A few small villages were dotted on the trail. And we can hear and see the train at one point going between Machu Picchu and Agua Caliente. Our porters were in Spider-Man suits and passed us not long after we set off. I took the chance and quickly snapped a few shots of them.
It was very hot when we started as we started low and the trail was totally exposed. I had to wear my sun glasses immediately after we left the office. The sun around this region was particularly vicious. It perfectly explained the skin color of the local ingenious people. Russel, on the other hand, was a very knowledge guide. He took the time to explain the plants along the trail, which made this a bit boring part of a day much more enjoyable.
As we went up, it got windy. I pulled out my wind breaker. Then it’s the first Inca site of this trek appeared. Russell pointed to the valley on the right hand side. We came closer and saw a magnificent structure spanning out at the turn of a river. I had a very strong yet strange feeling building up in my chest. It was something totally different. I’m a nature person. I like heading to the wild and I’m constantly in awe of the magnitude and the strength of the nature. I admire great architectures too. Some great architectures that have stricken me before includes Great Wall in China and Petra in Jordan. But those architectures look like, to me, they were built by the nature itself. They were almost being domesticated by the nature. But this Inca site was completely something else. It was like the nature has been domesticated by the architecture. In this four-day trail, I will see more of this kind of sites. Hundreds of years ago, Incas stretched our imagination to build their structures (whether as a market, a palace or a religious place) at the most breath-taking and unexpected points — a turn of a river, a cliff facing the valley, or a slope extending from a waterfall. Incas demonstrated great mastery of making nature work in their way, like playing lego of mountains, rivers, valleys, cliff and waterfalls.
We didn’t want to leave here so soon, or at all. Then Russell said, “let’s rest and have our snack at the next stop — there is another Inca site in 10 minutes.”
Everyone in the group was in high spirit — except Sandy. She was slow, very slow. She struggled at every uphill. While the rest of us were taking photos at a view point, she arrived last and started to cry. She said she felt she slowed down the whole group. “Holy crap.” I said to myself. It’s not “you felt”. It’s “you did”. I can’t believe an adult can still behave like a child. It’s not like we can kick you out of the group or we really need to do that in order to have a brisk pace. If you have done something to others and there is no way to undo it, at least owe your behaviors. In this case, just smile and not make others try to comfort you after waiting for you. I stood by my MRA — Minimum Required Action. I said take your time and walked away with others. We left poor Russell to babysit Sandy. I don’t care if you dare to think I’m too cold. Growing up in China, I’ve met way too many nagging princesses. It’s enough. I still see myself as a caring and helpful people, but only towards responsible ones.
The first day was not hard. We hiked for 6 hours. When the day got dark, it started to rain. We picked up our pace and within half an hour, we arrived at the camping site for our first night.