There’s no doubt about it, the four day trail to the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu is a hard walk - up and down slopes with crazy gradients, battling mountainsides furnished with huge steep Incan stone steps. Altitudes of up to 4200m hinder breathing and bring out strong sloth-like tendencies that make climbing next to impossible. Backpack straps dig into sunburnt shoulders. Muscles you didn’t know you had keep you awake at night, pain seeping through your entire body as you lie shivering in your tent. And just as you’re getting to sleep, someone comes to tell you it’s 5am and time to get going for the day.
But in case you think this sounds like pure masochism these hardships are incongruously combined with great touches of luxury. You actually get your hand held the whole way. Early morning wake-up rounds are accompanied by mate de coca in bed. Amazing three course meals are served up with silverware by porters who run along the trails wearing sandals made out of old tyres (carrying kerosene, tents, food and cooking equipment on their backs) and arrive at camp with ample time to conjure up these magnificent feasts. And of course what’s really driving you forward is the awe-inspiring Andean scenery along the way, the Incan ruins scattered through the mountains, and the promise of Machu Picchu at the end.
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