We woke up at some unsavory hour…maybe 5:30am? Breakfast was at 6am.
When I arrived at the mess tent, folks were talking about politics. Egads! And, not British politics, US politics. Normally, I wouldn’t mind a little banter, but at this time in the morning and with our current political environment it was just not cool. I posed the question, “Would you talk about your Grandma’s funeral at this time of the day?”. To me, it just seemed inappropriate to start the day off with such seriousness. Especially considering the amazing place we were…the Inca Trail, in Peru! Why not talk about the Inca?
Thankfully, the group indulged me and switched topics. (It didn’t help that I was cranky from not sleeping all night. Our tent was not flat at all, there was an 8 inch difference between one side and the other, so I kept rolling one direction.)
After breakfast, we had a big ceremony to say farewell to the porters. We also gave them their tips. It was rainy and foggy as we left our beautiful campsite. Sigh! I said goodbye to the mountains and headed down the 2,500+ steps towards Machu Picchu. (more…)