After 28 miles of hiking the Inca Trail, we thought the best part would be finally getting a glimpse of Machu Picchu. It turns out there was an even better part in store for us. When you hike the Inca Trail the company you book with will provide porters to carry your stuff. Porters are paid around $35 a day to carry around 60 pounds of equipment through the mountains. 60 POUNDS. These are the Hulk Hogans of the Andes. They go at 2-3x our pace, literally running on the steep trails with most of the time less than idea equipment (converse shoes, sandals). They have meals and camp all set up by the time hikers arrive at the rest stops. Because of the big bags they carry, they are not allowed to hike into Machu Picchu on their treks. They leave the group miles before and take the train back to their village. Also, since most of the porters are farmers, the entrance fee is too expensive for them to go on their own time. Our guide told us that none of our 6 porters, ranging from 21 to 39 years old, had EVER SEEN MACHU PICCHU. What?? Both of our hearts sunk. We couldnt believe it. Their ancestors built this incredible place...they have enabled hundreds of foreigners to visit by carrying their stuff on their backs...but theyve never been able to experience it themselves. It turns out that visiting was free for all Cusco residents on Sunday (all of our porters were from Cusco), and since we had a small group (just Kim and I), our guide was able to pull some strings with the ranger to let ALL OF OUR PORTERS THROUGH TO MACHU PICCHU. Kim and I watched as all 6 porters rounded their last mile and reached the Sun Gate to have their first look in their lives of Machu Picchu!! They hollered and stood in amazement at this place that they had always wondered about. This moment topped anything we could have imagined on this hike. This was joy. Joy will leave you speechless, thankful, wanting to cry, and hug everyone you know. This is the good stuff. Our guide gave our porters a free tour while we followed them with the GoPro. We were the porter paparazzi. Our guide asked who graduated from high school and none of the porters raised their hands. Our guide took this as an opportunity to teach them important things he knew about their ancestors and why Machu Picchu is such a special place. The smiles and excitement we got to see on the faces of these guys was priceless. Our guide told us afterwards that the porters told him now we know why so many people come here. They will remember this day forever. We thought this trek was for us, but we left knowing it was for them.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 02:31:11 +0000
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