The flowers of the Inca Trail

Inca trail in the mist
Inca flowers on the Inca trail
The long slog uphill
In a previous post, I described our experiences walking the Inca trail. This is high on many people's bucket list and I must say, it was an experience of a lifetime. I also mentioned that this was not a walk in the park. It was a very strenuous walk and not for the faint hearted. Having said this, there was a 70 plus year old woman in one of the other groups who did the hike. News spread quickly of this lady and everyone from the different groups of people would gather and cheer her in when she eventually made it into each of the camp site. She did manage to make the full trip, which is a real achievement. There are "escape routes" along the trail. These are used to get people off the high altitude of the trail. By far the biggest problem on the trail is the altitude. People who live at sea level, really get hammered by the altitude. With us living in Bloem, we were a bit more used to the altitude, although there were areas of the trail that were really high. The highest point was 4200 meters above seas level. Oxygen is in short supply at this altitude.  After we had spent a few days at Cuzco, the altitude was not really an issue for us. There was a good supply of Coca leaves and when the altitude was getting a bit bad, you could just chew on some leaves. This opens the blood vessels and helps greatly with the altitude. There was also coca tea available at all of the stops. This also helped, but say, I did not really like the taste of it! But it helps.

Mist, spoiling the view

More mist. If not stopping for flowers, stop for mist!
Wild orcids - a good reason to stop!


Beautiful flowers along the way
In my previous post I mentioned that saying I had to stop to take photos of the beautiful flowers, was a much better excuse then just saying I need to stop for a rest! So - I took lots and lots and lots  of photos of the flowers. I needed a rest very often! The vegetation on the trail was quite lush. Pretty much like a cloud forest. A cloud forest is found in the upper reaches of high mountain ranges where the mountain peaks stop the movement of the clouds and there is often mist. The mist did come in while we were on the trail, which was really a great pity. I think that some of the views would have been spectacular, but the mist messed this up a bit. 

We made it - well at least to the lookout over Machu Pichu
Flowers and more flowers. I stopped often! 
Doing the Inca Trail was one of the highlights of my travels. It was really an experience of a lifetime.

Upwards in the mist

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