![\"Humberto\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Humberto.jpg\")
<\/a>Inca Trail guide, Humberto<\/p><\/div>\n
After a good night’s sleep, we wake up Tuesday and meet our guide, Humberto<\/strong>, at our hotel. Your guide can make or break your trip \u2013 Humberto made it, in spades! He is 54 years old, head of the Inca Trail Guide Association<\/strong> and has made nearly 1100 trips (yes, 1100<\/strong>!) up the Inca Trail<\/strong> to Machu Picchu<\/strong>; we felt fairly confident that we weren\u2019t going to get lost. Aside from his technical skills, he had an engaging personality, and easy smile and a great sense of humor; he fit right in to our group.<\/p>\n Moray<\/p><\/div>\n Today we drive out of the city to our first stop, Moray<\/strong>. It is best described as an Incan agricultural laboratory<\/strong>. From the picture it looks like it\u2019s just a hole in the ground with some circles dug out of it. It is that, but the location is well chosen for it topography and rain fall and the circles are intricately scribed at precise levels creating various microclimates<\/strong> so that a variety of vegetables can be planted to see which ones thrive best under which condition. Ingenious!<\/p>\n Our next stop is the salt mines<\/strong>. On the way we are surprised to see prickly pear cactus and agave lining the road \u2013 very desert-like. Humberto tells us that the road to the salt mines is\u00a0\u201clined with tequila\u201d<\/strong> and with the salt from the mines, all we\u2019d need is a lime and we\u2019d have the start of a great margarita!<\/p>\n Incan Salt Mines<\/p><\/div>\n The salt mines<\/strong> were originally created by the Incas and have been a source of salt and employment ever since. We were able to actually walk through the sections of salt and see how the natural salt water coming from inside the mountain collected and produced literally tons of salt each year.<\/p>\n We hiked about 5 miles<\/strong> down the hill to our van; I think it was Humberto\u2019s way of giving us a little test run \u2013 we all did fine; it was mostly down hill and we were starting to get acclimated to the thin air. By late afternoon we were back at our hotel for a little rest before we went to dinner at a restaurant that Humberto had recommended. \u00a0We had a glass of wine to celebrate starting the hike in the morning and to the fact that we would not have anymore wine for the next four days!<\/p>\n The Inca Trail \u2013 Day 1<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Me, Steven, Graydon & Patrick at the start of the hike<\/p><\/div>\n Our \u2018team\u2019 consists of the four hikers, Patrick Michael<\/strong>, who is not only a hiking buddy and a neighbor, but a good friend, who reignited my interest in hiking when we hiked\u00a0Mt. Whitney<\/strong> several years back. \u00a0We have done numerous hikes together since then including Half Dome<\/strong> and the Himalayas<\/strong>. Steven Bernardy<\/strong>, who I just met while training for this hike, is a successful financial planner, who\u2019s full of life and rarely at a loss for words \u2013 good hiking companion, as there is never a dull moment. Graydon Bernardy<\/strong>, Steven\u2019s 22 year old son, is a recent graduate from the University of San Francisco<\/strong> and an intelligent and insightful young man; and me, AND our guide, Humberto<\/strong>, a cook, an assistant cook and 8 porters; so yes, a cast of 15<\/strong> set out on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n Meal tent<\/p><\/div>\n Today\u2019s hike will be approximately 7-8 miles that are fairly level \u2013 actually there is no \u2018level\u2019 in the Andes<\/strong> – ‘fairly level’ just means not crazy up hill. Our porters and cooks take off a little after we do, but quickly pass us like we were standing still. We will see them about 3-4 hours later when they have set up our \u2018meal tent\u2019<\/strong> and the \u2018kitchen tent\u2019<\/strong>, had lunch themselves, then cooked and served our lunch. Once we finish, we head out on the trail again, while they break down the tents, clean up the pot, pans, dishes, stove, pack them up and then we see them passing us on the trail again to set up for dinner. This is how it works for the whole trip, except when they get to the spot where we\u2019re spending the night, they also sent up our sleeping tents and the \u2018potty tent\u2019. Patrick<\/strong> even saw a porter carrying a woman \u2018piggyback\u2019<\/strong> up the trail \u2013 that\u2019s above and beyond the call of duty! These guys are truly amazing athletes and just great people.<\/p>\n Cocoa leaves – illegal in the U.S.<\/p><\/div>\n Due to the barren topography, low clouds and mist, there is not a lot of great sights along the trail, but it’s just as well, with our heads down, our brains oxygen-deprived and our mouths full of cocoa leaves, we probably couldn’t see anything even if there was anything to see. \u00a0But the trail has history and it is a true hiking test. Oh, the cocoa leaves<\/strong>? \u00a0They are offered to us\u00a0to chew on, put in our tea or do with as we wish, as they help the body remain strong under stressful hiking conditions. These are the same leaves from which cocaine<\/strong> is made, and are against the law to grow or import into the U.S. The reality is they\u2019re really safe and I could hardly feel the affect of them, except that one time I saw a psychedelic llama<\/strong> dancing with a lavender alpaca<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Our luxury suites<\/p><\/div>\n We cover about 7.5 miles before we reached our \u2018home\u2019 for the night, which is a two-man tent<\/strong> on the ground; our shower is a bowl of warm water and a paper towel and our bathroom is a small tent around a seat with a bag under it \u2013 not exactly the Ritz Carlton<\/strong>. Sleep, even after a long, hard day of hiking, comes begrudgingly if at all.<\/p>\n Next: The Inca Trail \u2013 Days 2-3<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow After a good night’s sleep, we wake up Tuesday and meet our guide, Humberto, at our hotel. Your guide can make or break your trip \u2013 Humberto made it, in spades! He is 54 years old, head … read more<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>