At least one of us slept well (Inca Trail Day 2) - 17 March 2009

A beautiful day dawned and I woke up feeling refreshed - only to get the cold shoulder from my significant other.  Evidently I snored "6 straight hours" last night even through the position shifts necessitated by the liberal application of elbows.

For those of you out there who are geeks (AKA, "my people") you'll get a kick out of the brand/model of Jeremy's tent:

That's right, he slept in the "Pro Cyba 2" last night. Perhaps that explains his T2000-like running ability.

We also got formally introduced to the porter crew before starting our trek:

They are:

• Eddie (the cook)
• Eloterio from Anta
• Frain from Cusco
• Moises from Anta
• Wilfredo from Pisac
• Zacharias from Pisac
• Wilbur from Anta
• Juan de Dios from Anta
• Juan de Dios from Pisac
• Benedicto from Pisac

If you read yesterday's post you saw a picture of Oscar in front of an elevation graph for the trek.  If you look carefully, you'll see a dramatic increase in elevation - that would be today.  It didn't seem so bad starting off, and there was gorgeous weather.  Here are some shots along the way:

"Howdy neighbor, don't suppose you've seen John Connor?"
The climb quickly became a beating, and not just for us. Different folks of every nationality were sweating, laboring, complaining, and asking their guides how to curse in Spanish. We all got a giggle out of one guy who asked "¿Cómo se dice I'm f*$&!#?" Eventually, though, we made it to the highest point and took the requisite picture complete with fake smile.

From there it was literally all downhill to our just reward of apple pie:

And a chance for Jeremy to rub the bunions:

And since I have a sense of fairness, here's an unflattering picture of me as well: