five star service

So I knew that there were going to be porters on the trail who would carry most of our gear and provide meals for us. I´d expected very basic kind of stuff. Camp cookup, a sandwich for lunch and maybe porridge for breakfast if we were lucky. Man was I wrong. The porters include a cook (Miguel) and an assistant cook (Julio) and eleven small strong men led by Ypoleta (not sure how to spell his name). They´re all from the same village. On the third day they clapped when we arrived - which is kind of embarrasing really seeing as they left after us, carried 20kg as opposed to our about 3kg and still got there a long time before us.

On the first day, we had a gentle(ish) walk to the lunch stop. One of the eleven porters meets us on the track and guides us to where a tent is set up with a fully set table (including nicely arranged napkins) with a stool each. There is a divider in the tent and half is the kitchen and half is the dining room. Our waiter Ricardo (yes, that´s right, our waiter) pours us a glass of freshly made lemonade on arrival and there is a nice plastic sheet laid out where we can put our bags so they don´t get wet from the grass. There is a basin of water and soap for each of us so that we can wash our hands before lunch. Lunch starts with soup and then some nice boneless chicken in a sauce, rice and vegetables. Mint tea (made from mint plants along the trail) completes the meal. Then camping mattresses are laid out so we can have a wee rest before heading off on the next part of the trail.

While we´re walking, they pack up the tent and everything, load up their bags (c.20kg each) and then run past us so that they can set up camp for the night before we arrive. On arrival we´re provided with a warm basin of water and soap so that we can rinse of the grime from the day. Our tents are already set up and when I pull out my camping mattress a porter is there to blow it up for me.

Afternoon tea is at 5pm with a selection of teas, including cacao leaves, coffee, hot chocolate and some nibbles. We usually played cards until dinner at 7pm which was a three course affair - soup, a main meal with meat, and then dessert. On the last night, dessert was cake. How they managed to make cake in a tent kitchen is beyond me.

We were usually in bed around 8pm and the wake up call was about 6am. Freshly made cacao tea and a basin on warmish water to start the day. Then breakfast, which again is a two course meal. Porridge, pancakes, omelette all featured on various days.

On the really hard day (dead woman´s pass) it wasn´t possible to set up tent for lunch along the way so we were given a snack bag each with chocolate, biscuits, lollipop and a cheese sandwich. To use Debbie´s words, best stale cheese sandwich I´ve ever tasted. Lunch was then served at 2.30pm when we arrived at camp.

If it weren´t for dead woman´s pass, I´d do the whole thing again just for the food.