Week 40: Peru

There must have been a lot of people crossing their fingers for us this last week, because we ended up with pretty great weather for most of our hike along the Inca Trail! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We booked this four-day, 43km trek back in October, when we realized how quickly this trail fills up. With only 500 hikers permitted on the trail each day, we wanted to be sure we were two of them! We went with Peru Treks, one of the many trekking companies in Cusco, and we were really happy with our choice. Our team included a guide, an assistant guide, a chef, an assistant chef, and twenty porters. The porters carried the tents, food, and gear used by the whole group. Some people chose to hire a porter to carry up to 6kg of personal belongings, but we chose to carry our own clothing, water for the day, sleeping bags and sleeping mats.

On Thursday morning, we were picked up bright and early. After driving for a few hours and stopping for breakfast just outside Ollantaytambo, we began our hike at km 82. We started off with a pretty easy day of hiking, which took us through a few small villages and by a couple ruins (Huillca Raccay and Llactapata). It rained a bit during lunch, but we were tucked safely under a tent the porters had set up for us. The rain stopped when we were ready to walk again that afternoon. After walking 12km, we reached our first campsite in Wayllabamba (2980m). 

Our second day was the Uphill Day. We walked through a jungle-like setting, up many stone steps. We had lunch at Llulluchapampa (3680m) before continuing the steep climb up to Abre de Huarmihuanusca (or Dead Woman’s Pass) at 4201m. There was a lot of joking about sacrificing some of the girls in our group in order to have good weather, but luckily, this was unnecessary. Everyone was encouraged to take breaks when needed, so it wasn’t too bad. After clearing the pass, we followed a steep trail down some very narrow Inca steps. We reached our second campsite, Pacaymayu (3600m), after 11km of hiking. 

Our third day on the trail started off with a visit to the ruins of Runkuracay. We then continued to climb up to the second highest pass along the trail, Abra de Runkuracay (4000m). Here, we climbed up a little higher to perform an Andean religious ceremony involving three rocks and three coca leaves we each contributed. It was quite cloudy at this point, and then it began to rain. Despite the rain, Will ventured off the trail, climbing up the 99 steps to the ruins of Sayacmarca, or the ‘inaccessible town’. We then descended along a steep stone path, which took us through a cloud forest of orchids, hanging mosses, ferns, and flowers. The trail we were told was “Inca Flat” turned out to be mostly uphill for the next two hours. We experienced light rain for a couple hours after lunch, making good use of our trekking poles as we navigated slippery rocks and downward sloping steps. We even passed through an impressive Inca tunnel! We then ventured up and over the third highest pass (3700m), and on to the ruins of Phuyupatamarca (“town in the clouds”). Here, we saw six Inca baths that had been used for ritual worship of water. Our journey continued downhill, passing through the terraced gardens of Intipata. After hiking 15km, we reached our final campsite, Winay Wayna (2690m). This campsite was quite large and spread out, as we were sharing it with most of the other hikers from the trail.  

The rain began around 10 pm and continued throughout the night. We woke up to rain, and ate a quick breakfast as our porters raced to pack up and get to their train by 5:30am. We waited until the control gates opened at 5:30am, then hiked about 1.5 hours to the ‘monkey steps’, a set of nearly vertical steps leading up to the sun gate (intipunku). Here, we were treated to our first view of Machu Picchu. I had naively thought that after seeing so many ruins, Machu Picchu might not be so impressive. Man, was I wrong! Its no wonder it is considered one of the Wonders of the World. It had stopped raining by this point, and we had a perfectly clear view of the entire ruins. The sun came out and provided nice weather for the rest of the day! We took many photos from here before hiking the 20 minutes down to the ruins (2472m). 

We then went out to the main gates, where we joined the crowds of people who had travelled up by train. After storing our bags and getting our “Machu Picchu” stamp for our passports, we set off for a two hour guided tour of the site. We visited the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Wind, and the Temple of Pachamama (Mother Earth). We learned about building patterns and the use of massive rocks. The place just filled right up as we toured around. Up to 3800 people visit Machu Picchu every day, and this is after the restrictions they have put in place to protect this site. Once we were finished the tour, we had time to walk around on our own. We visited the sundial, and then ate some snacks in a field of llamas. We visited the site of Tres Puertas (Three Doors) and the Condor Temple. We also walked up to the Guard Tower and out to the Inca Bridge. Here, we ran into some friends we had hung out with during our Death Road bike trip and on Isla del Sol! 

Later that afternoon, we waited 40 minutes to catch a bus down to Aguas Calientes, where we joined our group for one last lunch. We checked into our hotel there, showered (yaaa!), and then walked our group to the train station to say goodbye. Later on, we got a bite to eat and then enjoyed sleeping in a real bed again! 

Ten Unexpected Surprises Along the Inca Trail: 

• Our group consisted of 16 people total, all fairly close in age and ability. We got along so well, sharing many laughs and great chats along the way. Hiking with all of these awesome people definitely made the trail feel easier!

• We had fully expected meals consisting of mostly rice and pasta. Who wants to carry much more than that on a trail? Instead, we had a great variety (and volume!) of amazing, healthy food. Our meals included trout, pork, chicken kebabs, guacamole, stuffed peppers, wontons, and tons of fresh veggies. We even enjoyed Peruvian dishes, such as ceviche and lomo saltado. Breakfasts included pancakes, fruit, yogurt, granola, quinoa porridge, bread/jam, banana cake, and eggs. We even had happy hour with popcorn when we got into our campsites! We had a few vegetarians and people with dietary restrictions in the group, and the company did an awesome job accommodating these needs. We were served tea with each meal, and even had a surprise cake on our last night! 

• Despite some early mornings (5:00-5:30 the first 3 mornings, 3:30 the last morning), the group was really positive and upbeat. Being woken up with a hot tea to enjoy in our tents probably helped with this quite a bit. As did heading to bed by 8:30 each night!
• Our guides, Ernesto and Ronald were amazing. They were very knowledgeable, and their English was great. They did an awesome job of keeping us informed about what to expect at different points along the trail, and answered all the questions we had. 
• We explored so many more ruins than we had expected along the trail.

• I had worried about how tough the uphill climbs at higher altitude would be, but nothing ever felt unmanageable. And luckily, neither of us felt any sort of altitude sickness!
• Despite a few hours of rain, we were treated to some pretty awesome weather most of the time! We had so many times where the fog would clear just as we arrived somewhere, and we would be treated to the most spectacular views!
• We were given coca leaves to chew, and a “magic potion” to rub on our hands and smell. We were able to participate in an Andean religious ceremony and taught a lot about the Andean beliefs. 

• We had gorgeous views from each of our campsites, including a waterfall and mountains the second night! We also had some opportunities for awesome star- gazing. 

• We learned that “Inca Flat” is similar to “Nepali Flat”, which is really not flat at all.

Although we finished the Inca Trail on Sunday, we weren’t quite finished with Machu Picchu. No, no, no. On Monday morning, we were up at 4:30, lining up with 500 people to catch the bus back up to Machu Picchu. Lucky for us, the weather was perfect- no rain, and not too cool. 

Once we were through the gates, we walked slowly through Machu Picchu as we waited for the gates to open to access Waynapicchu (or Huayna Picchu). This is the mountain that towers behind Machu Picchu in all the photos. We had bought our pass to hike this mountain in January, and were happy to have one of the 200 tickets for access between 7-8am. There are another 200 tickets sold for access 10-11am, and that’s it each day! 

We started our hike up the mountain around 7:30, climbing up lots of Inca steps. We reached the terraces and ruins at the top around 8:00. We found ourselves a large rock at the top, and sat for nearly two hours. We chatted with others up there and watched as the clouds came and went over Machu Picchu. 

Once we felt like we had our fill of the view, we headed down and back around to hike the trail to the Gran Caverna. A guard warned us about the trail conditions, confirming our suspicions that not many people venture this way. We only saw four other people, and most of the time, we were on our own. This felt extra special, given the crowds just a few kilometers away. We hiked down along a steep trail covered in leaves and down a couple wooden ladders. Along the way, we saw a few excavation sites. 

We reached the cave housing the Templo de la Luna (Temple of the Moon) after about 45 minutes. Thanks to Will’s curiosity, we continued downhill and found the Gran Caverna, another large cave that had been used by the Incas. 

After some time exploring the site, we headed back up the jungle trail. Luckily, this trail was in the shade because it was really hot by this point in the day! We saw another small ruins on the way, as well as many beautiful flowers and moss covered rocks. 

After a few kilometers of “Inca Flat”, we reentered Machu Picchu around 12pm. We headed back to Aguas Calientes to enjoy a relaxing afternoon exploring the market stalls and playing cards in a café. We travelling back to Ollantaytambo by train at 6:20pm, where we happily crashed for the night.

We had loved Ollantaytambo when we came to explore the ruins here last week, so we chose to have a full day here to enjoy the town and it’s cafes. We had a slow day to catch up on laundry, emails and a blog post! We also did some planning for our upcoming days in Spain. All of this was perfectly paired with delicious brownies and coffee at Sunshine Café. I also had the quickest haircut ever, and am now enjoying at least three inches less hair!

We will wrap things up here in South America with one last day in Cusco before flying out to Lima. From there, we will say goodbye South America, hello Europe!