Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail

When Elisabeth and I set out on our journey, nearly three months ago now, the only thing we booked in advance was the Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu (with our firends Jason and Thomas). Undoubtedly the most famous Inca site in the world, Machu Picchu is a historical site on par with the pyramids of Egypt and the great wall of China. There are many different ways to get to Machu Picchu; by train, by helicopter (the Queen of Spain and, more recently, the singer Bryan Adams choose this route), or by one of about 4 ancient Inca trails that lead into the site. Because we were unaware of the helicopter option until afterwords, we opted for the classic Inca Trail trek.

Thomas in front of the train full of lazy tourists.

(Quick history of Machu Picchu, feel free to skip if you know!)
The Inca trails were walking paths that the connected the ancient Inca cities to one another and provided a means for transport, communication and trade. When the Spanish arrived in present day Peru in the 1500´s, they very quickly found the Inca capital of Cusco (still inhabited with the Inca people) and essentially destroyed most of the ruins during their stay there. What makes Machu Picchu famous is not that it was the largest or most important Inca city, but the Spanish never found it and therefor the ruins that remain are the same as they were when the Inca´s abandoned the city in the 1540´s.

Elisabeth, fresh off the bus and ready to hike!

We set out on the 4 day, 44km journey on Monday morning at 5:00am. We were picked up in a bus with our other 12 hiking partners and then drove a few hours outside of Cusco to a small town where we stopped, grabbed breakfast, and secured some final supplies for the trek. After piling back on the bus and driving 30 more minutes, we arrived at kilometer 82 -- the official start of Machu Picchu national park and the beginning of our trek. As we crossed the railroad tracks, waving at the lazy tourists in the train taking the easy way to the park, and crossed a wooden bridge over the Urubamba river, Elisabeth gave the first of many offerings to Pachamama (Quechua for mother earth); her prized Panama hat! It was a sad site to watch as the wind ripped it off her head and the river tugged it under a rock and swept it downstream, but Elisabeth was a trooper and didn´t let it faze her for a second.

Elisabeth, seconds before she donates her hate to Pachamama!

Inca flat.

For those that read about our trek to the Lost City in Colombia, you would understand that we had fairly low expectations for the quality of the food on this trek. However, after a beautiful 3 hour hike in the morning, we arrived at our designated lunch spot to find that our tour company, Peru Treks, had gone all out and hired a first class chef. Our first meal consisted of a palta a la reina (similar to a stuffed avocado), local trout, and a delicious soup. Who know you could eat a 3 course meal on a backpacking trek! All in all the hiking on the first day wasn´t to bad. We did 12 km of ¨Inca flat¨, which means the hills undulate a little bit but aren´t THAT bad. Day 2 we did not do ¨Inca flat¨.

Group picture at some point during day 1.

A Choski with a typical load.

Day 2 is the day of hiking that is notoriously difficult. We hike 12km in total, rising from 3,000m (nearly 10,000 feet) to 4,200m (nearly 14,000 feet). It was at some point during this 4,000 foot climb where I realized that Elisabeth probably made the right call when she hired an extra porter (we actually called them chaskis, 22 accompanied our group) to carry the majority of her supplies. Needless to say, due to the altitude, my marginal fitness, and the 15ish pounds on my back, I was dying! It truly was an incredible hike though, more than once I found myself looking at absolutely stunning snow capped peaks and jagged ridges. An inspirational setting.

One of the many stunning views from the trail.

Random ruins on the trail. Not Machu Picchu!

Me at 4215 meters.

The camp we stayed at the second night was at 3600m. This is when things started to get interesting. Day 3 is called the Gringo killer because you hike for 15k, which takes about 8 hours in total (including meal stops), and drop about 3,500 feet. The incredible drop in altitude means that you go down something like 3,000 stone stairs. We knew that it would be tough on both of our knees (Elisabeth´s gave her particular trouble), but what we didn´t account for was a massive 24 hour illness that would knock me on my behind. Three quarters of the way through the hike I started to feel ill. My pace began to slow. Within an hour I was in the bushes, gracing Pachamama with another offering. The rest of that days hike took me nearly 4 hours, as I puked and ran to the pushes every half hour or so. Elisabeth and Jason where huge helps and stuck with me the whole way. Thankfully, after passing out within 10 minutes of reaching camp, I shook the bug and was able to get up bright and early for the day we would actually arrive at Machu Picchu. I literally don´t know what I would have done without Elisabeth! She is the greatest girlfriend ever.

(Side note, turns out our cook might not have been that great because 7 of the 16 hikers got some kind of bug and ended up puking and generally being miserable for various stints on the trip.  Food poisoning????)

The 7 members of team sick.

On Day 4 we woke up at 3:40am so that we could be among the very first in line to see the ruins of Machu Picchu. When the gates opened at 4:30 we were among the first 40 people allowed into the actual city! Once in the gates, we had to hike another 5km that day to reach the actual ruins, so the first hour of the morning we hiked in prehistoric fog that makes San Francisco fog look like a sunny day. Descending into Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate (the way the Inca´s used to enter) was phenomenal. As we got lower, the mist slowly parted and the magnificent ruins lay in front of us. Some lazy train people were already inside (they get to go right to the ruins ) but we beat 99% of them there and were able to see the sun rise over the ruins at 6:00am (or so).

Machu Picchu as the morning sun clears the fog.

Machu Picchu was worth the money, pain and suffering to reach it. We ended up spending about 6 or 7 hours in the park. I actually took a 2 hour nap on top of some ruins as I still was not nearly 100%. Elisabeth ran around with our good friends Jason and Thomas and explored almost every inch of the park including the magnificent Waynupicchu. The pictures don´t do it justice, but here are a few of ours that we took.