After several months of planning and more than a year about dreaming about it, I finally got a bus from Arequipa to go to Cusco to go to the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. My friend Milan from Los Angeles, who I used to hike and mtn. the bike, and Karen, her longtime friend, met me in Cuzco. We should have been there a couple of days earlier so they could acclimatize, but Milana’s flight from Lima was canceled, so she arrived about noon the day before our tour began. I already met Karen the day before, and we got to know each other when we saw the sights and drove alongside Cusco.
When Milana arrived, we went to eat in a restaurant near the square, and she was ready to eat, this is raw fish marinated in lime juice. Either ceviche, or lack of time to acclimatize to a height of 11,000 feet in Cuzco, or both, led her to an unsuccessful start. The next morning, she woke up sick to start our four-day hike. We signed up for a group tour, waiting for up to 12 people, so we relaxed when the mini-bus gathered us that morning to find only two other people on the tour! Almost private tour at a group price. By the time we added a cook and eight porters to our guide, Carlos, it didn’t seem like such a small group, a total of 15 people. However, most of the time we went on hikes, and only the six of us, the porters, either gathered camp behind us or rushed forward to get ready for us. The service was excellent, but personally morning tea in our tents, when they woke us up, a dinner tent for all three dishes (although she felt really good at lunchtime because of the cold), and a fancy menu, etc. that I would have waived a lower price. They definitely do not subscribe to the idea of an ultralight hike with a cast-iron stove and a 20-meter gasoline gas tank!
One of the things that surprised me on the first day was to see people who really live along the path and ride bicycles back and forth. On the second morning, there were women and children with donkeys climbing along the path to create stands for serving breakfast, selling candy, snacks, bottled water and even Gatorade! By noon it was behind us when we headed for the “Dead Woman” at 13,770 feet, the highest point on the trail. In the morning, the landscape with lush tropical forests turned into rare vegetation and rocks at the pass, and also became much cooler. When we stopped early in the afternoon at our campsite for the evening, I could not just sit and wait for dinner, I went forward to the next aisle, exploring the side paths along the way. Hard clouds behind the summit destroyed my hopes for a spectacular sunset, but in any case it was a pleasant time.
On the third day we entered the high jungle, thousands of steps and in fact into some of the ancient ruins. Also seemingly endless variety of orchids and other flowers. We saw nothing but wild animals, just a few birds. It seemed that the further we went, the more tourists there were. On the first day, we barely saw anyone else, so I do not know where they came from. By that evening, we returned to civilization, with the choice of a restaurant, a hot shower, and a cold beer, which many enjoyed.
On the last morning, we got up early to be the first on the trail, hoping to get photos of Machu Picchu before there were people. They actually opened the checkpoint a few minutes earlier, and we were sent in the dark, in the last couple of hours, arriving in Machu Picchu just after sunrise. For me, one of the highlights of the trip was the rise of Huaina Picchu, the highest peak behind the ruins in all the standard photographs of Machu Picchu. There was a wonderful trail, steep and durable, to the top, where the views were amazing! I saw a less familiar path descending from the rear and watched it, but finally I had to turn around to meet the others and catch the bus to Akvas Calientes. It was only when I returned to the checkpoint at the beginning of the trail that I learned that it was a loopback trail, and I could continue through the city. There was no time to soak up the hot springs, as we got to Aquas Calientes a little later, and then found out that we needed to leave early to get to the train, which would take us back to Cuzco due to a landslide that was covered on the edge of the city. The last surprise was the evening when the train stopped for a couple of hours from Cusco, and the conductor said that this was the end of the ride. We never found out why, but eventually we had to take a taxi to the end to Cusco, fortunately, without any problems.
The trip was great, Machu Picchu was incredible and something that the photos cannot do justice to. However, I took about 400 photos, trying to capture the grander to relive. I look forward to returning to the area to go from Cuzco to Chokkirua, sometimes called the twin city of Machu Picchu, and then to Machu Picchu. This hike is much less common and allows you to explore on your own.
