From October 2nd to October 5th, Kate and I hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. We also had a LOT of help getting there. I wanted to spend a little time describing the hike, including all the people involved in dragging us up and over a few mountains, to one of the most iconic views in the world.
We met our guide, Alex, at the airport in Cusco. He was our guide for our entire time in Peru, and was tasked with both showing us all the sites, and making sure we acclimated well to the elevation. He was encouraging, informative, and really funny.
During the hike, we had a daypack that we kept with us all day. Mostly we carried water, snacks, and whatever layers of clothing we might want during the day. And of course, a towel. All the heavy stuff was carried by a team of porters, known in the local Quechua language as Waykis, which means "friends." Our friends toted all our stuff up and down the mountains, set up and took down our tents, prepared all our meals, and absolutely flew past us on the trail.
The first day we started the hike after 10AM because of local elections. In Peru, voting is mandatory, and the waykis were apparently very motivated to vote. So they went to vote early in the morning, and then met us at the trailhead. This was an "easy" day in terms of the hike, so it was the best day to get a late start. We stopped for a late lunch, and got our first taste of Chef Juan Carlos's cuisine. Guys, I had really low expectations for Peruvian camping food, and I was absolutely blown away. First, he made soups for every lunch and dinner, and they were universally excellent. Second, soup is a course, not a meal in Peru. So we had warm, delicious soup, and then a whole other meal, usually with a dessert. Also, we had "tea," which may as well have been another meal. We eventually had to beg him to make less food, though thankfully the waykis finished off whatever we didn't eat. Ok, just look at this meal, and look at the tent and propane tank he used to prepare meals. Extra bonus points for the drizzle of ketchup with the chicken. If Chef Juan Carlos opened a restaurant here, I would camp out again to be first in line to eat there.
Day 2 was the hardest day of hiking, in terms of terrain and elevation. The highest point was about 13,800 feet high, and was pretty intensely uphill to that point. Because the trail was made to ease the travel of royalty, who did not walk it themselves, many of the steps were large stone steps. While this was probably easier than loose gravel, it was definitely not the most forgiving option. This was equally true while going downhill, and especially if it's wet. (That's called foreshadowing). Day 2 ended with a beautiful view, which we were able to enjoy while sitting in our dining tent, for tea and then almost immediately afterwards for dinner.
Guess what happened on Day 3? We went almost all downhill, and it rained almost the entire day! We were prepared with rain jackets and plastic ponchos, but it was still a tough day. Going downhill is so much more unpleasant on joints, and we had to go slow to avoid wiping out. The fear of falling was magnified more than a little by some of the narrow parts of the trail. But we continued to have amazing views when the clouds cleared for us. When we made it to the last base camp, we immediately climbed into our tent and put on dry clothes. We were staying in there to wait out the rain, when we heard Alex call to us, letting us know it was clear and the views were pretty good. Understatement of the trip.We had great views in all directions, but especially a look at Machu Picchu Mountain, where we would be arriving the next day!
Additionally, after our last dinner on the trail, Chef Juan Carlos managed one more surprise. First, they brought out a lovely bottle of Malbec for us to share. And then they produced this beauty of an anniversary cake. In addition to being lovely and delicious, I want you to recall the previous picture of the "kitchen" they were working in. I cannot overstate how impressive these guys were. We got the chance to get to know them a little bit, with Alex translating for us, and they were universally kind and amazingly helpful. As hard as the hiking was for us, I cannot imaging trying to do it without all the help we received from them.
On the morning of day 4, we said goodbye to our waykis first thing. Some of them were tasked with getting our stuff to the hotel in Machu Picchu Pueblo. Others were going to hurry to catch a morning train back home. They were very pleased that we were early risers, so they could pack up and get on the move. We were also able to say good morning to a pack of llamas that spent the night at the base camp. This included one baby llama, pictured below. At about 3AM, we heard one of the strangest sounds I've ever encountered. In the morning, the waykis confirmed for us that it was the sound of a fox, likely in the neighborhood trying to find that baby. I'll tell you what, it was close. But the baby survived at least one more night, and was pretty darn cute.
There was a part of me that unfortunately started to feel relief early in this last day. It was still an incredibly full day, and the terrain did not become more forgiving. The only noticeable improvements were the lack of rain and the gradual descent. Breathing became a bit easier, which made it much less challenging to loudly complain about the pain in my knees. Just before reaching the Sun Gate, where we would get our first glimpse of Machu Picchu, we had to climb "the monkey steps." This was a series of 50+ stairs that were significantly more vertical than previous stairs had been. We handed our trekking poles off to Alex, and climbed up using our hands to make sure we didn't fall. At the top, we were both very grateful we wouldn't have to return that way. Then Alex bounded up behind us like the showoff we had grown to expect.
Not long after conquering that monster, we were through the Sun Gate and got our first look down at Machu Picchu. As before, we were fooled into thinking we were finished, when in fact we had more hours to go. But the view was incredible, and the sense of accomplishment was starting to set in.
After wading through a field of llamas, we arrived at Machu Picchu itself. We were able to walk around a little bit, and take the touristy photos everyone gets. We also walked with some of the folks who were doing the 1-day trek, and listened to them talk about how hard it was and how tired they felt. We judged them harshly, especially the young ones, and reveled in both the beauty of the place and in our own superiority.
Then it was off to town for a hot shower, a massage, and a dinner that was not quite as good as the ones Juan Carlos had been making for us. But we did celebrate with the national drink of Peru, the pisco sour.
The next day, we were able to collect ourselves and return to the site, much better able to take in the details of what we were seeing. After over a week of visiting various Inca ruins, it was still amazing to see the scale of this construction. Some of the individual rocks must have taken weeks to carve and move. And the attention they gave to water, both procuring it and ensuring it safely moved through the site, is absolutely ridiculous. Somewhat less practically, they built multiple temples and places for animal sacrifices. Though the Inca were also well known for their knowledge of the stars. They studied the stars by putting water in stone bowls, and then looking at the reflection of the night sky in those smaller bowls. It was so important they devoted an entire room to it.
There is something extremely gratifying about the work it took to see what we saw. And even though there are easier ways to do it, I'm glad we took the full 4 days to experience all that we did leading up to Machu Picchu. The views of snow-capped Mt. Veronica, which we saw over several days, were particularly epic. Furthermore, Peru as a whole was wonderful. If we were even a little better with Spanish, I think we could easily stay for a month exploring more of the country.
Below I'm posting a video Alex made of our trek, from beginning to end. It's been blocked in other places because of the music, so I don't know how long it will last here. But it's helpful to show the magnitude of the hike, and it's just fun to see it all while listening to AC/DC. No idea how long it will stay up, if it uploads at all, but it's too good not to give it a shot. If you don't see it, let me know and I'll send it your way. Thanks again to Alex, our drivers, and all our waykis who helped make this adventure possible.
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