Vacation to Peru – Cusco City & Incan Trail Trek

                Since college, I’ve wanted to go to Peru. I studied abroad in Argentina, and Peru was my other top choice – the decision came down to my parents. So when Mike and I decided to go on an international vacation, I persuaded him that Peru was going to be amazing!

                We began planning our trip about 8 months in advance, which I highly suggest because about 6 months in advance we were notified that our trekking group to Machu Picchu (via the company Peru Treks) was entirely booked.

                We began reading a National Geographic travelers guide to Peru to decide where we wanted to go. I thought 2 weeks would get us through the entire country, but we fell extremely short on that. Initially, I wanted to see Machu Picchu and the Amazon, but after Mike showed me a google search on spiders of the Amazon, it was quickly cut out of our itinerary. J We ended up booking a trip to Cusco where we would acclimatize for our trek (required by Peru Treks), Puno, and Arequipa. When I told Mike I wanted to see Machu Picchu, he suggested hiking, and I agreed!

                We flew from Dallas to El Salvador to Lima to Cusco. We decided a city like Lima would be cool, but we were more about the adventure aspects of the trip, so we cut it from the itinerary in hopes of more time being active (although, if you know me, you know I’m a lounge queen, so we had to have a few days without everything planned!).

                We arrived in Cusco on Sunday early in the morning – like 7 AM early. Our hotel check-in time wasn’t until 11, but we had all our bags and no where else to go, so we headed there first. Because they are AWESOME (Sonesta Cusco – seriously good customer service!), they let us check-in upon arrival and we crashed SO hard. Our flights had some long layovers, but we didn’t sleep well in a foreign airport worried about our belongings. Also, of course the first thing I did was check out the Snapchat filters, and this little alpaca friend was one! It set the trip up for success!

Llama Snapchat Filter - don't mind if I do!

                Anywho, Mike and I both were at the end of some semester work in school. He was finishing two classes towards his Master’s and I was finishing my Certificate in TESOL. We napped, got some lunch, did some homework (a waste of vacation, if you ask me!), and then asked the concierge for some reputable tour companies. We ended up booking two tours – one of Maras Moray and the Cusco City Tour. Maras Moray would be a full day, getting us back in the late afternoon. The Cusco City tour was an afternoon tour allowing Mike some more needed homework time.

                Both tours were great, but the Cusco City tour was the better of the two. We covered so much more and our tour guide was just a better guide overall. The Cusco City tour takes you to the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas and the Santo Domingo Monastery/Qorikancha inside what I’d consider the real city. Outside of the bustling streets, we went to Sacsayhuaman, Qenko, Tambomachay, and Puca Pucara, all of which are sites from the Incan empire and have very interesting historical significance.

Santo Domingo Monastery at night

                We spent three days total in Cusco City before we embarked on our trek to Machu Picchu. I was so antsy before we left. We were picked up very early, 4:30 am, to get on the road to Ollantaytambo, the town where we’d start our trek. The tour company, Peru Treks, gave us a brief overview of what we could expect from the trek. 4 days, all with their own characterization for what makes them memorable. Our group was at capacity based on Peruvian government restrictions. We had 16 trekkers, 2 guides, 21 porters, and a chef. The trail is limited to 500 people a day, so you can imagine how few travelers get spots when more than half of the trek visas are for staff.

                We got breakfast at Ollantaytambo and that’s when it hit me… I was going to hike 26 miles to see Machu Picchu and it probably was going to be rough work. Let me say up front, this trek made me love my husband much more than I did prior to the trek. There were points where I was a downright sour patch kid and he put up with quite a bit of moodiness and verbal abuse. It wasn’t always pretty, but he helped me get through.

                The first day of the trek is 15km, all below the level of Cusco City. The best thing is the requirement to acclimatize because on Day 1, I felt awesome! We stopped along at some sites along the way to learn the history of the trail. Overall, it was a good day. We ended in a village along the trail where the farmers earn money to let us camp on their land. The porters, called “Chaskies,” (it means Runners in Quecha), lead the way each day and set up camp for us and make us lunch and dinner along the way. For the first day, we were still in a somewhat inhabited area. I’m not saying we were in towns with luxuries, but people still lived and farmed on the land. They had trail-side stands to sell snacks, water, and facility usage.

                Our wake up call each morning was about 4:30/5:00, so it was rather early. I thought I’d sleep like a baby each night, but Day 2 somewhat ruined that possibility. Day 2 is when you reach the highest point in the trek – 4,200m – at Dead Woman’s Pass. Being the chronic over-packer (and novice hiker) that I am, I really struggled on Day 2. It was a lot of altitude in a pretty short span of time. I was already the slowest hiker in the group, but it really showed on the second day. At one point, I just sat on the side of the trail and told my husband to go on without me. He ended up taking my pack and wearing both his and mine until we got to “2^nd breakfast” (they didn’t want us to wait until an appropriate lunch time for lunch foods when we were expending so much energy). Now, I already was required to have a ½ porter because of my asthma, so someone was carrying my sleeping bag, both our sleeping mats, and a bag of Mike’s clothes. Due to my struggles, the guides suggested we hire a local to act as a porter and carry my bag all the way to our next campsite… and by suggest I mean, required. We didn’t have much of a choice because we still had such a long way to go! I wanted to be able to do it by myself, but realistically, I wouldn’t have made it with my giant bag, so it was the smartest decision. We got to a section towards the summit where it was 0 shade, the sun was just beating down on you, and the whole trail was rocky stairs. I would take 10 stairs and pause for a minute, take 10 and pause. There was a lot of sitting on the stairs and resting in this section. The whole time we knew there was a false summit and a real summit, so I just had to keep trucking.

                When we got to the summit, I was exhausted and elated! One, it meant a real break as we were going to perform a ritual ceremony to thank Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). Two, it meant that the worst was for sure over! I knew we had a major descent to make, and while Mike was fully expecting it to be rough on his bad knee, I was pretty confident that I would truck downhill. We did end up swapping who was the leader (uphill, I went in front so he’d be at my pace, and the opposite on downhills).

4200 meters above sea levels deserves thumbs up!

My Momentum Wraps at the Summit - these mantras were repeated constantly!

                At the summit, they let us know a restroom facility was about 1km ahead, so Mike and I agreed we needed to reapply sunblock there and stop to use a good restroom. We were descending into a cloud forest, so the farther we walked the cooler it got. It was nice relief. At this time, the assistant guide for our trip, Ronald, was with us the whole way. He pointed out amazing plants, told us about life in the rural villages of the Andes, and thoroughly kept us in high spirits after a struggle of a morning. It was great having our own “private” guide, and Ronald is just the kindest human being.

                We slept in a cloud forest that night. I thought the gentle rain and cool temperatures would help me sleep like a baby, but lo and behold I burned the life out of my back. I’d applied sunscreen in the morning, but didn’t hit my shoulder blades because my backpack was resting there. When they took my pack from me, I didn’t reapply until after we’d summited the mountain. The sun burned my skin PURPLE. I couldn’t sleep on my back or sides, as it hurt and caused the skin to stretch. It was a restless few nights.

                The 3^rd day of the hike is the most phenomenally beautiful glory I have ever seen. We had 2 summits to reach, but nothing nearly as high as on Day 2. Ronald suggested we shift some weight around again. Because my personal ½ porter was also losing the weight of food and supplies along the way, he agreed to take more weight out of my pack for the day. I felt awesome on Day 3, despite a rough start in the AM when I told Mike that the porter was “taking away my dignity.” Eh, emotions, ya know?! I can’t even begin to describe the hike on Day 3, but I was pretty sure I was going to set up permanent camp in the woods and live there forever. We were in the beginning of the Amazon for part of it, and it was gorgeous. We saw orchids of all shapes and sizes! One of the coolest parts was that it was truly original Incan-made trail – not redone by the government. We went through handmade tunnels and down winding staircases that wrapped the side of the mountain. There were a few thousand stairs to descend, so we spent our time taking pictures and enjoying the views. We arrived at our campsite near Inti Pata at sunset.

An orchid on Day 3

In the Amazon!

Bucket List Item Accomplished: befriend a llama in Peru

                Day 4 was the culmination of it all! We woke up at 3:20 to get breakfast and get in line for the last check point on our trek, which opened at 5:00am. We were the second or third group in line by the time we got there. The point of being up so early and rushing through the check point was to see the sunrise at the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu. It was foggy when we woke up, and remained drizzling nearly the entire 5k speed walk to the Sun Gate. When we arrived, we were able to see nothing. Our group didn’t wait long to progress on to Machu Picchu. Of course, upon our arrival there too it was cloudy. We grabbed a great selfie of us from the famous spot to get a shot of all of Machu Picchu… and you can see how dense the fog and clouds were.

At Machu Picchu - what a view!

                Eventually the sun appeared and burned off the clouds from Machu Picchu. In the meantime, we were able to use REAL TOILETS! (ah, the simple luxuries), check our gear, and grab breakfast at the small restaurant outside the park. Our guide gave us a brief tour of Machu Picchu before unleashing us on the site. In that time, dozens of busses had arrived with thousands of tourists visiting for the day, so the site was swamped! Mike and I spent a few hours exploring… we were one of the last couples to make it down from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes. There are honestly not words to describe Machu Picchu. It was a wondrous sight to see. I am amazed at how well the site has stayed in its original condition despite time, wind and rain, earthquakes, etc. We were able to see the temples of Machu Picchu, and the room of 3 Doors, which apparently fascinated Hiram Bingham (according to an audiobook Mike listened to on the hike). We did not go back to the Sun Gate because with a 3:20 wake up call and the thousands of tourists, we were pretty exhausted.

Exhausted, but so proud! Who Runs the World? Girls!

Keeping this tradition alive from study abroad until now!

                We met back with our group in Aguas Calientes, had meals, and everyone had a few rounds of beers. Our train back to Ollantaytambo didn’t leave until about 6:30 and it was 2 hours plus a 2 hour bus ride back to Cusco City. When we got of the bus in Cusco, Mike didn’t even think to bid people farewell! All he could think of was bed! I don’t blame him, but it was a very rushed goodbye to some amazing people.

                We checked back in to Sonesta Cusco only to have a 7am bus ride to Puno the next morning, so our sleep was short but much more restful than the previous nights.