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Sacred Valley/Inca Trail April 2015 Trip Report

Sacred Valley/Inca Trail April 2015 Trip Report

Old May 11th, 2015, 03:49 PM
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Sacred Valley/Inca Trail April 2015 Trip Report

Two friends and I - two males and one female in our 30s - just returned from a fabulous trip to Peru. I'll start off with some basic info about our itinerary and then get into the details of the trip a little bit later. We're budget travelers - past the hostel stage of life but not people who expect four-star accommodations. I'm fairly well-traveled in both Europe and less-developed nations, so I feel like I have a good idea of what to expect at certain price points. I was at one point - ten years ago - fluent in Spanish, and I loved this opportunity to jump back into the language. I could understand pretty much everything and could communicate comfortably, albeit in relatively simple vocabulary and sentence structure. J also dusted off his rusty Spanish and J2 learned enough words and phrases to make himself generally understood. Being able to speak Spanish is not a must in this part of Peru, but knowing at least a few words and phrases is certainly helpful, and being able to communicate as well as we did opened up a few doors for us.

Itinerary:
Day 1: Land in Lima in the early AM, stay in the Barranco neighborhood and spend the day wandering around Barranco and Miraflores
Day 2: Morning flight to Cusco, colectivo to Ollantaytambo
Day 3: Ollanta ruins
Day 4: Maras, Moray, Chinchero
Day 5: Inca Trail
Day 6: Inca Trail
Day 7: Inca Trail
Day 8: Inca Trail/Machu Picchu
Day 9: Pisac
Day 10: Cusco
Day 11: Lima, stay in Miraflores
Day 12: Lima/Miraflores

Accomodations:
Barranco - Hotel Gemina, a nice little basic hotel in a good location. My room, a single room, was quite small and badly lit but adequate for my needs. The other room, a twin room (two twin beds) was much larger, with lots of light, and a big TV. The desk staff was friendly and helpful. I'd recommend this hotel as a basic hotel.

Ollantaytambo - Inka Paradise, this hotel had a good rating overall but some of the individual reviews were all over the place, so I was a bit nervous. It turns out that this was our favorite hotel of the trip. The rooms were spacious, bright, and clean. The hotel building surrounds a beautiful garden courtyard. The hotel doesn't have heat or air-conditioning (I'm always cold, so I was concerned about this), but the beds have down comforters and heavy blankets, so I wasn't cold at night. I had lots of hot water in the shower. I'd recommend this hotel.

Cusco - Hostal Wara Wara, this was our biggest disappointment. This hotel had great reviews, so I was really excited about it. It's located on a hill in the San Cristobal neighborhood, so the view of Cusco are excellent. It's also in a pretty good location, relatively close to the Plaza de Armas, but it's a bit of a climb back up to the hotel. The actual hotel building is not impressive. There are cracks in the walls, thin walls and creaky floors, and worst of all, my bathroom smelled atrocious the whole time we were there. There was a little drain on the bathroom floor and there must have been standing water in the drain because it smelled like sewage. This hotel actually cost a bit more than others we were considering. I wouldn't recommend this hotel.

Miraflores - San Antonio Abad, this was the most "American hotel-like" of all of the places we stayed, and at double the price of our other accommodations, I expected it to be pretty comfortable. The rooms are nice and the bathrooms are spacious. There are lots of English-language channels on the TV (by this point in the trip I needed some veg time). The service is exceptional and the breakfast buffet is pretty extensive. My room, on the second floor, didn't have air-conditioning; I like heat so this wasn't a problem for me, but I could see it being a problem for others. There was a fan in the closet. The guys' room, on the third floor, did have an air-conditioner that they could control.

Food:
I had read a number of people rave over the cuisine in Peru, so I had high expectations. While I found the food to be perfectly adequate, I actually wasn't wowed but it. However, there were a couple of meals that stand out as exceptional. (I should note that I don't drink and I don't like seafood, so I don't have any experience with the pisco and the cheviche.)

Uchucuta - This restaurant in Ollantaytambo was our favorite of the entire trip. It's a restaurant that caters to tourists, not the local crowd, so the entrees are between $10-15, if I remember correctly. I had the Andean ravioli (ravioli stuff with alpaca meat and covered in a divine mild chili sauce), J had the alpaca steak and amazing quinoto (quinoa risotto), and J2 had the chicken rolls.

Tanta - We ate at this restaurant in the Larcomar mall in Miraflores on the last night of our trip. I had the Italian ravioli, which was super tender, J had a quinoa dish, and J2 had the Tanta stew. We were all very happy with our choices.

San Pedro Market - About 1/3-1/2 of this local indoor market in Cusco is filled with little restaurant stands. Eating here with the locals was one of my favorite experiences. While there were some unusual (to us Americans) cuts of meat available (the couple sitting at the table with us had jawbones sticking out of their soup bowls), we stuck with things we knew. J and I shared a giant chicken milanesa with noodles and J2 made a good dent into a giant plate of lomo saltado.

Okay, back with details in a bit.
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Old May 11th, 2015, 05:43 PM
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Day 1 - Barranco

I really lucked out in the air travel lottery for that flight; I had an entire row of seats to myself. It was an overnight flight, so I was able to stretch out and get just about as good a night of sleep as you can get on a plane. We had booked rooms at Hostal Gemina in the Barranco neighborhood of Lima. When we arrived at the Jorge Chavez International airport at about 5:30am a driver was waiting for us. Without much traffic at that early morning hour we had an easy 30-minute drive along the cost to Barranco. Luckily our rooms were ready for us, so we were able to rest for a couple of hours before going out on the town. My room was super small and didn't get much light, but it was clean and adequate for my needs. The guys' room was much larger, well-lit, and had a big TV. The common areas of the hotel were nice, decorated with antique knick-knacks.

After a rest we set out walking toward the Parque Central in Miraflores. Our map wasn't great, so we ended up taking a very roundabout route to the park, but that was okay since we weren't on a tight schedule. The park ended up being one of the most strange and interesting things I experienced on the trip. It was filled with cats; literally, there are dozens and dozens of cats that live in this park. You walk along the flower beds and if you look closely you can find at least ten cats napping in the shade of each flower bed. It's almost like an Easter egg hunt: how many cats can you spot in the park? Some of the cats are super skinny, but they're all pretty clean and healthy-looking. We saw a few plastic dishes of cat food around the park that people have set out to feed them. The cats are, for the most part, ambivalent about people; they don't avoid people, but they're also not looking for attention. They just plop themselves down and sleep, regardless of what's going on around them. It was the weirdest and - because I like cats - most delightful thing!

After what I'm sure J thought was way too much time wandering through the park, we stopped for breakfast (by this time it was more like brunch) at Cafe Cafe, right across the street from the park. I had compiled a list of recommended restaurants for each city or neighborhood that we would visit, and while this cafe was on my list, it didn't wow either of us. With our stomachs full, we headed up the street to the Indian Market, a craft/artisan/tourist market. We spent an hour or so wandering through the shops, but I wasn't in the mood to bargain and J didn't want to start adding items to his luggage right away, so neither of us bought anything.

Next we headed down to the Malecon, a pathway that runs along the coast. By this time in the afternoon Lima's characteristic garua (grey fog) had burned off, so we had good visibility as we walked back to Barranco. I'm really glad that we stayed in Barranco - an up and coming, artsy neighborhood - that first night. We walked past various colonial buildings that are now being used as art galleries and museums. We saw the Puente de los Suspiros (Bridge of Sighs) and the Ermita church and then settled onto a bench at the plaza to rest and people watch. Later we walked down a little lane where we encountered a lookout point, the most brilliant red bougainvillea, and a slowly setting sun.

J2 got into town later that evening, and once he was settled we went out to Las Mesitas for dinner. That first night we all ordered aji de la gallina, a typical dish of shredded chicken and a mild chili sauce over potatoes and rice. It was good but not great, so I was anxious to order it again at another restaurant to see how our first traditional Peruvian meal compared at different locales.

After that it was time to go to bed to get a few hours of sleep before heading back to the airport to catch our early flight into the Andean highlands!
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Old May 11th, 2015, 06:44 PM
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Great trip report so far, thanks.
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Old May 12th, 2015, 07:35 AM
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Days 2-3 Ollantaytambo

When I was planning this trip, I was so focused on Machu Picchu that I really didn't give too much thought to the other places we would be visiting. I mean, I thought enough about where to go and which hotels to stay in, but I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about what things would look like or what they'd be like. It turns out that Peru is an absolutely gorgeous country! I was continually astounded by its beauty. I was a bit nervous about flying through the Andes into Cusco (flying around mountains always puts me a bit on edge), but all traces of nervousness left as I stared out the window at the green, green mountains and the little villages scattered across the high valleys and mountaintops. How did people ever come to settle in these areas?

After landing in Cusco our destination was the small town of Ollantaytambo. I paid attention to all of those suggestions that Ollanta would be a much better place to acclimatize than Cusco, and they were right! From the Cusco airport we caught a taxi to Calle Pavitos, which is where we could pick up a colectivo to Ollanta. But before heading out of Cusco we needed to eat. Because we had all of our luggage with us and it was a pain to drag around, we stopped in at the first place we could find, which happened to be a little local cafeteria. The sign on the door listed arroz cubano as one of the options, so we all went with that. We got a soup made of broth, noodles, and fresh herbs and then a plate of rice, fried eggs, fresh tomatoes and onions, and fried bananas, followed by mugs of cinnamon and clove tea, all for 5 soles, which is less than $2 and just a fraction of what we paid at the more tourist-oriented restaurants. Throughout the trip we'd eat a combination of tourist and local restaurants, and I must say that although I was never exactly sure what we'd be getting at the local restaurants, I loved the experience of doing as the locals do. One of my other very favorite parts of the trip was speaking Spanish. It's been about ten years since I spoke Spanish with any regularity, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to communicate well. While I wasn't uttering any complex treatises, I was able to speak in a relatively fluid manner, which thrilled me.

I loved traveling by colectivo, which are vans/small buses filled mostly with locals. You go to the colectivo station (there are men out on the street trying to recruit passengers, so the stations are easy to find). You take your seat in the van and wait for it to fill out - which doesn't take long - and of you go. Traveling by colectivo costs a mere 4-5 soles, compared to the $60+ it would cost to take a taxi. The drive from Cusco to Ollanta took about 1.5 hours, and it was stunning.

We got to Ollanta about mid-morning and checked into our hotel, the Inka Paradise. I was a bit nervous about this hotel. Although the overall ratings were decent, the individual ratings were all over the board. Fortunately the hotel ended up being great, definitely one of our favorites. The rooms were large, bright, and clean, and while they didn't have heating (always a concern for me), they had heavy blankets and down comforters and the showers had hot water. The hotel building surrounded a garden courtyard filled with flowers.

That first day we took it pretty easy. Because we had gotten up at 3am to go to the airport, we rested and took naps while it rained. Once it cleared up we were ready to venture out. We wandered the cobblestone streets of the little town and browsed the tourist market. For dinner we followed a friend suggestion and went to Ucuchuta, where we had one of the best meals of the trip. I had alpaca ravioli, J ordered an alpaca steak, and J2 got the chicken rolls. All of the dishes were every bit as delicious as my friend had promised they'd be. Back at the hotel we gathered around J2's phone to watch The Emperor's New Groove, as one must do when one is in Peru.

The next morning we visited the first of what would be many Incan archeological sites. We bought the full boleto turistico, which cost about $40 and would get us in to a variety of sites during the trip. The site at Ollantaytambo is rather large, and we spent several hours leisurely climbing up the terraces and wandering the paths. We opted not to get a guide, and while we might have missed out on learning what exactly each structure was used for, we were able to enjoy a peaceful morning exploring the site at our own pace. Ollanta is situated in a valley and in each direction there are green, green, green mountains.

After we'd done justice to the archeological site, we wandered out through the market and bought a few souvenirs. Instead of going to a restaurant for lunch we bought empandas at a little stand down near the train station. I also bought an ear of corn with huge kernels. The corn was super starchy and filling, although not all that tasty.

Next we decided to climb the mountain we'd been staring at all day to explore the ruins of Pinkuylluna. This site doesn't require the boleto turistico, so it's free to visit. Although the structures looked high, high up on the mountain and did require a rather steep hike to start out, we were surprised at how quickly we arrived at the ruins. From this mountain we could see over to the Ollantaytambo site we had visited earlier that day. We had felt relatively alone while visiting the site that morning, but by this time it was filled with people. We were really glad that we had visited earlier in the day. The ruins at Pinkuylluna are scattered all around the mountain, up to the very top. We didn't go that high, but we did wander around quite a bit and in the process met a couple of guys from Brazil and an older American woman who had been living in Peru for a number of months.

For dinner we went to Hearts Cafe, which operates a non-profit organization focused on nutrition, as well as a restaurant that serves local, organic food. The meal was good but not especially memorable. We had walked over ten miles that day (which was the story of the entire trip), so we had no problem going back to the hotel and turning in early.

Next up, Maras, Moray, and Chinchero!
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Old May 12th, 2015, 09:05 AM
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Great report so far. We too were astounded by the beauty of Peru.
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Old May 12th, 2015, 12:05 PM
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Nice report. Flying into Cuzco was neat. Turn a corner. Turn another corner.
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Old May 13th, 2015, 01:28 PM
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Day 4 - Maras, Moray, Chinchero

After a couple of lovely days in Ollantaytambo, it was time to make our way to Cusco. We planned to spend time at some well-known sites along the way before arriving in Cusco in time for our Inca Trail trek orientation that evening. We had requested a taxi that would be willing to drive us around for the day. After waiting half an hour after our requested departure time for the pre-arranged taxi to show up, the girl from the hotel just ran out into the market and found the first person who was available. Our driver was Victor, who told us that he'd be our tour guide and if he did a good job would we give him a nice tip. He taught us some words in his native Quechua and told us a little about the area as we made our way to our first stop.

The salineras near the little town of Maras is a hillside full of shallow pools into which water is channeled and salt is harvested as the water evaporates. Victor explained that each family owns approximately 5-7 pools. We pulled into the parking lot and Victor gave us 40 minutes to explore...okay, I thought we were the ones in charge here, but apparently not. Not to worry though, we really didn't need more than 40 minutes. Tourists are able to walk along the top ridge of the uppermost row of pools. A few people were out working the pools, and we watched with interest, trying to figure out just exactly how the salt was harvested.

Our next stop was the nearby Incan ruins at Moray. The terraces here are built in a couple of circular formations; no one knows exactly why. Victor stayed in the car while giving us an hour to explore (so much for him being a tour guide!). Although Moray is a popular stop on the circuit of Sacred Valley sites, I'd say that it isn't really a must see. However, the countryside that you drive through to get to both Maras and Moray is not to be missed. We really lucked out with weather the whole time we were in Peru; there were dramatic puffy white clouds, bright blue skies, and occasionally a grey cloud cover and a few raindrops.

The little town of Chinchero was next. Victor took us to one of the many textile shops where local women demonstrate how sheep, llama, and alpaca wool is spun and dyed. They clean the wool with a root that creates natural soap suds and is known as Inca shampoo. Women spin yarn by carrying around wool and this little instrument that looks like a top. Once the wool has been spun into thread or yarn it's dyed naturally using plants and minerals and boiled with salt crystals, which works to set the color so that it won't wash out or bleed. The women, of course, had a set of tables upon which they displayed their cloth for sale. It was beautiful but very expensive, so after saying goodbye to the llama and alpacas in the pen at the entrance of the courtyard, we moved on.

As we walked up to the Incan archeological site and church at Chinchero, we encountered a wedding party that was making its way through town from the church. Once the mass of people had passed, we made our way into the confetti-covered square. A white-washed church has been built among and on top of a foundation of Inca stones. To the left of the church is a series of terraces for farming. We didn't spend all that much time at Chinchero (again, we were given an hour time-limit by Victor), but I really liked the quiet little town. There really isn't much to do there, but it's cute and quaint and would be the perfect place to have a picnic and read on a sunny day.

By about 4pm we arrived in Cusco. After some confusion about the location of our hotel (we had the address but didn't know what neighborhood it was located in), we arrived at Hostal Wara Wara. We paid Victor (who I'm pretty sure was annoyed with us because of the confusion, but how were we to know where in the city the hotel was located?!) We grabbed a snack, attended our trek orientation, and ate dinner at another un-noteworthy restaurant. Then it was back to the hotel to pack our duffel bags with no more than 4kg of clothes and gear for the big hike the next day.
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Old May 13th, 2015, 03:20 PM
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Great reporting memejs. Really enjoying reading of your experiences. Good to hear you supported Hearts Cafe whilst there. Back in 2008 we volunteered with their parent organisation Living Heart Foundation which does some good work with the people surrounding areas.

Look informers to reading more, keep it coming.
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Old May 13th, 2015, 04:50 PM
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I'm enjoying your report. Looking forward to reading about your experience on the Inca Trail. We finished our trek exactly one year ago today! Thanks for sharing!
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Old May 14th, 2015, 07:44 PM
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I'm also enjoying your report. Great details. I chuckled a bit about hostel staff running to the square to grab a taxi...that's the way it's done! And I think they all might be named Victor.
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Old May 18th, 2015, 10:47 AM
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Days 5-7 Inca Trail

After spending the first few days of the trip in Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley, we arrived in Cusco the night before the Inca Trail trek was to begin. And here we first felt the effects of the altitude. Neither J2 nor I slept well the night before the trek started, and I felt mildly nauseated. Nevertheless an Alpaca Expeditions van came to pick us up about 5:30am. We climbed onto the van, along with the rest of our group, and in the dark of the early morning headed back out to Ollantaytambo.

Our group was great. We weren't sure of that fact at the time the trek started, but I knew from other travel experiences that having a fun group of people for a tour or adventure can make for a really fun experience. In addition to the three of us, there were four guys from DC, a couple from London, a couple from Orange County, a girl from Australia, and a couple from Missouri. We had two guides - Saul and Miguel - to lead us, plus a chef and a team of 19 porters/chaskis that would be carrying all of our duffel bags, plus the tents, and all of the food and cooking gear for the whole trek. Saul explained to us that rather than calling these men porters, we should call them chaskis, which is the name for the revered Incan runners who would carry messages from one Incan city to another.

After a little while we stopped at a site outside Ollantaytambo. By this time it was light and relatively warm, and the chaskis had set up a table and chairs and had breakfast prepared. As we were eating the guides and the chaskis weighed our duffel bags to ensure that they were at or under the weight limit. Once we were finished it was time to get started! We walked down to the iconic Inka Trail sign at kilometer 82 and took a few group photos before we were officially on our way...on our way, that is, until we came to the first check point. We had to show our passports and our Inca Trail tickets before we were allowed to pass. The first part of the hike was moderate - what they call "Inca flat," which means not super steep but not actually flat either. We took several breaks; there are people who live along this first part of the trail, and occasionally there are stands where you can buy drinks or snacks and use the bathroom. Before we got to the lunch spot we had to make it through one big, steep climb. The couple from Missouri, who I would guess were in their 60s, had been having a rough time of it and at this point decided to turn back. I can't imagine how heartbroken I would be if, after months of planning and anticipating, I had to turn back so soon into the trek. However, if you're going to turn back you have to do it the first day, and now that I know what lay ahead, it was a smart decision for them to make. We'd meet up with them at Machu Picchu at the end of the trek. (They went back to Ollantaytambo and then took the train to Aguas Calientes and the bus to Machu Picchu, just like all of the other people who don't do the trek.)

Lunch was fabulous, as was all of the food on the trek. The chaskis always arrived before us and had the dining tent set up. We had fresh guacamole and chips as an appetizer (which we all continued to talk about the entire trek, it was that good), pumpkin soup, vegetables, rice, frittata, and fried trout (or fried chicken for us non-seafood people). After lunch we had about 45 minutes to rest before it was time to start up again.

At one point during the afternoon we got to a hilltop and Saul had us stop, close our eyes, link arms, and walk toward the edge of the cliff. He stopped us before we got too close to the edge and had us look down. When we opened our eyes we saw the first Incan archeological site of the trail, Llactapata. We then sat on the grass while Saul told us some of the history of the Incan emperors.

We got to camp about 5pm, and the amazing chaskis already had the tents set up. At this point Saul had us all gather around so that the chaskis could introduce themselves to us and vice versa. Our 19 chaskis were mostly from the town of Lares; chaskis from the same town or village usually have a roll in recruiting one another and often work together. Many of the chaskis were 33 (my age). Our group was also pretty close in age. With the exception of the couple from Missouri, who had turned back, we were between 25 and 38.

Once we were settled in, it was happy hour, which would quickly become my favorite time each day. In the dining tent we were served tea, Milo (which is this great hot chocolate powder), crackers, popcorn, and homemade potato chips. About a hour after that dinner was served. I always had a hard time not eating too much at happy hour and saving my appetite for dinner. For dinner we had vegetable soup, broccoli frittata, this fried stuffed potato dish, and probably one or two other dishes that I didn't record. Meals were great, not only because we got to rest and eat delicious food, but because we got to talk and know one another. During the easier stretches of the trail we had some really good conversations, but during the more difficult parts we were more spread out and focused. At meal times we shared stories (half of the group encouraged Saul to tell ghost stories about the campsites while the other half of us begged him not to) and joked around.

After that it was time for bed, even though it was only 8pm. I put on just about every layer of clothing I had brought, expecting to be cold, but was pleasantly surprised that the sleeping bag kept me nice and cozy.

I woke up to rain. A little while later (5am) the chaskis gave the wake-up call and arrived at our tents with hot coca tea. Everyone got dressed and packed up and then met in the dining tent for breakfast. I would have been happy with hot chocolate, bread, and jam, but then the chaskis brought in this incredible wheat porridge flavored with cinnamon and crepes filled with a creamy mango filling. By the time breakfast was over the rain had stopped, and we were ready to start day 2, which is the most difficult day.

The first part of day 2's hike is in temperate rainforest, and it was beautiful. There are lots of steps, so we went slowly. This lasted about 1.5-2 hours, until it was time for our first break. (We took lots and lots of little, under 2 minute breaks, and a few longer, 10-20 minute, breaks.) After we came out of the rainforest we stopped at this little village that is the last place on the trail to buy water, snacks, and drinks - and the prices reflect that fact. At this spot we could look back at the gorgeous mountain peak behind us and ahead at the very highest point of the trail, Dead Woman's Pass.

For the next hour we slowly climbed a steep hill and arrived at Dead Woman's Pass about 10am. We were making good time. It was windy and cold at this spot, but compared to some photos I'd seen of people sopping wet and freezing, we had it good in terms of weather. We took a relatively short break - time to have a quick snack, take photos, and hear Saul play Beatles music on his flute, and then we started a long, steep descent to our lunch spot. (That makes it sound quick, it wasn't. We hiked downhill for a couple of hours. Between drinking lots of water to stay hydrated and the number that walking down stairs does on your bladder, I felt like I spent the entire second day praying that we'd soon arrive at the next bathroom - or at least a well-placed bush. Those couple of hours felt really long!) The food at lunch was plentiful as usual, but I was too tired to eat much. The second part of the day's hike was technically easier, but because we'd already been hiking for six hours, it didn't necessarily feel that way. We hiked about an hour up, quite steep, and then about half an hour down. We came to an archaeological site called Sayacmarca, where Saul filled us in on some Incan building techniques. We had about half an hour of hiking left, through rainforest, before we got to our campsite. Once again, I eagerly filled up on hot chocolate, crackers and jam, and these homemade banana poptart things, and was rather too tired and full to eat much dinner. You'd think that after hiking for 10-12 hours each day I'd be famished and ready to inhale whatever was set in front of me, but my appetite was surprisingly small on the trek. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or fatigue or what, but my appetite didn't return in full force until the trek was over.

It rained again that night, but unlike the previous morning, on the morning of day three the rain didn't stop. After breakfast we geared up with rain jackets and ponchos. Despite the fact that my trail shoes do pretty well in their waterproof-ness, it was raining hard enough that soon my hands and feet were soaked through. Surprisingly, it wasn't miserable. The poncho kept the rest of me dry, and we kept moving so I was able to stay warm. We hiked for about 2.5 hours through jungle. Shortly before we got to our lunch spot we arrived at Intipata. By this time it had stopped raining and even started to clear up a bit, but as we were sitting at the site we could watch the clouds roll in. It's quite dramatic to see clouds come in and disperse as quickly as they do at that altitude. As we entered camp we saw three llamas, two of which demonstrated what they thought of us by turning their backsides toward us and emptying their bowls and bladders. Nice to meet you too.

It was about 11am and we were already at day 3's camp; we were practically done with the trek! Our tour operator, Alpaca Expeditions (and a few other companies) schedule a long first day, a long second day, and a short third day. Most companies schedule a shorter first day, a long second day, and a long third day. There are various campsites along the trail where the companies can set up camp for their groups, but on day 3 everyone camps at the same site. After lunch we had about two hours to rest, and the opportunity to take a hot shower. I'm not sure if all companies offer this, but our chaskis heated up hot water and poured it into this little tank in a shower stall. I could have survived without a shower (I didn't even bring shampoo), but, on the other hand, I didn't see any reason to go without, so I took the opportunity to rinse off with the hot water.

That evening we met together as a group and walked about ten minutes from camp to the Winaywayna archeological site. Here Saul told us about Incan religious beliefs, we did a little ceremony to honor the Pachamama (mother earth), and we were given our Alpaca Expeditions t-shirts. When we got back it was dark and time for happy hour. The chef had baked a cake and the chaskis had decorated the dining tent with streamers. I think a lot of the companies do this because I've seen many photos of cakes, but I have to say that I honestly hadn't seen one as pretty as ours was. We had another big, delicious dinner and then we presented our tips to the chef and the chaskis. Many of us commented on how quickly the trek had gone. Sure, it was difficult, but after all of the build up of how difficult it was going to be, we had done it! I also think that it felt short because we had such an easy third day. After two days of hiking for 10-12 hours, a day where we got to relax by noon felt really cush.

Wake up call the next morning would be at the painfully early hour of 3:30am, so we all headed to bed about 9pm. Tomorrow we'd arrive at Machu Picchu!
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Old May 18th, 2015, 02:49 PM
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The guide we had in 2012 left Llama Path to start Alpaca Expeditions. Raul. Very impressive guy. I'm not surprised your tour worked so well.
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Old May 20th, 2015, 07:15 AM
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Day 8 Machu Picchu

Our wake up call on the final day of the trek was early: 3:30am. We packed up all of our stuff and ate breakfast so that we could head out by 4:30. We only had to walk for 10 minutes before we made our first stop. There's a checkpoint that doesn't open until 5:30, but most of the groups get there substantially earlier in order to line up and be the first ones through the gate. I think the idea is that if your group is one of the first through the gate, you'll be one of the first to the Sun Gate and thus have more time for photos of Machu Picchu. As you'll see, in our case it didn't really matter.

The hour passed quickly and soon we were on a pretty path through the rainforest. Saul had warned us the night before that this was the most dangerous part of the trek, and while the trail was a bit narrower and had some steep drop offs in some parts, it didn't feel too precarious. After about a hour and a half of hiking we arrived at the Sun Gate. The Sun Gate sits up above Machu Picchu and is where most people take iconic shots of the site below and the mountain Huayna Picchu in the background. For us though, all we saw were clouds. Every once in a while the clouds would dissolve just slightly so that we could faintly see the city below, but our view certainly wasn't anything like what you see in the pictures. I knew that at this altitude the mornings tend to be foggy, so I was kind of expecting this and wasn't heart-broken, but still, it would have been nice to have gotten that great, iconic shot. I did think to myself that if I had come to Machu Picchu and gotten this view without already having had three amazing days on the Inca Trail, I'd be totally disappointed.

We hiked about 40 minutes down and out of the Machu Picchu site. Trekking poles aren't allowed in the site, so we actually had to leave and have our guides put them in storage, plus this was our opportunity to use the bathroom and check our daypacks. Thirty minutes later we entered the site and Saul started our tour. For the next couple of hours Saul took us around to some of the main structures, proving an explanation on what the buildings were used for. As the morning went on, the clouds began to lift, and each hour brought better views of the site. Although it was still pretty early in the morning (9am-ish), the site was already quite crowded. Although two hours sounds like a significant amount of time for a tour, it went quickly. I felt like we'd just barely scratched the surface of Machu Picchu, but our tour had a definite end time. Most everyone in our group had purchased tickets to climb Huayna Picchu. Tickets to climb this mountain are limited, you have to purchase them ahead of time, and you have an assigned start time, so we had no choice but to wrap up our tour of Machu Picchu and head to the Huayna Picchu entrance.

Huayna Picchu looks incredibly tall and super steep. When we booked our tickets to Huayna Picchu (we did this through Alpaca Expeditions when we first booked the trek), we wondered if we'd have the strength and the will to do another hard climb after three straight days of hiking, but we decided that it would be better to buy the ticket and decide not to do the hike rather than get there and regret that we hadn't opted to climb Huayna Picchu. That definitely turned out to be the right decision. The hike was challenging, but not nearly as difficult as it looks. I was on some sort of extreme adrenaline high or something because I practically bounded up the mountain. I had checked my daypack, which I'm sure helped. What also helped was Miguel telling J2 that he was hiking like a girl; I decided to show them how a girl hikes, and I beat them both up the mountain by a good bit.

There's a nice flat area almost at the top that's a good spot to take photos (here's where I really regretted not taking the opportunity to wash my hair the previous day or to put on some makeup that morning). The clouds had pretty much cleared out by now, so we had nice views of Machu Picchu way down below. There was still a little ways more to climb though. The very top of the mountain is basically a bunch of boulders; space is limited, so it's harder to spread out or spend much time taking photos. It was incredible to look down on Machu Pichhu below, which looked so small, and to think that I was up on the very top of this mountain. I loved it. I took things more slowly climbing down, since there are several spots where the stairs are very narrow and very steep. Lots of people write about how scary this hike is, and since I have a fear of heights I was nervous about it. Turns out though, that it didn't really make me nervous; climbing the little Eiffel Tower on Petrin Hill in Prague was a much more petrifying experience for me.

The Huayna Picchu hike took us about 2 hours, so by the time we got back down to the main site, we had just 30 minutes before we needed to catch the bus to Aguas Calientes. This is one of my two complaints about the trek: Machu Picchu itself felt like a whirlwind. Of course, we could have opted not to climb Huayna Picchu and have that time down in Machu Picchu, but I loved the experience of hiking Huayna Picchu, and the views were incredible. To have more time in Machu Picchu, I would have done one of two things: 1) skipped the lunch in Aguas Calientes. We were instructed to meet at a certain restaurant to have one last lunch together and retrieve our duffel bags and get our train tickets from Saul. I'm not sure if skipping this was even an option, but in my opinion it took more time than it should have. 2) Stay the night in Aguas Calientes and return to Machu Picchu the next day. This is a pricey option, as it involves purchasing another entrance ticket into Machu Picchu, but if you're going to go all the way to Peru, it just might be worth it. My only other complaint is that our group never gathered together to take one last group photo.

Anyway, after coming down from Huayna Picchu I did a quick meander through a part of Machu Picchu while making my way toward the entrance. I was really, really hoping to see some llamas and alpacas. I've had this long-standing fascination with llamas, and if there's any place to get some great photos of these animals in the "wild", Machu Picchu is supposed to be it, right? I did see a couple from a distance, but that didn't exactly fulfill all of my hopes and dreams.

As instructed, we caught the bus that takes people from Machu Picchu down to Aguas Calientes at 1:00pm. We found the restaurant and met up with the rest of our group. After a couple of hours (most of which we spent waiting for our food; the restaurant's service was exceptionally slow), we got our duffel bags and train tickets from Saul and walked over to the train platform. Our train to Ollantaytambo took several hours. I'm not sure why the train had to go so slowly, but overall it was a pleasant ride. We disembarked at Ollanta and met up again with Saul, who led us to the Alpaca Expeditions van that would carry us back to Cusco. After another couple of hours - by this time it was about 10pm - we arrived back at our hotel. I was tired, but I certainly wasn't going to let any more time go by without a shower. A hot shower, a toilet that flushed, and a real mattress (even a bad quality one) felt positively luxurious that night!

When people ask me about my experience at Machu Picchu, I'm not sure what to say. I experienced the Inca Trail; I experienced hiking up to the top of Huayna Picchu, but when it comes to Machu Picchu, I feel like I just passed through. If I could go back and do it again, would I give up the Inca Trail experience for a full day at Machu Picchu? Definitely not. The highlight of this whole experience for me was the satisfaction and empowerment that came with accomplishing something physically challenging...and the surprise that I'm stronger than I expected (and just plain lucky that my body didn't respond negatively to the altitude). So, in the end, this experience was pretty near perfect. If I ever get back to Peru though, I'd love to stay in Aguas Calientes, take the first bus of the day up to Machu Picchu, and spend the day leisurely wandering around the site (and hopefully pet some llamas in the process)!
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Old May 20th, 2015, 07:41 AM
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What a shame to be rushed through MP to wait for lunch. Surely if you had known, they might have been able to book you a late train back that day, and stow luggage at the Aguas Calientes train station ? Or pickup at their Cusco offices?

Thanks for the report.
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Old May 20th, 2015, 03:06 PM
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Funny you mentioned that - my DH had a vertigo episode on that little Eiffel Tower and we had to descend, but he did Huayna Picchu without a problem. For him, it's having the solid trail under his feet and the mountain next to him, whereas on the ET, it's all open (and swaying with the wind).
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Old May 20th, 2015, 03:14 PM
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Oh, too bad you didn't get to see what we did as soon as we arrived at MP - a newborn llama. It was incredible.
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Old May 20th, 2015, 04:40 PM
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Very nice, detailed report, with plenty of insights for future travelers. I'll be in Machu Picchu next week (staying overnight)--looking forward to it! Wish I were doing the Inca Trail like you did, because I totally understand the immense feelings of accomplishment when you do something physical like that, but this time we're taking the easy (and expensive) way. Nonetheless, your report has whetted my appetite for what I will be seeing. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it.
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Old May 21st, 2015, 01:10 PM
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mlgb - I sort of understand why the company gave us the schedule they did. They needed to give us our train tickets and return our luggage to us, and I'm sure they built in extra time in Aguas Calientes because someone is always late. Logistically speaking, I probably would have planned it the same way if I had been in charge of a group of 14 people and needed to make sure that everyone was where they needed to be.

sf7307 - Yes, having something solid under my feet was key! If I feel secure, I'm fine being up high.
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Old May 21st, 2015, 01:14 PM
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Day 9 - Pisac and Saqsayhuaman

After finishing the Inca Trail we didn't give ourselves too much of a rest. We were up relatively early the next morning eating the standard Peruvian hotel breakfast of eggs, bread and jam, and tea. Our stomachs full, we walked the short distance down to the main plaza and caught a taxi that would take us to the place where colectivos leave for Pisac. We were the first ones in the colectivo van, and after waiting about 10 minutes without anyone else joining us, we wondered if the van would leave without being full or if we'd need to find a taxi to take us to Pisac. Fortunately the guys who work for the colectivo company knew how to hustle (it was actually pretty funny to watch), and soon the van was full and we were on our way. Once again we had a beautiful drive through the countryside.

Once we got to Pisac we started to follow a narrow street down to the town square. I stopped when, through the open doors of a shop, I saw an alpaca in the courtyard. We had to go in! The shop was run by the cutest old man, who proudly presented us his wares and told us the alpaca was named Huayna Picchu. He was so kind and charming that I was determined to find something to buy from him. I decided on a little wooden flute that I gave to the boy who was taking care of my plants while I was away. While I was paying for the flute I missed a prime photo opp: a cat came up and batted the nose of the alpaca, who was lying down. (It doesn't sound that exciting, but it would have been a great photo.) Fortunately, I did get a great photo and video clip of the man.

We continued on to the main square, which didn't look like a square at all since it was filled with the market stands. We spent a couple of hours slowly wandering in and out of stores and stalls. While there is repetition among the goods sold by each vendor, there's also a huge selection of goods here, making it probably the best place to buy souvenirs. I bought a big piece of cloth that can either be used as a bed cover or a tablecloth. I could have spent another hour or two exploring the rest of the market, but the hours were passing and we still needed to visit the archaeological site.

The site at Pisac is huge. We originally contemplated hiking up to the top but ultimately decided to save time and take a taxi, which was a good because it would have taken us forever to reach this point by foot. We'd wander through one set of buildings and advance along the path only to find another, more impressive set of buildings. Once we got beyond the set of buildings closest to the site entrance, we were practically on our own. We leisurely followed the path back to Pisac, which took a little over an hour. It was a peaceful walk, and we all agreed that walking through the site and back into town was a great decision.

There's really not much to do in Pisac beyond the archaeological site and the market, but like Ollantaytambo, it's a cute little town, and I would have been happy to spend the rest of the day there. I had also been hoping to make it to a llama and alpaca farm called Awana Kancha, but I guess llamas were just not to be on this trip. We wanted to fit in a visit to the Sacsayhuaman site above Cusco, so we retraced our steps to the colectivo station and boarded a van. Sacsayhuaman isn't an actual stop along the colectivo route, so when we saw a sign for the site we hollered for the driver to let us off. We started to walk down a road, hoping that it would eventually lead us to where we were intending to go. Luckily after walking a little ways we caught site of the Incan ruins in the distance.

Our visit to Saqsayhuaman was nice. It's not as complete as many of the other Incan sites, but it's distinct in that it was built with huge stones. There are a couple of points up at the top of the site that afford great views of Cusco.

There is a large white statue of Christ that sits on a hill above the city of Cusco, and it just so happens that that hill is literally right next to Sacsayhuaman. This statue is not nearly as big as the famous one in Brazil, but it's still impressive. We visited during the golden hour, that time of day right before the sun sets, when the light is golden and perfect for taking photos, and take photos I did!

It had been a long day and we were hungry, so we found a set of stairs (so.many.stairs in Cusco!) and then another set of stairs and another that eventually put us in the San Blas neighborhood. We wound up at a little restaurant called El Pisonay. The restaurant was absolutely tiny - space for maybe 8 people - but it had a clay oven and was decorated nicely. There was a woman in back cooking and the waiter was...well, we're not sure who he was because he seemed to have absolutely no idea what was going on. The service was a little strange, but like I said, the ambiance was nice and the food was quite good. This was one of the better restaurants of the trip; I'd recommend it.

Too tired to walk anymore, we took a taxi back to the hotel and prepared for our last full day in Cusco.
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Old May 22nd, 2015, 09:24 AM
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Day 10 - Cusco

During our time in Cusco we stayed at Hostal Wara Wara. We stayed there the night before the Inca Trail, they held our suitcases while we were on the trek, and then we came back for three more nights. I was really excited about this hotel; it has great reviews on both Booking.com and TripAdvisor. However, this proved to be the most disappointing of our hotels. While it does have excellent views of the city, the hotel overall doesn't earn its high ratings. There were cracks in the walls and the floors were super creaky. There really wasn't anything impressive about the rooms. I can live with those things, what I couldn't live with was the smell of my bathroom. There was a drain on the floor of the bathroom, and there must have been standing water under the drain because the bathroom smelled beyond horrible. We paid more for this hotel than what we would have paid at some of the other options we had considered

I was a little worried about fitting all of Cusco's sites into one day, but it turns out there wasn't quite as much to see in Cusco as I had anticipated, plus the day we had to dedicate to the city turned out to be Labor Day, so some of the sites were closed. The boleto turistico that we'd purchased in Ollantaytambo gave us access to several museums in Cusco, so we started with the regional history museum. The bottom floor focused on Inca and pre-Incan civilizations, while the top floor housed various paintings from the colonial era. Throughout the trip I found it really interesting that the people seemed to be very interested in identifying with their Incan heritage but quick to distance themselves from their Spanish heritage. On the one hand, I totally get it; the conquistadors did horrible things. Yet on the other hand, many of these people do have Spanish blood, and parts of Cusco look very Spanish. I found it interesting that this history wasn't discussed much.

Speaking of the colonial era, next we headed over to a building that had a distinctly Spanish flavor: la Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. It's interior is in the Baroque style, which means lots and lots of gold. There were women available to give tours of the church, which I wish we had taken the time to do. We did climb up into the towers of the church to get a view of the Plaza de Armas. No photographs are allowed inside of the church, but with our entrance fee we did get a CD with images. The Cathedral, which along with the church, sits right along the Plaza de Armas, was closed for the holiday, which means that we didn't get to see the famous painting of the last supper where Christ is eating cuy (guinea pig).

As we made our way to the popular art museum (skip it) and then to the San Pedro market we saw a couple of Labor Day parades. Unlike Labor Day in the US, which is mostly just an opportunity to take the day off and go to the beach, Labor Day in Peru appears to be a chance to advocate for better workers' rights. The parades had more of a protest vibe than a celebration vibe.

The San Pedro market was one of the highlights of our day in Cusco. I'd read that it's a place rife with pick-pocketers and tourists should be really careful. I'm not sure if it was due to the holiday, but we didn't find the market overly crowded or at all threatening. About half of the indoor space was filled with meat, produce, and grain stands, while the other half was filled with little restaurants. There were also the requisite tourist shops, which offered some of the best prices I came across. We decided that lunch would be cheap eats at the market. After making a couple of rounds around the many restaurants stalls, we chose one with a bunch of options and available seating. J and I decided to share a chicken milanesa with noodles. For 12 soles (about $4) we got the gigantic plate of food. This was another one of the "eating with the locals" experiences that I loved...although I have to say that I didn't want to look too closely at what the couple next to us was eating. There were some pretty large jaw bones sticking out of their soup bowls!

According to all of the guidebooks, the one site not to miss in Cusco is the Santo Domingo church and Qurikancha - the church that was built on top of the Incan sun temple. Unfortunately for us the site was closed. We sat on the grass outside the site for a while, until the guards shooed everyone away, and then, not really having anything else to do, we decided to just wander through the streets. Two things about Cusco surprised me. Although it's a big city - the hills are covered in houses - the historical part of the city is pretty small. The other surprise was the lack of sweets and pastries. I kept looking for bakeries to buy pastries, but they were few and far between. We did buy churros and found some other pastries, but they weren't as plentiful as I would have imagined. I also usually like to browse the candy aisle when I'm in markets in foreign countries, and while they did have chocolate and candy in Peru, I wasn't very impressed by it.

In the late afternoon we spent a couple of hours in the Plaza de Armas. Although we had to keep saying no to a near-constant stream of people selling things, it was nice to just sit and relax and people-watch.

That evening we went to the cultural arts center for a traditional dance show that was included in the boleto turistico. The show started at 7 and the doors opened at 6:30. We got there about 6:00 or 6:15, which was a good thing because a line had already formed. The performance lasted about an hour and showcased various dances from the region. The music was performed live, and I found the costumes really interesting.

Because we'd had such a huge lunch, none of us felt the need for another full meal. Instead we stopped in at La Valeriana, a coffee/bake shop we'd passed earlier in the day. It's a light, bright restaurant that feels almost European. I ordered a brownie and a chamomile tea (I absolutely love the custom of drinking tea in the afternoon and after meals). My tea was fresh chamomile stems infused in the water in a little basket; ultimately I like the flavor of dried chamomile flowers better than the fresh stems, but the presentation was beautiful.

We made one last stop to take photos of the plaza at night and then headed back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for our flight to Lima in the morning.
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