The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
I have now recovered enough from my Inca Trail, camping in the Andes, & Machu Picchu adventure to write & share my story. I am sitting in a corner ice cream shop in Buenos Aires – I think J.K. Rowling knew what she was doing writing in a coffee shop. There is something about being out.
I loved my Inca Trail experience! I would absolutely do it again. It was so amazing!
I have to admit that there were times out on the mountain that I didn’t think that, however. It was certainly harder than I thought it would be, maybe the weather, maybe the altitude or maybe I’m just not in good enough shape. Who knows?!
I can’t write a daily log about this adventure – it just wouldn’t sound right. I will have to tell you about the experience in individual activities not days.
We had a wonderful guide. There were 15 of us and Roger was our head guide. When we were actually hiking the Inca Trail we had another guide, Jesus, join us. For safety reasons when you are actually out there they mad sure one was at the front and one was at the back. Even then, depending on your group there can be a huge difference in speed & ability and the group could be pretty split up. I was with a wonderful group of people! We were very lucky, and lucky to have Roger. We heard some stories about other groups not getting along. You are very isolated out there.
On our way out of town we stopped a few places. We went to see the smaller version of the Brazilian Christ the Redeemer statue. We got to see Sacsahuaman, which is a walled complex outside the city of Cuzco. (our guide referred to it as Saksaq Waman but I think he just liked to see people’s reaction to his English because it sounds like sexy woman) It is said that if it still looked like it did in the sixteenth century it would be the most famous archaeological site in the Western Hemisphere not Machu Picchu.
We also stopped at an small animal sanctuary. We were there to see a Puma & a Condor but I enjoyed seeing what the locals do. These are considered sacred animals in the Inca religion. I actually got to pet a baby condor! The Inca religion worshiped nature and the condor represented the sky.
Then we continued on to a tiny village way off in the mountains. I have to say that the drive was vey scary!! Honestly, I couldn’t believe that we were driving down these roads that didn’t even look like roads, more like dirt paths where you could actually see it washed out it places. Not to mention it drops straight off.
The tiny village was shocking really. They set up this little market just for us! We had a little demonstration on weaving & how they die the wool. Then we had some time to purchase goods. Of course you had to buy something – how could you not?! Just seeing how & where these people live is so eye opening.
We went to the Pisac ruins and then we had a great lunch. I had alpaca for lunch – really.
We finished the day in the village of Ollantaytambo, which is the site of another large Inca ruin. We actually went to the home of one of the local families that Roger knew. A different world, let me tell you my friends!
Ollantaytambo and the Inca site overlook the Urubamba River Valley. It is beautiful, really beautiful. The ruin site is best known for surviving a major battle with the Spanish. It is also the best example of Inca urban planning & engineering.
We were exhausted already and we hadn’t even started the hike! Ollantaytambo is at a lower altitude than Cusco so even though we had done a lot of walking & climbing around it was easier to breathe. We spent the night in a small hotel in the village. The Inca trail began the next day.
I’m off now to meet a friend I met in the Galapagos. He is here from Australia competing in an Ultimate Frisbee competition, we are going to go explore a famous cemetery……
jennifertravelsdotnet 
Jen, When you talked about hiking Picho, I began to worry about mud slides. I am very happy that you did not have a major one. I remember being on a bus and going up and down mountain sides in Columbia. All of a sudden the mountain side was gone. We had a get off the bus, climb up over the slide and get an oncoming bus on the other side. I know exactly what you mean about scary! It would be much more scary now that I am older. You look wonderful in your pictures. Now I feel that I have to climb that mountain. omg. I wonder if my legs are long enough to do it.
Love your blog!!!!! keep it going. Thank you!!
LikeLike