Machu Picchu

As I mentioned in the previous post, I split from James and Jordan for the trek to Machu Picchu. They pre-booked the classic Inca Trail, while I took a last minute “Salkantay Mountain” trek. To read about James and Jordan’s experience, check out Jordan’s blog http://beta.offexploring.com/johombre.

The Salkantay trek is a 5 day walk through the mountains, with long days consisting of 5am wake-ups (with warm coca tea to get our brains going) and around 17-22 kilometres of walking. It sounds hard, and it is, but the trek is made ALOT easier because donkeys carry everything that is needed, leaving ourselves carrying just small daypacks.

The first day we walked 20 kilometres up a dirt road to a very pretty but cold campsite nestled in between some peaks. The night made me very thankful I had warm long underwear and wool socks!

The second day was my favourite day: we left the road behind us and instead hiked up a narrow winding path. towards Salkantay Mountain.

My hiking group huddling for a picture in the cold wind and rain.

In the morning we reached Salkantay Mountain, the highest peak in the area surrounding Machu Picchu (maybe the highest in Peru?). There we reached the highest point of the trek, 4800 metres, before we descended in the fog and rain to our lunch spot.

By afternoon it warmed up, and the weather stayed nice for the remainder of the trek.  

The second night was a much more comfortable temperature, and the third day we continued to descend through valleys until we reached a tropical climate again.

Beautiful hot springs greeted our weary bones on the third night, and a bus took us part of the distance on the fourth day, leaving us at the town of Aguas Calientes on the last night for our final ascent: Machu Picchu. The hike up Machu Picchu was the most gruelling of the whole 5 days, but we did it at 5:00am so at least it was still cool out. Needless to say I was dripping with sweat by the time we made it through the gates and got our first glimpse of Machu Picchu.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about Machu Picchu, and it was very interesting to learn why it was built and to learn about the lives of the Incans who lived there. Contrary to what I had previously believed, the reason for building the town of approximately 1000 people is not a complete mystery to us; in fact Machu Picchu is strategically located at the end of the Andean region and the beginning of the jungle region to help the Incan king negotiate with the many nearby tribal leaders.

Machu Picchu was discovered by an American archaeologist named Hiram Bingham in 1911, and he made the town famous by writing articles about it and publishing pictures in National Geographic and other magazines. However, when Hiram Bingham found Machu Picchu, he also found families living right outside the gates of Machu Picchu. In fact, a 9 year old boy gave Hiram Bingham a tour of the town when he arrived! Many other village people living in the valleys nearby Machu Picchu were also aware of the town, which is how Hiram Bingham found it in the first place.

I was able to hike up a peak right next to Machu Picchu called Huaynapichu. Huaynapichu also has paths and terraces built by the Incas, and a bird’s eye view of the town.

Before I left Machu Picchu I took a quick stroll down one of the nearby Incan trails leading away from Machu Picchu. The path I took led to the “Incan Bridge”, which is a very narrow path chiselled into the side of a massive cliff by the Incas. People are not allowed to walk on the path today, because it is no more than a couple feet wide, and one slip would surely lead to death.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next blog post coming in a couple days. It will be a special edition dedicated to one of the three amigos!