DAY 20: CUSCO CITY AND THE SHAMAN For today I had arranged a session with a shaman, who was to help me clean my soul by way of drinking San Pedro juice. San Pedro is a cactus used by the Peruvian shamans to help people contact their sixth sense and has been used by native Peruvians for more than 3000 years. It is also used as a medicine to treat nervous conditions, cardiac diseases, and high blood pressure. I paid US$ 80.00 for the session, which took place in an old, abandoned colonial house located in the middle of a mountain [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 19: OLLANTAYTAMBO, PISAC, TAMBOMACHAY, QENQO Y SACSAYHUAMAN I awoke early and arrived at the ruins of Ollantaytambo in order to see the sunrise. At 7:15 a.m. the sun hit the eye of the Llama, which is a rock inside of a short square wall located at top of the ruins. When the sun hits it, the winter solstice has officially begun. I saw a flash of light hitting the ground inside of the square and another small flash of light heating the ground out of it. It was pretty impressive. I then walked around the ruins and took some pictures [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 18: OLLANTAYTAMBO, CHINCHERO, MORAY AND MARAS I can’t remember if I set the alarm clock the night before to see the winter solstice ceremony, but in any event I didn’t wake up at 4:00 a.m. After writing some notes and taking a shower, I went to the hotel’s restaurant and enjoyed their huge buffet. I left the hotel without having a clear idea of what to do. When I arrived at the main square, I decided to hike the hill that is in front of the Ollantaytambo Ruins because on this hill are four Inca buildings. I had to ask [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 17: THE LAST DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL As usual on the Inca Trail a porter woke me up at 4:30 a.m. My stomach was feeling weird this morning, so I decided to pack and eat something light. We started the hiking at 5:15 a.m., arriving at the check point only 5 minutes later. There was a pretty big line here because the check point would be open at 5:30 a.m. A flashlight at this point is extremely important because there is no light this early in the morning. Maria told me that this checking point is very important because [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 16: THIRD DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL The first destination for today was the Inca ruins of Runkuraqay (12,470 feet), which our group reached after a 40 minute hike. Apparently this was a religious place of training and preparation for the Inca priests. The Incas did not have writing, so archeologists have different theories about the Inca’s ruins, but not a definite one. Most of what is known about the Incas is because of the legends and myths that were passed down by word of mouth. Shortly after leaving Runkuraqay I reached another pass and then I found that much [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 15: SECOND DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL I awoke at 3:00 a.m. to the song of a cock, who repeated its singing every half hour. Without a doubt, that cock did not pass the class that teaches to sing only with the sunrise. Anyway, at 5:30 a.m. one of the porters woke me and gave me a hot coca leaf tea. After breakfast one of the crew offered boiled water and snacks for the trek. I returned the boiled water shortly after getting it though because Maria told me that there was one last selling point where I could get [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 14: FIRST DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL The day that I’d been anticipating for so long finally arrived. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to take a shower, eat breakfast and leave my big backpack in the storage room of the hotel where I was staying in Cusco City. I met my tour guide Maria in the hotel lobby at 6:40, and we left for the bus, where we met the rest of the group. There were 9 other hikers (2 from Holland, 2 from Denmark, 2 from the US and 4 from Peru including me), 6 porters, 2 cooks, [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 13: CUSCO CITY After waking up at 8:00 a.m. and taking a long, hot shower, I walked to the main square and enjoyed again the beautiful feeling that embraces me each time that I am in Cusco. I do not know why, but I feel different and full of energy when I am here. In the main square I met Jose. He was my contact in Cusco to hike the Inca Trail. I had booked my Inca Trail with him on March, 27th because of availability. I invited him to eat breakfast in one of the restaurants with a view [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 12: PUNO - CUSCO After a shower and breakfast I was ready for my guide, Mr. Eduardo Pineda, one of the most popular guides in the area, to pick me up. We started the day’s journey at 5:45 a.m., heading first to Sillustani, located 20 miles from Puno. The entrance ticket to the ruins costs US$ 3.00. I have been before in Puno, but this is another place where I have never been before. On the way there, I watched an amazing sunrise reflecting on a portion of the Titicaca Lake. I saw another lake in Sillustani with a completely [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 11: PUNO (TITICACA LAKE) Around 2:00 a.m. I woke up because it was really cold, so I had to use a couple of blankets to warm me up. (On Amantani Island you won’t find anything like heaters or calefaction because of their living conditions.) Because of this I learned that my sleeping bag wouldn’t keep me warm during the Inca Trail, so I would have to look for a sleeping bag in the range of 20ºF to 10ºF. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to observe the sunrise, and I did it from the window located next to my bed, [View Full Entry]

---

---