We Conquered the Peaks of Machu Picchu

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Here we are in Aguas Calientes - a small villlage just down the hilll from Machu Picchu!!

We have been hiking for the past 4 days straight, including today.

Day 1 was what they call the easy route. And it was...compared to Day 2 at least. We hiked about 11 km that day and it was mainly flat with some old Inca ruins along the way. A team of about 16 porters, each carrying 25 kg on their backs, carried our duffle bags, food, tents...everything we needed. Every time we arrived to our campsite, our tents would be set up and dinner would be in the making..it was pretty amazing. We felt like we were being spoiled.

Day 2 was termed the challenge day. The hike was 8 breathtaking km, literally. We climbed 3000 m to 4200 m where we crossed the pass. We all made wishes at the top of the pass by placing a rock that we carried from the begining and placed on the top of the pass. Our campsite that night was at 3600 m, it was a cold sleep that night. The trail that day was very steep both up and down and 90% of the trail is original from what the Incas made. We were typically going to bed at around 9 or 10pm and being woken up by the porters (with a coffee or tea delivered to our tent door) at 6 am.

Day 3, yesterday (i.e. the unforgettable day according to our guide) was quite incredible. Although it wasn´t as hard hiking we were all pretty sore from the night before and it was the longest hike at 14km in one day. We saw lots of Inca ruins along the way. We crossed both pass 2 and 3, meaning that we had 2 mountains to climb, but they weren´t as steep as pass 1 on day 2. We were able to finally take showers yesterday when we arrived to the campsite. Since yesterday was the last night we said farewell to our porters, the guide and the chef. They sang us a love song in spanish about the machu picchu mountain. We sang a dorky song back about being very thankful. We all went to bed really early since we woke up at 4 am the next day to begin our hike to Macchu Picchu mountain.

On day 4 (today), when we woke up, we wanted to get there before the crowds we sped walk our final 6 km to get to the infamous view of Macchu Pichu mountain. We were all very happy to arrive there. After a tour of some of the main sites, we did some R&R and then VOLUNTEERED to do more trekkiing up a mountain just beside macchu picchu and the ruins. We were glad we did it. It was very verticle and scary up and around the mountain and through caves. (pictures to be posted at a later date).

In all, it was a 42 km hike and definiately was rough on our bodies but it was so worth it. It is probably one of the best things we will ever do. I ran into someone at the bottom of the trek who works at an insurance company in OTtawa as a Kin and she told me they are hiring OTs....I got her contact.

Tomorrow we are going to the sacred valley then off to the amazon.

Hope all is well back home.

C&J

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