Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

---

Well, it's been a week since I finished the Inca Trail, so I need to apologize for not writing for awhile. I had an incredible(ly tiring) time hiking the four days and have more photos of Machu Picchu than you can imagine. We hiked about 17km each day which doesn't seem so bad, except that on day 2 we climbed up 1,000m (over 3,000ft) in 2 hours to the highest point of the trail (4,280m=over 14,000ft) and that was just the first part of the day's hike! I thankfully spent three days before the hike in Cusco (the nearest city to Machu Picchu) which is 3,600m above sea level, so I had no problems with the high altitude on the hike. Well, no dizzy headache problems, but I was still sucking wind getting up the mountains!

The 4 day hike to Machu Picchu follows the Incan route to the sacred city that the Incan royalty would've taken to get there. There are many ruins along the way that were check points and temples to control the Incans going to the city as well as some small houses/meeting points. Basically I saw a lot of Incan architecture. But traveling through these ruins, following the ancient trail, and seeing Machu Picchu for the first time exactly from the same place as the Incan royalty would've was breathtaking. Other visitors come by bus and are below the city, where as the Inca trail brings you from above, from the mountains surrounding it. My group opted to finish the hike in 3 days (the 4th day is usually finished in the wee hours of the morning, arriving at the city for sunrise) which allowed us to see the sunset over Machu Picchu, and then return the following morning before anyone else arrived to see the sunrise. I can't desrcibe what I saw, so you are just going to have to look at my pictures. Just know that after three days of strenuous hiking, my friends and I were still so excited and pumped to be there, that we decided to hike to the top of Wañapicchu, the tallest hump-like mountain behind the city itself. The views from the temple atop Wañapicchu were definately worth the almost-vertical 45 minute climb. What I want to know is what the Incans were thinking in the first place, building temples that difficult to reach!

I met some great people on the trail, and had an amazing time not only hiking, but in Cusco as well (it's a bit of a party city.) Now I am back in Miraflores, Lima for a few days before heading to Iquitos, a city at the start of the Amazon River. I'll keep you posted on my jungle discoveries!

---

Photos

Machu Picchu in the sun
Taken after daybreak

Machu Picchu in the fog
This is right before the sun began to shine over the mountains, around 6am

Dead Woman's Pass
This is from the top of the pass, over 14,000 ft up! We hiked all the way from the valley below.

Temple of the Sun
This is the Temple of the Sun at Machu Picchu, the first place the sun hits in the morning.

Incan stairs
This is a typical Incan staircase, of which I climbed many!

Cusco's central plaza
This is a view of Plaza de Armas from the terrace in my hostel.

My Friend
I made friends with this little kitten at the hostel.

Comments

[Dad]

Wow
Hey, Hon, your travel site is great, I really get a chance to see and read what you are experiencing. fuf

[John Anne and Isabelle]

Hiking
This sounds wonderful!!! You continue to be in our prayers!

[CJ]

Purr
What awesome pics. And purr to the kitten how adorable. I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures!!!