Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru

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Machu Picchu is one of the best-known tourist attractions in South America and it probably doesn't need much of an introduction. There are many ways to get there and I am describing the route that I took. I was recommended a tour company called Conde Travel by a couple of Swiss folk I met in La Paz and I am glad I took their advice. The tour I went on was not part of the official Inca Trail as access to that route is limited and permits have to be obtained well in advance; however I the tour I took was an excellent alternative.

Day one began with a pick-up from my hostel at 7.30 am and this was followed by a bus ride of several hours until we reached a hill top at some 4500 metres above sea level. (I have to admit that I can't remember the name of the place we started from.) There were 10 of us initially: five English guys from my hostel, a Peruvian couple and two Germans. We were joined on day two by another German girl, who was sick on day one. The German guy delayed us at the start with his repeated complaints about the bike while the woman bitched to me about the young English guys. This gave an early indication of what the German couple were like.

The bike ride was quite simillar to the "Death Road" tour that I did in La Paz; although without the large drops down the side of the road. The scenery was no less spectacular and there was a simillar change of surroundings and termperature as we descended to our first stop st Santa Maria, which sits at around 1500 metres. We all had a good time except Will, one of the English guys. We hadn't seen him for ages and we were sitting on a bench in a town along the route when he turned up. One of his mates asked him how he was getting on and he said "I have had four punctures, I've lost a pedal and I've been bitten by a dog!" It's fair to say it wasn't the best day of his trip, but he remained in reasonably good spirits. In the evening a couple of us played football with the locals in a match arranged by our guide, Hugo, before getting an early night.

Day two began with a walk through old Santa Maria, which was the town that existed in the area before a flood forced the residents to move to the new site. We passed through the valley and up over a hill; sampling fruits, berries and peppers along the way. We also passed many kids along the way who sell drinks and the German guy made himself look even worse by haggling ten pence off the price of a drink with some poor, shoeless, seven year old Peruvian girls.

Our first main stop along the way was at a house in the hills where the owner had a selection of food and drinks, animals and hammocks. The animals were cool; especially her pet monkey. We all got photographs taken with the monkey but we couldn't hold him too long as he had a weak bladder and he pissed on a few of us; including yours truly! We said goodbye to Monkey and co before proceeding along our path to Santa Teresa.

The route took us over a hill that offered some amazing views of the mountains and valleys and down into a small town by the river, where we had lunch. After lunch we walked parallel to the river for several hours over grass, rock, gravel and bog. We crossed the river on a shaky wooden bridge at one point and then crossed back later, two-at-a-time in a basket suspended from a cable that was provided, amongst 49 others, by the Canadian Government in response to the 1997 flood.

Our trekking for day two ended at an outdoor bath that is supplied by naturally-warm spring water. Despite the falling rain and falling temperature, these baths still provided a relaxing way to rest our tired legs and blistered feet. We opted to catch a "colectivo" up to Santa Teresa, which is where we spent the second night. A "colectivo" is a people carrier available to the public where the aim seems to be to see how many people can be squeezed into one vehicle. Again, we all had a pretty early night as we had been up since 5.30 am.

The morning of day three was spent walking along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes; the rip-off town below Machu Picchu. Two of the English guys took the train because they hoped to get back to Cusco early. This might not have been a bad idea as walking along the tracks became a bit repetitive. We met them again in Aguas Calientes later as they had found out they couldn´t get a train back that evening and that they had to stay.

After lunch, a group of us climbed a hill opposite the one on which Machu Picchu sits and there were more amazing views of the mountains from it. We also got our first views of Machu Picchu itself; although from a distance. On this hill there were some ridiculously long and steep ladders. There is no way he public would be allowed up such ladders in the West as one was over fifty feet high and we had no ropes or helmets. We made it back down safely though and had yet another early night.

Our final day commenced at 4.30 am when we sang happy birthday to the Peruvian girl in our group. After that we set off for Machu Picchu so that we could see it before the majority of the tourists arrived. Four of the English guys had the good idea of lying in bed and catching the bus up, but the rest of us walked. Will and I raced ahead and got there in about 45 minutes, which was a good half an hour above average. It might not have been the best thing to do though since it meant we had to wait about 40 minutes for the rest of the group.

Machu Picchu is well known so I won't try to describe it here. All I will say is that it was awesome and well worth the effort taken to get there. We spent the rest of the afternoon and the rest of our money in Aguas Calientes before catching a train and a bus to Cusco. The train got stuck for an hour and a half because of a landslide and we were annoyed when we finally got moving and realised we had only been about 10 minutes from the town we were due to get a bus from. The bus driver drove like a maniac and let in random Peruvians to sit on the floor so it was a bit of an uncomfortable ride. We finally made it back to Cusco at about 11.30 and it was time to head straight to bed.

I took a lot of photos on this trek and therefore I have had to create two Facebook albums for them. They can be found at the following links:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29591&l=2876c&id=603086503

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29596&l=1cf75&id=603086503

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