Inca Jungle Trek

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We decided to do the four day Inca Jungle Trek to get to Machu Picchu.

Day 1: We were picked up at our hotel and transported to Abra de Malaga Pass (4400 m.a.s.l). Here we hopped on some ridiculously dodgy bicycles and went cascading down a super curvy mountain side on the highway. Dodging vehicles, debris, and other cyclists, we made our way to the end a couple of hours later into the subtropical jungle region. From there, we hopped back on the bus and went to a small town called Santa Maria. There was really nothing to do there (pop. 200) so we killed time watching some of the local kids play soccer until dinner.

Day 2: We got up bright and early for breakfast before heading out on our hike. From Santa Maria we hiked to another town called Santa Teresa. We hiked through the jungle with some beautiful scenery. Again, there were many fruit plants along the way: bananas, pineapples, lemons, limes, oranges, adean fruits, avocados, coffee bean plants, cocoa and coca! Also on this path was an original Inca Trail, we headed up and down the steep rocky steps until reaching a great viewpoint. Our trek further continued into a portion of mass landslides from the year before, the damage was pretty bad. We finally ended up in Santa Teresa many hours later where we spent the night.

Day 3: From Santa Teresa we walked along a road to the hydroelectric station. These 3 hours were horrible! It was so hot out and there was little to no shade available for the entire route. We were quite happy to arrive at the lunch place. The next 4 hours of the hike we walked beside the train tracks through the jungle to get to Aguas Calientes or Machu Picchu town. Along the way we could actually see Machu Picchu from below as we made our way around the mountain side.

Day 4: We woke up early and headed up to Machu Picchu, the lines were long but it was all worth it once we finally made it in. I was feeling pretty ill so I was more than happy to take a nap on top of Waynu Picchu once we climbed to the top. Binns went off exploring while I "guarded" the bags. The views were awesome. We had an early train time which ended up working in our favor, as we arrived back in Cusco around 6:30pm, shortly before most people in our group would even be getting on the train!! We spent the rest of the night getting take out and relaxing!

Today we will be checking out more sights around Cusco and booking a bus to Copacabana, Bolivia.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

A beautiful part of the world
The view overlooking Machu Picchu is amazing as you know. We didn't do the hike but imagine it is amazing and memorable.