Why Peru? At the end of the Kilimanjaro trek, my new adventure friends were talking about where to go next and I believe it was Manuel who said, Machu Picchu! Well, one of the great wonders of the world sounded like the perfect next hiking adventure, and friends who had already done it told me that it would soon be overrun with tourists, so I should go sooner rather than later. Perfect!
The Inca Trail seemed a little too easy - 26 miles over 3 days? I've run that in 5 hours! I also wanted to be off the beaten path, so I chose the Salkantay Trek (46 miles over 4 days) and sent the word out to friends to see if anyone wanted to join me. I was extremely happy when my friend Ming (Kili trail name "Mama Kichaa" (crazy mama) to my "Dada Kichaa" (crazy sister) would be joining me on this wonderful journey! I knew it would be a blast :-)
One of our requirements was good food on the trek (after the gruel we were served on the Kili trek), and I got a recommendation from some new hiking friends (thanks Luca and Alex!) that the meals were fantastic on their trek, so we booked with the same company.
The plan was this:
Two days in Cusco to acclimate - touring for a half day the first day, and then the next day would be a full day tour of the Sacred Valley.
Trek day 1: Challacancha to Soraypampa then to Humantay Lake (7.45 miles, max altitude 15,090 feet)
Trek day 2: Soraypampa to the Salkantay Pass, then to Wayracpunka and Chaullay (13.7 miles, max altitude 15,255)
Trek day 3: Chaullay to Collpapampa to La Playa to Lucmabamba (hot springs day!) (11.2 miles)
Trek day 4: Lucmabamba to Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes (11.2 miles)
Trek day 5: Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu
The last two days were going to be spent recovering or exploring.
After traveling all day, we arrived at our hotel (Munay Wasi) in the early morning hours of our first day, and were greeted with Coca Tea and wonderful service - they had our room ready for us. We were picked up at about 1:00 for our half day city tour. One thing to note - our trekking company included the tour, but not the entry fees for the tour sites. This was a little bit annoying!
Cusco is a beautiful, historic city. It was the main city for the Inca's and has beautiful cobblestone streets (small streets - reminded me of my neighborhood and also reminded me a bit of Jerusalem). It's located in the Andes Mountains and has an altitude of 11,152 feet.
Our first stop was the Cathedral - beautiful and filled with gold and silver and ornate carvings (no pictures allowed inside the cathedral :-( )
Our second stop was the Sun Temple - an Inca Temple
We then went to the closest four Inca archeological sites: Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Pucapucara, and Tambomachay.
Again, we weren't told that we would need a "touristo pass" for both days were were on the tours. It was 130 soles (about $40 US), but we didn't know we needed to take out enough cash to cover this expense.
Our hotel lobby - nice and always some coca tea waiting for us!
Munay Wasi Hotel
Typical street in Cusco - narrow, cobblestoned, hill
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| Market in Cusco |
Monument - a man was washing another man's hair on the other side of this.
Sacred Valley Tour - We went to several places over two days:
Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Pucapucara, and Tambomachay
Pisac, Ollantaytambo
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| Um ... Dinner? |
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| Dyeing demonstration - they use beetles for some reds and purples :-) |
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| I just had to do it! |
Sacred Valley tour lots of Inca ruins!
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| This is where our tour people were having lunch - seems to have a Jerusalem connection! Ming and I opted for the little place accross the street :-) |
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| Yummy Cosquena Negra Beer! |
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| The Sun Temple |
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| Giant Peruvian Corn |
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| Had to try it! Cuy ... Guinea Pig! Yes, it was yummy. Chewy skin, not much meat, but yummy! |
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| Chicha Morada - drink made from Peruvian purple corn |
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| Ming in the market |
The Trek
We were picked up at 5:00 am for our first trekking day. Always the first ones to be picked up (kind of annoying), but I was ready and excited!
We met our new friends and trekking partners:
Michelle and Andy from Baltimore
Cristina, Valerian and Sebastian from Romania
Carly from Colorado
Anna from Texas and Alexander from Rhode Island
Alyssa from Canada
Florence from France
and Ming and I added up to 12 trekkers.
Diego and Percy were our guides
Jose and Flora were our horseman and woman
Santos and Ivan were our chef and sous chef
Our first day was beautiful, blue skies and wonderful weather. After about two hours of driving we stopped for breakfast and then were on our way for another two hours of driving.
The first trek of the day was over beautiful and easy terrain, but since we were still getting used to the altitude, it wasn't as easy as it would have been. It was also HOT! Walking up the trail, there were beautiful trees and flowers. We then walked along an "Inca Canal" with cool, clear water. This was a bit disconcerting for me, as there was the canal on one side, a large drop on the other side, and only about 18 inches of trail to walk on in between.
But walk we did, to our first campsite at Soraypampa, There we had a wonderful lunch of the most delicious guacamole I've ever tasted, soup, pickled vegetables, a pumpkin dish with Andes cheese, and a skewer with veggies and just caught trout! Ahhhh - this is the way to trek!
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| Probably the best guac I've ever had! |
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| Our first meal together on our trek |
After lunch we did a hike up to Humantay Lake. It was an extremely hard 3 mile hike to prove that we could do the following day's hike up to the Salkantay Pass, but well worth it. A glacier lake, it was the most beautiful blue/green color and we could see the Humantay Glacier at it's edge. So beautiful!
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| Cows roaming free ... yum! |
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| The other group - Anna from Canada! |
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| Humantay Lake |
After another amazing dinner of soup, pasta, veggies and dessert of a hot rice pudding with blueberries, we went out to look at the stars and constellations. This is one of the reasons I love these trips. No light pollution, no excessive static of cell phones, computers, email, text messages, apps, or any technology whatsoever. The perfect way to rest from our busy lives!
The next day, we started out at 5:30am for our hike up the "Gringo Killer" to Salkantay Pass. We started out slowly going up at a not so bad incline, but I still needed to stop and rest along the way. Then we reached the "Gringo Killer". A trail of switchbacks going up the mountain at a much steeper angle. Here we saw people who had given up and went by horse (NEVER). It took me a while, but I did it! I was double most of the people in our "family's" age and probably had the heaviest pack (took way too much stuff), but I did it, and after lugging up a large rock (Diego told us that the older you are, the bigger your rock should be), I had my prayer moment on the top of Salkantay Pass.
I will probably add more text later, but haven't had the time since I've been home, so getting out the pictures now!
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| Horses on the trail |
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| We made it past the Gringo Killer! |
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| My usual tree pose on top of the rock ... was outdone by Anna and Alex and their yoga poses standing on their heads (note - they're 24 years old and yoga instructors) |
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| We made it! |
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| Toasting Haumantay and Salkantay |
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| Percy, Ming, Diego and me |
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| I'm always trying to climb higher! |
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| Was told to get the biggest rock so I can make a wish at the top. The elder brings the biggest rock to the top :-0 |
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| Pizza ... so delicious! |
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| Hiking down, down, down ... 5000 feet down that day! |
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| Dogs everywhere |
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| Hot Springs! |
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| Ceviche for lunch :-D |
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| Coffee growing on the trees |
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| Roasting the coffee beans |
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| Our aching feet would no longer fit in our boots! |
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| We did it! |
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| Puppy! |
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| Typical bike in Peru |
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| Cute pig on our route |
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| Boil this flower for a nice trip ;-) |
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| Looking down on the river |
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| Camp #2 |
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| 3:30am wake up to get packed and get to the gate of Machu Picchu by 5:00am |
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| She said YES! Congrats Andy and Michelle! |
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| Sunrise over Machu Picchu |
Aguas Callientes:
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| Peru Rail |
Some strange Peruvian dance in Aguas Callientes
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| We walked over railroad tracks with drops into the water .... don't miss the treads! |
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| Pups everywhere - I thought this guy was going with us! |
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| Camp #3 |
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| Machu Picchu Day! |
Cusco is a beautiful, historic city. It was the main city for the Inca's and has beautiful cobblestone streets (small streets - reminded me of my neighborhood and also reminded me a bit of Jerusalem). It's located in the Andes Mountains and has an altitude of 11,152 feet. 
We then went to the closest four Inca archeological sites: Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Pucapucara, and Tambomachay.
We met our new friends and trekking partners:
But walk we did, to our first campsite at Soraypampa, There we had a wonderful lunch of the most delicious guacamole I've ever tasted, soup, pickled vegetables, a pumpkin dish with Andes cheese, and a skewer with veggies and just caught trout! Ahhhh - this is the way to trek!
After lunch we did a hike up to Humantay Lake. It was an extremely hard 3 mile hike to prove that we could do the following day's hike up to the Salkantay Pass, but well worth it. A glacier lake, it was the most beautiful blue/green color and we could see the Humantay Glacier at it's edge. So beautiful!
