Cusco: Week 7--City fun and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

After last week's challenging Salkantay Trek we were super impressed that the kids jumped right into school to stay "on track" as we only had five days before we set off on the Inca Trail. We all nursed our wounds, dealt with a cold that struck the entire family, and had a little fun in the city! We visited the Cusco Planetarium Monday night and got to see Saturn, Jupiter, and a few star clusters of the Milky Way in the telescopes, plus we learned about Southern Hemisphere constellations, the Inca's use of astronomy in daily life, and the dark constellations of the Milky Way that were used by the Incas. It was a really cool night! We also hit trivia night at the Sacred Valley Taproom for another solid 3rd place finish! 

The real fun began Thursday morning at 0500 as we loaded into a van with another couple and our guide, JD, and headed for KM82 outside of Ollantaytambo--the start of the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. After meeting up with our team of 11(!!) porters and the chef, we headed to check in. The Inca Trail is tightly controlled with a limited amount of people per day and can only be done with a guide, so everyone checks in at a ranger station with passports and heads through a visitor center to begin. And then, we were off!

¡Vamos!

Day 1: Cusco - KM82 - Llaqtapata - Wayllabamba Campsite. 12km hiked; 250m ascended.

An "easy" day! We were on the Inca Trail by 0830 and had a pretty easy first few hours of hiking. It was just an easy trail along the river and past many homes where ladies were selling drinks and snacks. About three hours in we passed by the impressive site of Llaqtapata before stopping for lunch. It was such a lazy day that we all napped on the grass for a bit after lunch before starting out for another little bit of hiking. We were at our campsite for the night by 1530 and had a lazy afternoon and evening getting to know our traveling companions, an awesome couple from northern Cali who serve the public as a nurse and a firefighter (and they were on their honeymoon!). We all got along really well from the start and we once again felt fortunate that we had such a great group to trek with.

Llaqtapata archaeological site and a nice, relaxing hike to our peaceful campsite.

Day 2: Wayllabamba - Pass Warmiwañuscca (Dead Woman's Pass, 4200m) - Pacaymayo Campsite. 9km hiked; 1200m ascended; 600m descended. One child questioning her love of family. Knees firmly reminding the old lady that she is, in fact, old.

After a 0500 wakeup we set out on the "challenging" day of the trek as we ascended to Dead Woman's Pass. Very early on I decided that hiking with someone who is intimately familiar with the fireman carry may be a good thing. We took it slow and took a lot of breaks. The weather was clear and sunny as we wove our way around the mountain and through some wooded areas. The altitude wasn't an issue, but the steep climb was definitely a challenge and Katreina was not a fan. But we made it! I'd also like to mention here that the Inca Trail, unlike the Salkantay, has A LOT of stairs on it. Short stairs, tall stairs, uneven stairs, narrow stairs, wide stairs, slippery stairs, stairs, stairs, STAIRS! My hell began about two minutes after the summit as we began our descent down an unending stretch of stairs. We somehow managed to make the journey down to the campsite in less than an hour and a half. We enjoyed an amazing lunch at our campsite with spectacular views, then I consumed a fistful of ibuprofen, took a cold shower, and we once again napped (or at least relaxed on our sleeping mats with a great view of the valley). Trent especially loved the napping action on this trek. The night sky was amazing at this camp and we talked, snacked, and ate with our group for a few hours before turning in.

Thankful for good weather and gorgeous views as we ascended to the highest point on the trek. It was a pretty difficult climb, but...

...we made it to Pass Warmiwañuscca (Dead Woman's Pass)! After a little break at the summit we began the steep descent to our campsite.

I loved this campsite. The views of the valley were just amazing.  While we were there, we got to chat with our team of porters (the youngest was 18!).

Day 3: Pacamayo - Runkuraqay - 2nd Pass (3900m) - Sayacmarca - Puyupatamarca - Intipata - Wiñaywayna. 15km hiked; 360m ascended; 1310m descended. Knees? What knees? 

Hands down, this was the best day of hiking of any of our treks in Peru so far (at least for Frank and I). Why? Well, it wasn't because it was easy or short, that's for sure. But the combo of great weather, amazing Inca sites, stunning scenery, mystical jungles, and great companions made it an epic day! We hiked from just after sunrise to just before sunset and despite the insane pain in my knees I couldn't complain. It was just that good. Today was the day to learn about the different shapes and purposes of the Inca sites, how they were constructed, and how they all were discovered. Sayacmarca stuck out as an amazing site, as did Wiñaywayna. The Inca's understanding of construction, farming, and the seasons, as well as their spiritual beliefs and obvious ability to do really physically hard work are on full display in all of their sites. It's just awe-inspiring. I won't even attempt to convey all that we learned from our guide, JD, here, but I think we all learned a lot and have a better understanding of the people of Peru and their heritage after this trip. Today was also a fun day as the chef made Fiona and Elijah a cake to celebrate their honeymoon (which is incredible considering he had two propane burners and maybe two hours to work with) and after dinner we celebrated our team of porters and the chef with a "tipping" ceremony. They all worked so hard so that this trek was comfortable and relaxing for us and really appreciated them! But then it was a short night of sleep...

We hiked up to Runkuraqay, then through the clouds to Sayacmarca where we learned about the Inca's ritual sacrifices that were carried out on the surrounding mountain peaks.

We continued through dense jungles to our lunch (and llama) stop before continuing to climb to Puyupatamarca. 

Trent tried out the porter's pack before we began our descent to our campsite. Along the way we stopped at the impressive farming terraces of Intipata.

Our campsite was adjacent to the Wiñaywayna site and we made a quick visit before sunset. The people who farmed Intipata lived here and used the area as an agricultural laboratory. Wiñaywayna means "Forever Young."

Day 4: Wiñaywayna - Intipunku - Machu Picchu - Aguas Calientes - Ollantaytambo - Cusco. 5km hiked; 250+m descended. Popping ibuprofen like candy.

After a 0330 wakeup and a quick breakfast, our porters were off to catch a train and we were seated at the checkpoint to begin the final two-hour hike to Machu Picchu. After checking in at the control station, we hiked to Intipunku, or the Sun Gate. We kept up a brisk pace as weather at Intipunku is really variable--the more time you have there, the better chance you have of seeing Machu Picchu from this magical viewpoint. Only a few parts (including a "Gringo Killer" that we actually enjoyed clambering up) were challenging and we made it up there in just over 45 minutes. We stayed there for about an hour and a half, having a snack and catching glimpses of the site here and there as the clouds came and went...it really does add to the mystery of the site! Then we decided to head on down the path to Machu Picchu! With this path we were able to get the "classic" view of the site that we didn't get on our last visit. It was very cool and really brought the trek to an end. The kids crushed it again! After taking photos from the viewpoint, we descended to the lower part of the city for a tour with JD. We covered some of the same areas as we did on our last visit, but this time had better questions to ask. It was super crowded, but we still got to enjoy it and this time we got to visit the Condor Temple which was really awesome. We closed out the day with a bus ride down the mountain, celebratory drinks with our group in Aguas Calientes, a very scenic train ride to Ollantaytambo, and a van ride back to our home in Cusco. 

Up and down many steps to arrive at the Sun Gate!

It wasn't very sunny at Intipunku (the Sun Gate), but we managed to catch glimpses of Machu Picchu as the clouds swirled through (but not easy to photograph!).

We did it! And we got a very different view of Machu Picchu from our previous visit. The site is seriously impressive.

We focused more on the details of the architecture on this visit, and got to visit the  Condor Temple, which features natural stones that look like the sacred condor.

Final thoughts: Which was better, the Salkantay or the Inca Trail? Well, that's really hard to say. They were just different. I liked the remoteness of the first 2.5 days of the Salkantay, but really loved the Inca site/jungle combo of the second half of the Inca Trail. Both boasted a ton of amazing scenery and flora, and both were challenging, and once again we had fabulous travel companions. We were treated to two different experiences at Machu Picchu as well--one was a cloudy, uncrowded, early morning while the other was an epic walk in under mid-morning blazing sun with large crowds. I'd take bits and pieces of each experience to make my true favorite, so just like when picking a favorite child, I just can't! 

I would definitely recommend our tour provider, Inca Trail Machu, and our fabulous guide, JD. Communication was great through the booking process, our inbrief was personal and convenient (at our home), our accommodations along the trail were cozy, the food was amazing (and very plentiful!), the small group was just wonderful (and looked less chaotic than the 15-pax groups we saw on the trail), and all of the transportation went really smoothly. It was another amazing, unforgettable experience for our family! 

~Jo, Nomadic Momma and (still) Denier of Major Knee Issues