Machu Picchu Inca Trail, Peru
Whilst I was travelling in Peru I trekked along the Machu Picchu Inca Trail and it certainly was an interesting trek! The trek starts in Cuzco and lasts 4 days. There are shorter versions of the trek where you get driven most of the way, you can even get driven right up to the site - but where’s the fun in that!
The first day went alright, though we did leave a little late, something about some peoples passports. I nearly did make it to the bus as the person who booked my trip didn’t inform the guide where I was staying and so I didn’t have anyone come and pick me up from my hostel. After a quick walk into town I found the person who had booked my trip and he managed to get me to the right bus, nothing is ever straight forward when you’re travelling. But we got to the first camp site after about half a days walk gradually up hill - nice and easy to break us in gently to the hike. Everything at the camp was fine, food was good and so were the tents and sleeping bags so it wasnt that cold at night.
On the second we had to climb up a mountain, which was 4200m high, whose Spanish name i cant remember but it is called ‘Dead Womans Pass’ in English, this is because the mountain looks like a woman lying down. Anyway as we got to the top all these clouds start coming in and it starts to snow, and not just light fluffy snow but a blizzard. We climbed about 100m down the otherside managed to get a tent set up and had something to eat. when it had passed we continued down the otherside to our campsite for the night. All the way down there was a mist that you couldnt see more than a couple of meters in front of you and rain which made the path slippery and as the mist meant that you couldnt see what was below it was quite a climb. Fortunately i had a waterproof poncho to keep the rain off which is basically a plastic sheet with a hole cut in it for your head.
On the third day it started off cloudy but it wasnt raining and there was no mist. We had to climb another pass which was about 3800m up As we started to climb clouds started to come in and again just as we crossed the top in came the rain and mist for the trip down. After we had got to the bottom of the other side the rain stopped and the mist had lifted so we got to see some inca ruins. As we ate lunch the weather turned bad again and while we trekked to the campsite for the night we couldnt see any of the views of the valley below. After about an hour at the campsite the rain and mist went so we could trek back abit along the way we had came to get some photos of what we had missed. With the missed gone we could see the valley below and before we didnt realise how big a drop there was and we probably wouldnt have gone as fast along the path! What we were hoping for was good weather for the next day as this was when we were going to see machu picchu.
Throughout the night it rained and at 3 in the morning we had to get up and head down the mountain to the site of machu picchu for sunrise. Running down a mountain in the dark while it is raining on a slippery path is not the best thing to do, but we all got there fine and it did clear up as the sun came up. Machu picchu was good though i think we were all too tired to really appreciate it. We got a tour round it showing us the main points and then were given some free time for ourselves. This other guy and i climbed up another mountain nearby (as if four days trekking wasnt enough!) because there supposed to be a good view from there and there was.
We spent the night in a town near by and then got a train to one village where we could get a bus to Cuzco where the rest of the luggage was. But the bus broke down halfway along the trip. We managed to get a lift from someone who was going that way.
There was 2 in the front 4 in the back and 3 in the boot, it was an estate or something. Little did we know that this driver was the craziest driver i have ever seen and i have been with some crazy drivers! He must have thought he was a rally driver or something, he spent most of the time on the wrong side of the road overtook at the most stupidest places and nearly hitting oncoming traffic! Anyway I got back to Cuzco safe and sound. I had a great time and apart from the weather its was a really good trip, good food ( i do like my food!), and the tents we waterproof which is always handy, the people i travelled with and the guide were good fun as well.
I'm Doug Platts and this is my travel blog from my trips around the world. On my travel blog I speak about many places I have been to and include my travel photos of what I have seen. If you have a travel blog or have travel photos you want to share please contact me. Or if would like to write a travel article for my travel blog, or would like to share travel tips or advice to publish here please let me know.
