Peru 2025 - The Hike to Machu Picchu

We slept I until 5:00am today.     Breakfast at the hostel turned out to be one cup of bad coffee, a small glass of some sort of fruit juice that we couldn’t identify, and a little basket of rolls with butter and jam.     Not what we’ve become accustomed to on this trip, but there are literally no other options. We eat quickly and meet our guides in the lobby at 6:00am to jump back on a bus to go back up to Mach Picchu for our in-depth tour.     Alvin took us around the site explaining several important areas and more recent history related to government corruption (it happens in more than a than the U.S.!) and how some high-ranking politicians are likely funneling tourism money somewhere instead of it going to the people in the area where Machu Picchu is located.     [Photos above:  Machu Picchu] After the tour, we went back down for a final group meal and, after our train out of town was delayed for a hour, we finally boarded.    ...

Today we start the last leg of the journey to Machu Picchu. As I mentioned before, our itinerary got changed due to the landslides this spring.     The trail is always closed in the spring because that is the rainy season here, and it’s too dangerous for hikers to be on the trail.     It’s also the time they typically make any needed repairs.     In February and March, there was so much rain that it caused landslides that damaged a lot of the trail.     They worked hard to repair it, and it was actually closed for a few weeks at the beginning of the season.     As a result, our third and fourth days changed (due to the campsite we were going to stay in on Day 3 being damaged).     The original plan was to hike most of the way to Machu Picchu, camp, and then get up at 3:00am to hike for a few hours on Day 4 to arrive at dawn.     The plan was changed for us to have a much longer hike on Day 3 all the way to the Sun Gat...

At 4:20am, there was a knock on the tent.    “ Buenos Dias senior!  Coca tea!”     Believe it or not, I slept fairly well.     Probably due to being exhausted.    It was a cold night, but the sleeping bag was warm.     The porters brought us hot water to wash up a little, and then we frantically packed up our belongings and sleeping bag and it was off to the breakfast tent.  Fresh fruit, apple crepes, and quinoa porridge with cinnamon today.   I’m going to need to find an apple crepe recipe.   We started on the trail just before 6:00am, and it was uphill all the way.  And I mean all the way.  Three and a half hours up uneven stone steps, and at pretty  high altitude now.  It was very, very hard.  This was the worst leg of the entire hike.  Your legs are burning, you have to stop regularly just to catch your breath because you’re huffing and puffing and can’t breathe.  I probably look...

I couldn’t sleep.     I kept thinking I had forgotten to pack something essential.     I went to bed at 9:30 knowing I had to wake up at 3:00am.    I set three alarms, and then for good measure called the front desk for a wake up call.     I’m sure I saw 11:30 before I fell asleep.     As it turns out, I didn’t need any alarm because I was awake at 2:20am for good.     It is what it is, now it’s time to go!     I do a final check and go downstairs to wait for Alpaca Expeditions to pick me up.     They arrived at 4:15, and by 4:35 we had collected everyone in Cusco and were on the road to KM 82, the official start of the Inca Trail.     Once we got our passports checked, we had a quick group meeting to talk about the day and then we were off at 8:45.    Our primary guide is Alvin, and we decided our team name would be “ Alvin and the Chinchillas.”  🤷🏼‍♂️ It was a beautiful day, and ...

 …but I hurt all over.  I’ll work on some posts today while traveling to Lima.   Inca Trail total step count:  101,351 over four days.  Now, this may not make sense because a meter is a meter, but I can assure you that some meters are much longer than others.

I had several things on the list today, as it will be my last full day in Cusco before I leave to start hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu!  I will be coming back here late in the day on Monday, but I expect I will be exhausted and not wanting to do much but shower, go out for a nice meal, and then go to bed.  My first stop this morning was back to San Blas to hopefully get some better photos.  Getting up early paid off, and I was actually able to get a few good ones before too many other people showed up. [Photos above:  Siete Borreguitos, a very pretty stairway that everyone likes to photograph; Aqueduct] After successfully getting these photos and walking around the area a bit more, I made my way down to Three Monkeys Coffee.  I had read that this was a must if you like coffee, but I kind of forgot about it until a friend suggested I go.  I chose a pour-over filtered coffee called Inkawasi from this region of the country.  The flavor profile high...