Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was the thing I was most looking forward to on this trip. Originally I wanted to try and do the Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu but eveything said you needed to book it months in advance (there are only 200 tourist permits available a day) and since I didn't know when we would reach Cuzco I didn't want to book it too far in advance and figured we could just do one of the other treks to Machu Picchu instead. As we got to Peru and I started asking around and heard that there might be a possiblility that we could still do it, so during our first day in Cuzco I check out the permits and got us booked to do the classic Inca Trail 3 days later. In March it's still the rainy season and not the most ideal time to do the Inca trail, so there were still days available in March. However April - June was already all booked up.

The night before we were suppose to set off we had a briefing were we heard about what was in store for us, met the rest of our group and got our bags to fill for the next day.

That night we went back to our hotel and had the task of packing our duffle bag with 9kg worth of stuff or rather 6kg since the sleeping bag and mat used up 3kg of our limit. We then set our alarm for 4:30am so we would be ready when they picked us up at 5:00am the next morning. Turns out we were the first people to get picked up and they came early with the hotel knocking on our door at 4:45am, thankfully we were up and pretty much ready to go and just had to store our bags in the hotel before following the porter to the bus.

Day 1:  PATALLAQTA- CUSICHAKA- WAYLLABAMBA, AYAPATA
Distance Travelled: 12 km, Time: 6-7 hours,  Ascent up: 620 m

Our journey started with a 3 hour bus ride from Cusco to Piskacucho travelling through the Sacred Valley. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast before arriving in Piscacucho (2,680m). There we  met  the porters who would be carrying our belonging  and got our things in order.


Passports in hand, we cleared the official Inca Trail check point before crossing a  bridge across the Urubamba River to begin our trek.  The first three hours were super easy on relatively level terrain with a beautiful view along the river and nice sunny weather.   We stopped for  lunch after 3 hours before starting another 3 hours  of walking  to the village of Wayllabamba (3,000m), followed by an uphill climb through woods and along a stream to our first camp at Ayapata (3,300m). It was actually the last hour of walking which was the hardest because we were starting to get tired  and the last hour is all uphill  (300m)  and steep. To add to this it had started to rain during this last hour. So when we finally arrived at the camp, needless to say we were all very happy and even more excited when we found ladies at our camp selling beer which everyone in our group indulged in.  They also had 'happy hour' ready which consisted of hot beverages (tea, coffee, hot chocolate) cookies and popcorn which we ate while we waited for dinner.

One thing I have to  mention is the food, they actually have a chef and assistant chef that travel with you and cook all your meals, so the food on the Inca trail is absolutely AMAZING! Whenever they would bring out the food we were always shocked by the  great food. It was some of the best food I had in Peru and not at all what I would have expected to be eating while hiking.

Another thing I need to mention is the porters. These are the guys that carry all the equipment for the entire group including all the food, propane tanks, tents, luggage, and even any garbage we create. For our group of 18 people there were 22 porters. Each porter carries up to 25kg and you have the option of paying extra to have a porter carry your bags, which everyone in our group did. This means that all you actually carry is a small knapsack with 1 litre of water, some snacks and a raincoat while the porters carry giant packs along the same trail as us. The worst part is while you're winded walking the trail, they RUN by you with these huge loads on your back while wearing sandels.  They would always leave later then us to clean up after lunch or take down the tents in the morning but would still manage to pass us on the trail with enought time to have lunch or our camp all set up by the time we arrived.


Day 2: AYAPATA- LLULLUCHAYOQ- DEAD WOMAN´S PASS- PACAYMAYO- RUNKURAKAY- SAYAQMARKA- CHAKICOCHA
Distance Travelled: 16 km, Time: 7-8 hours, Ascent up: 900 m

The second day is the most difficult day of the Inca trail because you travel through Dead womans pass at 4200m but it's also the longest day with 16km of walking.  So our day started bright and early with us waking up at 5:00am. The nice thing about the wake up call however is they come to your tent with a warm cup of coca tea. Trevor was oppose to tea before this trip but even he couldn't turn down the hot cup of coca tea and soon discovered he actually liked tea. The bad thing about the start of this day was that it had rained throughout the night and was still raining, so we all prepared for a rainy night. Because of rain and high altitude it was pretty cloudy so the view was a bit lost on us, although we could see some snow-covered mountains.  We began the day with a 900-m ascent up to the Warmiwanusca (Dead Woman’s) Pass at 4,800. I thought this was going to be the worst part of the hike but actually managed it quite well and ended up being one of the faster people to complete this portion. At the top we take a quick rest before beginning a steep descent into the Pacaymayo Valley on the other side and enjoyed lunch.

In the afternoon we then began a second ascent, this time to the ruins at Runcuracay, located a bit below the Runcuracay Pass (3,950m). From here, most of the trail was downhill until we reached the ruins at Sayacmarca where we got to spend some time exploring although we weren't as energetic  and didn't appreciate it as much as we should of since we were all cold and wet from a day of hiking in the rain. We then had another 1 hour of uphill climbing  to our camp.

Regardless of how tired we all were  none of us seemed to be able to sleep well and the second night was the worst sleep for me. It was POURING rain all night, it was the coldest night and regardless of the mats you know you're sleeping on the ground. The best part of the night however was when my brother tried to beat me up. We were sharing a tent and of course I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I tried to be as quiet as possible and managed to make it outside our tent and was just zipping it up so the rain won't get it when I tap his foot and woke him up. Trevor, half asleep thought someone was breaking into our tent and started yelling and kicking me as hard as he could until he finally realized it was me.

Day 3: CHAKICOCHA- AOBAMBA- PHUYUPATAMARKA- INTIPATA- WIÑAYWAYNA
Distance Travelled: 10km, Time: 5 hours, Descent : 700 m

The third morning we got to sleep in till 6:30 again with a hot tea wake up call again. Unfortunately it was still raining when we woke up so we prepared for another day of rain. This days hike was a much more down hill and significantly shorter than yesterdays but what I discovered was that it's not uphill that effected my hip but rather downhill so I actually kind of prefered the uphill. It also didn't help that  because of all the rain the downhill spots where actually a mini waterfall so you had to be extra careful going down.

The good news was around mid-morning the rain stopped and as we decended it started to warm up so we could get rid of our raincoats and switch back to tshirts. When we arrived at the site of Winaywayna we had beautiful weather  and could really appreciate the view. We then  completing the short hike to our camp site for the night. After lunch, we then visited the adjacent site of Intipata with its dramatic terrances which was probably my favorite Inca ruin beside Manchu Picchu of course.


We were also told that at this campsite we could pay for a hot shower here but we soon discovered it was closed for construction and your only shower option was a FREEZING cold shower. So after three days of treking and pretty much wearing the same wet clothes I felt I needed to suck it up and take the cold shower which really was FREEZING cold and pretty much a polar bear dip. It wasn't the best shower but I did feel so much better after. 

Day 4: WIÑAYWAYNA- INTUPINKU
Distance Travelled: 8 Km,  Time: 6 hours, Descent : 300 m

There are various groups doing the Inca trek and all groups camp at different spots each night except for the last night when all groups end up the same place and wake up early for the last day.

Our group had our wake up call at 3:30am so we could have breakfast and be the first group lined up to get into the park. This meant that we spent an hour and half waiting in line for the park to open. You then had a 1-2 hour hike in darkness to Inti Punku (the Sun Gate), overlooking Machu Picchu for the first rays of the sunrise. You would think this last part would be easy but it actually had some significant upward stretches including the "gingo killer" which is a very steep staircase which half the people end up crawling.

Thanksfully the weather had been good so far and when we reached the Sun Gate we were  one of the first groups and able to see Machu Picchu. Althought shortly after it clouded up and the groups that weren't quite as fast as us didn't get a clear view.

From Inti Punku, we  had an easy 40-minute hike that brought us to  Machu Picchu itself. Unfortunately by the time we reached Machu Pichu it was completely covered in clouds and looked like it was going to rain which it did. Our guides took us on an hour tour of Manchu Pichu in the pouring rain and to be honest, our group was a bit depressed and dishearted at this point because we were all afraid we had trekked all this way in the rain and won't even going to get any good pictures of Machu Picchu. Luckly around 10:30, just after our tour ended the rain stopped and the clouds cleared to provide a beautiful day and perfect conditions for viewing Machu Picchu in all it's wonder.



We did the 4 day/4 night deal so while the rest of our group had to leave Machu Picchu at 1 pm we got to spend the afternoon just sitting on the hillside admiring it. And if anyone is visiting Manchu Picchu independently I would actually recommend going later because all the trekkers and tour groups seen to leave at 1 so it's actually significantly less crowded and more peaceful in the afternoon. We then spent the night in Aguas Calientes before catching the train back to Cusco where a much needed day of rest was required.

So was it worth it? I'd say yes and agree with what Trevor when he said "I'm really glad I did it but I probably won't do it again". I think it definitely made me appreciate Machu Picchu more taking the same trail the Inca people used to take to get there and visiting all the Inca sites along the way. But Trevor and I were both tired by the end, our bodies did ache for a couple days after especially when trying to climb stairs.