Machu Picchu

The weather had been great for the first three days of the trek, and then sometime in the middle of the third night it started pouring. We woke up at 3am to get in line at the checkpoint, and then at 5:30 we started the wet hike to the Sun Gate.

After 4 days of hiking, the first view of Machu Picchu!

BearDog wonders where Machu Picchu went. By the time he posed for the camera, the clouds had moved in.

As we descended, the views improved.

BearDog decides that the hike was worth it.

Machu Picchu is quite large and has no shortage of stones.

The Incas really liked their terraces.

I stayed overnight in Aguas Calientes and hiked Wayna Picchu the second day. Wayna Picchu is the mountain behind Machu Picchu in the previous photos. It had more stairs but I was a pro at that point.

Elevation only 2693 meters? No problem!

I was glad I stayed because it was much clearer the second day. The zigzags are the road leading from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. You can take the bus or walk. After walking for 4 days, choosing the bus was the easiest decision I've ever made.

Shhhh... I'm stalking a llama.

I can take a train back!?

BearDog takes a well-deserved rest after a great hike.

Inca Trail Day 3

On Day 3 we hiked through the cloud forest... and down more stairs.

To see more ruins.

And more stairs.

...and more ruins. As our guide said at our pre-trek briefing, "All you have to do is walk, eat, and sleep."

No wonder the llamas like it here. It's nice and steep.

However, all those stairs and ruins did not get old. As planned, we reached our Day 3 campsite by lunchtime because we had gone so far on Day 2. After lunch we had free time, and those of us that were not napping went to see more ruins.

BearDog investigates the Inca ruins.

Perhaps the Incas built those windows just for us.

The Incas built an irrigation system to bring water into their houses down below.

Ruins at sunset.

Machu Picchu is over there somewhere!

Inca Trail Day 2

The second day of the Inca Trail is the longest. We hiked 10 miles over 2 mountains.

BearDog prepares to hike up to Dead Woman's Pass. The name is from the rock formation at the top that looks like a dead woman lying on her back.

Heading up to the pass, the porters had no trouble - as you can see, they had already packed up camp, run past us, and almost reached the top. Tim, in this photo, sprained his ankle on the way back down from Dead Woman's Pass on Day 2. Since we were in the middle of nowhere, he bandaged it up, took some ibuprofen, and managed to finish the 4 day hike.

Almost there.

We made it!

Dead Woman's Pass is at an elevation of 4215 meters = 13,828 feet. That's why I spent so much time acclimating in Cusco.

Good job, BearDog!

Some groups set up camp after they hiked up, over, and down the first mountain, but not us, we kept going over the next one too.

Stopping to enjoy the view on the way down.

There were Inca ruins scattered about, here and there. I'm pretty sure we all took photos of all of them.

Inca Trail Day 1

The Incas built many trails, but I hiked the most famous one, the 4-day trek to Machu Picchu. After meeting in Cusco at 4:30am, we took a bus to the start of the trail.

There were 11 of us - 6 from the UK, 4 from the US, and 1 from Australia. Also, 2 guides, 2 chefs, and a lot of porters to carry everything for us - I could get used to that lifestyle.

The porters were incredible. While I carried less than 10 pounds, mostly consisting of water, a camera, and a jacket, they each carried about 70 pounds! They brought along all the camping gear and cooking items for 4 days of hiking. Not only that, but shortly after we left camp they would have everything packed up and would go running past us to set up for the next meal.

Did I say they carried the cooking items? I meant to say they carried the entire dining room on their backs. This is the breakfast they set up for us after they brought coca tea to each of our tents every morning, and set out individual bowls of hot water for us to wash our hands and faces with.

No shortage of food...

...or popcorn, hot chocolate, or cakes during daily pre-dinner "Happy Hour". Seriously, we had a cake on our last night. I can barely bake a cake in my kitchen, let alone in the middle of the jungle. After carrying the ingredients. And the oven. And the propane bottles. Over several mountain passes.

This dinner arrived after the cake. Note that it looks like a turtle and an ostrich. I might do the hike again just for the food.

Speaking of hiking, we did a lot of that. We also stopped to view Inca ruins along the way.

These donkeys were interested in my morning snack. Not as interested as I was though.

More hiking.

The view was okay, I guess.

Cusco

I spent 3.5 days in Cusco, Peru, acclimating to its 11,000 feet of elevation in preparation for hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Supposedly Cusco used to be shaped like a Puma. Now it pretty much looks like a non-puma-shaped city.

I didn't get altitude sickness, but I did have to stop about every 5 feet to catch my breath while climbing stairs like these (the dog had to stop and rest as well).

The Incas left many ruins in the Andes. I guess they didn't leave them as ruins. And they actually look pretty nice. But they are called ruins. This is in the Sacred Valley, at Ollantaytambo.

Lots of terraces at Pisac, on which crops were grown. Our guide said that they acclimated the crops to the higher elevations by moving them up one terrace a year, but I'm not sure I believe that.

When the Spanish arrived, they tore down and built over the existing Inca sites that they found. Here they made a Catholic church in Chinchero.

The Spanish did a pretty good job converting the Incas, obviously, since everyone in Peru speaks Spanish. They left these ruins on the side of the church though. 

On the last day in Cusco I climbed up to Sacsayhuaman.

This statue (as seen in the background of the previous photo) overlooks the city. So do I. We shall rule it together.

Next stop: alpacas!

I got to hold a three-week-old baby animal. I was told it was a baby alpaca. But I'm not so sure... it could be anything, I suppose. Whatever it was, it was soft and cute!