You know how sometimes you put something on your wishlist without thinking much about when and how you’re gonna do it but someday you want to? Machu Picchu was that for me. I had seen pictures of this mystical misty mountain with the promise of discovering the ways of a long lost civilization – this’s the stuff my dreams are made of 😀 So almost a decade after I first made that mental note, I deemed myself fit enough to actually do the 4 day hike through the Inca Trail to the infamous Machu Picchu. And what a journey that was!! Let’s dive into all the details here –
The base for the hike itself is Cusco, which is a vibrant city nestled at 11,000 ft altitude. Think muted red buildings bustling with people sitting on a hill top, which is like the ideal recipe for a picture perfect balcony view while sipping hot cocoa leaf tea (to help with your altitude sickness headache :D) They generally suggest to stay for a couple of days to acclimatize at Cusco before the hike, so that’s what we did.
We went on a food tour in San Pedro market the first day there and I was mind-blown by variety of potato and corn you get there you guys. They grow around 3000 types of potato and I read this text somewhere ‘Cusco was the centre of the Inca Universe but now it is the center of the potato universe’ which can’t be more accurate haha. Next up is corn, with around 35 varieties which is again the most amongst all the countries in the world! So I spent most of the market tour gawking and tasting these incredible exotic looking potatoes and corn. We ended the tour in a small fruit stand where I tasted around 20 tropical fruits and inspite of being from India and visiting a bunch of tropical countries around the world, half of these fruits were new to me! They had the most interesting tastes – think a hybrid between guava and banana; passionfruit and jackfruit; you get the idea. My brain was so confused 😀 But it definitely was the perfect start to exploring this beautiful city!
Next day we did a tour of Qorikancha, which was a full history lesson about the Incas and the Spanish Invaders which I felt was worth the time and money. Other than that, the first two days were mostly spent in culinary heaven – for a person who dislikes potatoes, the ones in Cusco tasted sooo good I was in love. The number of vegan/vegetarian food options were undoubtedly the best I’ve had in any country so far. I would go there again in a heartbeat just for the amazing food.
Before I dive into the details of the Inca Trail, there’s another popular hike which you shouldn’t miss – the rainbow mountain. It is another breathtaking place which you can either choose to hike or take a mule for a small fee. I did the latter after hiking the Inca Trail and I would suggest following that order for one main reason – the altitude. Rainbow mountain is at an alititude of ~15000 ft, so going from Cusco directly can cause some pretty bad altitude sickness for some people. In the Inca Trail, you would reach a total maximum elevation of ~13500 ft, your body is better equipped to handle the high elevation after the Inca trail hike. Another thing I would suggest is taking a private tour to the rainbow mountain instead of a group tour, mainly because of convenience. It’s around a 2.5 hour drive one way in a car, whereas in a group trip that’s going to be around 4+ hours. Also, you can travel at your own pace which I really appreciated since this was right after the Inca hike. This is the tour I used – Rainbow Mountain Tour and would 100% recommend.
Some things to help plan your Inca trail trip:
- Book with a reputed tour guide at least 3-4 months in advance since it is a permit system. We went with Sam Travel Peru and we had the most amazing time! The food, hospitality and accommodation was top notch. Ray was our guide and went above and beyond to make this backpacking trip the best one of our lives!
- Pack light – especially food items. We ended up getting most of it back since we didn’t have much use for it in the end. We had frequent stops for snacks throughout the hike and the lunch/dinner was super filling as well
- Beware of the restrooms from Day 2 and beyond. I read a bunch of blogs before my trip and no one spoke about this. If I had known, I could’ve maybe mentally prepared for it somehow? (Wistful thinking perhaps) They are the Indian style ones and unfortunately the westerners have NO IDEA how to use it. So just prepare for the worst!
- On the last day before my flight back, I got a 1.5 hour Inca Massage (it involves fragrant oils and hot stones) and it was the BEST massage of my life! Earlier that day, I couldn’t even squat partially because that’s how sore I was. I’ve no idea what that masseuse did to me but I felt like a new person at the end of it! I literally picked a random person walking on the road to get a massage, so you can’t really go wrong with this.
- Another thing to note – I technically didn’t count the last day of hiking as hiking at all since it takes maybe 2.5-3 hours to get to Machu Picchu. What I failed to mentally prepare for was the amount of walking we still had to do to actually explore the site. We spent around 3-4 hours there, so definitely plan for that.
- Generally the tour guides will drop you off at Aguas Calientes and give you the option of spending some time there. They have these beautiful natural hot springs right at the base of the mountain (it is again an upward trek which my glutes did not appreciate) but it was a wonderful spot to wind down after the hike!
Now, on to the pictures –
Views of the city during the day/night:
Views from the Sun Temple
Inca trail – Day 1
Inca trail – Day 2
Inca trail – Day 3
Inca Trail – Day 4
The finale that we had been waiting for!
You know how sometimes the journey is far more fulfilling than the destination? Machu Picchu was that for me. We spent 4 days hiking with 5 strangers and a crew full of extremely hard working and kind hearted folks and made some lifelong friends along the way; that is the beauty of travel. When you come across people who are so different from you in every way, but at the end of the day when you connect with those people and make memories that last a lifetime, it’s pure magic and makes everything worthwhile 🙂 !!
Thanks for stopping by ❤
Until next time,
Mal
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