So I spent hours and hours writing my blog for Machu Picchu and when I posted it I think it deleted all the text. I guess that's life sometimes. So here is round 2; unfortunately it's going to be much shorter and less detailed but that's just how it goes.
Lauren and I did the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. It took a total of 5 days and I think we walked over 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) during that time. On day 1 we woke up super early to catch the van to Mollepata, where we had breakfast and met the group we would be sharing the experience with. There were only 7 of us so it was a nice small group and it was easy to bond with everyone. There was a German couple, Marcos and Ann, who were really cool to talk to, a couple of model girls, one from Australia and one from New Zealand, and a cool guy from Mexico named Ricardo, who grew up in the states so he spoke English and Spanish equally well. Our guide, Edy, was a fun energetic guy from Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley of the Inca. We were lucky to have him.
After breakfast we walked about 4 hours until our lunch spot on a hill with a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. Lunch was fantastic thanks to our cook, Washington; I never got a chance to ask him who or what he was named after. He made us the best meals, what I like to call Andean gourmet. He was also really accommodating to our vegetarian lifestyle so that was great. After lunch we walked another 3 hours to our camp site at the base of this huge glacier covered mountain. This night would be the coldest, but luckily they pitched our tents for us inside a 'permanent' shelter made from tarps lashed to sticks. It was quite warm inside so none of us froze. Unfortunately Lauren wasn't feeling well so she went to bed early while the rest of us enjoyed our popcorn snack time followed by an awesome dinner.
The next morning Lauren still wasn't feeling well so she rented a horse to take her to the top of Salkantay Pass, the highest point of our journey at 4,630 meters (over 15,000 feet). I was feeling great and ready for the hike, which wasn't super difficult like everyone told us it would be. I thought it more a standard moderate hike, but that's just me. It was absolutely beautiful; we hiked through snow to get to the top of the pass. I'd never hiked in snow before so it was exciting, and very cold. We reached the top of the pass and stayed for only a little while to enjoy the view before heading down the other side of the mountain before we all froze. We stopped for lunch in a tiny town and then had only another 2 hours before we reached camp. We had walked pretty far that day so we were excited to be at camp, and I for one slept really well.
The next day we only walked a half day, so we did a 5 hour trek through the forest until we reached the town of Playa where we would have lunch. During the walk we saw cocoa trees and avocado trees, along with super small passion fruit and banana plantations. That was really cool because I love all those things so it was nice to see how they all grow. After lunch we all crammed into a van that took us to the town of Santa Teresa, where Rodrigo, Lauren and I would go to the hot springs. Unfortunately we had to part with the rest of the group at that point because they signed up for a 4 day trek instead of the 5 that we were doing. The hot springs were awesome, who doesn't love swimming in giant pools of naturally warm water? Afterwards we went back to camp for dinner and relaxed a bit before the big party that night. There was a bonfire and the alcohol was flowing freely, so we had ourselves a nice dance party with all the other groups also doing the Salkantay trek. There was about an hour or so where I found myself dancing on a giant rock in the rain, so that was pretty fun. I was absolutely soaked by the end of it but feeling lighter than air. The next morning we got to sleep in until 6:30 before starting our 6 hour trek to Aguas Calientes, the gateway town to Machu Picchu. This time we had to carry our whole backpacks, which had been carried up for us on horses the other days. We were pretty tired by the time we got to Aguas Calientes because of our heavy packs, but the walk had been beautiful and followed a river through the forest for most of the way. We went to bed early that night after dinner because we had to be up at 4 to grab a quick breakfast and catch the early bus to Machu Picchu.
We were lucky to be on one of the first buses to Ma Pi so we could get some good pictures before the real crowds came. One of the problems with going to a place like that during high season, all the thousands of people. But it felt great to be there; I've been wanting to visit Ma Pi since as far back as I can remember. We got a whole history lesson on the Inca people from our guide Edy and I'm sorry to say that I just don't have the energy to type it all out again. I wish you all could've read the original blog I wrote but I guess that's just how life goes. The only thing I'll say is that Ma Pi is a sacred city that is believed to have been built for one of the Inca kings. If you want to know more, you'll have to look it up. We got a great tour of all the sites, including the Temple of the Sun, the houses, and the giant sundial they used to tell the time of day and the time of the year. The solstices were big holidays for the Inca. Lauren and I were also fortunate enough to climb Wayna Picchu and see the Temple of the Moon. Wayna Picchu was crazy steep and a really cool hike; they only let 400 people do it per day so we feel fortunate.
All in all Machu Picchu was a dream come true. I'm sorry my first blog got deleted, it was way better than what I have just written but this will have to do. My next blog will be about our journey through the Sacred Valley. I hope to post it soon, maybe after my faith in technology returns. Ciao for now.