Peru - Colca Canyon

This morning we drove into the Colca Valley. The Colca Canyon was formed 1000’s of years ago by a volcanic eruption. The landscape was dotted with terraces both Incan and pre-Incan which the farmers still use today. In the late afternoon we swam in some thermal pools which was extremely relaxing.

After our swim we enjoyed dinner and a show of traditional dancing in a local restaurant.

Peru - Arequipa

This morning we flew from Cusco to Arequipa. Arequipa is a city of over 1million and sits at the foot of El Misti Volcano. Most of the city is built of sillar, a pearly white volcanic material which is why it has a nickname of being “the White City”. It is the gateway to the Colca Canyon and is also now famous for the discovery of “Juanita”, a Incan child who was sacrificed over 500yrs ago but has been frozen so is extremely well preserved.

We spent our afternoon visiting the Santa Catalina Convent and the museum where Juanita is housed. Santa Catalina Convent was only opened to the public in 1970 after four centuries of mystery. The convent was once filled with the daughters of wealthy families. The first born daughter would be married and the second born daughter would be sent to the convent usually at age 12. The families had to pay a one off dowry of 1000 pesos and would then still be responsible for their keep and have to build them houses within the confines of the convent walls. After 4 years training as novices the girls were offered a position as a nun, if they declined they would be sent from the convent and disowned by their families. The convent has been refurbished and some of the original furniture items remain so it is really interesting to walk around and see how the Nuns used to live. The current Nuns now live next door in a more modern convent.

The museum where Juanita is housed was also very interesting. It has artefacts from the graves of Juanita and the other 2 sacrificed children that were found on the mountains. As well as explaining the history and culture behind the sacrifices of these children.

After this we all met up again at a terrace restaurant to watch sunset which was beautiful.

Peru - Cusco

After a great nights sleep we enjoyed a scrumptious breakfasts at “Jacks Cafe” which has the best coffee in Cusco if not Peru, as well as amazing meals! We spent the rest of the morning wandering around Cusco and its official souvenir market, which was massive, picking up any last minute gifts. Around lunch time we made our way to the Patisserie/ Bakery again for our last Frappuccino. We then enjoyed a fabulous and much needed hour long massage working out some of the soreness that had built up in the muscles over the last few days.

For dinner tonight we celebrated finishing the Inca Trail with Alex, our Tucan guide, and Julio, our trek guide, at “Fallen Angel” restaurant. Wow, what an experience!! Fallen Angel is a restaurant owned and staffed entirely by gay people but that is not why it is spectacular. It is an assault on the senses with the interior design being amazing and the food being absolutely delicious. There are also 5 star hotel rooms above the restaurant which are all individually themed with names like, “Passion”, and “Tranquility”. The design ideas in these rooms are fabulous and would make spending the few hundred USD for a night well worth it! 

Peru - Inca Trail Day 4

Inca Trail Day 4 

Distance 4.5km + walking around Machu Picchu

Altitude 2700m - 2430m - Cusco 3300m

Our wake up call was at 0330 this morning as we had to get to the final check point and line up with the rest of the trekking groups. We made it there by 0430 but were still the 5th group in line. The control point opened at 0530 from which we had around an hours fast walk to “Sun Gate”, the entrance to Machu Picchu. Sun Gate is named so because as the sun rises, the rays pass through this gate and shine on Machu Picchu. Unfortunately this morning the valley was clouded in until well after the sun had risen so we could not witness this phenomenon. However, when the clouds did lift we were sitting at Sun Gate waiting, and were rewarded with an absolutely spectacular view over Machu Picchu and the amazing valley.

Machu Picchu is famous for its geographical position and because it was the best preserved of all the Incan Ruins probably because when it was found in 1911 it was completely overgrown and protected by jungle. It is built of black granite and is on a 250million year old ridge of Machu Picchu mountain at an altitude of 2432m. The “Lost City of the Incas” is phenomenal! The architecture and engineering from 600yrs ago display astounding forward thinking. It was a beautiful and breathtaking experience to be able to explore and learn about this ancient civilisation.

Our brilliant day had another surprise in store when Brii and Jess, a friend on our trip, went to see the “Inca Bridge” which was a short walk away from Machu PIcchu. The bridge itself was very cool and yet another display of amazing ingenuity, but even better was the sighting of an extremely rare Spectacled Bear and her cub crossing the path. 

Our return journey to Cusco consisted of a bus ride off the mountain then a 2h scenic train ride through the valley seeing the mountains and ruins we had walked through over the last four days, then a one and a half hour bus ride to our hotel. We finally arrived at 8pm, enjoyed our first hot shower in four days, and climbed into bed for a well deserved sleep!

Peru - Inca Trail Day 3

Inca Trail Day 3 

Distance 19km

Altitude 3600m - 3950m - 3540m - 3670m - 2700m

Up at 0500 again this morning ready for our longest day and hoping that the weather would be better. Thankfully we were in luck. The weather had cleared and the view was absolutely spectacular!

Today we covered two mountain passes, the first was 3950m after which we had to descend to 3540m before ascending again to 3670m. Thankfully we stopped for lunch between the passes... although this was only 1045. The panoramic was absolutely stunning from the top of each pass and from the top of the third pass we caught our first glimpse of Machu Picchu Mountain, the mountain that overlooks the sacred site of Machu Picchu. Our guide, Julio, also made today more special as at one point when we were all feeling quite tired after just starting our descent over the second pass we heard this magical traditional bamboo flute music coming from the mountains. Little did we know that Julio had walked ahead of us and had stopped at a beautiful point on the mountain and started playing his flute. It was so calming and tranquil, once we reached him we all stopped for a rest and continued to listen to him play his Incan melodies. Throughout the rest of the day we would intermittently hear the flute calling us and sometimes he would be with us and play, which astounded us because we were all usually puffing our way up a hill.

After lunch we had the option of taking the regular well trodden trail to our 3rd and final camp or to take an alternative route that was also a trail but one that had not been regularly used since the early 90’s. Of course we chose the alternative route with the promise of being able to Machu Picchu at the end of it, as well as seeing an Incan ruin that was completely overgrown the way they all were once found... including Machu Picchu.

The trail was great fun. We really felt like we were jungle bashing off the beaten path as it was only just wide enough for us to pass in parts and was in need of clearing. This trail took us along a ridge of a mountain and at the end there was a clearing for communication towers which allowed us a perfect spot to enjoy our first view of Machu Picchu - it was very cool! About half way along the ridge we climbed down into the promised untouched ruins, wow! It was like walking into another world, we really felt like explorers. The ruins were covered in moss and had trees growing out of parts. It was awesome. After resting overlooking Machu Picchu we made our descent. The tracks we followed seemed more like it was goat and water run off tracks than walking tracks but we all made it, although a few of our group slid on their bottoms for a good deal of it :-). We arrived at the top of another set of Incan Terraces which the main track goes through as well but by this time it was after 6pm so we didn’t really explore too much, instead we just continued on trying to get back to camp before complete darkness engulfed us.

We arrived to camp around 1830 to the applause of our porters, dropped our bags in our tents and enjoyed a beer!

Exhausted we were all in bed by 8pm again keen to rest for our final walk into Machu Picchu tomorrow.

Peru - Inca Trail Day 2

Inca Trail Day 2

Distance 9km

Altitude change 3100m - 4200m - 3600m

After a great nights sleep we were woken at 5am by one of our beautiful porters with the offer of a hot tea and some warm water to wash in. The morning was misty and the low cloud cover in the valley was stunning. We left camp around 0630 climbing towards Dead Woman’s Pass which is at 4200m. This mountain pass is so named because from a distance it appears like a woman lying on her back. The actual mountain we climbed over is the woman’s breast, nipple and all!

The morning was tough! The weather was cool and drizzly and the clouds did not really ever lift so there was no view to admire, although the rainforest we walked through was gorgeous. We climbed up for about 3 hours arriving at the top of the pass at 0937am, almost our guides record. One of our group members was there to meet us though, Jess had trudged up this mountain at a rate of knots arriving at the top at 0905! We took some photos, laid our stones in a tower as an offering to Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) asking for better weather and a safe passage, ate some snacks (Snickers), and continued on our way as it was absolutely freezing!!!

The descent was steep and consisted primarily of Incan steps which are stone steps and paths of uneven shapes and sizes. With the persistent rain and slippery surface of the rocks, the descent was also quite treacherous. The scenery on the way down was beautiful, there were some spectacular waterfalls and the mountains were stunning. We arrived at our camp with sore knees but in one piece at 11.15am, just after our porters who had passed us only about 15min before the camp.  Thankfully the rain had eased so we were able to enjoy a brief period of sunshine while our tents were being erected and we waited for the rest of our group to arrive. Joined by Jess, we killed an hour or so playing Uno in our tent waiting for the remaining four members of our group to arrive at camp. We then enjoyed a fabulous lunch and relaxed for the afternoon resting our weary legs in preparation for the long day ahead tomorrow.

After dinner we were again in bed by 8pm.

Peru - Inca Trail Day 1

Inca Trail Day 1

Distance 12km

Altitude change 2800m - 3100m

This morning we started the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We were picked up from our hotel at 0830 by our guide, Julio Cesar, and driven to “Km 82” which is the start point for the trek. 

After ensuring our duffel bags were of the correct weight of 5kg each the porters loaded up and were on their way with us in tow. 

The walk today was relatively easy. We did walk 1km more than originally planned because we were walking quickly so our guide was trying to make tomorrow easier. We arrived to our camp around 4pm where we were greeted with afternoon tea of popcorn and crackers and a hot drink. 

Our camp for the night was a terraced hillside overlooking mountains, it was gorgeous! Dinner was at 7pm and we were in bed in our cosy tents by 8pm.