Wow!! That little word doesn´t even go to express what I felt on the trek to Machu Pichu. It was beautiful sight after another. The whole trek was an absolutely amazing experience because our tour guides were the best but not only that but we had to work in order to see these one of a kind sites. I loved every moment of the hike. Even the uphills which were sometimes straight up.. Ill start from the beginning..
THURSDAY:
We woke up at 500 in the morning to get in the van and drive all the way to our starting point. Along the way we stopped at an old inkan ruin. Which was pretty cool. Then we continued on our journey to our starting pointing.. Once there we started to hike. Today was a comparitively easy compared to the other days looking back on it all. But anyways we stopped below a steep mountain for lunch.. In the background we saw the most beautiful mountain(according to me) called the Salkantay. Then after lunch we ascended a steep mountain for awhile until we reached the campsite. Right outside the tent was Salkantay with its snow-capped majesty. It was absolutely gorgeous. Then after ¨happy hour¨ which was hot tea, coffee and hot chocolate, we had dinner and then went to bed one by one..
FRIDAY:
We woke up early again. At 6. Then we had a good breakfast. We soon realized that all the food was absolutely amazing. Moving on, we started to ascend a 45 minute mountain which was like a 45 or more degree mountain. Then after that we paused for picture time at the sign marking the altitude. I can´t remember the height but it was really high. The highest pass we would have to climb. Then we tried to find a tourqiouse(bad spelling I know) but the fog rolled in so we were unable to find it. So we began our 2-3 hour descent to our lunch spot. Then after lunch we started a very steep one hour climb to the top of a mountain which our guides called a shortcut.. Man was that a steep mountain. Once at the top we began to descend, obviously, and finally got to our campsite after an hour of descending.
Saturday:
Today I felt was one of the easier days, because it was basically, well mostly downhill. We descended for 3-4 hours and then walked along a path with peruvian flatness, which to those who don´t know, means up and down also known as hills. after walking for a long time we finally got to the car which would take us to the lunch spot. After an amazing lunch again, we took the car to Santa Teresa where we would be camping for the night. Then we all got our bathing suits and went to hot springs where we relaxed our muscles for awhile. Then we had a HUGE dinner. When I say huge I mean absolutely huge. There was sooo much great food. Then we all went to bed after dinner..
Sunday:
Well today we are supposed to ascend 1000 meters. So we started off and drove for awhile to reach our starting point. We began on the royal inka trail, and immediately began our ascent. We set a good pace so we got to the top after a little less than 3-4 hours. I had to keep telling myself ¨I can do this. I am strong and able¨ But anyways after the top we descended for 10 minutes before we were able to see our destination, Machu Pichu, from an old inka site!! It was so cool to see it so close and be so close to the end. Then we descended for a couple of hours more and then got into the car which would take us to our lunch spot and to the train. So after lunch we got on to the train that would take us to Aguascalientes. After getting there we all went to take hot showers and rest until dinner. We all went to dinner at this really good restuarant and then some of us went back to the hostal and went to bed.
Monday:
Today´s the day we go to Machu Pichu. Rested and ready to begin the day we got into a bus and it began to drive us to the top. The way up was absolutely beautiful because we began to see all the mountains and the forestry. It was amazing. Then WE FINALLY GOT THERE!!! After 4 days of hard trekking we finally got to our destination. It was so amazing and so spectacular. We wandered around for awhile and then got down to business once again. We climbed Wayna Pichu which if you ever see a picture of Machu Pichu its the mountain behind it. Now that mountain was hard work because it was all stairs and straight up. And I mean straight up. Once at the top we saw a great view of Machu Pichu. Also the surrounding area. It was gorgeous. Then we descended and went our seperate ways from our guides Antonio and Savino. After awhile some of us met up and some of us had some lunch. THen we all meet at the hostal and got our stuff and got on a beautiful 4 hour ride on a train to Poroy. Once there we got on a bus to take us to Cusco and our hostal. Then we all pretty much crashed and slept.
And now were in cusco with a less than 24 hours till our flight to LAX. Its pretty exciting but saddening at the same time because we will have to leave both James and Meghan and some other group members..
So I guess this is my last good-bye to you all!! Hopefully we´ll have a safe flight home. Wish us the best because here comes the end!!
Much Love,
Andrew Meacham Piper