This past August my daughter Abbey and I took a week long trip to Peru to hike Machu Picchu. I know everyone raves about it, how it’s one of the modern seven wonders of the world. Friends describe the trip as “magical” “it will make you cry.” I was initially skeptical about this emotional connection to this hike, but what I didn’t realize was how this trip isn’t just hiking: it is nature, archeology, culture, and food. I’m mostly writing this post for my friends to have the details, but I honestly cannot recommend this trip enough – it was AMAZING!
DAY 1 Travel from the US to Peru
We flew from San Francisco to Houston, Houston to Bogota, and then Bogota to Cuzco. It took around 20 hours of total flying, but only a 2 hour time change, so this helped. We arrived in Cuzco around 11am, and were to meet our guide at 2:30pm in the lobby of the hotel for a short walking tour around Cuzco. However, I regret not flying in a day or two earlier, because after only about 20 minutes of touring around the city, Abbey and I needed to go back to the hotel to take a nap, we were just so exhausted!
So we were able to grab a nap before dinner, and then met Manolo, our guide, along with the two other ladies in our group, Jackie and Billie Jean, for just a yummy dinner that evening.
View of the Andes Mountains from the plane
Our guide Manolo inside the Church of Santo Domino, the former Koricancha (Inca Palace and center of worship for the Sun God, Inti).
Precision of the Inca stonework (1400-1500s), where the view through the cutouts can be seen through room after room after room…
Welcome dinner in Cuzco. I tried the alpaca….tasty, but the texture was a little spongy for me…
DAY 2: Travel to the Sacred Valley – a packed day!
Day 2 started with a delicious breakfast (yes, I’m showing all the YUMMY food we ate), and then we drove to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. Along the way, we stopped for pictures with views, more delicious food, two cultural excursions, archeology, and then a short downhill hike to round out our day.
Breakfast…
Visit to a traditional textile operation where cleaning and dyeing of Alpaca Wool processing is demonstrated
Llamas and Alpacas were also around!
We next visited Manuel, an agricultural engineer who experiments with Peruvian potatoes to try to improve nutritional content (less carbs, more flavonoids), and he also makes wines out of tubers – delicious! The wines he creates, he only sells to Central in Lima…!
Potatoes -parents above, and their offspring below
Tubers to make the wines
The wine, and then all of us with Manuel!
Before lunch, we stopped at a viewpoint, and it was a great showcase of the dry valley with the Andes in the back -just beautiful!
The gang!
Lunch at Iskay Maras House…with a view…
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We next experienced the first of many archeological sites: the ruins of Moray. Sitting at over 11,000 feet, these ruins contain irrigated agricultural circular terraces of the Incas. The scale of these terraces cannot be emphasized enough, and from the top to the bottom can be a difference of 25F!
Jackie is demonstrating (at a different location, but they were here too) how the Incas got up and down the walls…
Our last stop before the hotel was to visit the Salt Mines of Maras, where salt has been harvested since the Incas. From here, we hiked down to the valley floor, where the van met us, and then drove us to our hotel in Urubamba.
Dinner at the hotel was then capped off with the sharing of deserts!
DAY 3: Pisac ruins, a hike, and then star gazing…
We started the day off driving to the ruins of Pisac: you can see on the map below that we drove up to the ruins (yellow line) and then we hiked down to the town of Pisac, along the red dots. 3 miles, about 1000 feet of elevation loss. The ruins contain agricultural terraces, residences, and guard towers. Although it has been in existence since before the Incas, it is hypothesized to have been the “watch post” on the south end to the Sacred Valley for the Incas during the height of their rule.
Time to hike down…
Steps….theme of the trip…steps…
The trail went through a “tunnel”!
The town of Pisac at the end!
Today’s lunch was at a unique restaurant called Hacienda Huayoccari. In a former private estate, this restaurant contains both a museum, gardens, and the restaurant. It reminded all of us of a European restaurant: the food, the service, the background music. It was a treat!
All the Inca emperors
Back at the hotel, we took advantage of going star gazing: being so high up in elevation (over 9,000 feet in the valley), and with so little light pollution, even my iPhone could get pictures of the stars. And then being south of the equator – I was disoriented!!!
DAY 4: Ollantaytambo, and more hiking…
While you can explore the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu through many, many tour groups, we ended up going through Mt. Sobek (reasons why I loved them at the end of the post), and our travel coordinator recommended we read a book before we went: The Last Days of the Incas. While a little long, it was an account of how the Spanish (the conquistadors) conquered the Incas. I have to say, what I didn’t realize was the locations that I was reading about in the book, I would actually set foot upon. Cuzco is one location (the Inca capital), and Ollantaytambo is another I vividly remember from the book, because it was one of the few locations where the Inca defeated the Spanish.
A very popular archeological site, Ollantaytambo was the royal (personal) estate of the Incan emperor Pachacuti
Llama and Alpaca just hanging out…
After exploring around Ollantaytambo, we were told we were going to have a “picnic lunch” -which to me meant you spread a blanket on the ground and each some sandwiches. However, as we approached the “picnic” spot, this is what we had in store for us:
The eating and cooking areas were set up on a terrace (!!), and while considered a picnic lunch, this might have been my favorite meal (because I ate all of it!!!)
After lunch we were driven to a drop off spot to hike down towards the Pumamarca archeological complex. This Inca trail we hiked along (there are over 25,000 miles of Inca trail throughout Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile…most stone-laid…and steps…lots of steps…) is still used locally (we met people who live just off these Inca trails), but in terms of tourists, we ran into almost nobody. About 4 miles downhill, another 1000 or so feet of elevation loss.
After our hike, we were taken to the studio of Ceramica Semanario in Urubamba. Some beautiful pieces here, a few of their pieces are in the Americas wing of the Field Museum in Chicago. You can see more modern influences of his craft.
Drying
Painting
Some finished products
And then…we were told that tomorrow would be a big hike – so we loaded up on electrolytes at the pharmacia, and maybe I got sick so I loaded up on some meds 😂…
Day 5: The train from Urubamba to Km 104, and then the hike from Km 104 to the Machu Picchu citadel
So when we signed up for this trip, we were told there would be two big hikes, both towards the end of the trip: Km 104 to the Machu Picchu citadel (the last leg of the Inca Trail), so today, Day 5, and then climbing up one of the mountains that flanks Machu Picchu: either Huayna Picchu Mountain, or Machu Picchu Mountain (tomorrow, Day 6).
First, this train ride: SO LOVELY! It winds along the Urubamba river, and apparently it used to run from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu citadel). Our guide told us the starting point in Cuzco was 0, and ended at Aguas Calientes at 111 kilometers (?). A snack and tea were served on the train, and the views were amazing.
Getting to the train
Our car!
Abbey with our boxed lunch
Snacks on the train
Urubamba river
Next, after getting off at the Km 104 stop, we crossed a suspension bridge (I was initially very afraid of these, but then got very used to them), entered the park, showed our passports to the ranger (this is very strictly controlled), and then off we climbed to the Inca trail, our first stop being the ruins of Chachabamba.
Right before the entrance
Chachabamba
And then finally, the Km 104 to the Machu Picchu citadel (the last leg of the Inca trail, or the “short” Inca trail). This hike from the train stop is a 7 mile, 2300 feet of elevation gain hike. Hiking around for the previous 3 days at elevation, but not killing ourselves, was a great way to ease our way to be confident in our hiking, as well as the elevation. I would do this hike over and over, even though there were stones and steps all over the place 😤! The views along the way were killer! The trail encompasses ruins to walk THROUGH! And the kicker: I didn’t realize that Machu Picchu is located in the transition zone where the Andes meets the Amazon rainforest – you can see it in the pictures, the lushness! At the end of the hike, we reach the Sun Gate that sits above the Citadel, hike down, to the citadel, and then we took a bus down to the town of Aguas Calientes where our hotel was.
More stones…
The first mile was probably the hardest, as it had the most elevation gain – we are already so high above the river
After approximately every mile there was a resting hut, or a spot to break
The resting hut and the trail…
Water features!
Still climbing…up through the Winaywayna ruins (thought to be an overnight resting spot for Incas traveling to Machu Picchu)
Winaywaynu (we walked through that!….or, really walked up steps, hahaha)
Looking back at Winaywaynu
Jackie navigating those STONES
Irene and Manolo….probably talking science…
At the Sun Gate, with the citadel ahead
Billie Jean!
Huayna Picchu Mountain ahead
The classic view of Machu Picchu with Huayna Picchu behind it
The hard part of the day is done! We walked through the citadel to exit, and then once through, caught the bus down to our hotel in Aguas Calientes.
DAY 6: Climbing Machu Picchu Mountain, and then exploring the citadel
So this seems to be an ever changing part of Machu Picchu, which is how to control the number of visitors there. When I was there, I was told that there used to be 5 “circuits,” and for example, circuit 2 was climbing Machu Picchu Mountain, circuit 3 was going inside the citadel, etc etc. Limiting the number of visitors each day not only helps preserve the sites and trails, but it is in response to Machu Picchu being a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I was told that tickets are sold for 400 people each day for each circuit, and it is still over what UNESCO recommends (2500 people each day), because there are apparently now 10 circuits. So for day 6, we had 2 circuit tickets: one to climb Machu Picchu Mountain in the morning, and then one to explore the citadel itself in the afternoon. Again, these tickets were purchased months in advance.
Now…when I was given the choice to climb one of the two mountains flanking Machu Picchu, I thought I was choosing the easier hike: Machu Picchu Mountain. The internet says “you can bring families up this hike, Huayna Picchu Mountain is the harder hike”. Well, another occasion where the internet is wrong. Manolo looked at me and said “no, Machu Picchu mountain is harder.” So I looked at AllTrails, and the distance and elevation gain tell the story: Huayna Picchu Mountain is rated moderate at 500 ft of elevation gain in .5 miles (1 mile hike total). Machu Picchu Mountain is rated hard at 2000 ft of elevation gain in 1 miles (2 mile hike total). And then Manolo told us: “oh, and it’s all steps – I counted once, over 3,000 Inca stone steps” 😩
We were all like, if it’s wet, I don’t want to climb the steps – I can’t risk falling! So in the end, we decided to just go there (we already had the tickets) and see the conditions and then make the call
Waiting in line at 6:30am for the 8:00am bus up to the citadel – for Machu Picchu mountain (and Huayna Picchu), tickets are available until 12pm, and then nobody is allowed up (because they literally check that everyone comes back down)
On the bus, our first view of the general Machu Picchu area…uh oh, is it too cloudy???? Will there be a view (this is often a problem)?
On the bus, the next turn around, WHERE DID THESE CLOUDS COME FROM???
The entrance gate to the hike – there is a park ranger inside who again, double checked that our passports were on his list for the day
Already it is steep….
So many steps…
Sometimes we had to scramble…
Did it!
Abbey waited for me at the top ❤️ 🥾. We lucked out, as the clouds opened up for (some) blue sky. Actually, super lucky – people on their way down as I was hiking up said there was no view because of the clouds…
I guess the average time to get up the mountain is 2 hours: Abbey, Jackie and Billie Jean made it up in an hour and 15 minutes – it took me (with Manolo faithfully by my side) an hour and 50 minutes. It was literally walking up steps the entire time. Sure, we stopped, we talked to other groups, Manolo offered advice, so if I was just concentrating, it would have taken less time, but still…it was basically an hour and half of CLIMBING UP STEPS (and as Manolo kept saying, at elevation)…But admittedly, these panoramic views were incredible
Looking down at Machu Picchu citadel and Huayna Picchu Mountain
Getting down was no joke either – everyone took their time, but all got down in less than an hour…
There is a hotel literally at the base of the Citadel (where the buses drop you off) called Sanctuary Lodge, and it had a restaurant that was buffet style, where we had lunch (since it was right there). It was quite delicious, and throughout the hotel were pictures that Hiram Bingham took in 1911 when he “rediscovered” Machu Picchu (basically after the Spanish defeated the Incas, the location of Machu Picchu was lost to the invaders for over 400 years until Bingham came along). His Kodak was on him, and the pictures are quite amazing
After lunch, we did the last circuit we had a ticket for – exploring the Machu Picchu citadel itself. This tour was terrific – Manolo pointed out so many things, but what stuck in my mind the most was how so many of the windows aligned with the Sun Gate (that we hiked through) – all life begins with the Sun…the Incas were not wrong!
The first two pictures shows the two mountains flanking Machu Picchu citadel as we entered: Huayna Picchu Mountain (first picture, the classic one everyone thinks of ) and then Machu Picchu Mountain (second picture, the point at the top is where we climbed up to)
Huayna Picchu Mt
Machu Picchu Mt
The terraces!
Condor statue (beak is pointing out)
Constant repairs being done, note the wood holding up the bottom, and then the workers way at the top…
DAY 7: Travel back to Cuzco
We were pretty tired as we took the train back to Ollantaytambo, and then the van from there would drive us back to Cuzco. Once back in Ollantaytambo, we went to lunch prepared in the traditional Pachamanca way, which was buried in hot stones in the ground – the cooking time was only 15 minutes for all the meat, potatoes, vegetables, and quinoa (indigenous to Peru) soufflés!
After lunch we climbed into the van and traveled back to Cuzco to spend the night before we left Peru.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This trip with Abbey was definitely a once in a lifetime thing – except I would totally go back!!! Some quick final thoughts include:
Going with my Abbey: it was such a fun mother-daughter trip, I can’t wait to do more!
Jackie and Billie Jean: wonderful traveling companions, I feel so lucky we got to spend the week with them, and experience the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu though their perspectives as well.
Mt. Sobek: while there are many tour companies (and guides when you can hire on the fly) to help you with your Machu Picchu experience, I was super pleased with both Mt. Sobek and our guide, Manolo. I would totally do another trip with them again.
Being prepared for Peru:
- I had been told to get high altitude medication from my doctor, and I did, and I got 4 days worth, because I was going to Cuzco (11,000 ft), and then down to the valley and then over to Machu Picchu. But what I didn’t realize is that the sacred valley is at 9,000 feet – basically the entire trip was at high altitude (over 8,000 ft). I regret not getting enough medications for the entire trip.
- Manolo told us immediately (like the moment he met us) that the best way to make sure you can do the hiking at high altitude is to take electrolytes. I bought so many bottles of Gatorade (and the Electrarol they sold there as well), but I do wish I had brought the powdered liquid IV stuff – that would have been good.
- Sunscreen was essential – even though it was the dry season (their “winter”), we were so high up (closer to the sun) and also close to the equator (so even more closer to the sun), that the sun is just strong. I actually got burned one day because I missed a spot on the back of my neck when sunscreening…
- And then…in addition to the cold I got in the middle of the week…we all actually got food poisoning of some sort on the last day of the trip (the day we were supposed to leave). We were all so careful: bottled or filtered water only, constantly washing our hands, etc etc. But it happened. None of us had ever been to South American before, so we just have no immunity to so many of the pathogens down there….but honestly, SO WORTH IT. Every bite of food I had was so delicious…but I recommend bringing all the meds for travel. We were able to easily buy what we needed at the local pharmacias, but it’s nice to just immediately have them when you are having the symptoms…!!!
And then, some pictures to inspire you to go to Machu Picchu! You can do some of what we did, exactly what we did, more than what we did. So I have to admit, it was indeed magical…
View of Machu Picchu citadel and Huayna Picchu Mountain from the top of Machu Picchu Mountain
The 180 view from the top of Machu Picchu Mountain – if you can zoom in, you can see the Inca trail, and the last camping spot before the Sun Gate.
Some abandoned ruins- everywhere we turned, there were some
