Days 1 and 2 on the Inca Trail were down and that meant days 3 and 4 were supposed to be easier. We still decided to hire a porter for day 3 and again I’m very glad we did so. Even though the second half of the trail didn’t involve another 5 hours hiking uphill, it was still tough! At the end of the second day we learned that some of the close campsites to the Sun Gate had been washed out in the rainy season so it looked like we were going to have to camp farther away than normal. This meant we slept in a bit on the third morning since we had less to hike.
But day 3 was still rough! Not as steep, but lots of ups and downs. However, this was one of the prettiest days as the scenery changed to begin looking much more green and lush and jungle like. There were a few especially pretty look outs along the way and we took so many photos on this day. Even got a close shot of a hummingbird! Again, passed more ruins throughout the day and we learned that corrals for llamas were built every 20 kilometers along the trail. This was because that’s as far as the llamas could go in one day.
Our last campsite was near a big set of ruins, but I was so exhausted by the end of this day I actually started to fall asleep while sitting at the ruins listening to the history of it. This was where we hit the steepest and scariest stairs yet of the whole hike. And that’s also when I learned we would be hiking down the treacherous stairs at 3am the next morning.
Usually if you camp at the regular campsite near the SunGate it’s about 1 1/2 hours hike to get to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu. However, since we were so far away we had much longer to go and woke up to start our hike at 3:00am. We were going extra slow since it was both pitch black out AND raining. Thank goodness we had our poles and head lamps, I was really nervous trying to go down the stairs in those conditions. Our guide, Edwar, was so kind, he saw how scared I was and how slow I was going and switched his backpack with mine. So he took all the tons of weight I had and I carried his little tiny daypack instead. I was so grateful for this and I’m sure the rest of the group was as well since I would’ve been much slower without that :-).
Funny enough, I found the last day to be the hardest day out of the whole trek. It took us about 6 hours to reach Machu Picchu and my hands were cold, we were soaked, and I was exhausted from going through the dark and getting up so early. I think part of it was a mental thing since I was expecting it to be an easy hike on the last day and kept thinking we were practically there already! But again, the last day also involved a lot of ups and downs and almost entirely over rocks and cobblestone which resulted in some very sore feet.
One part in the trail is so steep in fact that you have to put your poles away and use your hands and feet to climb up the insane stairs. This is known as the “gringo killer”, not surprisingly. Thankfully it’s not too long, but it was the one part where I started to cry since my fingers were numb and I was exhausted and sick and tired of hiking in the rain. By that point I was pretty much ready to be done and never hike again! (Though thankfully that didn’t last too long :-))
Then soon after that we reached the Sun Gate which was the sign we were almost there! Sadly our last day was the one day it rained so the clouds made it nearly impossible to see Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. We also met a lot of tourists there who had hiked up from Machu Picchu and were a little confused to see us coming from the other direction.
I will say Machu Picchu is one of the most incredible sites I have seen. Whether or not you decide to do the Inca Trail, I would absolutely highly recommend visiting Machu Picchu! It was just absolutely huge and there was so much to see. Our guide took us on a tour around Machu Picchu after we paid a few soles to leave our bags at the locker area. You could easily spend a few hours touring around Machu Picchu, but with the rain/cold/exhaustion we only spent about an hour. Be prepared to be met with a lot of crowds wherever you go and know that getting down to Aguas Calients (the main town) is another hour hike down from Machu Picchu. Or, like us, you can pay $12 for a bus to take you down in about 10 minutes. From Aguas Calientes you catch the train back in the direction of Cuzco. At the main train stop you’ll grab a collectivo (mini van buses) to take you the rest of the way to Cuzco. All in all it’s about 4 hours minimum from Aguas Calientes to get back to Cuzco.
Back to Machu Picchu: they say a picture is worth 1,000 words so I’ll leave a few here to speak for themselves.
Fire Round the World 