Inka Trail Days 3 and 4

Wake up on day 3 was at 6 am (we got to sleep in for an hour!!!) only because it was a shorter day than the first 2. After having packed up camp and put plastic bags in my shoes since they were still soaking wet from the day before. Then we set off for another day of hiking!

Day 3
Distance. 9km
Altitude: Start 3600, end 2650m
Time: 4.5 hours
Unforgettable

This day is called unforgettable by SAS travel for a couple of reasons. First of all is it probably the most beautiful part of the hike, unfortunately however we spent the whole day in the clouds and didn´t have much of a view. But the entire day was in the jungle so there was enough to look at nearby. The second reason that this day is unforgettable is because it is actually the real Inka trail. The first two days of hiking we did was just to join up with the Inka trail. The true Inka trail runs from Cusco to Machu Picchu and would take 7 days to do and is not permitted to do. At the end of the 2nd day we join up with the true Inka trail at the ruins that we visited. The stairs on the real Inka trail are generally much smaller, since they were much smaller people. The third day consisted of mostly descent, in one section we descended 3000 consecutive stairs and it took about 3 hours to do. We hiked for a total of 4.5 hour which is quite short and arrived at our campsite in the early afternoon. On the last day of the hike everyone who is hiking the Inka trail has to camp at the same spot, right before the control gates that lead to Machu Picchu. It was kind of a zoo and wasn´t too enjoyable of a place. It started raining when we arrived and therefore everyone was crammed inside a small building. It was really loud and not very nice, but that’s the only choice we had. I guess we were spoiled the other two nights, having campsites to ourselves.

We went to bed early again that night, however it was hard to sleep because so many people were talking and yelling outside.

We were woken up at 4am the next morning (and guess what it was raining again). The reason we had to get up so early is because the gates to the trail that leads to Machu Picchu open at 5:30 am and we had to line up before hand so we could be one of the first groups through the gates. It turns out we were the second group through the gates, not that it mattered because we got passed by quite a few groups thanks to a few very slow walkers in the group.

Day 4
Distance: 7km
Altitude: start 2650, 2400m
Time: 2 hours
Unique!

The walk was short and sweet to Machu Picchu. When we arrived to the Sun Gate which is about an hour from Machu Picchu, we were in the clouds. This is the first time you are able to see Machu Picchu, however that was not the case for us since everything was clouded over. We were a little disappointed but our Tour Guide assured us that it would clear up at some point. Arriving at Machu Picchu everything was still clouded over so it was hard to see the size of the city. We started off with a short tour by our tour guide and then were given free time to explore. By then everything had cleared up and we got our picture perfect moment to take lots of pictures and see the entire city! It was spectacular! The rest of the morning and early afternoon was sunny! At 2pm we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes (about 20 mins away) for our last group lunch. My dad and I and another family decided to stay an extra night in Aguas Calientes so after having said by to the group we explored the town. We didn´t go back up to Machu Picchu because it was pouring rain and we felt that we had seen what we wanted to see at Machu Picchu.

What a great trip and worth it even under the rain! I estimate that we did about 10,000 stairs over the course of 4 days, my dad and I are so sick of stairs that we are avoided them (if possible) for the time being.

Today we are in Cusco for the day and then we leave tomorrow for Lake Titicaca to see the floating islands.