by bw
For many years I’ve kept a list of places I wanted to visit. This year I filled in the gaps with trips to Alaska and Peru. I don’t know when I first learned about the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu. This year I was finally able to schedule the trip. I chose to go with VBT Country Walkers, my first walking vacation.
October 13 & 14 – Travel to Cusco– There were two options for the tour; the main hiking vacation, and the additional option to have VBT make all of the travel arrangements including hotels before and after the start of the tour. I initially signed up to travel in early November but decided to go in October instead. When VBT switched the dates, they didn’t switch the travel arrangement component. When I finally realized that I had no flights scheduled, I contacted VBT. Even though they had not switched the tour options correctly, they said it might be too late to make reservations. After much back and forth I finally had flights and hotel reservations. The downside was that it would take 4 flights to reach Cusco: Dulles to Charlotte to Miami, to Lima, to Cusco. Had I said I’d be willing to fly out of National I could have been removed one leg of the trip.
I don’t sleep much on overnight flights. I might have slept for a couple of hours on the flight from Miami to Lima. After going through customs I was met at the airport by a VBT rep who walked me to the LATAM gate for the flight to Cusco. After a short layover there I was on my way to Cusco. At our hotel, the Casa Andina Permium Cusco, I had a short wait before checking into my room. Once in the room I rested for a while before venturing out into the city. I walked to the Plaza Mayor, the main gathering place in the city, filled with vendors selling clothing, and various trinkets. I exchanged some cash for Peruvian Soles then toured the very good Inca Museum and learned a bit more about Inca culture, including the practice of mummifying and honoring the dead. Back at the hotel I had a very good meal at the restaurant. The cuisine in Peru was excellent and I never had a bad meal.
October 15 – Cusco to Urubamba – The official start of the tour began with the group of 14 guests gathering in the lobby of the hotel to meet our tour guides Jorge and Boris and have a brief discussion about upcoming activities. Cusco is located at over 11,000 feet. To help alleviate any altitude sickness I got a prescription for Acetazolamide which allows the body to produce more red blood cells to help overcome the lack of oxygen at high altitudes. It worked well for me.
Our destination for the day was Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba, a luxurious inn comprised of numerous cabins, a large dining area and lobby, and expansive grounds. To reach our first hike we needed to make our way through Cusco’s congested traffic to travel to a small village at 13,000 feet. On the way we passed through several towns, each of which specialized in a certain product: bread, guinea pig, etc. Yes, guinea pig is a delicacy eaten on special events.
At the village a local band serenaded us as we walked a short distance to where a shaman conducted a ceremony wishing us well on our journey. Coca leaves and various food products were placed in a shawl and moved to a fire pit and burned. Then women in traditional dress accompanied by a couple of llama demonstrated weaving techniques. We also sampled potatoes that had been roasted in the ground underneath a small fire of burning wood. It was all a bit hokey but interesting all the same.
After the walk we boarded our shuttle for a wild ride to the market in the town of Pisac. Our driver always seemed to be in hurry, careening down narrow mountain roads, scaring the pee out of us.
VBT must have an arrangement with various vendors along our route as there were several stops where we had opportunities to purchase local goods. We wandered through the market and my big purchase was 2 postcards. After a good lunch at a local restaurant we drove to the Inkaterra Inn. Before dinner at the inn we gathered and introduced ourselves. The group included 6 couples and 2 of us singles. Among the professions represented were 3 lawyers, a doctor, a librarian, school administrators, a pilot, a hospital administrator, a national park worker, a public finance person, and a serial CEO. We all got along very well during the trip.
October 16: Urubamba market and hike to Mara Salt Mines – I was up early to go on a short birdwatching walk with a local guide. We saw several hummingbirds, including one almost the size of a robin and one with a very long tail. Next we shuttled to the nearby Urubamba market, a massive market that serves as a supermarket where locals can purchase most of their food and household needs.
Later we continued on to a location not far from the salt mines of Maras. We hiked a while to reach the salt mines which surprisingly are one of the top tourist attractions in Peru. The mines date back to 600 BCE. Salt water from an underground spring feeds hundreds of small salt flats where the salt is harvested.
From the mines we shuttled to our catered lunch near a corn beer place where a few people sampled the local brew before lunch. The lunch was one of the best of the trip, under a large tent next to a small lake. We then shuttled to the town of Yucay where we did a short hike along an ancient Inca waterworks. We were in the Sacred Valley that is filled with Inca ruins. Dinner was on our own and after the excellent, filling lunch I only needed a few snacks before heading to bed.
October 17: Pumamarca and Ollantaytambo: There are many Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley but the destination of most people who visit is Machu Picchu. As a result, an impressive ruin such as Pumamarca sees very few visitors, although the government is building facilities there in anticipation of future visits. We shuttled to the base of the ruin then hiked up to the entrance where Jorge gave us some background info about the agricultural activities that occurred there. Afterwards we hiked on an original Inca trail to the living Inca town of Ollantaytambo that contains houses dating back centuries. On the way we passed a team of oxen plowing a small field.
In town we had an excruciating 2-3 hour lunch despite the guides trying to speed up the service. Next we walked to the nearby Ollantaytambo fortress where Manca Inca, who was fighting the Spanish invaders, had fled. The site contains several large terraces and a fortified compound at the top. Unlike Pumamarca, the site was filled with tourists. We had another excellent dinner at Casa Colonial in Urubamba. Tomorrow is the hike on the Inca Trail.
October 18 – Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu: The hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu was the highlight of the tour. There are 2 hiking options; the four day hike with 3 overnights, or the single-day hike we planned. We left the Inkaterra Inn at 5am and shuttled to the Ollantaytambo train station to begin the 6am ride to the hike starting point at KM 104. We planned to walk the hilly 6 miles to the edge of Machu Picchu and would spend the night in the nearby town of Aquas Calientes (yes there are hot springs there).
The train follows the scenic Urubamba River. I spent most of the trip gazing out the train window. The train dropped our group and a few others at KM 104. We met with the two porters who would carry extra water and our lunches, showed our tickets, and walked across the Urubamba River to start our hike. We had prepared well before the hike and no one had problems with the altitude. Some were slower than others so even though we would regroup occasionally, we ended up fairly spread out. I enjoyed the few times I was alone and could savor the climb and ponder changes in my life over the past two years.
The last climb to the Sun Gate was very steep and there was a real sense of accomplishment once we reached the top. Unfortunately there were fires from burning fields being prepared for the coming rainy season and we could barely make out the Machu Picchu complex below. We hung out for a while there with a large group of other hikers, including members of a professional Aussie rules football team. They were easy to pick out from the crowd.
The iconic image of Machu Picchu
We continued hiking downhill until we reached the last overlook of the complex, not long before the area was closed for the day. It’s an amazing sight of an area built in the 1400’s and abandoned not long after the Spaniards arrived. It was mostly covered in dense vegetation until the early 1900’s. We planned to return the following day to spend a couple of hours touring the site. To reach our hotel in Aguas Calientes we stood in a fast-moving long line to catch a bus down the winding, narrow dirt road to the town below. We would be staying at Inka Terra Machu Picchu located on the edge of town with impressive grounds that includes a large orchid garden. The grounds are so spread out that we had a hard time finding our rooms.
October 19 – Machu Picchu – Our tickets to tour Machu Picchu were midday so we had free time in the morning. Boris and I were the early birds and often ate breakfast together. We watched a tanager outside our window begin building a nest. During Covid, guide work for Boris dried up and he needed work. He had a friend living in San Diego who owned a restaurant so he traveled there to work for several months. He enjoyed going to estate sales in homes to see how people lived. Sometimes he would go late Sunday when items were marked down.
Next I walked through the orchid garden and along a trail next to the RR tracks. I saw several men walking into town, some carrying large loads. I later learned they were porters returning to town after hiking the Inca Trail. Walking through town I was struck by the number of dogs, many basking in the sun. I was told that they roam freely during the day and return to their home at night. Somehow it seems to work. There are no roads leading into Aguas Calientes, hence there are no cars in the narrow streets. To reach the town you either walk there or take the train. To move goods around workers use electric carts. It was so refreshing to be breathing auto exhaust-free air and not worry about being hit by a car at every intersection. There are several buses on a defined route to Machu Picchu. The buses were transported there via train.
At around 11am the group gathered at the hotel and walked to the train station. The trains are very prompt and we had assigned seats so there was little waiting once we arrived. Jorge lead us through the crowds to our train.
Photos can’t capture the feeling one gets when arriving at the site. It would difficult to construct the terraces and buildings with walls made from huge tightly-fitted blocks of stone today; it’s hard to imagine how it was done in the 1400’s. We were not able to enter the upper parts of the site. We were told the ground is unstable and UNESCO is trying to figure out the best way to fix the problem in such a way that maintains the integrity of the original construction. As a result we couldn’t visit three of the main sites: the Intihuatana (At midday on 11 November and 30 January, the sun stands almost exactly above the pillar, casting no shadow. On June 21, the stone is casting the longest shadow on its southern side and on December 21, a much shorter one on its northern side), the Temple of the Sun (when the sun during summer and winter solstice shines through two window), and the Temple of the Three Windows.
October 20 – Return to Cusco – I woke to a steady rain. I planned to join a bird watching walk and there was a chance the rain would stop so I walked to the starting point and there was the guide. We decided to go ahead with the walk, which was brief; to a nearby pavilion where we stood and watched hummingbirds and a few others. The hotel puts out feeders and there was enough activity to keep us interested for about 30 minutes. Later I walked into town to try to find an ATM that would accept my credit card; I needed money for the guide tips. I had no luck but I did walk to an impressive waterfall just past the hot baths.
The return train trip was uneventful except for the fashion show of clothes made from Alpaca put on by the train conductors. Some of our group checked out the live performers in the adjoining car; there are incriminating videos of some of them dancing. I stared out the window most of the trip. Since taking the train all the way to Cusco would take a while, we got off part way there and loaded into our shuttle for the last section.
Once in Cusco we toured the Cusco Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, built on the site of an Inca temple that the Spaniards destroyed. Boris pointed out the black Jesus known as Lord of the Earthquakes, with his head drooped downward. During an earthquake parishioners removed the statue and once outside the earthquake stopped. It was because of this that the crucifix was accepted by the whites. His head is drooping because he’s looking downward. Many crucifixes in Peru have a similar posture. No photos were allowed inside the cathedral.
Next we visited the “Coricancha (the “Temple of the Sun”), once the most important temple in the Incan Empire.” It was mostly destroyed by the Spaniards when stone blocks were used for other buildings. The original temple foundation was used for a cathedral built on the site. Even after earthquakes damaged the cathedral, the foundation stones were unmoved. One example of the precise nature of the Inca building blocks is a 14-cornered stone.
October 21 – Final day of touring – After breakfast we loaded into the shuttle for the short ride to Sacsayhuamáman, an Inca fortress located at over 12,000′ just north of Cusco. The fortress is made of huge stones precisely fitted together. The heaviest of the stones, moved from a quarry 20 miles away, is estimated to weigh almost 200 tons.
After boarding our shuttle we stopped at a llama farm and store selling local goods made from llama, alpaca, and vicuña. From there we walked through a valley where we saw a herd of llamas and horses from a trail ride. Once back at the hotel I walked to the nearby Pre-Columbian Art Museum and took many photos. Still no luck getting money for the tip. That night we enjoyed another excellent meal at a nearby restaurant.
October 22 & 23 – Return to Reston – Before our shuttle to the airport I had time to try once again to get money for the guides. I learned that using a credit card is much more difficult to get money from an ATM vs. using a debit card. I finally was able to do a couple of transactions and get enough for both guides.
I was scheduled on 4 flights back to Dulles: Cusco to Lima, to Miami, to Dallas/Fort worth, and from there to Dulles. During the long layover in Lima I was able to spend about 30 minutes on the phone with an American Airlines person to eliminate the needless trip to Dallas and fly from Miami to National Airport which worked out fine since I could take Metro from there to Reston.
I had a wonderful time on the tour. Machu Picchu is a special place as are the many impressive Inca ruins located in the Sacred Valley. I highly recommend the trip.