After Machu Picchu, we descended down in to the Amazon. We decided on Puerto Maldonado, which has some of the more untouched rainforest.
Unfortunately, one of the catches of going to the Amazon during the rainy season is that you’re less likely to see wildlife. (Since there’s a lot of rain, the animals don’t have to move around to get water… and likely to be spotted.) What I really wanted to see, which we didn’t, was some funky monkeys. 
a capybara - the largest rodent in the world.
a caiman. (here’s another where you can really peer into his eye)
turtles on a log
leafcutter ants on the move
i totally forget what this guy is called…. anyone know?
big ant!
moths
Machu Picchu, in all its glory….
the feet that got me there….
Arg!! The weather on the entire Inka Trail was *perfect*…. until the very last day.
We awoke at 4am to make our way to the Sun Gate, *the* place to see the sunrise…. We really booked it and we were the third & forth people there. And by there… I mean a big wall of white fog.
The “vista” above Machu Picchu wasn’t that much better. Our guides kept saying that it would clear… and then around 8:30am, it finally did….
the llamas, also upset by the fog….
yep, that’s machu picchu. not exactly how i envisioned it….
but then it started to clear! !
and clear even further!!
The third day of the Inka trail might have been my favorite. The hiking was challenging, but not ridiculous. And we started early enough that we were able to see many of the small ruins all by ourselves….
Day 2 was by fair the roughest day. We started out hiking up to Llulluchupampa. This was a steep 3km and we were all feeling it by the time we got there.
From there, we were heading to Dead Woman’s Pass (or Warmiwañusca). At 4198m (13,772 ft) it is definitely up there. The last 200m was the worst. You pass through 3 stages:
- Excitement - you can see the top.
- Exhaustion - each step takes absolute effort.
- Extreme exhaustion - you’re inches from the top but each step now takes 15 second.
made it to llulluchupampa!
you can see how far we’ve climbed already!
last 200 meters…. think i might die….
looks like i’m smiling. really, i’m just covering my pain…. and my gasping. the air is thin this high up!
the rolled in magically as we got to the top…
…and then just as quickly rolled away…
2nd night camp site
The first day of was pretty easy. It was about 16km and 6 hours of walking along the Urubamba River But we were at our lowest elevation point of 2380m (7,808 ft), which was even lower than Cuzco. The climb was very modest to Wayllabamba at 3100m (10,170 ft), our first camp site.
me, around 7am. on the bus, en route for the trail. photo op break.
the start of the trail. we were very lucky and had a very fun treking group.
friendly visitor - donkey!
our first camp site.
I first began wanting to go to Peru a couple years ago. My main motivation was to do the 4 day trek to Machu Picchu. I had heard amazing things about the Machu Picchu ruins. And I just imagined hiking through the Andes and finally coming upon the ruins…
Well, the trail and Machu Picchu lived up to all my expectations. It was an amazing experience.
Some basic info about the trail:
- 33 km (22 miles) in 4 days
- Lowest point: 2380m (7,808 ft)
- Highest point: 4200m (13,779 ft)
If you’re heading out on the trail, a few thoughts for you…
- Bring bug repellent. Some parts of the trail are at “lower” alitutoides and there are mosquitos. I got devoured at Machu Picchu during the 15 minutes I decided to make my convertible pants “shorts.
- They sell wooden walking sticks at the beginning of the trail. They’re cheaper than renting metal walking sticks… and you don’t have to lug yours from the States. For me, having 2 walking sticks was *key*.
- Bring lots of memory cards. I went through about 6 GB.
(I’ll add a few more points once I get through the rest of the trip’s photos. I did a bunch of research on which agency & what to bring that I’ll share.)
Well, not actually your pets…. “Cuy” is spanish for guinea pig, which is a high delicacy of highland cuisine. There are two standard ways of getting it: “al horno” which is backed and “frito” which is fried. We had it fried.
To play with the delicate palettes of the foreigners, they bring out the cuy… whole. I had been okay with the idea of eating guinea pig (”Hey, I’ll try it. It’ll probably taste like chicken.”) I just wasn’t expecting to see, well, all of it. It’s a similar issue that I have with fish. I don’t want to see my meat look like, well, a dead animal. (I know, I get the irony.)
There’s a photo before this that didn’t turn out. Let’s just say it was the cuy & me… and my eyes are close and I have a look of dread on my face.
About 5 minutes later, they took it back to the kitchen and cut it for us. And, removed the head from the plate.
Cuzco, hands down, was the most charming city in Peru. Its old colonial feel is enough to sweep you off your feet. We had two days in Cuzco to wander around before we started in the Inka Trail…
Also, if you’re ever in Cuzco, I highly recommend Hotel Corihausi. It was a beautiful quaint hotel seated on the hill behind Plaza de Armas. Our “panoramic room #20″ had a beautiful 180 view of the plaza and the city.
me, above plaza de armas
cuzco’s plaza de amras from afar
local chidren
local woman
boys will be boys
the view from our hotel room at hotel corihuasi
me
local woman
We took a (11 hour!) bus ride from Copacabana, Bolivia to Cuzco, Peru. It was exhausting.
We had one transfer in the city of Puno, Peru. Just from the bus ride, Puno looked like a rather built-up but not very pleasant town - the exact opposite of Copacabana. (The local floating islands, I’ve heard though, are supposed to be very interesting).
The large windows on our tourist bus enabled some good shots of the streets…
