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 …
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 …
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 …
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…
As if La Paz wasn’t high enough, our next stop was Lake Titicaca at 3,812m (12,507 feet). We stayed in Copacabana on the Bolivian side (not to be confused with the other Copacabana in Brazil.) Unfortunately, a combination of rain and me feeling the altitude prevented us from exploring Isla del Sol. Still, Copacabana was a very pleasant if sleepy place to spend a few days. The morning of our last day, I was feeling a bit better and was able to venture up to the summit of Cerro Calvario. There was some puffing through the thin area to make it …
Incan stonework is known for its large, well cut stone, mortarless construction and expert precision. Many different architects & builders worked on the different parts of Machu Picchu. Some walls have a jumbled feeling. Others, have an eerily modern “concrete” perfection to them. Different Incan walls in Machu Piccu:
In our taxi tour of El Alto, we were able to catch a lot of locals through the window….
a Paz is high. At 3,600 meters (11,811 feet), you’re definitely up there. And I felt it. Even though i was talking Acetazolamide for altitude sickness, I had dizziness, blurry vision, shortness of breath, and migraine. The first morning we took it very easy. My boyfriend, the bastard – yes misery does love company – felt fine. 🙂 In the afternoon, I was feeling a bit better and we ventured up even higher by taxi to El Alto, the upstairs neighboring city. At its highest point, El Alto is 4150 meters (13,615 feet). El Alto is much poorer than La …