Inca Jungle Trek
We took off on a four day and three night adventure to Machu Picchu. We set off from Cusco and drove up to the top of a high mountain pass. From there we spent the whole first day biking down 25 miles of distance and 7,000 feet of elevation. The second day we hiked all day to a hot spring. The third day we climbed around 2,500 feet up to a ridge line for our first glimpse of Mach Picchu before descending to the valley below. That afternoon we finished with a 45 minute train ride to Aguas Caliente at the base of Machu Picchu. The final day we spent exploring Machu Picchu before returning that night to Cusco.
Posts From This Trip
Machu Picchu
On day four we woke up at 4:45 in the morning to have time to grab a quick bite to eat and get to the bus. It is important to get up to Machu Picchu early to get a pass for Wayna Picchu. Wayna Picchu rises up above Machu Picchu and is often seen in the background of "classic" pictures. Every day only 400 people are allowed up to Wayna Picchu. So you get on the bus in Agua Caliente at 5 AM to get into Machu Picchu by 6 AM then trek all the way across the city to line up for your ticket to Wayna Picchu. After this it was about 7:15 and Luis started our tour around Machu Picchu.
Killer Climb
We woke up the third day and packed up for breakfast. As we were eating a minor drama began developing outside. Our company had prearranged for transportation to the trail head. Another van had pulled up outside as we were finishing up and insisted we travel with them. Our guides told them no and eventually they left. The real van showed up and we began loading our gear. Luis left to get our train tickets for that afternoon and as we waited with Henry the first van returned. The driver started talking smack to Henry and insisting we pay him 3 Sols and ride with him.
First Day Treking
Our second day on the trek to Machu Picchu was our first day hiking. We woke up to a home cooked breakfast before boarding the bus to the trail head. The hike started off very steep up through the cloud forest passing maize and coffee and coca growing in the traditional Inca terraced style. After about an hour we passed a little girl selling water and Gatorade in the jungle on the side of the trail. Her chaperon was a little monkey named Lulu. Lulu loved candy and would leap with blinding speed to snatch it from your fingers before devouring it.
Mountain Biking
We were picked up from our hostel at 8:30 AM by our guides Luis and Henry for the start of our Pie-Peru trip. We drove for several hours on insane roads up to a pass over 15,000 feet above sea level. On the far side of the pass we broke out the bikes and started our 25 mile decent. We would plunge almost 8,000 feet down twisting turning roads, first paved and then dirt. Splashing across streams and dodging buses and trucks it was a jaw dropping excursion.
Comments
Hello,
We are planning to do the Jungle Trek to MP this fall. It sounds like you were happy with the company you chose and had nice accomodations, food etc. Can you share with me the company you went with for the Jungle trek to MP?
Thank you,
Dimitri