the beautiful weaving I bought from one of the local mothers, the view from the top of Wayna Picchu, and my hiking team.
The 3-day Lares Trek to Machu Picchu was physically challenging, freezing cold, super dusty, but worthwhile.
It is a 36-km hike, with 3 high passes to be crossed, one of which reaches an elevation of 4600m. Our local crew of seven llamas, 5 porters, a cook and a guide looked after us well for the duration of the hike. Porters and llamas carried the majority of the gear for the hike, we only had to carry a small daypack with water, rain gear, snacks, a camera, etc.
We passed through dozens of active local communities that maintain Inka customs for planting and living even today. My favorite was an 80 year old man named Maximilliano who had 7 children and a dozen grandchildren, all of whom lived on his compound. We approached them on the second morning of the hike and we were graciously invited to enter his main living quarters. Much to our surprise, 6 of them shared the sleeping quarters with 24 guinea pigs who ran amok on the floor and underneath the food storage places. check out the photos of his family and house.
We admired breathtaking views at every step as we move from high plateau areas to dense cloud forest. We were lucky to have clear days and we were rewarded for all our work with beautiful views of the Urubamba Valley below.
After 3 beautiful and challenging days of sleeping in temperatures two degrees below zero, we were delighted to have one night to shower in a hotel before arriving at Machu Picchu. I regret that I got food poisoning that night and spent literally the entire night running to the bathroom. But that didn't curb my enthusiasm to take the 5:30 am bus to MP.
There is no way to describe the feeling of the first views of Machu Picchu, as the mist rises off the mountains early in the morning and the famous ruin appears in front of me. I took nearly 200 photos in the first 10 minutes of arrival.
Machu Picchu is both the best and the least known of the Inca ruins. It is not mentioned in any of the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors and archaeologists today can do no more than speculate on its function. The local Quechua farmers in the area knew of Machu Picchu for centuries, but it was not until an 11-year-old boy led the American historian Hiram Bingham (who was in search of Vilcabamba) to the site on July 24, 1911, that the rest of the world became aware of its existence. At that time the site was covered in thick vegetation, and Bingham and his team returned in 1912 and 1915 to clear the growth. Over the years, much work has been done on excavating and studying the site.
Luckily we were some of the first people to arrive and we secured some of the rare tickets to hike to Wayna Picchu, the highest mountain in the ruins. We had stunning views from the top but the way down was TERRIFYING! The steps to descend were not even five inches deep and my feet barely fit on them sideways, not to mention there was a sheer cliff on the side and not even a flimsy rope to hold onto. One wrong step....and goodbye Briana. So I took my time and crept closely to the mountain and in the end I was proud to have completed it.
I was lucky to have a great hiking team and to meet a fantastic new friend from San Francisco.
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