Cusco

 

The final stop on our adventure was to Cusco, Peru, with the primary goal of hiking to Machu Picchu, a dream of mine. As we arrived a few days early to acclimate to the high altitude, we got busy right away seeing the historic Inca sights and tasting some culinary delights as well.

Our first day we checked out some ruins near the city of Cusco, important for their historic and religious significance. While a guide might have been a good investment, we enjoyed seeing the unique Inca construction of the walls and structures and reading some bits and pieces on he internet. Our day topped off with a gourmet dining experience (on a budget) of Peruvian delicacies: highly recommended!

Our second day we went on an adventure into the Sacred Valley, visiting 2 sites and riding 4-wheelers, an activity Sunny has wanted to do for a few months now! Our first stop was the Mara salt mines, a natural salt collection site that uses salty water from the local mountains and dries it in shallow pools to evaporate water and gather salt. Despite the white color, this is considered pink salt because it is from the mountains. To work here, you must be born in the town of Mara or marry someone from the town so I guess we’re out of luck getting employment! 

The other stop on our journey was to an Inca ruin of concentric farming platforms that created a diverse set of microclimates where the Inca could experiment with growing a huge variety of plants. It was quite impressive indeed.

The most notable section of our journey, of course, was the 4 day 3 night Inca Trail hike. This hike must be done through an agency and is complete with an extensive support staff, including a guide, chef, and porters to carry all your clothes and equipment. It was a very luxurious experience as far as hiking goes! 

The first day was pretty light but the sun was shining and we had magnificent views of the sacred valley and some good company from the other members of our group so it was a pleasant walk to our campsite in the mountains.

The second day had a hike up to the highest point on the trail, Dead woman’s pass, which was quite the challenge indeed! Unfortunately it started raining as soon as we left the cloud forest so no good views for us, but the very end of the day landed us with sunshine at an Inca ruin up in the misty clouds. The mysterious nature of this construction was uniquely Incan and we learned a lot of history while we were at it.

The third day was a much easier half day, so in addition to the incredible views the agency decided to keep us busy with a “cooking class”. We were responsible for the chopping of various vegetables and meat, which the service quickly grabbed and mixed with sauces and fire to make a vegetarian ceviche and lomo saltado dishes. This is probably the most abbreviated “cooking class “ I’ve ever been in but it was lunch time and after hiking all morning I was quite hungry so not one to complain!

The other highlight was visiting a nearby ruin up in the hills that had a stunning rainbow for more than 20 minutes in our view. The Inca worshiped natural phenomena such as the rainbow so it was spectacular to observe, in additional to the history literally under our feet. The final treat of the day was a cake made by the chef and dedicated to Sunny and me for our honeymoon. Sweet!

Our final day required waking up before 4am then essentially sprinting to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu. The final push requires climbing an ancient staircase dubbed the “gringo killer”. We made it but we’re disappointed by a complete and utter lack of view. Nothing like hiking 4 days to see fog…

Somehow though, as we approached the first picture spot, the clouds parted and the driving rain stopped and we got our first glimpse of the lost city. It was majestic. After facing the disappointment that we probably wouldn’t see anything at all it was an incredible sight and only continued to get clearer and sunnier as the day progressed, an incredible end to an incredible journey.