Machu Picchu!

Machu Picchu. The Inca citadel located high in the Peruvian Andes where superlatives crash and burn in their attempt to describe the beauty and awe of this magnificent site. Where history and natural beauty combine to create what was recently named one of the new 7 wonders of the world. With such stunning descriptions, we would have been remiss not to visit this world famous site while we were in Peru. For that reason, after cleaning out the sand from my ears from my previous adventures, we set out for Cuzco, the city high in the Andes which would be our jumping off point for visiting Machu Picchu.

Just to give everyone a brief history lesson, the Incas were a South American civilization that at their height covered almost all of South America. They were one of the most advanced civilizations of their time and built impressive cities such as their capital at Cuzco and other sites such as Machu Picchu. Unfortunately though, they were no match for the Spanish Conquistadors who eventually took over.

Bird's eye view of Cuzco

Back to the present, upon arriving in Cuzco I soon realized that this was one of the most magnificent cities that I had visited in South America. The city was absolutely breathtaking, with cobbled streets, and gorgeous old building and architecture everywhere I turned. It almost seemed as though we had stepped back in time. The natives talk off the earth giving off special energy here and I could definitely see why. What's more, we arrived in the middle of Carnival, a month long Peruvian celebration punctuated every Sunday by ever increasing intensity of celebrations until the final Sunday of the Month. To celebrate, the city turns into a huge water fight of sorts. People throw water balloons, buckets of water, and even shoot each other with silly string! Needless to say, being blonde haired, Elizabeth and I attracted quite a bit of attention, and proceeded to be doused in water and silly string. Not to take this lying down, we purchased a couple of cans of silly string and water balloons and joined right in the fight! It was an absolute blast, and while I was completely soaked by the end of the day, it was highly worth it!

Soaking wet and covered in silly string!

Click here to see all of my pictures from the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu!

Water balloons thrown and silly string depleted, the next day we prepared to set off for Machu Picchu. Now there are basically two ways to visit Machu Picchu, either by taking a train directly to the ruins or doing a 4 day trek through the mountains to eventually arrive by foot. Obviously, we were not about to be wimps and take a train directly to the ruins. Thus, we setup a trek along the "Inca Trail" for four days that would take us to Machu Picchu. The trail is aptly named the Inca Trail because it was used by the Incas to travel between Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Nothing quite says history like hiking along a trail that was used by a civilization over a thousand years ago. 

After renting our gear and getting setup with a group we were ready to go. Our group consisted of our native guide, Roger, a cook, and 3 porters who would help to transport the gear needed for the trek. While I would have much preferred to complete many of these tasks ourselves, the Inca Trail is currently heavily regulated by the Peruvian Government and requires that tourists use these resources. Apart from our guides and porters, we also had two other tourists in our group, Dave and Joanna, a couple from Ireland and England who would make our four day trek one of the most memorable experiences we've had in South America!

The whole crew!

After passing through the government regulated entrance and ensuring that our papers were in order, we started on our way! The first day was a relatively easy day in terms of hiking. The weather cooperated and we were able to make it to our first campsite without incident. At every campsite, the cook and porters, would setup a makeshift food tent and would make us some absolutely delicious meals! While quite different than the usual camping experience, I was not complaining by any stretch of the imagination. We would always eat and pass the time with Dave with Joanna with whom we immediately hit it off. Dave and Joanna were recently married and are currently traveling the world for their honeymoon (oh how I want their lives). While hiking, there is often a lot of downtime, and as a result you get to know your traveling companions quite well. We had a blast with Dave and Joanna and even found out some interesting facts about the English language of England. For example, when in England, never use the word "fanny" to describe your rear end. As we found out the hard way, in England it actually has a completely other meaning..

Differences in English aside, we set out for the second day of our hike. The second day was slated to be our most difficult, as we had to climb over 4,000ft to go through a pass of nearly 11,000ft before climbing down to our campsite for the night. The climb was difficult but after a lot of huffing and puffing we were eventually rewarded with some beautiful views!

Elizabeth and I at the top of the pass

View of the mountains from our campsite!

After eating some more delicious food and playing spoons (a simply amazing card game) with Joanna and Dave, we headed to the tent for some much needed sleep. Unfortunately, that's not what we were about to receive. A mere few hours after falling asleep in our sleeping bags, I awoke to the sound of a deluge of rain on the tent and the odd sensation that my sleeping bag was just slightly damp. Headlamp on, I soon saw that our tent was not exactly what one would call "waterproof".  Water seemed to be flowing into the tent as it pleased which needless to say presented a slight predicament. It was 2am and we still had 4 hours before we were set to get up and set off. Thus, we did our best to improvise and make our own rainproof tent. We put rain jackets, backpack covers, and anything we could find that was rainproof, as a make shift rain cover under our sleeping bags. We then (attempted to) sleep and await the morning until we could finally leave. Our setup worked reasonably well, but the sun still arose to find us pretty soaked. However, as someone once said, when all else fails, Laugh. Elizabeth and I took that advice to heart and we had a hearty laugh at our soaking wet sleeping bags and tent.

The mini lake in our tent!

After packing up our wet things (which of course about doubles their weight), we set off for the third day of hiking. In spite of the continuing rain, the hike continued to be amazing as we passed vistas that would make even the most experienced hiker take pause. After 6 hours of hiking we eventually made it successfully to our final campsite. We enjoyed our final dinner on the trail and went to bed early as we had to get up at 3:00am so we could arrive at Machu Picchu the next day to see the sunrise. 

We arose and hiked our final few hours to finally arrive at Machu Picchu. Regardless of what you may have heard or pictures you have seen of Machu Picchu, I assure you they don't do it justice. Seeing the citadel for the first time was absolutely breathtaking. I left my thesaurus at home, so rather than trying to conjure up adequate superlatives; I'll simply let the pictures (attempt) to do the job.

Elizabeth and I at Machu Picchu!

The mountains surrounding Machu Picchu

The crew at Machu Picchu!

Machu Picchu

While we could have easily just taken a train from Cuzco to visit Machu Picchu, seeing Machu Picchu meant so much more because we had hiked for four days, through the mountains and rain, with incredible traveling companions, to get there. At the risk of sounding cliché, it was truly an incredible experience to know that we had walked the same route to get to Machu Picchu that the Incas did over a thousand years ago (although I'm sure they did it much faster!). 

More importantly though, this experience once again illustrated that it’s often not what you do but rather who your with that counts. My traveling companions, Elizabeth, Dave, and Joanna made what would have been a memorable trip, absolutely unforgettable. Dave and Joanna were an absolute blast, and Elizabeth and I feel so lucky to have met them! After assurances that we would visit if we ever make it to Dublin, we bid adieu to Dave, Joanna, and the city of Cuzco and set off for our next adventure, Lake Titicaca which (apart from the interesting name) is the world's highest navigable lake. More to come soon!