Peru: Sacred Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Michele: We arrived in Lima from Chicago (via Miami) at 7:00 on a misty, overcast Sunday morning. Lima is a sprawling city of 9 million, situated on a desert coast next to the Pacific Ocean. We stayed in a very quaint neighborhood called Miraflores, on the South side of the city, and had the entire day to explore before flying out to Cusco the following morning. We began our exploration of Miraflores by stopping at a little cafe to get a pastry and coffee con leche. I love coffee, and coffee is very good in Peru, so I started the trip on a high note. The neighborhood offers an interesting combination of old-school boulevards, colonial architecture, and a surprising modern and hip vibe. The edge of Miraflores sits on a bluff with a walkway that winds through parks and overlooks the Pacific; what a view! It was a perfect setting for the many morning exercisers, from surfers down in the water to the dog walkers, runners and bikers up on the bluff. Nate and I tried out the exercise equipment set outside along parts of the walkway. Nate: Next we walked in the Miraflores Plaza where we found local artists displaying their paintings. Inside the park, dozens of cats roamed around where children played while others rested in the flower beds. In search of authentic Peruvian cuisine, we stumbled across a restaurant called Lucas 10, tucked down an alley past the bookshop where we had picked up some books on the Incas and Inca history. We ordered two seafood dishes and our first pisco sours of the trip. A pisco sour is one of my favorite drinks and is the national drink of Peru, so Michele and I were anxious to try one in the capital. After we placed our order, the chef stopped by and asked if we would like to try the cebiche (ceviche). How could we say no? What a good call. The cebiche was absolutely incredible and perhaps the best we've ever had. What an amazing first dish in Peru. The entrees were also excellent. And of course the pisco sours were delicious. After some rest and showers we followed the same route again to the ocean with a slight detour to check out more of the houses in the neighborhood. The fog from earlier in the day had receded and we could see city lights and an illuminated cross across the water in another area of Lima. A cute older couple walked in front of us along the ocean bluff path and painted a picture of how Michele and I want to grow old together. Back at the Miraflores Plaza, we found a large crowd laughing at jokes and performances by some sort of improv entertainers. We watched for a little while but couldn't translate what they were saying to keep up with their humor. A stop at a nearby cathedral cost us a dollar for a flower fund but also purchased a hug from a Peruvian stranger. Outside was a small little market where we strolled through local crafts of leather, wool, gems, and traditional souvenir items. Nearby, a young girl was learning about the birds and the bees from two loud and feisty cats under a park bench. For dinner we found a traditional Peruvian restaurant that had good reviews on Fodor's, called Las Tejas. The reviews were well deserved. My lomo saltado was excellent as was Michele's fish dish. Much of the meal was prepared outdoors where we were sitting next to the alfresco kitchen.

Michele: We took a short, early morning flight to Cusco and were welcomed at the airport by our Peruvian guide, Vidal, and driver, Roger. We were dropped off at our hotel, Casa Andina Catedral, which is in a perfect location next to the main square, Plaza de las Armas. The hotel incorporates an original wall constructed by the Incas. We were welcomed with coca tea, which is tasty and reminds me of green tea. Coca tea helps to ward off altitude sickness so we drank a lot of it throughout the trip. Neither of us got altitude sickness and I credit the coca tea for that. I feel like we stepped back in time when arriving in Cusco as it provides constant reminders that it was the center of the great Inca empire. The city takes your breath away, from the literal aspect that you are dealing with high altitude at almost 12,000 feet and from the visual aspects of its spectacular setting in a valley with stunning Inca and Spanish architecture. Throughout the city you can see many of the original foundations built by the Incas as well as original stone streets and aqueducts. Instead of ripping down the Inca buildings, the Spaniards just built on top of them. The Incas have become recognized as extraordinary stone masons who were ahead of their time. Their foundations were solid and survived earthquakes (Cusco is on a fault). So the city really does give you a view of the past. We were introduced to the third member of our group, Alberto, a Colombian who is a retired economics professor, now living in Panama. What a character! He definitely added some spice to our group. We all met up with Vidal in the afternoon, to tour some interesting sites in the neighborhood. Vidal is an excellent guide as he is very engaging, well-educated and extremely knowledgeable and proud of his Inca heritage. His passion shows through and he is full of interesting facts. We started out by viewing the Cathedral in the Plaza de las Armas, built during the Spanish occupation. The outside was majestic but the ornate inside blew my mind, with oil paintings and gold leaf throughout. I asked Vidal if there were ever any issues with theft as there are priceless artifacts in these cathedrals and he said that there are guards in the cathedrals; however, a solid gold crown that was sitting on the head of a statue of Jesus was stolen from this cathedral at one point, and then recovered. Nate: After touring the Cathedral we stopped briefly to enjoy some tamales from a local vendor. One sole bought some delicious food. We also loaded up on the water to complement the coca tea and combat the intense sun altitude. The thin air was easily appreciated when we climbed even five or six steps. As we headed toward the Temple of Coricancha, we observed some of the Inca walls of ancient Cusco. It's so fascinating to see the craftsmanship and structural design that the Spanish were too proud to adapt or replicate. It is also amazing that the Inca walls stand strong while everything else crumbles or deteriorates. Over at the Temple we examined more Inca craftsmanship and marveled at the stonework. How did they cut stone so perfectly, align openings with such precision, and comprehend the strength of the trapezoidal shapes? While our tours were modest today, that was not unwelcome as the altitude was taking its toll. For a late lunch we found Chi Cha which is owned by a world-famous chef Gaston Acurio. Michele and I shared the stuffed peppers Vidal recommended and the pork belly dish the waiter suggested. The potato bread with cilantro ricotta butter was an amazing starter. Michele seemed to really enjoy the desert trio before we made our way back to the hotel for a siesta. Cusco's restaurants did not disappoint us. After 10 p.m. we set out for a late dinner only to realize that most restaurants had closed or were closing. We did find a nice-looking restaurant on the second floor near our hotel where two more pisco sours helped to complete the night.

Nate: The first stop today was at Sacsawayman. Much of the site is off-limits due to preservation, exploration, and repairs. But what we could see was unbelievable. The site sits about 1,000 feet above Cusco and is believed to be an old fortress or temple. Llamas and alpacas roam freely across the wide open area between what was some sort of pyramid type site and the large stone walls. The walls consist of stones that were easily 10 feet tall with some weighing over 90 tons. Similar to the Inca sites of the day before, you still can't pass a piece of paper between the edges of the stones. We also saw how the people who placed the stones did so in such a way that the stones formed figures in some spots. For instance, in one are you could see what looked like a puma paw and a sitting llama. At an overlook where we could climb onto the walls, we encountered a group of Peruvian children. The giveaway was the hat and dress of one of the mothers with the group. I noticed she was carrying a bag of potatoes that Vidal explained was probably a snack. Our next stop was Tambochay - a site where the remains included an active aqueduct. Despite the gradual paved incline to the site, we still had to go slowly or we would get winded. From an elevated altar opposite the temple we could look up the mountain to see where terraces would be fed by the mountain spring and looked down the mountain to another temple. While many of the sites we visited were no longer complete, Vidal explained that much of the stone at the main Sacsawayman site is believed to have been transported down to Cusco to rebuild temples and walls as the city grew and expanded. From the temple with the aqueduct we moved to another site that was previously set up with aqueducts and pools of water. A large featureless carving in front of a white stone wall is believed to cast a shadow of a puma during certain times of the year. Behind the wall where the shadow would be cast was a ceremonial area with altars and thrones and cutouts where mummies could be displayed. The mummies were likely stored in niches and coves carved into the stone walls in a cave to protect them from the sun and water. Michele: After leaving the site, our driver dropped us off just outside of Cusco so we could take one of the original Inca stone walking paths into the city. We wound through the neighborhoods and stopped in San Blas to get lunch at a cute restaurant Vidal recommended (he was a great source of good local restaurants throughout the trip). The San Blas area is known as a neighborhood for artists and there are a lot of cute little shops and restaurants. I was amazed at how many dogs were in the streets and slept outside of doorways. We learned that dogs do not normally sleep inside Peruvian homes but are outside dogs who guard the house. They seemed very well-fed and happy. Nate and I were surprised at how they look both ways to cross the street (very street smart). We ended our afternoon with a visit to the newly opened museum dedicated to Machu Picchu artifacts (supported by the Peruvian government and Yale University). It was very well done and included original correspondence from Hiram Bingham and pictures of the local boy who led him to the site. Nate and I ended our day with dinner at a great Peruvian restaurant in San Blas, where I tried alpaca for the first time. This was our last night in Cusco prior to heading to the Inca trail via the Sacred Valley.

Michele: We spent the entire day touring the Sacred Valley, which is a valley in the region of Cusco and below Machu Picchu. Our itinerary was to explore some towns and sites in the valley and then spend the night in the town of Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is close to the start of the Inca Trail, which we would begin to hike the next morning. The scenery in the Sacred Valley was stunning, with great open spaces surrounded by the snowcapped Andes. We drove to a small town called Chinchero and stopped to visit a weaving co-op supported by some families in the town. Everything was made the traditional way. One of the women demonstrated the weaving process, from cutting and washing the wool, to dying and darning it. We then saw a few other women weave the wool. The colors were so vibrant and only natural ingredients were used for the dye, such as flowers, lichen and even special beetles only found in a certain type of cactus. We were able to purchase some sweaters and textiles for extremely reasonable prices (great quality and gifts). We moved on to walk through the town and stopped to view a small church, which was next to an Inca site. The church seemed so unassuming from the outside, with its whitewashed walls, but once you stepped inside you were hit with beautiful ornate carvings and decoration. We drove on to stop at a small town called Tiobamba for lunch. This was a very special experience as the town consisted of a beautiful old church set out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a wall which protected the few dogs and 2 families who inhabited the town. Vidal and our driver, Roger, set up lunch at a picnic table in the church yard. Vidal told us that this was intended to be a larger town but it never stuck and now the church opens up a few times a year for special occasions. Nate: We headed off to Maras. Maras is home to the salt terraces fed by a salt water spring coming out of the mountain. Terraces were carved into the side of the mountain where shallow pools form so the water can evaporate and leave behind salt deposits. In the dry season, these deposits are harvested and salt is separated, cleaned, and sold. Unfortunately, Vidal explained that the salt terraces are only 30 to 40% of their peak size because the demand for salt has decreased due to cheaper competition from other sources. Regardless, what is left is amazing and quite a sight to behold. After Michele confirmed by taste that the salt spring is very salty, Roger headed the van toward the Moray greenhouses. These structures look like terraced concentric circles carved into the earth with each one deeper than the last. As Vidal explained, this area produced various microclimates by terracing down into the earth and also up the neighboring mountain. In addition to figuring out how to make poisonous potatoes edible, the Incas also used Moray to condition their crops to grow at different temperatures, heights, and climates. They would start a crop at the bottom down in the earth and then move it up one level the next growing season. As the stronger plants survived, they moved them up and up until they had maize that was growing at 13,000 feet. Vidal also pointed out that the pattern of the terraces when viewed from above looks like a condor face with weeping eyes. The last site of the day was in the town of Ollantaytambo. Walking into this site is impressive. You're confronted with walls of terraces rising up the mountain. At the top of the left is the temple. To the right are more walls of terraces and some storage houses. Michele started to count the steps as we were climbing toward the temple but stopped at 166 when we still weren't very close to the top. The stones for the main temple at Ollantaytambo came from a quarry on the neighboring mountain, traveling down some switchbacks, across a river, and back up the mountain to the temple. After the enormous stones traveled an unimaginable path, they still had to be cut to the right size and polished. In the temple at Ollantaytambo, Vidal had us put our heads in one of the trapezoidal cutouts in the stone walls and say something so we could hear how perfect the acoustics were in each cutout. A porter had told Vidal that if you put your head in and keep quiet, you can hear the sound of mother Earth. Michele and I ate dinner at a restaurant in town at the table next to the fireplace where we shared some quinoa soup, quinoa battered trout nuggets, and absolutely delicious stuffed alpaca.

Michele: I have to admit I was a little nervous about this trek. We would cover over 26 miles in 4 days, with trails mostly going up or down. Nate and I both trained a little bit before the trek, by running and also walking on the treadmill at a steep incline, so I guess I was as ready as I was ever going to be. (Though I was a bit worried about not being able to take a shower for almost 4 full days on the trail.) We loaded our bags into the van and left Ollantaytambo in the morning. I had a great sleep the night before, as you can hear gurgling water throughout the town, which lulls you to sleep. It took an hour to reach the trail entrance. That is where we met our team of porters and our chef, Augusto. Alberto, Nate and I each had 2 porters to help carry our belongings and gear. Our porters would carry up to 15 pounds of our personal belongings, as well as the tents and other gear. We carried any remaining personal belongings so it made it much easier to hike. I was amazed at how much these porters packed on and how hard they worked. I quickly grew to respect them. The government is strict about the weight allowance so every porter had to be weighed with their pack on before being allowed to enter the trail. We went ahead, got our papers stamped and crossed a rickety bridge over the rushing Urubamba river to begin the trek on a beautiful and sunny Thanksgiving day. We were all very excited - we were taking the original paths built by the Incas and it was a little mind blowing to think that those paths have survived for hundreds and hundreds of years. The first few hours were pretty easy going as we walked along a gradually inclining trail, passing a few small homes and huts selling refreshments and snacks and some interesting plants and flowers. Vidal explained that there are a lot of microclimates in the Andes and you could quickly pass from one type of vegetation to another. We saw everything from brown humming birds to the cien anos plant, which flowers every 35-40 years. Every so often we would see donkeys heading down the trail towards us, with their owners running after them. The trail started to get steeper and more challenging a few hours in. We would stop to see ruins along the way and Vidal would explain all of the history and details about how the Incas lived. Every once in awhile we would see other hikers on the trail, but overall we felt like we had the trail to ourselves. After a more difficult stretch of trail, we stopped for lunch and devoured our first meal cooked by Augusto -- soup, chicken pie and dessert. It was a good sign of things to come. Nate: Not far from the lunch site was our first really challenging climb. The trekking polls were a help, but we seemed to keep going up for a long time. At the top of the climb we rounded a bend and were rewarded with a beautiful overlook of a large Inca site. A river zig-zagged around it and terraces and storage tambos looked well-preserved from our aerial vantage point. An older site with perfectly straight walls and a slightly different wall structure was the basis for our observation point. It was neat to stand on one site and look down on a newer and larger one. Our next downhill stretch brought us to an area where Vidal took us on a little-used alternative path to another small Inca site where a large structure was still well-preserved. Even the plaster on the walls still remained in some areas. An area about this building had an aqueduct that looked like it fed a bathing area before it continued toward other structures. Aside from Inca sites, the trail also provided vistas of snowcapped mountains revered by the Inca, active production farms, cows grazing on steep inclines up the sides of mountains, a little boy pulling sheep up the trail, orchids growing out of the stone walls, and beautiful views of nature. When we finally finished the uphill climb to our camp for the night, our tents were set up and our bags were waiting for us. Thanksgiving dinner started with roasted corn and some crackers and tea. Potato and vegetable soup was followed by a main course of trout, mashed potatoes, and sliced tomato and cucumber. Dessert was a little apple pie. We ate inside the cook tent and discussed politics and religion as well as Inca and Peruvian history. What a surreal Thanksgiving.

Michele: Vidal had warned us that this was going to be the hardest trekking day but I was not at all prepared for the intensity of the trail. Our goal was to reach the first of 3 mountain passes we would cross, Dead Woman's Pass, which is also the highest point we would reach at 13,800 feet. We were woken up at around 7:00 by one of our porters, a very sweet older man (who I nicknamed Smiley as he was such a positive man who constantly smiled), who handed us sweetened coca tea and brought us 2 bowls of warm water with which to wash. This would become our morning ritual, which I looked forward to. Augusto cooked us a hearty breakfast and then we packed up and received our snack bag of treats for the trail (which was another thing I looked forward to -- we were certainly well fed). We would always be the last or one of the last groups leaving the campsites as Vidal wanted to make sure we were not walking on crowded trails. There were some very large groups with 16+ tourists, plus all of the porters and cooks, so we wanted to avoid most of those crowds. We immediately began climbing a steep trail, which involved walking up stone steps set in the ground. Nate and Alberto are tall and able to cover ground faster than me. I had to take a lot more steps to keep up! Vidal has lost count but said he has done the Inca trail well over 600 times (sometimes twice in one week) so he was very seasoned to the effort involved and knew every nook and cranny of the trail. Needless to say, I told the others to walk ahead most of the time as I didn't want to feel stressed about keeping up with them. It was getting harder to climb as we gained altitude. I was amazed at how many older people were on the trail. We passed a group from Austria who seemed to be having no problems with the climb (I assumed they had plenty of practice trekking in the Alps). This was another beautiful sunny day and I took off layers to walk in a tank top. We started passing through very different terrain and walking deeper in shaded wooded areas next to bubbling springs. I would run into some small groups of 1-3 trekkers along the way and started picking up some tips on how to climb more effectively, such as weaving back and forth up the trail versus walking a straight line up. This used less effort as you would gradually climb the distance. Even though it was physically challenging, it was pretty amazing to walk this old trail through this amazing scenery. We would not pass any more houses after day 1 of the trek so I really did feel that I was far away from civilization. We had a final steep push to get us to our campsite for a lunch break . Even the porters were taking rests along the way. We ate another stellar meal prepared by Augusto and marveled at the distance we climbed as we looked down into the valley we had just ascended. And then we started the most difficult part of the trek -- the final push up to Dead Woman's Pass. I shuddered as I looked up to the pass, seeing the long, steep trail winding up to it and the little dots representing trekkers nearing the top. We started out and I probably stopped every 20 feet or so to catch my breath as the stairs and trail were very steep. Nate: It took at least two hours to climb an incredibly steep ascent to Dead Woman's Pass. In the valley below are beautifully colored llama, alpaca, sheep, and cattle. Vidal also pointed out the Cara Cara Bird and some other birds of prey. The unparalleled scenery was a blessing to periodically take your mind off the pain of the climb. Sometime shortly after 3 p.m. we reached Dead Woman's Pass (at close to 14,000 feet). This was by far one of the most physically challenging experiences either one of us had ever had. We climbed 4,000 vertical feet in just over 6 1/2 hours. What an accomplishment. It is useless and futile to try and capture in words the beauty that we saw with the mountain range peaks, subtle changes in shadowing, diversity of flora and fauna, and picturesque serenity. After amassing a wealth of pictures, we began the descent to camp. What we thought would be easy was easier than the climb but still fairly difficult. We spent just over 1 1/2 hours going straight down. That process is hard to your joints. While the climb up to Dead Woman's Pass was sunny and warm, the other side of the peak was cold and windy. Once we traveled down far enough, the wind died down and the temperature rose again but we were still above the clouds. The image was very surreal and eerie as we watched clouds constantly move across the area that we were hiking down toward. Augusto pulled through again and we devoured a solid dinner of soup and some kind of a chicken a la king main dish. The day wore us out and everyone headed to their tents shortly after we finished eating.

Nate: It was cold this morning until the sun rose over the mountains and showered our camp with direct light. Once packed, we set off for the first site of the day, which was visible from camp, but uphill. We arrived at the Runkuraqay and learned that it was kind of a stopover point for travelers on the trail. There was area for grain storage and some rooms for living. This site is shaped like a half-moon and there are no terraces around and no flatland. The views were again spectacular looking back up toward Dead Woman's Pass. From the Runkuraqay site we climbed up about 45 minutes further to the actual pass where we started down toward Sayaqmarka. It's hard to say whether climbing is easier than descending or vice versa. It really depends on the pitch of the trail, the condition of the stone path, how long you been ascending or descending, the weather, and how long you been hiking. As we were certainly being well fed, we usually shared our snacks with the porters, who were appreciative. It's truly amazing how hard they work and how well taken care of we are. Sayaqmarka is an impressive site built out on a ledge above the valley. We had to climb about 100 steps to reach it and they were hard to navigate in some spots because they curved around natural rock outcroppings. The first room you see is a horseshoe-shaped room with an opening facing east for the sunrise. Vidal took us up a level where we saw the aqueduct that supplied fresh water to the entire huge site. Most impressive is that it required a bridge to get from the mountain into the site. Unfortunately that bridge is no longer there. As we walked through the site, Vidal explained that certain features helps identify its use. Again there were no terraces so this was not a farming area. As such, lower status people would not live there. The quality of the building also suggested that the more elite live there. Vidal pointed out a type of thin plant growing in the rocks along one of the walls. He explained that this was a plant that the stimulant ephedra comes from and that it can still be found in markets today. Perhaps this site was one of the areas where the chemists of the day learned about the medicinal properties or uses of plants. By the time we reached the lunch campsite, it was almost completely in the clouds. Our afternoon meal was Augusto's version of lomo saltado and it was worthy of being served in a restaurant. Michele: We left the lunch campsite and entered the Cloud Forest as it began to rain. This was our first rain on the trail and it made everything look very mystical and beautiful. The foliage changed in that we started to see a lot more ferns, orchids and intensified color in the lichens and moss; different shades of green, yellow, orange and red. The mistiness intensified as we began walking through cloud formations. Even though we were headed uphill again, we had some flat/only slightly elevated sections of the trail so we were able to take it slower and really look around and enjoy the views. The trail hugged the side of the mountain and was not covered so we could look down the sides and see sheer, foliage covered drops. It was a pleasant 2-hour walk to our campsite, which we arrived at in the late afternoon. We were camping above the clouds and the views were spectacular; plus we had the place to ourselves. The other groups pushed on a few more hours to reach the next campsite, with the idea being that they would get up very early in the morning and have only a short hike to reach Machu Picchu by sunrise. Vidal suggested that we make it a short afternoon and camp early so that we might experience camping above the clouds. We agreed and it was pretty special. I took a short nap when we arrived, while Nate was out taking photos on the trail, and woke up to llamas walking around our tent. They are very gentle creatures and have dainty hooves and heads which look like deer, with big eyes and long lashes. They thrive in the high altitude. Nate: When Michele awoke from her nap the clouds were lifting and revealed the most breathtaking panoramas of the mountain peaks in every direction. Below our feet clouds were filling the valleys. We were literally above the clouds looking down on them. The scene changed every minute and I couldn't stop taking pictures. When I finally did and we all sat down for tea, one of the porters reported that the snow-capped peak behind us was now visible. What a spectacle. I was camera crazy again as the backdrop kept changing. Eventually we returned to our meal back in the tent and were surprised with some Peruvian Cabernet Sauvignon to go along with Augusto's spaghetti. The jello dessert was like being at Grandma's house all over again.

Michele: We woke up to our last breakfast with our team of porters and Augusto. A table was set up outside, overlooking the clouds. Our group wore the brightly colored and festive garments from their individual villages and Nate and I passed out some gifts for their kids (like pads of paper and pencils) as well as tips. We were very lucky to have such a good group of people helping us out. We set out on the trail to reach Machu Picchu and passed some pretty amazing sites along the way, starting out with Phuyupatamarka, which we were able to see from our campsite that morning. The trail was mostly downhill and we headed to Intipata next. This was pretty spectacular as it was a sprawling site stepped down the mountain side, overlooking the Urubumba River and Sacred Valley below. We stopped to take a rest and I was very excited to rinse my hair in fresh spring water running through a working Inca aqueduct. We moved on to get lunch at the next campsite, which happened to be the one where all of the other groups had stayed the previous night (and I was relieved to see that we didn't miss anything as it was not very picturesque, with a bunch of cement areas to park the tents). We moved on to my favorite site up to this point, Winaywayna. The setting just blew me away. Once again, the site hugged a steep mountainside and looked over the Urubumba River and Sacred Valley. It was very well preserved and absolutely stunning. We pushed on to the last leg of our trek; the remaining hour and a half of trail to reach Machu Picchu. This was a breeze compared to the journey thus far, with a fairly flat trail through some pretty stunning foliage. Our excitement was building - we had seen some awesome sites up to this point but knew that Machu Picchu was the Holy Grail of Inca sites. We struggled up the last 100 very steep steps to get to the Sun Gate, which allowed us our first view of Machu Picchu. The view was spectacular and made all of the effort up to that point worthwhile. We looked down on Machu Picchu, as the Sun Gate was set high and was the point where the Incas passed through to reach the site. We still had a 35 minute hike to get to the site but were gifted with a spectacular view along the way. Nate: As excited as we were, thunder echoed through the air and we wanted to get down to the actual Machu Picchu site before any rain came. We almost made it. But under the cover of some trees with the finish line in sight, we pulled out our rain gear and covered our day packs. After a brief layover in the guard house, we set out to take in the site while the masses that remained either sought cover or moved toward the exit. The walls of the main structures and Machu Picchu are themselves works of art. How did these people carve stone so perfectly and place it so exactly? At first we simply walked slowly to absorb everything around us. Few visitors remained and it felt like we were on a private tour of Machu Picchu. At the overlook of the Temple of the Sun, we noted the traditional curved nature of the structure. Its importance was evident by the polish and precision of its assembly -- especially in comparison to the surrounding terraced walls. Another finely built room was the bedroom of the King or his wife. It was nicely carved, large, and had a private bathing area. Even as we were walking around and casually discussing the scholarly and archaeological work still being done 100 years after Bingham re-discovered the lost city of the Incas, Vidal stopped and pointed out pottery on the ground popping through the saturated soil and part of the bone that had washed up. After a brief stop at the religious sites that paid homage to the water, sun, and earth, it was time for us to call it a day and head down to Aguas Calientes and our hotel, El Mapi. Michele had so anticipated her first post-trek shower that I thought she might stay in there and skip dinner. The hotel was very comfortable and modern.

Michele: I was very happy to take another shower in the morning (probably my sixth in the last 12 hours) and have a good breakfast at the hotel. We caught a 6 a.m. bus up to Machu Picchu to get an early start. We would need to leave the site at noon to catch a 1:30 train back to Ollantaytambo, where Roger would then pick us up in the passenger van to drive us back to Cusco. We had perfect weather and there was not a crowd that early in the morning. We walked with Vidal as he guided us through the site, sharing his unlimited knowledge. We then had a few hours on our own and Nate had signed us up to hike Huayna Picchu, which is a mountain located North of the city. It forms one of the backdrops of most of the most iconic photos of Machu Picchu and the peak is about 1,200 feet higher than Machu Picchu (about the height of the Sears Tower in Chicago). You can do the roundtrip climb in 2 hours and it is extremely steep and a bit dangerous. By this point I was pretty sick of trekking. I thought we had finished the climbing the previous day, so I was getting a bit crabby about this last physical endeavor. After much squawking, I decided to suck it up and do the climb. And it was hard. The trail wound up one side of the mountain and was very steep. The last push was brutal, crawling on hands and knees up almost sheer steps of the Inca buildings at the top to reach the summit. But it was so worth it! We had the best view of Machu Picchu, looking straight down on it. The Inca site at the top was spectacular and makes you wonder at the effort involved to get the stones and materials up that mountain. This was definitely the icing on the cake for the day. Nate: Having been to Machu Picchu once before, I remembered that the image that is perhaps most special and most painful is the last look back at Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu as you exit the park. The same was true on this trip. The bus ride back down to catch the train to Ollantaytambo was solemn. Already I felt we were re-living the trip in our mind. Vidal had secured train tickets in the lead train car that allowed Michele to sit up front and look out the front picture window. Peru is such a beautiful country whether you're hiking the Inca Trail at nearly 14,000 feet or tracing the river valley below on train tracks. On the ride back to Cusco, the sun was shining through blue skies and I repeatedly asked Roger to stop the van so I could get that one more perfect picture before we had to fly home. The green fields of the valleys set off against the snow-capped peaks in the distance and the vibrantly-dressed families working their fields created the perfect scene for our last group picture. Back in Cusco we said our good-byes to Vidal and began the task of packing our bags. Once we got the zippers closed, Michele and I spent the rest of the night wandering around San Blas well past dark and found the last restaurant open before be succumbed to exhaustion.