Machu Picchu Trek, Peru - Day 1

And so the journey begins. 4 days, 3 nights, no showers. 45 kilometers or about 28 miles spread out over the majority of 3 days and ascending to an altitude of 4200 kilometers. If the altitude doesn’t get you, the rain will. It’s the rainy season and it’s guaranteed to rain hard at some point during our trek. In fact in a couple of days after our trek, the trail closes down for a month in part due to the rain and to restore the trail. And the altitude usually gets you. Gasping and wheezing, while you struggle to catch your breath on a trek that would be strenuous at sea level. Why would anyone subject themselves to this?

There are easier ways to get to the Lost Incan city. From Cusco, you can take a 3 hour train to Aguas Calientes and then a 30 min bus. Or you can take a helicopter and be there in 30 minutes.

Most seasoned travelers agree that Machu Picchu in Peru is the world's most dramatic ruins. If it’s not the first, then it’s definitely in the top three. Machu Picchu sits boldly perched on a steep sided mountain saddle far above the partially encircling Urubamba River. What remains of the precision stonework of the pre-Colombian Inca temples and palaces clearly reveals how exalted Machu Picchu was in its glory days.

Yet despite all these accolades, the arduous journey to the ruins is just as much a part of the enchanting magical experience as the ruins themselves. To tread in the previous footsteps of thousands of Incas as they conducted their daily commute to surrounding villages for trade or labor. To see the majestic mountains and landscape unfold as you round a corner of the path and happen upon a quaint Inca ruin. To marvel in amazement at the uniquely delicate and intricate fauna that populates the trails. To speculate what the next turn or twist in the trail may bestow upon you. Or to merely contemplate when you can put your bag down and rest your weary feet.

For me, some of the magic of Machu Picchu is lost if you descend upon it in a helicopter. The journey augments the aura and intensifies the anticipation. And so the journey begins.

Machu Picchu Trek, Peru - Day 1