There are three main ways you can do Machu Picchu; The Classic Inca Trail – 4 days of walking, sleeping in tents along the way, Salkantay Tour – 5 days of intensive hiking, at least 20km a day, sleeping in tents, and The Jungle Trek – 4 days of mixed activities, sleeping in private hostels.
We ideally wanted to do the Classic Inca but didn’t have exact dates so couldn’t book in time (you need to book about 6 months out), so we did the Jungle Trek. Verdict? Awesome.
Day One
We did our tour through Loki Travel (another branch of the hostels by the same name), so met at their office at 7am. We only had 6 people for the first day and then two were leaving us, so 4/6 people with two guides. That was really good as it ended up meaning we moved fast and all got quite close. The day before us though they had 20 people so it’s all luck.
We bused about 1.5 hours to breakfast and then another 1.5 to the top of our bike ride. We got all geared up as you can see below, and started our 2 hour downhill ride. We went from the mountain tops, through what they call the cloud forest and into the rain forest. I wasn’t overly stoked on being back on a bike again but this was a smoother ride and we went slower. However, with massive trucks speeding past you and other bike tours causing a bit of congestion at some points, it actually felt a bit more dangerous than Death Road at times. The best times of the ride were definitely when there wasn’t any other groups in front of us. The views were amazing. We later learnt that road is one of the main roads used to take Cocaine in and out of that area, so some of those trucks that passed us were definitely carrying.
We got to the end of the cycling road, hopped into the van and were driven to the accomm for the night in a tiny town called Santa Teresa. After lunch there we had a choice of white water rafting. I was being a bit of a wimp and already pushed myself with the biking (The saying is do ONE THING everyday that scares you, not two.) So Scott and I just chilled. But annoyingly the group came back and said it was fun. So if you do this, do the rafting. Silly me. Two of our group left after the rafting so we were left with one other couple who are leaving the UK to move to NZ, while we are doing the opposite. We had a beer with them, had dinner and went to bed.
Day Two
Day two is the big walking day of the Jungle Trek. You walk about 16km which doesn’t sound too bad but you climb pretty high and if it’s hot, it’s hard. Lucky for us it had rained the night before and a heavy mist shrouded the rain forest for pretty much the whole walk so walking conditions were perfect..and beautiful. Also, depending on what order you do the countries, you might find some altitude issues here, because we did La Paz before, we weren’t affected by it at all.
The hike led us up deep into the mountains. Our first stop was where our guide explained the business of Coca leaves. He started by telling us how there is a government sanctioned organization that allows each farmer to legally produce 5,000 kgs of Coca leaves a year. They are paid for these and it goes to making Coca Tea (which by the way is great for altitude sickness). In my mind i’m waiting for the ‘buuuuut’, and it came.
Buuuuuut, said the guide, nearly every farmer grows an extra 15,000kgs of Coca leaves a year, for the drug makers. ‘And why wouldn’t they?’ he said. The drug industry pays these farmers far more, pays them advances, and looks after their families. Peru is now the highest producing country of Cocaine in the world. Some of the top generals, police, and government officials are involved. There are rumours that one of the ex-presidents who is now in prison used the Presidential jet to transport cocaine out of the country.
I couldn’t really figure out the guide’s opinion of Cocaine. On the one hand he explained the Coca plant is actually sacred to the Inca people and it shouldn’t be abused and that its addictive nature ruins people, BUT he explained how the farmers chew coca leaves all day to give them energy to tend to their farms, and it seems it pretty much drives Peru’s economy. This wee conundrum is nothing new obviously. As a side note, that night the other guy in our group was talking to the other guide about cocaine and the guide got quite emotional saying how he hated it and what it has done to their people and the reputation of Peru.
After that little chat we hiked another couple of hours to a little hut in the middle of nowhere where we had the native fruits and plants of that area explained to us. We then continued walking and came out onto an extremely high, narrow track as you can see below. At our next little rest we had traditional Inca patterns painted on our faces and bought some banana chips.
Another few hours and we were at lunch where a 4 course meal was waiting. Fresh guacamole from jungle avocados, an amazing chicken salsa thing, a delicious quinoa soup that they have with every meal and spag bol! We had a siesta in the hammocks and then hopped in the car and were taken to natural hot springs for a well-deserved dip.
After our soak, we had a few beers and got our bus back into the little town called Santa Maria. We had a shower and went out with our couple friends for some Pisco Sours. Little did we know this would be the start of quite a big night out…
We went to dinner where three people joined us for the next two days. They were a dad, his daughter and his daughter’s friend. The daughter and her friend have been travelling for 3 months and the dad came over to meet them for the Machu Picchu trek. They were very cute. So we had dinner, and about 4 Pisco Sours each. Then me, Scott, the other couple, and the dad all went to this hilarious bar. We downed about 7 more very strong Cuba Libres each, danced A LOT, talked a lot of shit, and went home. Good times.
Good times, that is, until the next morning.
Day Three
Breakfast was at 7 and I attended with my sunnies on.. Scott was still drunk. The other couple didn’t show till 7.45, they were still drunk too. And then we went zip lining.
The zip lining was really cool – 6 zips criss-crossing across a gorge. The hangover seemed to subside and I tried a few funky upside down things which was fun.
Buuuuut then we had to get in a van and drive an hour to the next point. I struggle with motion sickness at the best of times – combine that with a hangover? Woop woop. But I made it. And we walked 30 minutes along a really beautiful train track to a jungle lodge where we had lunch. One of our guides called me over and took this little bottle of flower essence of out his medical kit. He rubbed it on his palms and put it on my forehead and through my hair. Holy. Moly. It instantly made me feel better. I need to find this stuff and bring it back to NZ, maybe sell it at Maccas drive-thrus after 1am for your inevitable hangover.
From this lunch spot we could see the top of Machu Picchu. The guide told us a really beautiful story about a 75 year old woman who he took up earlier in the year. She took a very long time to get to the top but refused his help to carry her back pack. When she got to the top she took out two small urns and they were the ashes of her husband and daughter. All three of them had vowed to do the hike together, and then their daughter suddenly passed away. The husband and wife promised they would do it to honour her memory but a week before they were supposed to leave, the husband died. She did it on her own. It was such a sad beautiful story. The guide said ‘so if you find tomorrow hard, just know that you have the strength inside of you and you are doing what many people wish they could do.’ It was a really nice moment.
After lunch we continued 3 hours long the train track which was a seriously stunning walk. We could see Machu Picchu mountain from all angles, were sheltered in dappled sunlight and had a river rushing past us the whole way. We finally arrived in Aguas Calientes which is the cool little town everyone stays in the night before they go up the mountain. We had a nice last dinner all together, bought some filled rolls to take up with us the next day (it’s very expensive to buy food up the mountain) and went to sleep due to our EXTREMELY early start the next morning.
Day Four
Our alarm went off at 3.45 am. Told you it was early. We walked with our head torches down to the gates at the bottom of the mountain and were four people from the front! The gates open at 5am and by that stage there were about 50 people lined up. We had our passports checked, and off we went. It was quite surreal. Pitch black, no noise but the puffing of a bunch of strangers and birds slowly waking up, and you’re about to be at Machu Picchu..
Apparently it is 2000 steps up, and takes people around 1 hour 15, it took our group 45 mins which our guide was very proud of 🙂 We ended up being among the first 10 people into Macchu Pichu. Uuuuunfortunately it was very cloudy when we got there. We were pretty disheartened but held on to the hope it would clear. Our guide met us and took us for a tour which to be honest was a bit disappointing. The facts were a bit muddled, and it felt like he really was just going through the motions. The most interesting thing was learning how they used hot and cold water to split the massive rocks and create bricks. And also that the Machu Picchu ruins are sinking by 5cm a year – due to human impact and also the soft ground – and will quite possibly close and people will only be able to view from a balcony. So get in quick!
After our guide left us we all went out of the gates to get a hot drink (you can’t eat or drink on the ruins) and wait for the mist to dissipate which took a looooooong time but did happen!
We went back in and spent the next 3 hours exploring, wandering, wondering, climbing, patting llamas, running away from llamas, and generally just trying to take it all in. Though there was a lot of mist when we first arrived, it was amazing being up there relatively alone. We really begun to appreciate this as the place got more and more crowded = a lot of selfie sticks. Machu Picchu was never a massive bucket list thing for me, but it is truly spectacular seeing this ancient mini civilisation in what feels like the middle of nowhere surround by sheer cliffs, and rolling mist.
Once we had had our fill, we walked back down (which was actually harder than going up) and went back to the town for a shower and something to eat. That was right about the time I started feeling sick. We had a 2 hour train ride and a 2 hour bus ride back to Cusco, which I imagine would have actually been quite pleasant if I wasn’t vomming all the way.
Anyway. Made it back to Loki Hostel, and fell asleep after our 18 hour day.
The next morning I recovered, we did some laundry and started our 3o hour travel day to Cuenca in Equador (plane, plane, bus, walk across border at midnight, bus).
I would highly recommend the Jungle Trek. The variety of activities keeps it interesting and not too tiresome. You definitely feel like you’ve worked hard to get to Machu Picchu while still having fun on the way. Fun fun.
Scott and Han 