Cusco to Machu Picchu on the Lares Trek

DAY 1.

We awoke before dawn on Sunday morning to store our unneeded items for four days, and wait around in the freezing cold to be picked up by our guide. After an hour of waiting in the frost-bitten air, the hotel staff decided to get up and we were able to move indoors and wait by a nice warm fire. A hour and a half late a knock on the door indicated that Americo (assistant guide) was finally there, and we clambered into the bus to begin our adventure into the Andean mountains. On the bus we were greeted sleepily by our guide David, our cook Braulio, assistant cook Viktor, and our fellow trekkers, Sarah, Ricky, Carmen, Janice, Lawrence, and two others that I ashamedly can't remember the names of!

Our first stop in the bus was in the small town of Calca, nestled in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We stopped for a quick breakfast in the market, as well as stocking up on supplies such as coca leaves, water, walking poles, and candies for the local kids.

Again we clambered back onto the bus, for the remainder 2 hour journey deeper into the mountains. The dirt road was ridiculously narrow, windy and steep. I felt sick bending around tight corners in our huge bus. We were delayed for a further hour-or-so when a car just in front of us took a corner too tightly and tumbled down the hillside. Unfortunately the accident was fatal, and there was little we could do to help as the area was so remote. It made us feel even more uncomfortable flying around the tight, narrow corners.

At around noon we arrived in the small Quechua village of Quishuarani, and enjoyed our first meal cooked by Braulio. We weren't disappointed, and high expectations were set for the rest of our trek! After lunch we forced ourselves to refrain from a siesta in the warming sun, and commence our hike on the Lares Trek. About 10 minutes into the trek two of our group members suffered extreme altitude sickness, and were forced to turn back. We later heard that one of these people ended up in hospital with brain swelling, reminding us how fortunate we are to have been exempt from the altitude sickness that is so common for tourists in these areas, and how important it is to acclimatise to these heights.

The remaining seven trekkers slowly made our way to the first pass of the trek, at about 4200m. It was really rewarding reaching the top, as the views into the valley beyond were incredible. We rested for a few moments, but due to the delays we had earlier in the day we were forced to keep moving to make the most of available sunlight. Halfway down into the valley our fears became reality, and we quickly lost all light. Due to the horsemen taking our packs earlier in the day, we were a little unprepared, and we only had 2 torches between the 7 of us, and we very, very slowly made our way down a steep cliff one step at a time in almost pitch black. We were constantly amazed at how many tiny Quechua kids were out alone on the mountains this time of night, and their ability to navigate down the slopes in complete darkness. By about 7:30pm we safely arrived in the Cuncani valley to a hot meal, ready made tents, and a drop toilet. I actually really enjoyed walking in the dark, it made it a bit more of an adventure rather than just the average Lares Trek. Needless to say we slept well, regardless of the thin mattresses and no pillows.

DAY 2.

The most perfect way to wake up in the morning is when your guide and cook gently wake you with a coca tea or cafe con leche. This happened every morning, and we were then given 40 minutes to wake up and pack up our belongings so the horsemen could pull down our tents. A breakfast of Quinoa porridge and pancakes followed, and we commenced hiking at 7:30am. A gentle gradient, and 20 minutes later, David led us into a small village where we met a stack of children wanting candy, and an old Quechua man who kindly welcomed us into his hut to show us how he lived. We loved it how he kept guinea pigs under his bed to be fattened up for eating, and all the little knick-knacks scattered around his small dark one-room house.

The ascent slowly continued, and we reached the second pass of our trek. It feels so rewarding reaching such a height, and looking towards the coming trek. At the top of this pass (like so many others) there were tiny kids selling drinks and beanies to the trekkers, I am so glad I didn't have to carry all of those goods up the hill!!! These kids even carried up beer!

The descent down after the second pass was long and slow, and by the time we reached our designated lunch place we were all so exhausted and hot. We passed so many Quechua kids in the morning that we ran out of candy, and felt terrible saying we didn't have anything left when more kids came sprinting towards us. We had truly underestimated how many children there would be!

After lunch we forced ourselves to keep moving, and started uphill to the second pass of the day, and the third pass of the trek. This was the most difficult part of the trek for me, as we had been walking since early morning, and the track seemed to just go on and on. From lunch we could see the pass way off in the distance, and it looked like it would take forever to get there. The last final climb to the pass was tough, and we had to take it bit-by-bit. Of course the harder the climb, the more rewarding the end is, and this pass was no exception. At the pass we were at 4500m, and it felt great knowing the rest of the trek was all downhill!

We were on such a high from the final climb that the downhill part to our camp all seems a bit of a blur. We reached our camp on time, but were surprised to find our horsemen pulling down our tents. Our confusion didn't last long, as we were quickly informed that there was going to be a transport strike the following day, and we had to finish the hike that night or risk being stuck up in the mountains for a few days. Nyall, Sarah and I half ran the last 5km's to Patacancha on day 2 of the hike, which is usually left for day 3. We arrived just as darkness hit, and experienced the most freezing temperatures we had felt all hike. We sat huddled on a rock and waited for the horsemen to put up our tents. We had an early night, after David scaring us silly about Pachamama punishing us for peeing on a house, from walking almost 20km, and the whole uncertainty of if we were actually going to get to Machu Picchu because of road blockades. I slept terrible that night, mainly because of the cold.

DAY 3.

Again we were slowly awoken in the morning with coca tea and cafe con leche. This morning we could take it really easy, since we'd finished the trek the night before. So we pottered around the camp site playing with a stray dog and trying to talk to some local kids that didn't speak English or Spanish while we waited for our guides to work out how we'd continue.

At first we were told we would have to walk the 15km to Ollantaytambo, then it was suggested we could ride bikes, but finally a bus showed up which eased the minds of our group. We were all pretty tired by this stage!

Lunch in Ollantaytambo was the best chicken we've ever tasted. Since we had a spare day, David gave us an interesting tour of the town, which turned out to be quite picturesque. Afterwards, half the group climbed the ruins, while Carmen, Janice and I shopped – stocking up on alpaca goodies like gloves and beanies. At 6pm, our train departed for Machu Picchu. We're not too sure what happened with the transport blockades... in the end we didn't see any evidence of it!

We arrived pretty late in Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. By this time we were eager for a hotel room with hot water, and a good nights sleep. About 10 minutes from our arrival at our hotel the power in the whole of Aguas Calientes went down, and we were left to once again find our way by torch light. 3 nights in a row!

DAY 4.

By morning the power was still out, and we were woken at 4am to catch the first bus to Machu Picchu and enjoy the sunrise over the surrounding mountains. Our first glimpses of Machu Picchu took place during a mad sprint to the bottom of Wayna Picchu, the huge mountain you see in all photos of Machu. We had to run to book our places to climb the mountain, as only 400 people a day are allowed to climb. After booking our place for 10am, we had time to sit back and enjoy the sunrise, and take a guided tour of this beautiful Quechua city. I can easily say that Machu Picchu are my favorite ruins in Latin America, solely because it has been so well preserved, and hasn't been rebuilt like other ruins. The mountain setting is also stunning.

Machu Picchu was more fascinating than what I was expecting, but my most favorite part was climbing Wayna Picchu. It is incredibly steep, but the view up the top is so worth the hike up!

By mid afternoon we were done with Machu Picchu, our group met for a late lunch in Aguas Calientes, said our goodbyes to our guide David, and boarded our train back to Ollantaytambo, and then our bus back to Cusco. Sarah, Ricky, Carmen, Janice, Lawrence, Nyall and I had a quick meal together at McDonalds in Cusco, and said our goodbyes promising to keep in touch. We loved our trekking group, and had such an awesome time with them.

Actually we loved our whole trekking experience. We had a lot of bad luck with late starts, the car accident, people turning back, strikes and blockades, and electricity outages, but all in all we had a lot of fun. We thought that our guides from Peru Treks handled everything so well, particularly under the challenging circumstances. They always seemed to have things under control when no body really knew what was going on. We were also impressed how well they looked after and their concern for the people that couldn't complete the hike. The horsemen and trekking staff were really friendly, and the meals they provided were way better than anything we could have expected on a camping trip! If there is anyone considering doing the Lares Trek or Inca Trail we can highly recommend you going with Peru Treks.