Day 8: Machu Picchu
Today the expedition heads northwest, where we will venture to Machu Picchu, the world-famous 15th century Incan citadel sometimes referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”. But it’s not lost anymore! We clearly discovered this UNESCO Heritage site back in 2022 (previous visit).
Seeing Machu Picchu for the first time was pretty cool… but honestly, this time is going to be WAY BETTER because we’ve got our Expedition friends riding shotgun with us and we’re going to EARN IT!!! The plan is to hike the last 12km and ~700m elevation gain of the Inca Trail to arrive via the Sun Gate (Inti Punku). Let’s go!
Today’s early morning start is no bull
The day started with a 4:45am wake-up call at the campsite. Inti seemed fully on board with the plan, providing us with superb weather and clear pre-dawn skies (already an upgrade from our rainy/cloudy 2022 visit). We had a quick bite to eat before our 6am departure, featuring the usual fruit and cereal and some special fluffy bread (too full to try). The only thing that didn’t go right this morning was Matt’s left contact split in half when he was putting in his eyes. Uh, that’s new! I suppose the cold weather didn’t help. Thankfully he has a backup, but the new margin of error for seeing properly the rest of the trip is far more dramatic now.
Packing up our gear, we are now officially done with the camping portion of the trip. All the remaining days will conclude at hotels. Therefore, the kitchen team gave us bag lunches to take with us on the hike, complete with two sandwiches, chips, fruit, and chocolates. Once everyone was actually in the van, we peeled out for the Ollantaytambo train station about 45 minutes away. At the station, we checked our bags with a luggage service to transport them to our next hotel in Aguas Calientes. We also said goodbye to Chio at this point, who was heading back to Explora and starting her vacation days. Adiós y buena suerte Chio!
We proceeded to the Peru Rail waiting area. The no-nonsense lady with the sign for Group A (that’s us) showed up at boarding time and and looked displeased with our “lining up” skills, but we immediately rectified that and followed her to our train. We found our seats and settled in (Brai kindly switched with Jo to let her face forward).
The train departed on time and we were off… but WAIT! As we were pulling away from the station, we casually asked Brai if our bags are supposed to be on this train or a following train, because, um, we just passed them sitting on the platform. “Probably this one,” he said. As if on cue, the train stopped, reversed back into the station, and paused for a few moments. When we pulled away again, the bags were no longer sitting on the platform. Magic!
The train ride takes about 90 minutes. If the Urubamba River Valley scenery wasn’t enough, Peru Rail puts on quite a show to keep you entertained. We were (forcibly, lol) invited to go to the bar car with live music and traditional dancing. There was also a viewing car with huge windows to continue observing the gorgeous views. The only way this gets better is if enthusiastic train employees would kindly clap along to the music more than six-inches from your ear! (Go ahead and file that under first-world Peru Rail Group A problems)
Soaking in the scenery
When we were eventually booted from the bar car (to share with Group B), we returned to our seats, and started playing Booyah! — initiating Nan & Britt to the game. Rave reviews, as expected. Soon thereafter, the snack and beverage service started, featuring the familiar snack box of quinoa cereal bars and quinoa chips. Quinoa means they’re healthy, right? RIGHT?!? (For the record, the chips are much better than the bars.)
This train makes one stop before it reaches Aguas Calientes (aka. “Machu Picchu Town”), and that is at Kilometer 104 — where the adventurous Inca trail hikers get off (that’s us, again!). When the train “stops” here, you better be ready to jump! About five seconds after you get off the train, it is on it’s way again.
Second official train-pointing
We took stock of our gear (double-checked our hiking poles had the rubber footies on them per regulations), put on sunscreen and bug cream, and crossed the bridge over the Urubama River to officially rejoin the Inca Trail. And then… a bunch of paperwork! But our passports eventually checked out and we were on our way. Weather was still amazing — nice and sunny, but not TOO hot just yet.
Inca Trail 2: The Return to the Inca Trail
On our route from Kilometer 104 onward, the typical Inca Trail currently has parts that are under construction after being washed out by heavy rains and landslides in February. So we had to take a different route. While the old route was a more gradual incline, our new route is very flat followed by a heart-attack level spike in elevation. For the first hour, we had lovely views of the river and some archeological sites, as well as some very cool rainforest zone nature, including the bright red National bird of Peru called the Andean Cock-of-the-rock.
And then we arrived at the stairs section. For the next two hours, we hiked up Inca stairs for ~700 meters. We found it easier to maintain a slow, steady Geraint Thomas-like pace to the top of the climb rather than making frequent stops and starts. We remembered to stay hydrated and look at the amazing views. It was actually very fun! Once we got to the top, we found a shady spot to eat our bag lunch and figure out how to eat a Granadilla (a sweeter, less-tart version of passionfruit with translucent, jelly-like seeds) while waiting for the rest of the group. They are great! Speaking of Passionfruit, here’s a Pro Tip… Fill your bottle with cold Passion Fruit juice at breakfast to drink when you get to the top of this climb.
Up and away we go
Looks like a sea creature, tastes great!
Once everyone had time to eat and recover, we made a pit stop at Wiñaywayña, another Incan citadel built by Pachacutec in the 15th century. In Quechua, the name means “forever young” or “eternally young.” In addition to the usual buildings, this complex features 40+ terraces and an ingenious aqueduct system to take water from 10 surrounding waterfalls and propagate it thru the citadel. We spent some time exploring the place before heading back to the the main trail and continuing our hike.
Welcome to Incan Rivendell!
Double-jam is his jam
Great Urubamba River Valley views
Exploring the lower complex structures
“Be courageous and be brave. And in my heart, you’ll always stay, Forever young”
“Climb ev’ry terrace, Ford ev’ry stream, Follow ev’ry rainbow, Till you find your dream.”
Back on the Inca Trail, the remaining 6-7km leveled out with a few uphill sections, but nothing like the previous stairs section. We walked ahead with Brai to maintain a nice pace, while Luis teamed up with Qi, Nan, and Britt. To pass the time, we played the “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking with me…” game. Our best category was countries. (“Hey Brai… Albania, Brazil, Cuba, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greenland, Haiti, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Peru, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Urugay, Venezuela, Wales, Xylophoneland, Yemen, and Zambia!!!”)
Inca Trail fun and games
At one point, Brai warned us about the “Gringo Killer Monkey Steps” section ahead. He didn’t give a ton of details and just said, “you will see!” with a smile. Thanks, Gollum. Turns out the name is much scarier than the steps. Sure, it’s steep, but it’s also plenty wide and there are no cliff edges to contemplate. At the top of the stairs was great lookout. We waited for everyone to join and enjoyed the view. Also, there was a giant spider web complex with multiple large spiders in the rocks/vegetation near the lookout. Very Shelob lair-ish, Gollum.
Monkey steppin’
Accidentally wore the team uniform
The seven… wonders… how much farther?
After the Monkey Steps, it wasn’t long before we arrived at the Sun Gate to Machu Picchu! We soaked in the afternoon sunshine and the golden views of Machu Picchu from the ruins of Inti Punku (aka. “sun door”). The sun gate also marks a position of the sun during the Summer Solstice (which will be useful exactly six months from today, more on that tomorrow). From here, Machu Picchu is still another 1-2km in the distance, and it takes roughly another hour of walking downhill to reach the classic high view point.
Sun Gate breached
Aptly-named Inti Punku
Tip of the hat, Inti
From the Sun Gate to Machu Picchu, the trail features some steep exposures to the east. There are treetops visible, but due to the undergrowth it’s hard to say if you are looking at a 10ft drop, or a 50ft drop. Either way, you really shouldn’t drop anything over the edge, because there’s NO WAY you’re going to be able to get it back.
UNLESS… You are Qi.
While taking pictures near the edge, Qi dropped her GoPro off the side. Miraculously, there were enough branches to cradle it and keep it from falling all the way down (who knows how far!). It was too low to reach (thankfully Luis decided not to jump off the edge), so she miraculously used two hiking poles to “grab” it and gently raise it high enough to retrieve. Just, wow.
Fin Camino Inca Trail
Finally, we made it to Machu Picchu. Our route took us right onto the classic viewing area where the sun was starting to set and we had a perfect view of golden hour. On arrival, we gave the weather/cloud cover a 7/10 rating, but Nan immediately negotiated a better deal with Inti and it quickly became a 10/10.
Another huge benefit of arriving to Machu Picchu by hike later in the afternoon is that all the crowds are gone (they all had to leave early to catch the bus, to the train, to the van back to Cusco or wherever, etc. — like we did in 2022). This time, we only had to contend with the llamas.
Machu Picchu back again x2
Watching the earliest sunset of the year at Machu Picchu
Just us and the locals up here at golden hour
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu hike details
When we were done gazing at Machu Picchu and it’s surroundings, we left the park and took the shuttle bus down the switchbacks to Aguas Calientes. From the bus stop, we walked to the Inkaterra hotel. As promised, our bags were at the hotel waiting for us. We checked in and were shown to our rooms (which have real fireplaces!). There was even time to shower and get ready before we returned to the bar and enjoyed our pisco sour welcome drinks.
Back in Aguas Calientes
The rest of the group joined us and we were eventually sat for dinner. Everything was tasty, but the passionfruit sour (aka. the fruit of the day!) was the best. The food, drinks, and alcohol were all on separate checks, so Luis got a chance to do his best Lionel Messi impression by signing everything put in front of him. Star power!
EARNED it!
By the time we were done, it was pretty late, and we were all ready to sleep. Alas, we did not hit a Karaoke bar with Brai. We have another early morning again tomorrow if we are gonna try to witness the Winter Solstice sunrise at the Sun Temple in Machu Picchu! Oh, and a small hike up Huayna Picchu.
