Trekking to Machu Picchu

A few weeks ago, after hearing about the less-visited Inca ruins at Choquequirao, I looked at my map and saw a very wiggly, mountainous trail that continued on towards Machu Picchu. I remember saying 'that looks ridiculous'. We've just returned from hiking that trail, and the 8 days it took have been some of the hardest, and most rewarding, trekking of our lives. There was very little walking on the flat, and relentlessly steep descents and ascents into and out of canyons:

Day 1: down 800m;
Day 2: down 700m; up 1500m;
Day 3: explore Choquequirao ruins; up 300m; down 500m;
Day 4: down 700m; up 1100m;
Day 5: up 1300m to 4150m San Juan pass; down 700m;
Day 6: up 1100m to 4660m Yanama pass; down 1800m;
Day 7: down 700m;
Day 8: up 500m; down 500m;

The main square at Choquequirao

We'd chosen this trek to avoid the crowds on the other trails in the area and we weren't disappointed. On the first couple of days we saw just a handful of people making their way to, and from, the Choquequirao ruins. We felt privileged to have this remote hilltop city to explore almost to ourselves. This site is also host to the unique 'Llama Terraces' - white stone depictions of llamas making their way up the dizzyingly steep hillside. We were also lucky enough to spot a condor soaring past.

Llamas climbing up their steep terrace

Nobody else continued on past Choquequirao as we did though - we didn't see any other hikers until day 7. This part of the trek contained some of the hardest days - clambering up to passes above 4000m in both sun and snow. The views (when it was sunny) were incredible - of adjoining canyons bordered by mountains topped with glaciers. On one day we also had the unforgettable experience of camping on Inca terraces, looking down to a foaming river far below.

Camping on Inca terraces

On the 7th day we joined the more popular Salkantay trek and were dismayed at the large groups going the same way as us. We managed to find more solitude on the final day, however, when we left at 4:30am to climb to some more Inca ruins at Llactapata. This gave us our first view of Machu Picchu, on the neighbouring peak, although it still seemed a long way away. From there, we made our final descent of the trek, where we had lunch while waiting for a train to take us the short distance to Aguas Calientes - the (tourist trap) entrance town to Machu Picchu.

Our group at the end of the tough, snowy, ascent to the Yanama Pass

During our trek, we were accompanied by a mule train that carried tents, food, cooking equipment and spare clothes for us. It was hard enough with this assistance; it would have been absolute torture to have attempted it without. We were also joined by two amazing chefs - they prepared miraculous food throughout, given that we were camping and they only had two gas hobs to prepare it on. It would have made chefs in many restaurants in Cusco jealous.

Our mule train crossing a stream near Choquequirao

Machu Picchu itself more than lived up to expectations. It's an amazing feeling to see the view that is instantly recognisable across the world. As predicted, it was incredibly busy during the morning, despite getting one of the first buses into the site. After we were given a tour of the main points of interest though, we found a quiet place to have some lunch and read for a while before venturing back. This proved a good strategy as by the afternoon many people had left and we had a much more relaxed time exploring the rest of the ruins.

The culmination of our journey - Machu Picchu

We thought that we'd had the end of hard trekking, but had decided to ascend the mountain behind the city, Machu Picchu mountain. This was another hour of climbing up steep steps, but the view from the top was worth the pain. As well as a fantastic look at the city, it gave a great perspective of its precarious perch atop the famous ridge, surrounded by steep cliffs, glaciers and other mountains.

Machu Picchu from the top of Cerro Machu Picchu

We feel we've had a good introduction to the Inca civilisation now, following our time in and around Cusco, and we're now going to head back down towards the coast and another ancient civilisation - the Nazca and their famous Lines.