June 23, 2003

After spending a few days in Peru our group headed out to the small town of Ollantaytambo. From Ollanta we traveled to km. 82 to start our 4-day/3-night 25 mile trek to Machu Picchu.

Our guide was a lovely young lady called Margaret. Her workgroup included several porters, a bunch of great guys, and our excellent cook, Piraña.

Here's a picture of our fearless leader.

Along the way we stopped several times. Some times to look at Inca ruins, others to talk about history, others simply to rest or to buy a refreshment.

One of many surprises you will find on the Inca Trail is that you will find families whose residences are along the trail itself. These folks have had their families living here for thousands of years.

Some of the families can be pretty entrepreneurial as the mini-market on the pictures above clearly demonstrates.

The views of the Andes were spectacular as some of the pictures can attest.

Our porters ran ahead of us to prepare lunch and set up camp and prepare dinner each night.

They brought us hot tea and warm water to wash up.

The highest point on the trail is Warmiwañusca, or Dead Woman’s Pass at 13769 feet.

Above is a picture of Piraña and I at Warmiwañusca.

The tunnel on the picture is an actual Inca construction.

My brother-in-law, who was along with me, poses here at Wiñay Wayna, a very cool ruin on our last night on the trail.

At this stop there are facilities like a restaurant, bar, and showers.

There is a curfew imposed here as experience has taught the guiding companies that too many people partied the night away and then lost all interest in getting up early to see the sunrise above Machu Picchu. We partied with strangers from all over the world, danced and sang to Bob Marley tunes (as universal as music gets) and drank Cerveza Cuzqueña.

On the last day we trekked to Intipunku, where we would watch the most majestic sunrise.

The city was covered in fog but as the sun's rays begia to hit the city, Machu Picchu started to reveal itself.

I had been enthralled by Machu Picchu when as a young kid I saw a picture of it on the World Book Encyclopedia. Now here I was and it was better than I had ever expected.

Once on the city we were given time to explore on our own and with our guide. We were there before the mass of tourists arrived to be herded like cattle by their tour guides.

Afterwards we took the scary switchbacks of Hiram Bingham Highway down to the town of Aguas Calientes, where we hung out, ate, and finally took the (very nice) train back to Cuzco.

That night all the guys in our group partied the night away in the Cuzco bars. Then we went our separate ways.  For my brother-in-law and I that meant Lake Titicaca, where we joined a different group of folks and stayed on an island with a local family.