Week 4 – Choquequirao to Machu Picchu, Peru

Ancient Incan Cities

Peru – Choquequiroa

Peru – Machu Picchu

This week we completed one of our pillars! We did an eight-day/seven-night trek from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu. We fear that words cannot explain the wonderfulness of this adventure (so we will use mostly pictures). We signed up with Alpaca expeditions after reading reviews online. We were a little nervous about how it would turn out, but it exceeded all our expectations. We liked that they are environmentally conscious and hire locals only. The entire staff at Alpaca was professional, gracious, and friendly. Our guide, Herlin, was especially knowledgable about not only the history of the area, but the flora and fauna as well. We found ourselves in many spontaneous lessons along the path.

The hike itself was demanding enough to make our legs shake and lungs struggle, but the vistas made everything worth it. As an added bonus, we easily made friends with our travel companions – Phil and Davis, a father/son pair from Seattle. Both are strong hikers and easy travelers with open minds. Phil came up with the perfect description of our journey:

“We are crossing canyons, climbing mountains, and chasing condors.”

1. Go

• Bus – 236 km. We took a bus for several hours the first morning to the start of the trek and then again at the end of the trek (after the train). We also took the bus up to Machu Picchu and back down. We debated walking, but since the tickets were included in our tour we decided to rest up for a long day of sight seeing.
• Train – 45 km. The town of Aguas Calientes (at the base of Machu Picchu) is only accessible by train, so we took the train out towards Cusco as far as it would go (then took a bus the rest of the way).
• Taxi – 3 km. Hotel transfer.
• Foot – 205,000 steps in 8 days (approx. 100 miles)

2. See

Over the course of the trek we saw valleys, canyons, snow capped peaks, ruins, condors, orchids, and much much more. We transitioned between arid valleys, rain forests, cloud forests, and high mountain tundra. We could go on for days, but will just mention the highlights instead.

Peru – On the way to Choquequirao

On the afternoon of day 2, we reached Choquequirao. They believe it was built around the same time and used for the same purpose as Machu Picchu. Much of it is still hidden underneath the thick forest. We only saw about ten other people during the entire afternoon and evening. We wandered around the ruins and learned about the history from Herlin.

Peru – Choquequiroa

Peru – Choquequiroa

Peru – Choquequiroa

We also descended the back side to see the terraces with stone llamas in the walls. It was incredibly steep. There was a switchback path along the side, but also stairs (only for the bravest) along the side of the terraces.

Peru – Choquequiroa – White Llama Terrances

Peru – Choquequiroa – White Llama Terrances

Peru – Choquequirao – White Llama Terrances – Look closely and you can see Herlin, Davis, and Phil sitting on a terrace

Peru – Choquequiroa – White Llama Terrances

We ended day 2 by watching the sunset from Choquequirao.

Peru – Choquequiroa – Phil enjoying the sunset

We started day 3 by watching the sunrise from Choquequirao. This was particularly fortuitous since it also happened to be the solstice (June 22).

Peru – Choquequiroa – Sunrise

Peru – Choquequiroa – Sunrise

Peru – Choquequiroa – Sunrise

After leaving Choquequirao on the morning of day 3, we didn’t see any other tourists – and only a handful of locals – until the night of day 5. These were probably some of the toughest days of hiking, mostly due to the steep ups and downs and the high altitude. On Day 5 we crossed a pass at 15,000 feet. At this point we were convinced that there were no flat trails in the Andes. Davis called anything more acute than 20 degrees “Inca Flat.”

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Being passed by the horses

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Highest point 15,000ft

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu

Days 6 and 7 were significantly easier. We joined up with the traditional Salkantay route which winds through a beautiful rolling valley – truely Inca Flat. On the afternoon of day 7 we reached Aguas Calientes, or Machu Picchu Pueblo, the town in the valley below Machu Picchu. It is only reachable by foot or train and only exists to room and board the 3,000 daily Machu Picchu visitors. After 6 days of seeing only a handful of other tourist, Aguas Calientes was a bit overwhelming. We gave ourselves a little pep talk to survive the crowds and did just fine.

On day 8, we woke early to catch the first bus at 5:30AM to Machu Picchu. Herlin gave us an excellent guided tour for the first 3 hours. Since he wasn’t joining us for the train ride home, we had to say our goodbyes on a grassy field in the middle of the ruins. Pat and I chose to do the extra climb up Wayna Picchu. They only allow 400 people a day, split into two shifts – 7am and 10am. We had 10am tickets. The trail – maybe more of a ladder – climbs over 1,000 feet in only a few kilometers. It’s basically a steep staircase filled with people. Although it was crowded, it provided incredible views of Machu Picchu, making the whole experience worth it (click on a photo to view a slideshow).

Peru – Machu Picchu – First site

Peru – Machu Picchu – Just before sunrise

Peru – Machu Picchu

Peru – Machu Picchu – View from Wayna Picchu

Peru – Machu Picchu – View from Wayna Picchu

Peru – Machu Picchu – View through the buildings

Peru – Machu Picchu – Intricate stonework

Peru – Machu Picchu

Peru – Machu Picchu

3. Eat

Wow! The food and drink prepared by our Alpaca Expeditions chef, German, was incredible. We are at a loss of enough words to describe how delicious everything was. Every meal (except two) was in a tent with a table and chairs.

Breakfast always included hot beverages, bread, and jam. Each day there was some new and wonderful feast – pancakes, chicken crepes, banana wrapped with pancakes, quail egg wrapped in mashed plantains, fried, and drizzled with tamarind sauce, quinoa porridge, veggie omelettes, cake with jello frosting (pictured below)… We could go on and on.

Lunches were a huge surprise. We always had hot food, often starting with soup. There was usually a large pile of rice, fresh salad, and meat. German did another version of the egg/plantain dish, but this time it was quail egg wrapped in mashed potatoes, fried, and drizzled with mustard sauce.

If anything overshadowed lunch, it was dinner. It was always multiple courses, starting with soup (different every night). The main courses included mustard breaded chicken, fried wantons stuffed with cheese, bananas, or apples, egg tortilla… etc.

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Breakfast cake with jello covering

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Eggs, potatoes, and mustard sauce

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Typical (although smaller than usual) dinner spread

4. Drink

Every morning we were woken with fresh tea (coca, black with sugar and lemon, or mint) at our tent doors. At meals they would offer us drinks other than the usual water or hot beverage. These included fresh apple juice, fresh passion fruit juice, sweet lima bean puree served hot, and chicha morada (sweet purple corn drink).

5. Sleep

Each night, the Alpaca crew would arrive at camp before us and set up our tents. They were spacious with thermarests on top of foam pads for sleeping. Our highest camp was at 11,300 feet, so we had a few rough nights of sleep, but only due to the elevation.

Peru – Trek from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu – Campsite

6. Move

We were hiking all day every day for our eight day trek, therefore our steps were really high. We think they might be a little off since we were using trekking poles for much of the hike, but oh well. Pat also got to put the altimeter on his watch to use. Many days we would lose 4,000 feet, then gain 4,000 feet. Our lowest elevation was under 6,000 feet and our highest elevation was 15,000 feet. Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 4 post for details about this week.

7. Etcetera

We cannot recommend Alpaca Expeditions enough – they are wonderful. If you plan to hike to Machu Picchu, go with Alpaca! If you are fit, and up for a challenge, choose the Choquequirao to Machu Picchu trek and prepare to be blown away. We also must mention again, that we were lucky to have met Phil and Davis. The four of us had a great time and travelled well together. It is a rare treat to meet such grounded, genuine, and generous people.

Peru – Choquequirao – Herlin setting the mood with music

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Green Machine taking in the view

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Lindsey, Herlin, Phil, and Davis

Peru – Trek from Choquequiroa to Machu Picchu – Davis, Phil, Pat, and Lindsey

Peru – Machu Picchu – Pat and Herlin

Check out our Flickr album to see all our photos from this week.