The Inca Trail so far has been an incredible and wonderful experience (see other blog posts below).  On day 4, we woke up very early this morning!! After a quick breakfast and a quick stop at the washrooms, we were off on our last leg of the trek to Machu Picchu! During the hike up to the Intipunku archaeological site (also known as the Gateway of the Sun – Inti means “sun” in Quechua, the original Inca language) we were able to take a break and watch the sun rise over the mountains. The pinks, oranges and yellows were like nothing I’d seen before. Once we reached Intipunku, the weather was perfect to get tons of great photos of Machu Picchu from above. But our journey didn’t stop here: once we were done taking photos we began the last 30 minutes of the hike to Machu Picchu. The group decided we would like to see the Inca Bridge since we had opted out of climbing Huayna Picchu. The bridge was about a 10 minute walk through jungle-like landscapes on the very edge of the mountain. The bridge was built by the Incas and then later, one section destroyed to deter the conquistadors from following them. 

Today – the third day of the 4 day Inca Trail to the lost ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru – was supposed to be an easier day than yesterday. We started out early again this morning. Today we got to see a few more Inca archaeological sites than the last two days. In the morning we saw the Runkurakay site which is just below the Runkurakay pass. It is thought that this site was used as a resting point for the Inca messengers. Puma explained to us how the Inca messengers, called chasquis, would run through the Andes Mountains, forming a type of relay to send messages from one community to another. The chasquis would chew coca leaves to help give them the energy to run up the huge peaks. Puma taught us how to properly chew coca leaves too but most of us couldn’t keep them in our mouths more than a few minutes. As we continued our hike, we were able to pass through a couple Inca tunnels which were really neat to see! After climbing the pass we came to the second main archaeological site, Phuyupatamarca which has a series of intricate ceremonial baths.

Day 2 of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu started out with an early morning breakfast. Again, the food was delicious – fresh fruit, omelettes, toast, hot chocolate and porridge! After breakfast our guide introduced us to all the porters and we introduced ourselves to all of them and then got a great group photo. The porters are the men who carry all our food, tents and other provisions. As you hike the trail, you see them whiz past you to set up the next camp before your arrival. On the second day you have the option to hire an extra porter to carry your backpack since it is the toughest day. I definitely took advantage of this option!

Tambopata National park in Peru is a beautiful green paradise, comprising 1.5 million acres of sub-tropical rainforest of the Madre de Dios and Puno regions.

Tambopata is internationally acclaimed as one of the most bio-diverse areas on earth. It is particularly famous for its monkeys, giant river otters, black caimans, capibaras, tapirs and hundreds of bird species.

“Last week it was confirmed that Peru Rail will be running the route from Km82 to Machu Picchu Pueblo as normal from April 1st. Work on the train tracks – which suffered serious damage due to heavy rain falls and mudslides during the last week of January this year – will be continuing throughout February and March in order to meet this deadline. However, once the line is open services will be running with a lower capacity than normal – we are expecting train services to transport just 1,000 passengers per day as opposed to the normal 2,500 daily passengers. This reduced capacity is likely to cause some problems due to the already large list of people who were unable to travel to Machu Picchu in February and March and as such have rescheduled their trips for April and May. It is important that clients understand that all services to Machu Picchu during April and May are likely to be very busy and/or fully booked. One solution will be to operate more car tours to Machu Picchu in order to take the pressure off the train services. Priority will be given to those passengers whose tour reservations are already confirmed.
Looking further ahead, we expect train services to be running as normal from Ollantaytambo by May and from Cusco itself by June.”

Prolonged periods of serious rain have led to severe flooding and landslides in the province of Cusco. Although much of the press has been focused on Machu Picchu, other low lying areas as the Sacred Valley area have also been affected. The city of Cusco is operating as normal – virtually no damage was suffered within the city. All flights to Cusco are operating and most road links too. Key damages in the surrounding areas include all road and rail links with Aguas Calientes, which left 2,000 tourists stranded in the town. All tourists have now been evacuated safely, but Machu Picchu remains accessible only by helicopter. Therefore all train excursions and treks to Machu Picchu are closed until further notice. The Inca Trail will not be open until 1st March at the earliest, and all other tours and treks will open once a transport link between Cusco and Aguas Calientes is established. Please not that all other tours – independent of Machu Picchu – are running as usual.

Paracas is a coastal town in Peru, at a four hour bus drive from Lima , that offers some of the most beautiful photographic scenes in my most recent memory. You can take a bus ride to the national reserve to observe the desert, museum, and restaurants located within secret places along its rocky coast. You can also take a boat ride to observe the islands that host millions of birds and thousands of sea lions. It makes for a very romantic scene for couples and friends.

DOS MANOS takes you to a unique folkloric festival, high up in the Andean Montains, in the small village of Paucartambo, in the south east of Peru.  Paucartambo means: flowered tavern.
During the month of July there are incredible sunrises in this area, well worth a visit.

But there is another reason to visit Paucartambo this month: on July 15th and 16th of July Paucartambo celebrates the festivities of La Virgen del Carmen, or  Mamacha Carmen. There is a great gathering which initiates this big festival on the plaza de Armas with music bands play and different choirs sing in Quechua. This way introducing beautiful choreographies which tell parts of Peru’s history.

AND LEARN HOW THE INCAS BUILT A BRIDGE!
This is an absolutely unique tour. The Q’eswachaka bridge is located across the Apurimac river, at about 13.000 feet, in Canas province. This imponent bridge spans 120 feet, and is rebuilt every one or two years as communal effort by all the local indians of the region. About 700 men and women form the communities Huinchiri, Ccollana come to Q’eswachaka to the Festival of the Construction of the Bridge. The weaving and construction techniques have passed from generation to generation since the bridge was first built by the Incas, probably in the 15th century. Impressive scenery, unique possibility to be inmersed in local Peruvian culture.

Transportation system in Peru is a great mystery. How do they find their way in this chaos is still a great unknown.

In Lima there are different means of transport, and so we have: buses, combis, colectivos (private cars that transport individuals), taxis, motor-taxis (half motor-bikes half rickshaws). But the prevailing means of transport in most of the cities is a bus. This concerns also Cusco, where I live. Combis and taxis have conquered streets of this city.

Combi is a very interesting phenomenon. It is a van, which according to residents has enough space for about 24 people with approximately 14 (small!) seats! Just squeeze and problem is solved! Well, at least you get to know each other more J Combis are owned by private companies and there are plenty of them. In a combi there is usually one person on board (except for a driver) who manages the car and shouts out loud the route (he or she usually calls the names of the streets with an enormous speed, so you better listen carefully!). When 5 combis come at once and stop at the same “paradero” (bus stop) you get a nice havoc. But everyone knows its way, so there is no problem. The only confused ones are tourists, who gaze with amazement. There are no timetables at the stops, but this was smartly solved. You can always ask the person managing the combi if it passes through a place you want to go to… provided you know some basic Spanish.