Machu Pichu!

The reason for traveling to Cusco for most people is plainly obvious. The ancient citadel of Machu Pichu, never discovered by the Spanish and therefore still in impressive form, is a shining beacon for this area.

There are many ways to reach Machu Pichu from the modern - think mountain bikes, to the mundane - take a bus right to the top. We opted for the very traditional method - by the Inca trail, a route that is still intact almost 500 years after the Inca last used it.

Our group was composed of exclusively spanish speaking travelers from Buenos Aires, with one lone Canadian who had taken Spanish lessons and was volunteering in the area. At first this was a daunting prospect, especially for Ben, but the crew was very friendly and full of good humour. We made some good friends on the trek that we hope to meet up with once we reach Argentina.

Our tour company was Cusco Explorers and we can't say enough about how well they performed. Our group of 13 trekkers was provided with three guides, a host of porters who carried everything from tents to food and a world class chef. We ate three incredible meals each day, including an afternoon tea and snack. The food is worthy of special mention here as it was by far and away the best camping food, a term which really doesn't apply, that we've ever had. Breakfasts included such things as omelletes, pancakes, breads, coffee, fruit juices, etc. Lunches were enormous making it difficult to trek afterwards and included chicken, rice, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, fried potatoes, etc. Afternoon snacks included fresh popped popcorn, cookies, hot chocolate and tea. Dinners included beef stirfry, pastas, cook up rice, pizza, and somehow the chef's specialty of giant hot peppers in puff pastry. Incredible stuff.

The trail itself is about 42km long and has three distinct high passes, the tallest of which is at 4250m. Its no easy journey. Some in our group paid the extra expense to hire a porter to carry their personal belongings in order to be assured of success. Fortunately for Patricia, she married a Sherpa more than happy for another challenge.

The entire trek consisted of 4 days and 3 nights. The first day was an "easy stroll" through the valley, where we were already rewarded with a few picturesque ruins. The second day was the most challenging, consisting of 5 hours of straight uphill hiking, the last two hours being fairly steep in order to reach the highest summit. This was then followed by a two hour downhill trek to the campsite. Probably due to our "training" with the Santa Cruz Trek, we were the first to reach the top from our group. It was incredibly hard work, and after reaching the campsite we all had a much deserved siesta before dinner in our tents with a view of the Sacred Valley.

The third day was the most picturesque, as the trail consisted of original Incan stones on a path winding around the edges of tall mountains, often with sheer drops off the side that would take your breath away. The descent took us into tropical jungle, with an abundance of flora and also rain. On the way down we walked by various beautiful ruins that would literally rise out of the mist on their high mountain perches. It was breathtaking.

On the last day we woke up at 3:30am to hike up a number of very steep and narrow stone steps and were rewarded with our first view of Machu Pichu through the clouds. It rained fairly hard the whole trip, and particularly that morning, but the grandeur of the site made the entire trip worthwhile. The mountains surrounding Machu Pichu were majestic, and the stone buildings with the surrounding terraces cut into the mountainside looked like they were straight out of a mystical fairytale.

After traipsing around the site with our group and tour guide, we descended into the town of Agua Calientes where we had a celebratory lunch, enjoyed a long soak in hot thermal baths, and caught the last train back to Cusco. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience.