We woke up before the crack of dawn - 3am to be exact to wait in line for the Inca Trail gate to open for our hike to the Sungate where we will see Machu Picchu for the first time. We were the 2nd group in line waiting for the gate to open, but it turns out that there really is no point in getting in line early. It turns out that once the gate opens (I believe around 5am), you have to hike for another 45mins or so before you even reach the sungate. Being the genius that I am, of course I wore my contacts AND decided to wear some make up (I did not wear any make up during the entire hike before this day) because I wanted to look relatively decent in any pictures we were going to take once we get to MP! I mean come on, I haven't showered for 4 days at this point and the least I can do is put on some make up. BAD IDEA! Especially at 3am. My contacts ended up acting up and my make up kept getting into them. I kept using Peter's eyedrops to clean them - so imagine using hand-sanitizer to clean your hands and then using a few precious drops of eyedrops to clean your contacts. I did this about 2-3 times before the gate even opened. I was doomed. It kept recurring and my spare contact lenses were already packed away with the porters who is taking a totally different route and we weren't expecting to see them again (they were heading back down MP already where they will bring our bags to Agua Calientes). So once the gate opened, I hiked the most intense hike on this whole trip: nearly blind given contacts issues, in pitch dark since the sun did not come up yet even at 5am when the gates opened (we had headlamps though) and not to mention I have zero night vision, and at a VERY fast pace. It felt like we were in a race. For the first time ever, I felt the pressure of speed. Because why did we both waking up at 3am if we were going to hike slow and everyone behind us was just passing us? We did our best and a few groups did end up passing me and Andrew. I was slightly annoyed when ppl were tailgating me. Andrew was a great sport - he ended up hiking directly in front of me so I was able to leverage his light from the headlamp in addition to mine and he was pointing out all the big rocks to me so that I wouldn't have to concentrate so hard on the next step since I WAS BASICALLY BLIND.
After 45 mins of intense hiking, we reach this super steep flight of steps that finally brought us to the sungate. As soon as we got there, we were like, WHERE IS MACHU PICCHU? It was completely covered in fog. We were so disappointed as at this moment we realized that we did not have to rush up here since there is NO VIEW.
For some reason, I had the impression that this was where the "classic" MP was taken and our tour group was determined to see MP from sungate. After waiting 10-15mins, Freddie told us to move to another location a few mins away where he said the view is better and it wasn't as crowded (it started to get more and more crowded as more ppl were reaching the sungate). We set up our cameras in anticipation that MP would peep out at any moment from the fog. We waited for over an hour which was way past our scheduled time/itinerary and caught a few partial glimpse of it. Because we wasted so much time here waiting, the remaining time we had left to actually discover and tour MP was cut short. I honestly really wish that our guide told us this earlier and that the classic view of MP is not from here, but rather from the Inca Bridge trail within MP.
This is what we saw when we got to Sungate...why did we wake up at 3am again???
Preparing for the ultimate reveal of Machu Picchu behind the fog
Waiting....and waiting...
We have about 40 shots of this...the fog would come and go and we were prepared to capture MP once it came out!
We got our Inca trail Survivor t-shirts and of course we have to take a jumping pic....this is our best one LOL
The view is just amazing...not just MP but the surrounding landscape
MP slowly coming out...
One of our clearest shot from near the Sungate
We made it!!!
Machu Picchu - we found you!!
We hiked for another 20-30mins and finally reached MP. We had to check in our bags and we were able to use REAL TOILETS for the first time in 4 days. It was glorious. We stamped our passports and were on our way into MP. Freddie gave us some typical guide tales / history lessons, all of which I found very uninteresting as at this point, I was exhausted, hungry (had not eaten all day and was up since 3am), and dehydrated. Andrew and I actually ran out of water at this point for the first time during the duration of the entire Inca trail hike...which was honestly the worst. We were pressed for time as many of us had the 10am Huayna Picchu, so the MP tour was cut from 3 hours to 1 hour and it felt really rushed. I regretted wasting all that time waiting for the fog to clear at sungate.
A few llamas roam MP
Look at the perfectly stacked stones
MP = high importance
Million dollar views
So while I was attempting to clean my contacts back at the sungate, I ended up ripping one of them so I had no option but to proceed with the remainder of the day with one eye with good vision. Yes, after 4 days of hard work, I experienced Machu Picchu with one eye. Call me pirate Amy. As we approached our scheduled 10am hike to HP, I was seriously concerned because (1) I only had one good eye (2) I was hungry and hadn't eaten since 3am (3) We had zero water left this point (4) We are just so freaking sick of hiking at this point. The reality left us with the decision that we really shouldn't tackle HP, especially learning from Freddie that it is NOT an easy climb, which is an understatement! We were also told that water is absolutely necessary to climb HP, and we had not even a drop left!! Since Andrew and I both paid an extra $70 each for HP, we wanted to at least try. However, once we got into HP, we realized there was actually an option to hike either the real deal HP, or a smaller mountain called Huchuypicchu. We decided to take this route given the circumstances, and boy am I glad we did!!! It was still a really tough climb - the cliffs/drops were step and unlined so it was actually super dangerous. One slip and you are done. The climb was steep and narrow. It was so scary that Andrew made us hike on all fours given how narrow and high up we were. It was about 20mins up and 20mins down (vs. HP was apparently 1 hr alone each way) but we took our time. Once we got to the top, we had the entire mountain to ourselves since most ppl went to hike HP, which made this SUPER nice and special for us ;) It was so romantic to have an entire mountaintop to ourselves overlooking a new world wonder. I am so glad we chose to hike Huchuypicchu. After all, we heard that HP was totally not worth it given the intense/scary and long hike for a very underwhelming view. Totally not worth it!
We hike Huchuypicchu under circumstances but ended up so glad we did ;)
View of MP from Huchuypicchu
selfie....love it
Hiking Huchuypicchu was no joke - super narrow and steep and absolutely nothing to catch you if you fell off the edge...
Andrew's really interested in the history side of things so we were also kind of glad that we didn't hike HP since that would have taken longer and we wanted to have enough time to explore MP itself other the the "guide tour" we got from Freddie. We explored and took lots of pictures. It was simply magical.
Back in MP exploring the huge ruin
Our special mountaintop ;)
As we were about to exit MP to go catch our bus back to Agua Calientes where we would meet Freddie for lunch, we passed by a sign that said Inca Bridge. Andrew said the Inca Bridge was really famous and he wanted to see it. I don't know if we will have the opportunity to come back to MP anytime soon so I told him to go see it since we were already here! We were really pressed for time and I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to the top in good time. I told him to go ahead and I will try to catch but if anything I would at least catch him on his way down. I had no desire left to hike to see anything else at this point. I lost him at some point after I stopped for a quick conversation with a couple and was starting to get really worried as we really would have no way to contact each other. The bus was literally leaving at 2pm and I think at this point it was already 1:50pm and we still need to find our way to the bus stop and Andrew had all of our tickets (Peter included). I found Peter right outside the gates of MP and could tell he was getting upset that we were late and that I had lost Andrew who had all the tickets! For some reason, even though it was a situation where I would normally freak out and panic, for some reason I felt immense confidence that Andrew would not leave or do anything until we found each other in MP. I feel like with most ppl that I know, I would start doubting them and questioning on what I should do take care of myself in that situation. But I knew Andrew would put me first and make the situation right. We finally found each other and ran to the bus. We caught the bus and were so relieved! It turns out that the classic shot of MP that I was looking for all along was actually on the trail up to the Inca bridge! Andrew was able to get a few really good shots! I was so glad he went even though we lost each other for a little while, because these pictures are just classic. The bus was awesome - super comfortable and there was AC! It felt so nice to be in AC after a long day of hiking and exploring in the sun.
After about a 30 mins comfortable bus ride, we arrived in Agua Calientes. It was such a cute, though very touristy, town! We had lunch at one of the restaurants where Freddie designated. Wayki Trek must have a deal with the restaurant to bring all their tours there for a kickback. It wasn't particularly great, but then again we did not have outstanding food in Peru (except for Astrid y Gaston - more to come on that later). I had the full guinea pig and Andrew had the alpaca. We also ordered ceviche to start.
Agua Calientes - such a cute little (tourist) town
These trains are so cool
Alpaca
Whole Guinea Pig
Peter making out with his food
After lunch, we didn't have too much free time to explore Agua Calientes before catching our train back to Cusco. It was bitter sweet as we bid our farewells to Freddie and a few others in our group who were staying over in AC. We did some souvenir browsing as we passed through shops but I didn't want to buy anything here as I heard souvenirs were much more expensive in AC compared to Cusco. We had to get to the train station early to board the train. The train was gorgeous - the interior was open and spacious, with comfortable leather seats, skylights all around and huge windows, air conditioning, and drinks/snack service. It was such a luxury, especially compared to the last 4 days! It took us a few hours to get back to Cusco because the train was not actually going at very high speeds. When parallel to the road with cars, the cars were going much faster.
My "after" Inca trail hike photo
The best train I've ever been on - so fancy. What a transition from our hike!
Andrew's "after" shot
Super comfortable seats, sunroofs, and drink/snack service with huge passenger windows
Passing by the countryside on our way back to Cusco...the journey has come to an end. Mixed feelings.
Once we got back from Cusco, we had drivers from Wayki trek pick us up in van to drive us back to our hotels. I was so excited to finally shower !!!!!! and sleep in a bed !!!!!! We got back to our hotel in the evening where we still had time to walk around town (there's a lot to explore in Cusco!). We had an early flight out to Lima the next morning so we didn't want to go too crazy. We opted to shop for souvenirs at a market not too far from our hotel and basically bought everything from one vendor there (I was able to do some haggling - yay!).
Overall, the Inca trail hike was one of the most difficult physical challenges I've ever faced - between the altitude, camping, and strenuous climb, it all contributed to a really memorable and unique travel experience. I can't say that I would do it again in my lifetime, but I definitely would say that everyone should do it once. I'm so happy that I was able to finish it - I am an Inca Trail SURVIVOR!!! This trip definitely pushed my limits and I was so happy that I was able to share it with Andrew (among other good friends!). This trip definitely made our relationship stronger as we found comfort in leaning on each other during difficult times (ok, maybe I leaned on him more lol).
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