I just finished reading Mark Adams’ wonderful book “Turn Right at Machu Picchu” but I wish he had written it before my trek in 2007. I prepared by reading very dry accounts of both Bingham’s ‘discovery’ and a history of the Incas. Mark’s book hits on all the highlights and had me laughing out loud in public ala Bill Bryson’s A Walk In The Woods.
I also prepared for my trek by going to the gym with a backpack filled with weights and walking as uphill as far as the treadmill would go in an effort to simulate walking in the mountains with my pack. It would have been a better simulation had I also put a plastic bag over my head to mimic the lack of oxygen at that altitude. Thankfully, I didn’t suffer too badly from the altitude while trekking for which I give thanks to the coca tea and the coca leaves we chewed.
Reading the descriptions of his trek(s) I remembered mine. The walk is just simply breathtakingly beautiful, and it was mind boggling to think about how ancient the roads was and how they built all the structures we encountered. My trip was a taken in the spirit of a personal journey to challenge myself physically to do a trek. It was fantastic, exhausting, beautiful and exhilarating. And it is a mysterious place.
They say the trail is crowded, and at points I’d agree, but mostly it was just our little group trouping along. Occasionally we ran into another group of 10. I would HIGHLY recommend our tour group, United Mice, our guide was Sol and she was incredible. Our trek was timed slightly differently than other companies and our hardest day was the second. This may be what kept us on a different pace. And best of all when we got Winaywayna we had it to ourselves which was indescribable.
Now that I’ve gone back to look at some of my pictures from the trip I thought I’d share them here:
