From Cuzco set up tour to Machu Picchu. 4 day 3 night trip was alternative option to "the Inca Trail" for about 1/3 the price and the ability to make a reservation 1 day instead of months in advance.
Day 1:
Biking. A decent of about 9,000 ft over 55 kms on half asphalt, half dirt roads snaking along the mountain side. Not as steep or extreme as the Death Road, but some good steeps and curves.
The road
The Urban Zone
Day 2:
Hiking along an old Inca trail (apparently 8 Inca trails go to Macchu Picchu).
About half the trek we walked along narrow mountain edge treking trails
And the rest of the time cruised along dirt roads, I believe which were part of the Inca trail system
By far one of the better groups I´ve been part of, with 9 nationalities represented. We stayed in small "hotels" instead of camping and were able to frequent several of the small town/tourist bars.Day 3:
More Hiking.
A morning winding along a valley floor
And the afternoon of walking along railroad tracks to make it to Aguas Caliente
The highlight of the trip for me was on the third night a guy in our group heard of a side hike up a mountain across the valley from Macchu Picchu. 5 of us from the group climbed up for the sunset (would have been more, but about half the group came down with a food poisoning aliment of sorts).
The first half of the hike was basically straight up on ladders fashioned out of trees and old logs acting as rungs held on by one nail each.
A good shot looking down at the ascent that I stole from Alex. Easily one of the more exteme/dangerous hikes around
The 5 of us and 6 beers at the top. In total there were 8 people at the top of the mountain to see the sunset, slightly more managable than the 4,000 at Machu Picchu.
A slightly less common shot of MP and the road up
And the hike down in the dark
Day 4:
Machu Picchu. Woke at 4 AM to climb the steps up to Machu Picchu.
The ruins
Inca stone
The surrounding mountains
Next:
20 hour bus to Lima tonight. The plan is to find a surfboard and explore the surf up the northern Peruvian coast.
Hey this looks amazing. I'm planning a very last minute trip to Peru and wondered what company you went through and how much you paid to hike the trail? Also did you find and decent beaches near Lima?
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