Exploring the Land of the Incas  

Wednesday, October 17, 2007Can you believe that I hadn’t even heard of Machu Picchu before I met Mike? Machu Picchu has always been on his “list” of places to visit in his lifetime. Both of us have “lists” but Mike’s has been far more extensive than mine. I have had to come up to speed quickly and this one of the reasons why I am joining him on this round the world adventure, not to mention that he didn’t ask anyone else!

In case you don’t know, Machu Picchu was recently selected as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World!!! It is believed to have been constructed around 1450, a time when the Inca empire was at its peak and encompassed an area stretching from present-day Ecuador and Columbia to Chile, yet their power only lasted 100 years! After the Spanish conquest destroyed Machu Picchu, it was abandoned and eventually forgotten by the outside world. In 1911, an explorer named Hiram Bingham drew attention to this “lost city” and in 1983 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

During our 4 day trek, we will hike a total of 28 miles in 4 days in extremely high altitude starting in the Sacred Valley to Wayllabamba where we will be staying the first night. Since we are going with guides, they will be carrying all the necessary gear and food and will prepare meals for us. This is at least a step up from our Grand Canyon trek where we had to carry all of our supplies and food and prepare it ourselves. As Danny can attest to, he didn’t think much of that “camping and dining” experience.

During the trek, we should experience various topography changes since we are in a high, dry landscape with rich archaeological sites and lush cloud forests. They tell us we should see domesticated llamas and alpacas grazing on ichu, one of the few plants that grow at this altitude. Our highest point of the four-day trek is 13,776 feet!!!

Our final day of our trek we will be awakened at 4:00 am 2 hours before sunrise since we still have a few miles to go until we arrive at Machu Picchu. We want to experience Machu Picchu in the early morning light as the sun breaks the horizon and we can see this historical city slowly materialize in the ghostlike mist. This is going to be a truly unique and unsurpassed experience!!