DAY 20
Another day of travelling. Luckily we had a sleep in today before breakfast and then a boat ride back to the port before heading to the office where our main bags were left. We flew from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco, the heart and soul of Peru. 700,000 people live in Cusco. We checked into our hotel and had about an hour and a half acclimatising to the high altitude (3,450m) and then headed out on an orientation walk of the town. We visited the facade of Qoricancha temple, the local San Pedro market, the main square, past the 12 Angled Stone, Regocijo Square and San Blas Square. We loved the markets in Cusco so went a little shopping crazy. \240It was like Peru’s version of Paddy’s Markets in Sydney only bigger. Shane and I purchased our ponchos for Machu Picchu. They sold everything from fruit to meat, fresh flowers, souviners. I bought a gorgeous little bag lined in leather. They sold lots of seeds and powders, Maca Negra is made in Peru and sent to Europe to make viagra. Lucky last we visited the Chocolate museum where we sampled 5 different chocolates, white, milk, dark, chili and maca. We sampled cacao tea and enjoyed a hot chocolate made from local cacao beans.
We then rushed back to our hotel for a meeting with our Macchu Picchu Guide - Hugo; pronounced Ugo. This would be his 967th time of doing the classic Inca trail. He has been trekking it since he was 16 years old. 500 people trek Machu Picchu every day, 150 tourists and the rest are porters. We have 18 porters, for 11 people, 1 tour guide and an assistant tour guide Oscar. They carry chairs and dining tables. We have, four meals everyday, breakfast lunch afternoon tea and dinner. Lunch is a two course, soup for entree and a main with a hot drink. Dinner is a three course meal, soup, main and desser with a hot drink. There are going to be many breaks along the trek to soak in the nature and to have a bit of a rest. The porters carry our duffel bags so they aren’t able to go over 6kg including our sleeping bags. The oldest person to do the Inca Trail by record is a very fit 84 year old. The coldest temperatures will be between 4am - 6am at -4 or -6 degrees. To hire sleeping bags they are $20USD for whole trek and are -10 degreee bags and the walking poles are $8USD. We all put $200 solas each person for tipping. We also kept at least $300/$400 solas per person Incase of an emergency situation if you need to turn around.
THE TREK
1st day - Climb 150 meters 1st day
2nd day - Climb 1,200 meters, 5klms, steap
3rd day - 14klms best stretch, climbing 75klms
4th day - 1,000 meters down, 6klms after lunch. 3.30am in the morning. 40minutes down to Macchu Picchu, 20minutes to enjoy Machu Picchu
At the airport there’s a line of shops of home made souvieners
The map of Cusco back in the day
Black corn, a lot of locals drink about one drink of this a week and it’s really good for their health
The buildings look beautiful at night
Hot chocolate with melted on top with warm milk, they also added three spices like cinnamon to mix
I’m not a hunch back, that’s my backpack
High off the endorphins the chocolate gave us
