Around the World in 70 Days

Machu Picchu

Written by

Phil Matthews

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Two posts in quick succession as I’m having a catch up day at my friendly hostel in Cusco!

The culmination of the Salkantay trek was our visit to the lost city of the Incas, which required another 4am alarm! We had a brilliant tour from our guides (supplementing the insights from the Dan Snow documentary recommended to me by Mr Eddon Senior in the Summer!), and the best way to tell the story is through a few of the many photos I took…

Panorama from the famous viewpoint
The llamas seemed very content admiring the view
Our first view of Machu Picchu on Day 4 was from the far summit at the start of the video. We then descended to the valley floor and around the route panned by the camera
It was beautiful when the sun came out!
One of the several Inca temples. The city has some very fine masonry and took almost 100 years to build. It was inhabited roughly between 1420 and 1530, when it was abandoned due to the Spanish conquest.
This area was like a Roman forum. The chief Inca, Pachacuti at the city’s foundation, would address the crowds from the platform. The Incas were the ruling class; the populace were Quechua.
The surrounding mountains are stunning. The town of Aguas Calientes is hidden behind the one on the right.
The same doorframes we saw at Llactapata
Some of the famous terracing for growing crops
The temple of the condor, where sacrifices, including of criminals, were made. You can see the shape of the wings, and the bird’s beak is meant to be the stone in the middle.
The city was known about by locals and reached by a Peruvian explorer Agustin Lizarraga in the early 20th century, before the American Hiram Bingham discovered it and conducted excavations and then some repairs. 80% of the stonework is original though.
After our breathtaking visit, a few of us undertook the 90 minute walk back down to Aguas Calientes
The town has both a river and a railway running through its streets!
We celebrated completing the trek at a restaurant serving Peruvian specialities. This is “lomo saltado”, made from alpaca meat.

The Salkantay Trek has been one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. It was full of challenges: the altitude, the cold, the rain, the early starts, the scary drops, the 75km of horizontal distance covered and the 2600m between the highest and lowest points. It’s tested me, but through lots of prayer, and support from the rest of the group, we all made it (many groups have a few who give up apparently)!

Often being the one running school trips, it was great for this adventure to benefit from the incredible organisation of Salkantay Trekking. They’d thought about every detail, from the locations of our duffel bags (carried by mules or minibus) at every moment, to how to give us the best experience of Andean cuisine.

This is kind of spread we were able to enjoy at mealtimes!

The whole trip was good value but felt high-end, and it seemed that the employees of the company had better working conditions than at some of the other Cusco firms we heard about. It’s not an easy job undertaking the trek on repeat though and I had so much admiration for our guides, Sergio and Puma, who were unfailingly friendly and generous throughout the week. They called our group “family”, and it certainly felt like one, with our ragtag collection of Dutch, Canadians, Americans then a lone South African and Brit, really being drawn together by the experience. It was sad to say goodbye, but we part with great memories – and offers of places to stay in multiple new countries!

Comments

3 responses to “Machu Picchu”

  1. Catherine Netscher Avatar
    Catherine Netscher

    Looks like an incredible trip so far, Phil. Stunning photos and you can really feel your highs and lows as well as the great camaraderie and support from your fellow trekkers and guides. Fab stuff!

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    1. Phil Matthews Avatar
      Phil Matthews

      Thanks Catherine! Pleased you’ve enjoyed the blog. It certainly is quite an experience!

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  2. Guy Avatar
    Guy

    Well done on completing the trek! What an adventure.

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