Cusco, Lares Trek and Machu Picchu

I really like Cusco - a lot. The narrow streets, the food, the people, the atmosphere... everything. After 4 months of 30°+ heat, it was really cold for me at first, even though during the day the temperatures were always around 20-23°. At night, it got significantly colder, but there were plenty of wool blankets in the bedroom ;-).

Cusco is situated at 3,400 meters above sea level, and you really feel it in the first few days: just a little bit of climbing stairs left us completely out of breath. We were advised to take it easy for the first few days, sleep a lot, and drink even more. After a few days of acclimatization, it started getting better. At least for me: unfortunately, my colleague felt really unwell, and as a result, we had to arrange a short stay in the hospital. Fortunately, everything went smoothly without complications, and after one night, she was able to go home. However, I did the Lares Trek alone, as that route goes over 4,700 meters above sea level.

So on Monday morning, the trekking began. And who would have thought: I was alone, well, almost alone. Our group consisted of my guide (Josef), the head chef (Jesus), the mule whisperer (Paulinho), and me. Wow, what luck. I actually had a private trek. First, we drove by car to the small village of Lares (3,400 m.ü.M), where the actual hike began: via Wilkukasa Pass (4,400 m.ü.M.) to the village Quiswarani (3,850 m.ü.M.). There we set up our camp, and I practically froze, even though I was wearing 1,000 layers of clothing. I had probably become a bit of a jungle person and could no longer bear the cold. Luckily, there was hot tea and super delicious food. Paulinho, our mule whisperer, seemed to feel the cold at all. I almost fell off my chair when I saw that he was walking around barefoot in sandals and only wearing 3/4 pants... Fortunately, I had a good sleeping bag and thus had a restful night in the tent.

In the morning at 5:00 am, I was woken up with a hot coca tea. After a nice breakfast, we set off: via Qoyalay Lake (4,140 m.ü.M.) to the highest point (Pachacutec Pass 4,700 m.ü.M.) and from there back down to the village Cancha Cancha (3,950 m.ü.M.), where we had lunch. Since we were moving faster than planned (yay, despite the altitude, I felt quite well, my lungs and legs were holding up nicely :-)), Josef suggested continuing on to the next stage so that we could spend the night at a lower altitude. So we walked on to the village of Huaran, which was ‘only’ at 2,920 m.ü.M. Here it was noticeably warmer, and I no longer had to freeze. After a nice dinner, I went to bed early since I was pretty exhausted after this hiking day. In the end, we overcame a lot of altitude and covered many kilometers.

That was already the last night in the tent. The next morning, we then drove to Maras to see the salt terraces. After two days alone in nature (we had only encountered 2 tourists), the crowds of people at this tourist spot almost overwhelmed me. However, the terraces are indeed impressive.

We spent the following night in Ollantaytambo and the next morning took the train to kilometer point 105. From there, we hiked the last part of the Inca Trail. The nature in this area was again very different from what we had experienced on the Lares Trail. During the hike on the Lares Trek, the landscape was very barren. Here on the Inca Trail, we found ourselves back in the jungle and were surrounded by trees and plants. After several hours of hiking and many stairs (by the end, both my guide Josef and I were very exhausted. The last few days had taken their toll, and every additional step was a bit of a struggle ;-)), we were rewarded with a breathtaking view of Machu Picchu. Wow - that was truly impressive, and every step and every kilometer run was more than worth it!

2-3 anecdotes:

• My guide had a cramp in his calf during the tour of Machu Picchu on the last day ;-). Good sign for me because I felt my calves at every step...
• In Machu Picchu, there are llamas and alpacas as 'decoration' and 'lawnmowers'. I watched as a clumsy alpaca 'fell' from a wall while it was scratching itself (the wall wasn't high, and it didn't hurt the alpaca - but it looked lovely anyway ;-))
• In Aguas Calientes, there are very aggressive mosquitoes. We saw quite a few completely bitten tourists... If anyone goes there: definitely wear long clothing or use a very effective mosquito spray.