Hiking Through The Peruvian Jungles To Machu Picchu….MUST SEE!

Hiking to Machu Picchu was an incredible adventure and by far one of the best experiences of my life. We started out on bicycles riding approximately 3 hours in heavy rain down a mountainside where we would arrive in a very small town called Santa Maria.

The next day we set out on foot for what would turn out to be a grueling 3 days of hiking through the mountainous jungles of the Andes on the Inca Trail, which would eventually lead us straight to Machu Picchu.

On the way we would pass through fields of Coca plants, remote villages populated by the indigenous people, breathtaking scenery from narrow pathways hanging thousands of feet above the Urubamba River and natural hot springs located high in the Andes reachable only by foot.

On the third day we arrived in Aguascalientes, the small town located at the base of Machu Picchu. The next morning we awoke at 3:30 am to make the final ascent to Machu Picchu. Even at this hour the town was alive with hikers ready to make the final ascent because they only allow the first 400 people of the day hike to Wayna Picchu, (an additional ruins located adjacent and above of Machu Picchu) and we had ensure we were first in line.

The reason is because by 6am there is easily 1000 people waiting to enter, many of which arrive by bus. In fact, its very difficult to even see Wayna Picchu if you don’t hike from Aguascalientes  because of the amount of tourists that come. But we made it before the buses arrived and the additional hike to Wayna Picchu was astounding. Check out the video above.

The Price

The trek was four days and three nights. I paid $160 US which included three meals a day, a guide (sort of), lodging in dorm style hostels, entrance to Machu Picchu and a train ride back to Cuzco. Although the accommodations were anything but first class, (often having to fetch your own water just to make the toilets flush) It was an amazing adventure  and highly recommended.

Brief History of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Pikchu, “Old Peak”, pronounced (machoo peechoo) is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level. It’s located on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (about 50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the Inca Empire.

The Incas started building it around AD 1430 but it was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Although known locally, it was largely unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction.

Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.[1] Since it was not plundered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas, it is especially important as a cultural site and is considered a sacred place.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. In September 2007, Peru and Yale University reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Hiram Bingham had removed from Machu Picchu in the early twentieth century.

I sourced this information from Wikipedia to make sure I got the facts straight. To learn more click here.

Check out the video and please leave comments.

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