Round Two: Machu Picchu

Our second visit to Machu Picchu began a little differently as Michael and James wanted to hike to the site (about 90 minutes) and Melissa and Carina preferred the bus. We met at the top at 10 am for a Circuit 3A visit.

This circuit is very restricted, as only 300 people a day get to access it because it includes a hike up Waynapicchu mountain. We decided to forego a guide this time and were able to visit a different portion of the site, the lower ruins before winding our way toward the start of the hike.

Thankfully we had cooler weather today, but it was very cloudy making the views less than ideal. The four of us set out and one returned early—Melissa. There just wasn’t enough recovery time from yesterday’s issues and, well let’s just say that while Michael loved this challenging hike, this was in no way a hike that Melissa would enjoy. Steep, narrow, tall stone steps all the way up. More than 2,000 of them—essentially vertical. After about getting in 20% of the way Melissa decided she would have made a lousy Inca. Michael helped her get back to the start and then sprinted to meet the other two near the top getting there in just 35 minutes!

We finished up on time for lunch and then took the 4.5 hour train ride back to Cusco arriving at 10:30 pm at our hotel. We have a 3 am pickup for Rainbow Mountain tomorrow 😬Read more