On day 2 we came into camp kinda of late. We couldn’t see anything because of the heavy fog. It rained all night but it didn’t matter because we were beat. Slept like babies. So, on the morning of the third day we woke up to an absolutely stellar view of the surrounding mountains. Including mt. salkantay at 20,574 ft. We were looking forward to the third day because it was meant to be a mellow hiking day and we’d be done by 12. We hiked for two hours on a somewhat mellow trail. Couple steep parts but not too bad. Lots of cool views and hand carved tunnels throughout the trail. We took a family picture with the porters at the last peak before we started a three hour descent of stairs. We’d stop at inca ruins along the way down and rest and julien our guide would give us mini history lessons.

We ended up at a camp ground/ waiting area. This is where all the hikers on the inca trail sleep at the night before the two hour push at 3:30 in the morning to see the sun rise at Machu Picchu.

The ruins you see in these pics are from a place called mini Machu Picchu. The four of us had it all to ourselves, except for some curious llamas. Fearless animals, super timid. Sometimes they’d look at you like they wanted to spit at you. Mini MP was a really special place. There were irrigation systems that had been set up 5-600 years ago that were still intact and running. The incas where truly an amazing people. Some of these ruins still have not yet been found. Part of mini MP was uncovered less then a month ago. Some people think the terraces start at the river and go all the way to the top of the mountain.