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.

Day 2 on the inca trail was by far the more challenging of the 4 days. In the first couple pics where we are standing around talking are taken right before we had a grueling 4 hour climb straight up to the summit.(dead woman’s pass). Then a 2 hour descent where we had lunch. You can see the photo with the waterfall on the right and the red and blue tents set up. That’s where we had lunch. Then a 2 hour straight up hill stair master workout, followed by another 2 hour descent into the final stop of the day. In the last 2-3 hours we were hiking in really cold, heavy mist, hence the rain poncho.

Total we hiked for 10 hours on our second day and summited 2 mountains. Dead woman’s pass is 13,779 ft. then down to 11,700 ft., then back up to 13,123 ft. And then down one last time to 11,800 where we camped. For me personally it was one of the hardest hikes I’ve ever attempted. We loved every minute of it!!!!

We’ve pretty much fallen in love with this place. There’s just something about this town thats kind of magical. The food is amazing, the people are amazing. You couldn’t ask for more culture and/or history. Are initial plan was to leave on Monday and head to Arequipa and Puno (lake titicaca). From there we were going to take another bus south towards Santiago, Chile. Instead, we’ve decided to skip all that and stay two weeks in Cusco. We signed ourselves up for spanish classes everyday until we leave. Basically everyday we go to class at 2 o’clock and learn grammar for 2 hours. Then for another 2 hours we walk around the city and practice what we’ve learned in class. Totally separate from each other. Carolin has her 2 teachers, and I have my 2 teachers. The class is taught all in espanol! Super fun but really frustrating. Everyday at 4 o’clock my brain feels like it’s going explode.

After a hair-bending 22 hour bus ride through the night and a 13,000 ft elevation change, we made it to Cuzco!!!