It’s not the Inca Trail.  It’s not Salkantay.  So what the heck is this 8 day Machu Picchu trek?  

I’ll tell you in a second.  

 

The Inca Trail has been on my bucket list for some time now due to its increasing popularity.  It pops up on every search for more than a single day trip to the most popular site in Cusco.  However, if you know me, you know I’m not quite a fan of large crowds of people.

 

*This post is in partnership with Kusa Treks. As always, my opinions are my own, and solely based on my experiences. Read my Disclosures page for more info.*

 

In my search, I came across a company who seems to have it all.  Kusa Treks has great reviews, focuses on environmental responsibility, sustainable trekking, and INCREDIBLE customer service.  I was ready for a trip with them down the Inca Trail.  Emailing back and forth for quite a while, Michael (co-founder of Kusa Treks) realized something.  What I needed was more than I could find on the 4 day Inca Trail.  He proposed a much lesser known, and much more difficult trek: the 8 day Choquequirao to Machu Picchu. 

Intrigued, and still curious how to pronounce it, I asked for more information.  More recently discovered ruins, more days of long trekking, and more cultural experiences. 

Sold. 

Skipping the official rainy season, I booked for the end of March.  Not only is it my birthday, it also marks the end of our three month backpacking trip through South America.  I like to go out with a bang.  

So what does this 8 day Machu Picchu trek look like?  Check it out…

Day 1

Oddly enough, this was our earliest day.  To be ready for a 0500 pick up by our Kusa Treks tour guide, Ronny, we woke up at 0400.  This allowed us to finish packing, secure the pack we were leaving at the hostel, and grab a breakfast bag.  Breakfast was crucial, since during our Rainbow Mountain tour we learned that we wouldn’t be fed until much later.  

Falling asleep on the ride there, we woke up at 0900 to find ourselves at the starting point!  Breakfast was finally served (we were starving), and we purchased a couple rolls of toilet paper (crucial to trekking).  The elevation here is 2,800 meters, and after ten minutes of hiking, we hit our first summit.  Walking downhill all morning is a great start for a first day of trekking.  We made a couple stops for snacks and fresh prickly pear before reaching Playa Rosalina for lunch around 1300.  The elevation at the beach is 1,480 meters.  

I’ll tell you now that we ate like ROYALTY on this trek.  Our chef, Freddie, made us absolutely incredible meals every single day.  Lunch today consisted of peach juice, pumpkin soup, garden rice, palta rellena (amazing avocado), trout with onion in a tomato sauce, potatoes, rice with cheese, and an apple dessert with a strawberry.  Needless to say, we never went hungry…

Leaving our lunch spot, we started our climb uphill and made it to Camp Santa Rosa almost two hours later.  Since the porter and chef are super humans, our tent was already set up and ready for us to relax.  My favorite meal, “happy hour,” as Ronny likes to call it, is the pre-dinner snack that occurs around 1800.  This usually consists of hot drinks, sometimes cookies, and popcorn (my favorite!).  We sit around the table, chat about that day, the next day, and tell stories.  

Finally, our dinner consisted of noodle soup, yucca, white rice, estofado (chicken, carrot, potato soup stuff), and mint tea.  So good that we went into food comas and passed the heck out before 2100.

Distance : 11.5 miles, 192 floors

Day 2

The first full day of trekking brought to you by… a hot cup of burn-your-mouth-off coca tea!  Around 0500 every morning we were awoken with a “buenos dias!” and piping hot tea made with coca leaves.  Even more effective than coffee!  Breakfast today consisted of pancakes, quinoa porridge, and bread with butter.  This was a little much when we realized the first part of our trek would be uphill.  Saying goodbye to Fruitloop (our adorable furry friend) was difficult, but we got on our way.

Breakfast sitting heavy in our stomachs, we made it to the summit (which was also our camp) at about 1030.  Sounds a bit too early to be at our next camp already, right?  Well, we got to take a fat nap while it rained before lunch, which was awesome.  Then after eating, we made our way to explore Paqchayoc (the terraces of Choquequirao).  

These terraces are simply incredible, and as you can see, are still being excavated at this very moment!  Don’t let them fool you though, the hike out and back is a bit rough.  Also, the steps there are not spaced like normal stairs.  Either you’re doing the splits to get to the next one, or it’s so small your feet don’t even fit.  There seems to be no in-between!

Getting back at 1600 we decided to try and shower (mistake).  All the showers are ICE cold and my poor tin soap container got crushed in my bag somehow.  Since it was raining the entire time at camp, we hid in our tent and waited for happy hour.  A couple hours later, we were graced with an incredible dinner.  Tonight’s delicacies included rice soup, fried rice, scrambled cauliflower, chicken and wontons in pineapple sauce (goddamn delicious).  We also drank muña, which is a digestive tea and is also apparently a contraceptive? Unclear.  

We went to sleep around the same time as day one (about 2100).  An hour and a half later I was waking up to vomit.  Not a good sign.

Distance : 11 miles, 322 floors

Day 3

Still throwing up and wanting to collapse in the bathroom, I didn’t even want to see or smell breakfast.  Needing energy for the day though, I was force-fed some soup broth and a piece of bread.  Ronny determined that we were far enough ahead of schedule that we could leave a little later, so I napped.  It didn’t help, but we needed to get going.  Off we went, arriving at Pikiwasi (elevation 2,800 meters) around 0800.  

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think I was dying, because it was ROUGH.  We climbed up and up exploring the ruins, the plaza, and more terraces.  Because “you only live once” I even managed to get down to the llama terraces and climb back up.  Totally slow, but worth it.  

We got to the Choquequirao summit (elevation 3,272 meters) around 1145 which seemed like an eternity.  It also meant that a big portion of the day would be going downhill which I thought would be nice. 

Wrong. 

The bouncing of walking down a steep mountain made my stomach queasy.  Even when we reached our lunch spot a little later, I couldn’t bring myself to eat more than a spoonful of rice and another piece of bread.  I felt like vomiting the ENTIRE way even though I was so hungry from all the hiking.  

Reaching the river at 1,800 meters an hour later, we rested.  Ronny was worried we wouldn’t make it to our next camp until after dark.  Somehow though, we managed to get to Camp Maical 3.5 hours later just as the sun set.  I crawled into our tent, napped, woke up to eat an apple and some crackers, and went to sleep. 

Clearly not the best day for me.

Distance : 17.5 miles, 291 floors

Day 4

Finally feeling better, I was able to eat my banana pancakes and bread with butter.  But again, eating a heavy carbohydrate breakfast and then trekking uphill is never fun.  We purchased some of the fermented honey being sold at camp, and started walking.  

The summit sits at 4,100 meters and we reached it at about 1230.  After a short break there, we continued on to Yanama Camp which we reached at 1410.  I think Freddie learned how much we like popcorn, because today we had a popcorn happy hour before lunch AND dinner!  

Lunch consisted of vegetable soup, elbow noodles with carrots, green beans, and chicken with sauce, fried potatoes, beef with mushrooms and bell peppers, ending with fresh picked peach macamora.  We laid down in a food coma before waking up to find beers and have more popcorn.  Dinner was more simple tonight with corn soup, lasagna, yucca with cheese, and white rice.  Another early night, we were asleep by 2030.

Distance : 10.1 miles, 213 floors

Day 5

For some reason we felt extremely rushed this morning.  We made omelette sandwiches, hurried to pack, and said goodbye to our porter.  Reaching our last summit at 4,600 meters, we finally got to head downhill for the “rest of the trek.”  

Extremely muddy and slippery, we still made it to Collpapampa Camp at 1230 and were met with lunch.  Today included orange juice, rice, cauliflower, tortillas, milanesa de pollo, cucumber and tomato salad with vinegar and some delicious chocolate pudding.

Since we were so early, this turned into a sink laundry and chill day.  Around 1600 we got wontons with banana inside which was SO DELICIOUS.  Dinner followed a couple hours later which meant noodle and veggie soup, pesto pasta, veggie salad, and chicken picante.

Because I’ve turned into a total grandma and both of us felt crazy sore, we went to sleep by 2000.

Distance : 11.6 miles, 39 floors

Day 6

Since Collpapampa is a Machu Picchu trek intersection, we ran into what seemed like a thousand Salkantay trekkers heading the same way.  We ate our pancakes and headed toward our next camp.  I really don’t like being stuck behind huge groups, so we picked up the pace a bit and passed them.  Taking a break to admire the views, we still made it to Luqmabamba by 1100.  

This was our camp for the night, so we set our bags down and learned how to play Sapo.  Soon enough, we were being called over for a coffee tour by the owner.  As everyone knows, I’m not a coffee drinker.  However, being able to brew my own coffee from plant to cup was a REALLY cool experience.  We picked the fruit from the plants, shelled, roasted, ground, and brewed the freshest coffee I’ve ever seen.  Don’t tell, but it even tasted pretty good (not that I need any)!  This tour lasted about an hour and we were released for lunch.

We sat down to mushroom soup, pollo saltado, garden rice, guacamole, lentils, vegetable salad, and chicken egg mash stuff.  With our bellies full, we decided to go to Aguas Termales de Cocalmayo (hot springs), about half an hour drive.

It was so nice to soak our sore muscles for a couple hours in the hot water.  There are even “Inka Massages” aka water falls from the pools that you can sit under.  It’s glorious.

By the time we got back to camp, there was popcorn waiting for us (clearly Freddie is amazing).  Dinner was made with the special request of pizza, grits, fried stuffed peppers, spaghetti sandwhiches, tomato sauce, and pollo rellena.  We all played Sapo before heading to bed.

Distance : 12.4 miles, 46 floors

Day 7

This was Freddie’s last day with us, and to our shock, he had managed to make me a birthday cake!  I don’t know what kind of kitchen sorcery occurred, but I was happy to have chocolate cake for breakfast.  It was delicious!  

It took us a couple hours to reach the Abra Llactapata summit and we were met with thick fog (naturally).  This is where we were supposed to get our first glimpse of Machu Picchu, but unfortunately were unable.  We saw the mountains themselves, but not the site.  We walked some more and waited for the rain to stop before continuing.  This path is the muddiest and most slippery part of the trek. 

By noon we got to the Hidroelectrico Machu Picchu and had our last Freddie meal.  Lunch was fried rice, palta relleno, chicken kebabs, salpicon de pollo, and yellow potatoes.  It was sad to see Freddie go, but since we didn’t want to pay for the train, we said goodbye (to him and my new puppy friend) and hiked to Aguas Calientes.  Yes, there are hot springs here (it’s in the name).  No, we didn’t go because we were too tired… sorry.

Unexpectedly, this trek took about three hours.  It ended with a wild goose chase for a place to sleep because of confusion in communication between our guide and the company.  Looking back it’s funny how in the middle of the nowhere we were more able to find our way than in a city…  Finally, we got to our hotel, Inka Tower.  It was nice to lay in an actual bed for the first time in over a week.  Plus hot showers (can’t forget about those)!  Unfortunately though, we had to wait over an hour to get our bags with clean clothes.  So we just sat there and stank.

After finally showering, we went and got pizza next door (we’re such tourists) before going back to the hotel to sleep.

Distance : 17.4 miles, 232 floors

Day 8

Happy birthday to me!  The hotel offered free breakfast (which was quite filling) and we checked out.  Ronny came to pick us up soon after, and Inka Tower let us leave our bags in their storage room for the day.  At 0645 we were on a bus and dropped off at the entrance of Machu Picchu 20 minutes later.  This was still an hour before our allowed entrance time, so we got our passport stamps (an optional FREE souvenir) and waited.  I also decided to pay $5 USD for a cookie since it was my birthday.  No regrets.

Finally, 0800 came and we entered Machu Picchu!  Ronny led us around helping us take photos, and giving us a full descriptive tour.  I’m really thankful for that because without him we would have been 100% lost.  Walking through these ruins was an absolutely incredible opportunity.  When we first arrived it was so foggy that I was starting to get a little disappointed, but in the end it lightened up enough for us to see everything and get some pretty neat photos!

Comment below with things you’d like to see in a dedicated Machu Picchu post!

We arranged to climb Wayna Picchu as well, so Ronny left us and we signed in at 1036.  The minute we started, Michael and I looked at each other and felt our stomachs rumble.  We were SO hungry.  Needless to say, we practically ran up the mountain, getting to the summit at 1105 to take pictures.  The view was absolutely incredible, but we were starving and it started sprinkling.  So, we raced down and hopped on the bus back to Aguas Calientes.  

Note: See this picture down here of that hole in the rocks?  Well, to descend Wayna Picchu, you have to be able to fit and practically crawl through that.  So, use your best judgement on whether or not to ascend all the way in the first place.

Distance : 7.6 miles, 181 floors

Ronny met up with us at Machu Pisco Bar for lunch and made sure we had everything we needed to get back to Cusco.  

The train part was a bit confusing.  We got to the train station and boarded for Ollantaytambo.  Once there (about 2 hours), we were to exit and find buses.  However, since we were in the back, the people with signs were too far ahead to see.  Luckily one of the ladies working noticed our confusion and pointed us in the right direction.  The bus ride took about 2.5 hours and we were met at the station by Erik, owner of Kusa Treks.  He chatted with us and dropped us off at our hostel.  We organized our stuff and gave him his duffle bags back.

Overview

The distance covered is longer, but we trekked over 99 miles in 8 days.  I got sick, survived, and it was one of the toughest, yet rewarding experiences of my life.  Plus, I got to witness the incredible beauty of Machu Picchu on my birthday!  

Shout out to our awesome tour guide, Ronny, above and beyond chef, Freddie, and everyone at Kusa Treks for making this experience possible!  

 

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