Run, Jer, Run: June 22 - 29: Cusco - The Inca Trail / Machu Picchu

June 22, 2014

Cusco, Peru
We've finally arrived at Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, the beginning of every journey for those seeking to hike the Inca Trail.

One thing that I have noticed is that the Toyota Yaris sedan or Hyundai Accent is a very "spacious" car. They manage to fit 5 of us plus the driver along with our luggages, which consists of five 50 L technical packs and five 20-30 L daypacks. I did consider getting as a future car.

Statue of Inca Pachacútec, the ninth ruler of the Inca state. It is believed that Machu Picchu was built for him.

Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesus is a church built in 1576

At an elevation of 3,400 m, this city is harsh on most tourists. The air is thinner and each step feels like you just ran for 30 mins. This short walk from the Plaza de Armas was only 10 mins long, but by the end of it, I was panting.

We decided to splurge on a nice apartment before going on 4 days without showers and proper washrooms. It comes fully furnished with a washer and dryer.

Our wet clothes were hung on the curtain rods

I think these souvenir mugs from Starbucks were $24 USD, too expensive as a souvenir and it's Starbucks.

Fútbol is crazy everywhere in South America. Peru is no exception, despite ranking 54th in the world.

Without any research, we randomly stumbled on this restaurant. It's ranked 144 on TripAdvisor and the reviews don't lie.

I order combo #7, jugo (juice) de piña (pineapple), papaya and naranja (orange), and sandwich de lechón (suckling pig). The jugo was good, not so much for the lechón. It was very dry and lacking in ingredients as shown was shown on the menu. As a tourist city, the tourist price was 14.90 soles or $5.95 CDN.

The views from our balcony:

While Matt and I were recuperating from our food poisoning experience in Arequipa, the rest of our group attended a chocolate making class. This was made by Sundisha and tasted very good. Chocolate can cure any sicknesses in my books.

With all the celebrations happening pretty much every single day in Cusco, I think this means no parading on this street or it could just mean that trumpets are banned in Cusco.

Dinner brought us to Inka Grill. This place was decided solely based on the fact that it had a TV showing the FIFA game with United States facing off against Portugal, ending in a tied game.

Portal de Panes 115, Cusco, Peru

These yam/sweet potato chips were a nice complimentary addition to our meal.

I ordered a local dish called Ají de Gallina, it is a popular Peruvian dish with shredded poached chicken served in a creamy sauce with nuts, Parmesan cheese, and mirasol chili peppers served with rice, yellow potatoes and hard boiled eggs.

35 soles = $14 CDN

I took a bite out of this dish which is a roasted guinea pig with rosemary and mirasol chili pepper. The way this guinea pig was prepared felt as if I was in guinea pig heaven. I instrantly forgot about the terrible experience in Arequipa and sparked my quest to find the best guinea pig restaurant in Peru.

Let me remind you that guinea pigs are one of the most priciest item on the menu. This one was 60 soles ($24 CDN). Buying a guinea pig from the pet shop and killing it will be too cruel in Canada and I will be thrown in prison for animal cruelty. When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

June 23, 2014

The Inti Raymi, festival of the Sun, takes place on the 24th of June every month to celebrate the god Inti and is the most important festival for Cusco. It seems like this holiday starts a day early with Corphus Christy main parade around the Plaza de Armas.

We tried to eat at Cafe Morena for lunch, but found that it was closed on Sundays. Luckily, it was opened today. Rated as the #1 restaurant in Cusco by TripAdvisor, it's a must-try. You can't get all the best in one day and, unfortunately, the Morena La Buenaza (Peruvian prok sandwich) was not available that day. I settled for the El Cusqueñito. It is essentially a lomo saltado sandwich. Not being a big fan of onions, I hated this sandwich as all I tasted was onions.

What made things better was the mango, pineapple and coconut mixed juice. The word "smoothie" hasn't really traveled over to Peru yet. One day they will discover this new word, just one day.

Calle Plateros 348-B, Cusco, Peru

13 soles = $5.20 CDN

20 soles = $8 CDN

I found my Peruvian friend who is also taking the same Inca Trail hike

This parade doesn't end. It's longer than the Santa Claus parade and involves cervezas, later at night.

Best time to snap my pictures is when everyone else is busy with the parade

Andean Condor!

Gastón Acurio is the Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay or Thomas Keller of Peru. Ranked #46 on TripAdvisor, but that didn't dissuade us as we wanted to try one of his restaurants.

Calle Plaza Regocijo 261 - 2 piso, Cusco, Cusco, Peru

This is my favourite Peruvian drink, chicha morada. It is made from purple corn and the taste can be described as being similar to Ribena's blackcurrant juice.

6 soles = $2.40 CDN

Dinner wouldn't be complete without more cuys. Andean chaufa, egg, fried banana, cabbage and yacon salad. This is rated as my second favourite place for guinea pigs. It was very crispy and reminded me of roasted duck.

66 soles = $26.40 CDN

For dessert, I had Sigh's tasting, consisting of traditional, camu camu, lucuma and coffee. I have no idea what this is but it's like some very concentrated jam-ish dessert. Both camu camu and lucuma are native fruits to Peru. This ruined my meal as it was very sweet, good thing it was only a tasting dessert.

23 soles = $9.20 CDN

The party just keeps going from morning till night

June 24, 2014

The next morning began at 5:30 am, therefore, we didn't partake in last night's festivities. Our bus brought us to a small town where we ate a light breakfast.

Aren't these guinea pigs so cute? Wait a minute...

There's my buddy again, right at the beginning of the trek

My friend supported the locals by purchasing a Machu Picchu souvenir hat

We chose SAS Travel as our guide to Machu Picchu

All geared up. May I recommend carabiners and a hydration pack, both are lifesavers, Instead of opting to hire a porter (chaski) for $75 USD to carry 9 kg of my load. I took the challenge and hiked with a 12 kg backpack.

Our trek began at KM 82 at Piscacucho at 2,600 m above sea level.

15 of us joined this tour and finished it together with our two tour guides.

Ate lunch at a village and noticed this dog enjoying the beautiful landscape. This dog has such a good life.

I totally did not expect the food to taste so good and in such quantity.

First major landmark: Llactapata. Stretching only 2 km from the start, it takes approximately 5 hrs to reach here, including our lunch break.

Setting camp at Wayllabamba

The chaskis carried eggs all the way up to make this cake...

June 25, 2014

Waking up early in the morning is the worst cause it's so cold. Brrrrr.....

Quinoa porridge, one of my favourite meal!

Pancakes and bananas....Gimme!

Snacks provided for our next leg until lunch

Winners don't do drugs!

Enjoying the view after lunch

Dead Woman's Pass at Warmiwañusqa at 4,215 m above sea level. This was the toughest part as it was the highest peak.

Boys just being boys...

Second night, second birthday, this time with alcohol. We had a bottle of Ron Cartavio rum. We chipped in 10 soles ($4 CDN) each to purchase this bottle at 100 soles ($40 CDN). A few days later, we found out that it retails for 20 soles ($8 CDN)...

Pro-tip: alcohol doesn't help with altitude sickness. A few members drank too much and couldn't function at their optimal pace the following day. Two to three shots are sufficient to enjoy the moment.

June 26, 2014

More quinoa porridge

We left our base camp at Pacaymayo (elevation: 3,600 m)

I believe that this is the Yanacocha lagoon

Another highlight in terms of scenery, just atop the lagoon

Inca Aqueducts at Sayacmarca

This resembles a guinea pig, from another angle, it's a horse

Dinner near Wiñaywayna (Elevation: 2,700 m)

June 27, 2014

To Inti Punki (Sun Gates)

But first, we must climb this steep stair, nicknamed Gringo (English-speaking foreigner) killer

I made it in less than 17 seconds. My hat blocked my view so I went further than I was supposed to.

This is the view from the Sun Gate. One of my favourite moments. The clouds giving you a tease of Machu Picchu.

We've made it! This is Machu Picchu

Huayna Picchu in the backdrop, that's tomorrow's climb.

We met again, amigos

Aguas Calientes, Peru
We made our way down to the tourist town called Aguas Calientes. Lunch and our hostel, for the night, at Viajeros.

After 4 days, 3 nights, 49.5 km and approximately 30 hours of hiking, we made it. Thanks to our guide, Mike, and his assistant, Javier.

For dinner, we decided to hit up the #1 rated restaurant on TripAdvisor in Agua Calientes, The Tree House. It was a very hard restaurant to find, especially without GPS. Eventually, we did find it hidden in a sketchy alley.

Calle Huanacaure 105, Aguas Calientes, Peru

Good old OJ

8 soles = $3.20 CDN

I skipped out on the guinea pig and opted for alpaca instead since I haven't had a good alpaca yet. I ordered a grilled alpaca in Andean served with a traditional Andean potato pie with regional cheese and organic salad drizzeled with a blue cheese, honey and balsamic vinaigrette. This was very good, tender and juicy. Too bad the portions are small.

52 soles = $17.28 CDN

Chicha morada

8 soles = $3.20 CDN

Small dinner means room for dessert. I got the lucuma martini. Lucuma mousse with pieces of brownie, white chocolate flakes and praline Brazil nuts. Simply delicious.

32 soles = $12.80 CDN

June 28, 2014

We chose to spend an extra day in Aguas Calientes to hike up Wayna Picchu to catch Machu Picchu from another angle. It takes about 45 mins to hike this and needs to be pre-booked.

In case you didn't know you were climbing up Wayna Picchu

If you notice the zigzag lines to the left of Machu Picchu, that's the path that the shuttle buses take to carry those who don't take the Inca Trail. I highly recommend taking the Inca Trail and skip the lazy tour