From Quito I flew to Lima and then to Cusco and the first thing that hits you is the altitude. I had no problem in Quito at 2850m but Cusco is nearly 3500m and I really had trouble breathing. Had headaches and did stupid things for the first few days until my body adjusted.
Cusco is a beautiful city, full of Inca ruins, Cathedrals, churches etc, as well as all the bars, restaurants, nightclubs and internet cafe´s a tourist could want.
After 2 days to adjust to the altitude we started walking the Inca trail, 4 days, 44km, 10,000 steps and 4 mountain passes, the highest of which was 4215m. The walk was beautiful and amazing, and our guide and porters were excellent.
We had 20 porters, chefs and guides, to support 10 of us on the tour. (Norwegians, Danish, French, English and me). While on the trek we had 3 course restaurant quality meals each day, and the porters would bring us coca tea to our tents in the morning, and hot buckets of water to wash our face and hands when we finnished each days trek. They did an amazing job and really looked after us.
Along the way we saw lots of Inca ruins, birds and villages and our Guide explained lots about the Inca history. They were great astronomers, designed great plumbing and performed experimental agriculture at high altitures.
On the 4th day of the trail, we woke at 4am and were on the trail before 4.30 to get there early. After waiting for the checkpoint to open at 5.30 we basically ran the last hour of the trek up to the sun gate to Machu Picchu to get there before sun rise. We then saw the sun rise and illuminate the whole site. After an excellent tour by our guide we just explored the site before heading back to Cusco by train and bus.
The hike took it´s toll on me with 4 days walking on cobbled stones ensuring my legs were aching for a few days. It was pretty hard to breath up high and I think I had to stop every 5 minutes to get the last 100m up Dead Woman´s pass (4215m), but it was a great experience and all worth it.
