Follow-up ramble

I'd wanted to see Machu Picchu since I first learned about it decades ago. It was twenty some years ago, according to our guide, that the tourism really picked up. I asked the guide whether the uptick had been, on balance, good or bad for the local community. He said it was, emphatically, good. That said, people in Cusco--including those that benefitted from the influx in tourism--said that the rising prices were hard to keep up with for the locals.


I couldn't tell you when Machu Picchu became the Tinder photo backdrop of choice. I'm not on Tinder, but it's such a thing--and Facebook, too, I suppose--that it's a cliche. Admittedly, the preponderance of single people posing at Machu Picchu pushed me to actually make my own trip happen--not because I wanted to be one of them or to keep up with them, but because I figured it must be a manageable trip for a lone traveler. You have to go with a trekking company, anyway, and there's no single supplement. I'd asked Jay, but he was unsure about his employment situation. I'd not been on vacation for a while and I needed something epic. So I decided, in November or so, to just do it. Before the decision was solidified, Camille learned that I was thinking about it and decided to join me. Even though I could have done it on my own, I'm really glad she did.

For me, it was always important to hike the trail. That personal preference comes with no judgment or disdain for people who opt for the train--the train is (much) more affordable and accessible in other ways. For me, however, it was all about the trail--and I enjoyed the trail as much, if not more, than I enjoyed Machu Picchu itself. We had to put the deposit down in December--trail permits sell out fast--so that's when it became real.

That's also when work got crazier and crazier; I put down the deposit and then forgot about the trip. Work was bananas for months, and it wasn't until March that I could emerge and plan the trip. I read some guidebooks to get a sense of how long we'd want to be in the area, and then we booked our flights and hotels--one in Cusco and one in Lima. I rightly erred on more time than less--my Southeast Asia trip was awesome, but it was exhausting to constantly hop from one place to another. I wanted to stay in one place as much as possible (the trek notwithstanding). We made the right choice--we really saw a lot. We took a day, more or less, for each part of the Sacred Valley, whereas some tour groups hit all of it in the day, which is unfathomable to me. We saw the shit out of Cusco. We fully used our Boleto Turistico and our Boleto Integral.

I climbed Huayna Picchu--the mountain behind Machu Picchu, whose outline forms the Inca face-- after freaking out about it by way of the internet. It's not scary at all and very doable. The key is to get in line early, because much of it is single file and there's a bottleneck at the top. I was within the first 25 or so people in line, and I passed 10-15 of the people ahead of me on the way up until I caught up with the people scrambling at the top. The view of Machu Picchu from the top is not that great--you're so far up you can hardly see--but I'm glad I hiked it.

I didn't train for the Inca Trail; I just exercised as usual and gardened a lot. I also babied my knees and my feet (I had to go to the podiatrist a few weeks before for foot pain that kept me awake). I wore orthopedic inserts in my hiking boots and paper-taped my feet to prevent blisters (it worked). I wore knee braces before and during the trip, and they really helped. I borrowed trekking poles, which, by the end, nearly gave my hands blisters, but they were essential for all the steep steps on the trail.

I brought deet wipes, but mostly didn't use them--and got bitten all over my legs. The bugs are unnoticeable, so you don't think to take precautions, and the next thing you know you're covered in bites. I used sunblock, but it failed me. Between the proximity to the equator and the altitude in that area, the sun is very strong. That said, I didn't get badly burned--or burned at all, except ever so slightly on my face--but given how consistently I applied sunblock, I should be pale as fuck. Instead, my arms are tan and my face is pinkish.

What else should you bring?

• Wet wipes, definitely--I always bring them when I travel and almost never use them, but boy did I use them in Peru. 
• Layers. It was always chilly in the morning and, except for the second day of the trek, hot during the day. I'd take off the top layer or two, leaving a t-shirt, and unzip the bottoms from my cargo pants as it warmed up. I had rain pants, which I didn't use, as well as a proper light waterproof jacket that I used every day--mostly for its pockets and wind-proofing.
• Spare camera batteries. There are no charging stations on the Inca trail, or if there are, you're not going to stand next to them for hours.
• Extra room in your bag. I brought a massive, waterproof duffel that held my sleeping bag and trekking poles, and magically expanded to accommodate other stuff.

By our last day in Cusco and the next day in Lima, I was pretty ready to go home (though I wouldn't have given those days back). I already miss some things--speaking Spanish, being surrounded by mountains, being awed every day by Incan ingenuity and engineering. I'll continue to immerse myself in all that (well, not the Spanish) as I sort through my photos and build a photobook, and then I'll turn to planning my next adventure.