We finally made it to Machu Picchu after three long years of waiting and believe me it as a trip worth waiting for. Our trek in the Andes was organised by Charity Challenge. We were a group of ten, led by our wonderful guides Herman & Ruben. This was the hardest Charity Challenge I have done thanks to the altitude, but it was also more fast paced than the SE Asia challenges I have done in the past.

When you read your itinerary at home, it can be very difficult to grasp where and what you are doing. The funny thing is, before we left, the whole trip seemed to be about reaching Machu Picchu. But in true cliché fashion, it really was the journey there that made this such an incredible trip. We followed the Ancascocha Trek, starting in Parpishu and finishing in Camicancha. From there, it was a train ride to the town of Machu Picchu – because there is an actual town called Machu Picchu. The thing you picture when you read Machu Picchu (pictured below) is a 20-minute bus ride up a mountain from the town.

Cusco – 3399m

From the second we disembarked the plane at Cusco I felt dizzy. It really hit me instantly. Luckily, we had a day climatising & a practice walk the following day before we started to incline further. It is a strange feeling to be completely sober and have your equilibrium off all day. I drank endless coca tea as this is supposed to help with altitude sickness. (Coca tea is just steeped coca leaves – the very same leaves that form the basis of cocaine).  

Cusco is a beautiful city, and I was so surprised at how cosmopolitan it was. The food & drinks there were superb. Home to less than half a million people, the city feels much busier with its endless narrow side streets and sprawling terracotta-coloured houses. Whilst the city has ample modern offerings, it still holds a strong Quechua influence. We visited in May and whilst the temperature was mild during the day, it was very cold at night.

Trekking – Chilipagua – 4000m

Once our challenge commenced, we started at Parpishu 3000m and walked up hill the entire day to our first campsite Chilipagua at 4000m. Passing the archaeological site of ‘Wata’ on route. For a lot of the day we were trudging on with the mountains on one side and sheer drops on the other, which of course allowed for some stunning views.

We only had to carry our day bags containing any supplies we needed access to during the day. Like, lots of water, snacks, a little first aid kit, phone, sun cream, bug spray etc. We had a hefty team of porters & horses who would overtake us on the hike. Walking ahead to set up our tents & cook our meals (which were always fab 3 course meals with the most wonderful soups!).

Trekking Ancascocha – via Pampaqas Pass 4500m

Sleeping at 4000m in a cold tent was not for me and my body let me know about it. I woke early with the feeling something wasn’t right and quickly threw my dignity out of the proverbial window. Once everyone was up for breakfast, I spoke with one of our guides who said if I get the slightest inkling of a headache to let them know – but luckily (was it lucky?) my stomach was the only thing impacted. Now, as you can imagine, having the shits when hiking a mountain with a group of people you’ve just met isn’t as fun as it might sound. The trick is to hang around at the back of the group, which thanks to the dehydration, is quite an easy task. Make sure you have nappy bags and baby wipes to hand and hope there’s enough vegetation around to hide you. Do your business and reprimand yourself for picking a bright fucking yellow coat.

That day was a slog. Every step more exhausting than the last. I gratefully let one of our emergency horses carry my rucksack that morning but managed to continue on foot myself. When we finally reached the pass – our peak height in the trek at 4500m – I was not in a good place, but eager to get back down the other side. I slept through lunch on a dry sheet with everyone’s rucksacks & knowing we’d be camping at a lower altitude that night, I practically ran down the other side. I’m so grateful I picked up again that afternoon because the views on route to camp were insane. The glacier Veronica sat front and centre.

That night, camp was so cold, our guides sent us off to bed with hot water bottles. When we woke in the morning, our tents were frozen stiff. Luckily when I said we had an amazing team of porters I wasn’t exaggerating – they woke us each morning with hot drinks straight to our tent.

Trekking – Camicacha – 2900m

The third (and what turned out to unexpectedly be the final day of trekking) was a superb walk. All downhill and manoeuvring into jungle landscape. The air got wetter – seriously it was that noticeable, the vegetation got thicker and there were waterfalls everywhere. With Veronica still visible, it made for breath taking scenery.

Being all downhill, we walked much faster and didn’t stop for lunch so we could make it to camp nice and early. The campsite was stunning. By far the best location & we had more time to enjoy it (or so we thought!). Being less isolated, some local ladies from nearby houses came & set up shop, selling drinks & cigarettes along with handmade blankets, dolls and other gifts.

We enjoyed a couple of hours downtime before receiving the news – due to transport strikes the trains wouldn’t be running the next day. If we didn’t get on a train to Machu Picchu tonight, we wouldn’t make it to Machu Picchu at all!

With that, we repacked our bags – keeping a small overnight bag with us for Machu Picchu & sending the rest of our luggage back to the hotel in Cusco. We ate our dinner, said our goodbyes to the porters which was weirdly emotional considering we never exchanged a single word, and jumped in a minivan to the train station. We arrived in Machu Picchu after midnight.

Machu Picchu – 2430m

Well Viracocha giveth and Viracocha taketh away. We were put up in a very swanky hotel where we had approximately 6 hours to enjoy our first shower in days and get a good night’s sleep. I was feeling particularly unsettled having gone to bed that night with the news that there was no guarantee we would get up to Machu Picchu in the morning. Very little was known about the strikes and we had been seeing hoards of riot police on our travels into the town. We were assured they were there to protect us – in case anyone was angry about any transport still running and target those using it.

We jumped on a bus after breakfast & were transported up the mountain to the very quiet (!) entrance to Machu Picchu. Our schedule which had long been thrown out of the window, had entailed us trekking to reach the sun gate & returning the next day for a guided tour of the actual heritage site. We were sadly unable to do this as we now only had ½ a day. But our guides bent over backwards to make sure we didn’t miss out and after talking to the Chief of Machu Picchu (who I can confirm is someone’s actual title), we were given permission to walk the wrong way to the sun gate so that we could still experience laying eyes on Machu Picchu from a far.

We hung around the sun gate blowing the clouds away – yes actually. Herman led us through an (emotional) offering to the God’s. I can’t even. I don’t know what happened. All I know is, we were all crying. Then a lovely couple in the group got engaged at that exact spot which lifted everyone’s spirits again after the emotional turmoil Herman had put us though.

We walked back to Machu Picchu where we were free to explore the ruins – thanks to the transport strikes it was incredibly quiet! But, we were unable to have our guided tour so I really don’t know what Machu Picchu is all about and it remains as much of an enigma to me as it was before I visited. I did watch a llama almost pee on someone’s head which I will take with me forever.

That afternoon we all arranged to have relaxing massages which were about as relaxing as a massage can be with 5 of you lumped in the one room, rustling coats, rattling ‘hot’ stones & children screaming outside the open window. It was more entertaining than anything. And a very welcome respite. Machu Picchu is actually a really cool town I wish we had got to spend more time in. I already know I want to go back there. It had backpacker vibes all over it.

Final Days

The transport strikes continued which meant that rather than jumping on a train back to Cusco, we had to walk for 3 hours along the train tracks to reach a road and then get a mini-bus for 6 hours up and over the mountain. Fun!

We eventually made it back to Cusco where we enjoyed our celebratory meal, last nights sleep and a free morning before our departure. Left to our own devices for 5 minutes, Toby got food poisoning which was a riot on the journey home as you can imagine. We were almost not allowed to check in for our long-haul flight and had to get a note from a DR at the airport to say he could fly. After accepting some anti-nausea tablets intended for chemotherapy patients from a stranger, he was able to sleep through the 12 hour flight to Madrid where we spent the day celebrating his Birthday.

Final Say

This trip wasn’t easy, but that’s totally what Charity Challenge is about. We all had to push ourselves in different ways & deal with things we weren’t used to. Whilst has been my most challenging trip, I would do it again in a heart beat. Peru really is a wonderful country I hope I get to visit again one day.