The Trail to Machu Picchu: Lucma to Machu Picchu Pueblo

 I'm not exactly sure when the reality of the last day's trek really hit me. I was happy to have most of the miles behind me. By my count, there were only about 7 miles left to go, but the first 3 miles were to take 3 to 3 1/2 hours of uphill climbing. The elevation change for that 3 miles would be nearly 2000 feet through a warm, humid cloud forest. Any happiness that I felt was replaced with a feeling of nervousness about the next challenging hike.

 The Lucma Lodge was another unexpected treat. The guest rooms were much more than comfortable and the staff was quite friendly. They had very basic English skills, but this gave me a chance to attempt to converse in my poor Spanish. There was something missing at this lodge. When compared to the other lodges on the trip, Lucma lacked a hot tub. We had to rough it

The food was good. The mood was very friendly. We even had a chance to have some last minute laundry taken care of by the staff. 

 And, the views from the lodge offered another vision of Peru not seen on previous days.

  The hike was much more difficult than I had expected. I was lagging behind the group for the entire 3 miles up to the pass. I was drenched in perspiration. I could have used some electrolytes. But, there was no convenience store to be found. Moving along the trail, we encountered a group of hikers in their twenties. Some were worn out, and some were crying. I was beginning to associate more with the latter group. I pushed on keeping my personal mantra a secret. Once at the summit, I revealed to my wife that I completed the climb due only to my repeated singing of "High Hopes". This of course was to myself as my singing voice is awful. The arrangement that I chose was the Frank Sinatra version.

Reaching the summit of the Llactapata Pass, we found ourselves standing at the ruins of Llactapata, an Incan site with lesser size and notoriety when compared to Machu Picchu.

We eagerly dropped our back packs and hiking sticks. Across the valley, we found our first glimpse of our goal, Machu Picchu.

There in the distance was the ancient city of the Incas. We might have been seeing the city much like Hiram Bingham saw it in 1912. Through our binoculars, people were moving about the ruins. We would be there tomorrow.

Before we started our decent and our rendezvous with Peru Rail at the hydro electric plant, we were to have our last lunch on the trail. Just a few hundred yards from the ruins, we arrived at an open air restaurant run by a local family. While we ate and rested, we were observed by the young son of the owners. His name we would come to find out is Michelangelo.

After our stop, we passed by a field of maize, and then we had our first look at our afternoon decent. We had 4 miles to cover, all downhill. The decent of nearly 3200 feet had to be accomplished in under 3 hours. We had a train to catch.

The hike down the hill was equally daunting, but we had gravity on our side. The trail down was very steep and slippery in a number of places. We moved along with an odd mix of speed and caution.

Upon reaching the river at the bottom of the valley, it became clear that we would not miss our train. This was important as this was the last train of the day and there was no lodging at the hydro electric plant. We did not stop for a break; we pressed on. We could relax when we were standing next to the train. Is the word relax or collapse...hmmm.

As we awaited the trains departure (there was no station), many of us enjoyed an adult beverage to celebrate our accomplishment. I for one was relieved, very relieved. It seemed as though I would live for another day.

When the locomotive started up, we boarded. Many had smiles, but as I mentioned, my emotion was more of relief. The hike was essentially behind us.

The train started to move, and we were on our way to lodging in Machu Picchu Pueblo (formerly Aguas Caientes). A hot shower, dinner and a good night's sleep was awaiting. Tomorrow, we would enter the famous ruins.

For a few more images follow this link.