Long Inca Trail (4 days, 3 nights)

This inca trail route to Machu Picchu is a hard one. But it´s really worth it. If you think the view of magnificent landscapes, lots of incredible ruins spread all over the cloud forest, and exotic wildlife and vegetation motivates you, don´t miss this opportunity. You must be in good shape and health to undertake this challenge. Be sure you are prepared for this inca trail.

On the long inca trail you´ll find more than that. Pure air, peace and close contact with nature, as the ancient incas did many centuries ago.

On the first day, the expedition agents of the inca trail pick you up at 6 o´clock in the morning. Then you reach the km 82 of the Sacred Valley railway, by bus. With an iconic information panel on the road, this is the starting point of this long route. There won´t be much time to walk this day. It´s just a training of what is coming on your way down to Machu Picchu.

Some four hours of trekking later, you reach Huayllabamba, the first camping site of the long path. Until here, you´ve already tasted the characteristics of the region; the weather, the difficulty of the inca trail and its wonderful beauty. At night, you find yourself eager to have more of that. Just relax; you really have to rest for the coming day.

Early on the second day´s morning, the long journey restarts. This time it will be harder than yesterday. Remember listening the guide´s directions and asking him about any doubt or suggestion you may have. On this stage of the long inca trail, the route to Machu Picchu reaches more than four thousands meters of altitude. Huge mountains and deep canyons are everywhere, Their intense colors are lightly shadowed by a delicate mist layer. At some places, the long inca trail goes up the cliffs with a thread of clean water aside. At the top, almost touching the sky, there is the Warmi Wañusca pass. While going through it, the forest almost disappears and the wild and tough puna vegetation takes it place. The route rises to the top of the higher mountains, unveiling a majestic horizon.

You will find some elusive ruins on your way like Runcuracay, a place alleged to be a inca trail tambo or station for the chasquis to eat and rest. This concentric-circles-shaped ruins lie reclined on a mountain wall and are approachable only by the long inca trail. Another place you´ll find in this trail to Machu Picchu citadel is Sayacmarca. Bigger than Runcuracay, Sayacmarca is a stone-made village, strategically located and with some smaller building next to the main construction. The incas built an ingenius aqueducts system here, so the water flowed from the mountains crossing all the village and reaching every single house on its path. Their streets are narrow and drawn according to the topography of the hill.

At the end of this hard but rewarding day, the camping site of Pacamayo welcomes you. The long hours you´ll spend here won´t be never enough to enjoy all its wonders. Particularly the constantly changing view, with bright sun and the cotton-shaped clouds passing so fast, you´ll feel like floating over them.

The third day of the long inca trail is all the way down and shorter. Phuyupatamarca (cloud city) is next on the route. The inca baths and amazing aqueducts are still running there. Its privileged location shows you the spectacular view of the Salkantay snow mountain, dominating the Vilcabamba range as a god.

How could anyone turn a beautiful landscape into an unforgettable memory? You would have to ask the incas about their secrets, and how they used them to build Intipata, the most impressive chain of terraces over the steeper cliffs of the region. It was a giant store room right in the middle of the inca trail.

Some hours later, Wiñay Wayna is in sight, up on the mountains. Its design remains you immediately to Intipata. The same building shapes and the idyllic landscapes mixed with another group of terraces everywhere. Here is where the long trail route converges with the short trail route. Tourists of both sides meet here, on the last camp site of the road.

Early in the morning, the trekkers are leaving for Intipunku. Located at the top of the Machu Picchu mountain, Intipunku (gates of the sun) was the official entrance to this site, used by the past pilgrims and ceremonial retinues of the inca trail.

Once again, the beautiful stone-made buildings of Intipunku invites the travelers to feel their history, looking through a trapezoidal window or stepping on the edge of a long platform, with the Machu Picchu citadel at the bottom of that natural framework. The narrow streets of Intipunku force you to cross their corridors, narrow enough to hold their both slightly-bowed walls of stone with your hands.

Finally, the long awaited moment of the journey arrives: it´s time to descend to Machu Picchu. It treasures the most amazing wonders of the cloud forest inside. Colossal beauties, like the Temple of the Sun, the Intiwatana stone or The Temple of the Three Windows are some of them. Walking through their history, the mystic aura and the natural energy of this sacred place will surround you instantly, seducing your senses and marking your memories forever.

Late in the afternoon, the long inca trail is ending. Mixed feelings of fatigue and gratefulness beat in your heart, starting to make a different human being out of you. With the first steams of the train, back to Cusco, you have a strange feeling, like leaving a part of your soul behind. A deep breath and an endless sigh surprise your lungs. It´s time to go, by you´re not leaving completely.

Take a trip to Machu Picchu: you´ll get the journey of your life.