After finishing the Salkantay portion of our trek, we stopped for lunch near a small town and met our new porters before continuing onto the Inca Trail. Horses/donkeys are allowed on the Salkantay Trail but not on the Inca Trail, so we needed more people to assist (“need” is a strong word – we obviously could have eaten a fraction of the food provided and carried our stuff). This was definitely quite strange given that it was just the two of us and we had about 8 porters, a chef, and a guide accompanying us.
After lunch we hiked up a hill to our campsite. After relaxing at camp for a bit we hiked back down part-way to go to the home of someone in the village who had a TV so we could watch the final of the Copa America soccer tournament that Peru was in. Watching the final on the Inca Trail with our guide and some porters was definitely a very unique and fun experience. Peru sadly and unsurprisingly lost to Brazil, but we still had a great time.
The following day was advertised as the most difficult day, as we had to hike 10 miles to two different mountain passes. We first hiked up the longest uphill section until we reached “Dead Woman’s Pass” (not creepy at all). Given that we had already been hiking for a few days after a month of exercising at elevation, we were in pretty good shape and able to finish much quicker than others, so we got to enjoy the lookout point alone initially. It was a little cloudy, but still a beautiful spot.
After that we had to walk downhill to our lunch spot, back uphill to a second pass, and then downhill to our campsite. Along the way we got to see more Incan ruins and some friendly llamas. There was actually a small shop along the trail going up to Dead Woman’s Pass where we bought a few beers, so after we arrived at camp we climbed up a small hill and enjoyed some beers and the view.
Foggy ruins 
The next morning we hiked a short way to some ruins with a supposedly beautiful view, but it was so cloudy that we could not really see anything. We then walked downhill until we got to the first of two more Incan ruins – probably the most stunning of the journey (until Machu Picchu of course). The first ruins were called Intipata, and we were lucky enough to arrive before anyone else and be able to enjoy them on our own. The ruins themselves were beautiful, and the setting was stunning.
Not a bad spot to explore some ruins! 
From there we went to our last campsite, which was right next to the Wiñay Wayna ruins. The Wiñay Wayna ruins were huge and incredible, and we were fortunate to be camping so close to them (we just had to walk a few minutes from our campsite to reach the site).
Wiñay Wayna 
We were stair-climbing pros by the end of this trek 
Given that we finished the planned 6-mile hike by lunch, we decided to do a bonus hike. There’s a path up to the ruins from the river that people doing 1-2 day trips use, so we decided to hike down the path to some other small ruins and then hike back up to camp. On our last night, the chef made us a cake, which was incredibly shocking and nice. We are definitely not making cakes when we are camping on our own!
Bonus hike ruins 
Just a casual camping cake
The following morning we had to wake up extremely early because the porters needed to pack up camp and catch an early train, and we needed to get in line to wait for the path to Machu Picchu to open. We arrived quite early at the path and were perhaps 10th in line of all the people camping (we should mention that they limit the number of people allowed on the Inca Trail at any given time, so although it’s quite popular and has a lot of tourists, it’s limited). We decided we wanted to get to the Sun Gate (the entrance to Machu Picchu) before anyone else and have an unobstructed view, so we started booking it as soon as they opened the path. Running through a jungle at 6am was definitely worth it, because we arrived at the Sun Gate around sunrise and got our first view of Machu Picchu without anyone else around.
First views of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate! 
Really happy we haven’t showered in a week for these pics at this iconic site
From there we walked down to the actual ruins and entered the site. You can enter Machu Picchu earlier if you are doing the Inca Trail vs. doing a day trip, so there were less people in the morning. More and more people arrived as the day progressed, but this didn’t take away from Machu Picchu’s glory, as it’s a really amazing site. Machu Picchu is a massive Incan fortress and town that was built in the 15th century and then abandoned. Its stunning setting in the Andes mountains was intentional, as the Incans wanted it to be difficult for intruders to find. Our guide Filio gave us a tour of the ruins and more information about the history, building style, and culture.
We then opted to get tickets to do an extra hike to the top of Huanya Pichu, one of the mountains surrounding the ruins. Davy opted to go with Filio to another offshoot trail along the way, and Shari just went straight up to the top. It was a challenging but pretty short hike, and the views at the top made the extra push well worth it.
View from the top of Huanya Pichu
After that we took a bus down to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, had lunch with Filio, and boarded a train back to Cusco. The tourist train is one of the fanciest trains we have seen and has windows near the ceiling that allow you to take in the beautiful scenery of the train ride.
Aguas Calientes
Our weeklong trek was definitely one of the highlights of our whole South America trip, and it was a great last hurrah in South America. We spent a few days in Cusco before flying back to the United States to see our families and friends!
SPICY BONUS PICS
Llama boi (or is this an alpaca…..?) 
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