Day 4: Trek to Machu Picchu

I woke up around 5:00am and had a chance to enjoy the campsite while the glow of the morning sun was starting to overtake the dark blue sky. We were sleeping about 20 meters above a river, the sound of rushing water echoing off of the canyon walls. We were surrounded by mountains, so there was relatively wind.

I had finished my bottle of rehydrating salts, ate the remainder of a granola bar and then my appetite returned. We had sweet potatoes in a clear, sweet broth, bread with jam and Telivio cooked me the Peruvian equivalent of chicken noodle soup. It was a relatively simple made of rice, shredded carrots, and a salty broth.

After breakfast, we headed down the valley until we reached the next set of Inka ruins. It was here that Raul explained the signficance of the condor, puma, and snake. The Inkas believed that when someone died, their body was put in a cave. From this cave, the body would turn into water, where it then evaporated into the sky, where it turned into a rainbow and came back down to the earth as rain to restart the cycle of life.

Afterwards, we headed to Willaybamba where we bid farewall to our mules and their owners. We would meet our porters, who were responsible for carrying everything that was on the mules, in the afternoon. I could definately tell that we were back on the gringo trail; there were squat toilets in buildings with running water. While I was reminiscing on the solitude of the past 3 days, I was excited to continue the trek and see the city of the Inkas with my own eyes.