After checking out prices for the original Inca Trail ($300) and alternative tracks to Machu Picchu we decided to do a combined 4 day mountainbiking/hiking trip through the jungle that ends up at Machu Picchu the last day.
The night before we left we found out that part of the road where we were supposed to start biking was closed due to road constructions. The only way to still do the trip was to start the 6 h busride at midnight to pass the closed part before the construction work starts in the morning. We didn´t really get a lot of sleep that night and I felt dizzy for the whole first day of the trip.
The biking sucked big time - riding shitty bikes on a shit road - do I need to say more?!?
The landscape was pretty amazing though, riding through jungle forests with tons of banana trees and seeing snowy mountains in the far distance.
The second & third day was mostly hiking through jungle. I didn´t get much sleep during the next nights either since I was scratching the tons of mosquito bites like crazy!!! I counted about 30 - just on my right leg!!! I also get the impression that the mossi bites here a way more itchy than anywhere else... they won´t stop itching for days and days... not pretty!
In the evening of the 3rd day we got to Aguas Calientes, a town especially constructed for the Machu Picchu tourists. It´s annoying how you can´t walk down the street without having several people try to convince you to eat at their restaurant, stay in their hostel etc.
From there we started our climb up to Machu Picchu at 4 a.m. the next morning to see the sunrise. It was a one-hour climb (only stairs) and it was soooo exhausting. I was glad when we finally got up there. So worth it though! It was an extremely cloudy morning and the views were fantastic.
The ruins were pretty amazing too! I have no idea how the Inca´s managed to construct something like that. The stonework is just incredible, huge blocks of granite, carved and fitted perfectly!
After a while we decided to climb up the next highest peak, Wayna Picchu, which was another hour of tough climbing, and got rewarded with awesome views on the ruins and the surrounding. If anyone of you ever makes it out here I´d totally recommend struggling up that extra hour to Wayna Picchu cause it´s almost more impressing than Machu Picchu itself.
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