DAY 1
Cusco

After a flight from Santiago to Lima, sprinting through the airport for my connecting flight because I didn't know there was a time difference, and then another flight to Cusco, I finally got to my hostel around 12. I dropped some stuff off, and had the whole day to explore.


I wish I had more than one day there, because I would've loved to see Pukamuqu or any of the ruins, but I still had a really fun time exploring the city. I got to see the Archbishop's Palace, the Cathedral, Quorikancha, La Merced, Plaza de Regocijo, Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus & a lot more.

At night, I had a went to a briefing at Loki Hostel, for my 4D/3N Inka Jungle Trek that would start the next morning. We met our guides, Broly and Felipe, and they answered all of our questions. Back at my hostel, all my roommates had a trek the next morning, so we all just spent the night getting everything ready and figuring out how to fit 5 days worth of stuff in a bag light enough to carry the whole time. Also, I bought the coolest Alpaca sweater in town because it got so cold at night and I didn't pack for that at all. 

DAY 2 
Cusco to Santa Maria
Mountain Biking & Rafting

Getting up and getting ready was a struggle, but I finally checked out of my hostel and walked up the huge hill to Loki at 5:45AM. We walked up the hill a bit more and got in our private bus with all of the mountain bikes and gear on top of it. I slept the whole time because otherwise I would've been so carsick with all the bumps and turns. We stopped at a gorgeous view about an hour in to stretch our legs and take some pictures.

Then, we stopped in Ollantaytambo for breakfast, which included eggs, bagels, juice and tea. A short van ride later, we arrived at the highest point to start biking downhill. We spent some time getting set up with our shin pads, ribcage covers, vests, helmets, etc. After about 30min of downhill biking, we stopped at the first beautiful look-out spot. Those first thirty minutes were definitely my favorite because the views were unreal and I couldn't get over the fact that I was actually biking through this gorgeous scenery.

We biked for another hour, and the views were still so gorgeous. The biking never got too difficult or too tiring because it was downhill the whole time, so I didn't have to pedal and I was automatically going so fast. The hardest part about the biking was probably just dealing with the cars passing us because we were warned that they were bad drivers, and the turns were so sharp. (It also got difficult when someone's cow got loose and his owner almost knocked me off my bike trying to catch him...)

After stopping at the next lookout, we had about an hour and a half of biking to go. For this leg of the trip, we crossed through rivers and got soaked. I honestly didn't want the 3 hours of biking to end, it was definitely my favorite part of the tour.

Before white-water rafting down the Urubamba River

Then, we drove some more (still car sick) and got to our hostel in Santa Maria to eat lunch. We had bread, guac, peaches, sweet potatoes, stuffed potatoes, rice, and soup. In the afternoon, we had a quick briefing and then went rafting, which was optional, but I already knew before the trip that I wanted to do it. The rapids started off at a beginner level, and then got up to Class V Rapids. I was always in the right spot in the raft to get completely soaked, and I'm not sure my leggings will ever dry, but I'm so glad I said yes to going. It was such a fun experience and all the guides were hilarious. We didn't flip the raft at all, but we did have to go in the water and hold onto the raft at one point.

I almost lost my GoPro getting back on the raft, but somehow my hair-tie saved it (shoutout to Goodies hairties.) Then, after some downtime, we had dinner in the hostel and got prepped for the next day. Our dinner was soup, a kabob, some kind of meat in a sauce, rice and then ice cream. At night we all played a toss game called Sappo which I was awful at. 

DAY 3 
Santa Maria to Santa Teresa 
Painfully Uphill Hiking & Hot Springs

View from the highest point of today's hike

Getting up at 6 after such a tiring day was only worth it because we had the best breakfast buffet of an omelette, eggs, pancakes, bananas, cereal, and oatmeal. Then, we walked for about an hour and a half, through the jungle, stopping at coca leaves, bananas, and cocoa beans to talk about them. Then, we had to start our completely uphill trek (#blessed.) The first five minutes felt a bit like death, and it never got easier but I think eventually we were able to laugh about the pain, and all the sarcastic comments were a good way to bond. After about 40 minutes, we stopped at "monkey house #1", where there was water and food to buy, a dog, and a cute little monkey. The monkey tried to steal my water by whipping its towel at it. I stole it away in time, but later my guide gave him a water bottle and somehow he was able to open it, drink it, and then close it again.

My legs didn't want to, but we had to start trekking uphill again after that. A lot of hiking and complaining later, we stopped at another monkey house that had a wombat, a parrot, dogs, and a smaller monkey. This one was obviously a lot higher up, so the view was absolutely incredible. For about a half hour, our guide Broly gave us a briefing about important crops and popular drinks of the Inca culture. We got to try everything and it was all pretty good, but I drew the line at rum that had a dead snake in it. We also got to wear typical Inca clothes and take pictures together which was a fun break filled with a lot of laughs.

Slightly angry monkey on my shoulder at Monkey House #2

 Then, you guessed it, more uphill trekking; we did get one ice pop and water break along the way. When we got to the very top, we walked for about a half hour on the original Inca trail! That definitely made the trek worth it because I can say I was on the same path that the Inca walked on. It was so scary at the top because of how steep the drop was to the left of the narrow trail. I didn't get too scared that high up, but my hands were still shaking while taking pictures.

After walking a little bit more, we got to a small town for lunch. Lunch was quinoa soup, chicken salad, guac and pasta neapolitan. We got to lay in hammocks again after lunch, which was so relaxing because my feet needed a break. Afterwards, we had to take a bus about a half hour away because the walking bridge was broken. I swear I thought the bus would tip over from how sketchy and narrow some of the bridges looked. During the drive we saw at least 5 Condors flying around.

Then, we had to hike downhill for a while. The steep decline was brutal after all the uphill because my muscles were so used to going the other way. It was also so steep that it was so hard to stop my momentum, and when I did stop, my legs shook so badly. When we got to where our guide, Broly, was waiting for us (since all this was just a casual stroll for him,) he said we'd have to cross the river on foot, even though the day before we could barely paddle through the rapids. He was joking, but I wouldn't put it past him. 

Santa Teresa Hot Springs

Then, we got to go to the Santa Teresa hot springs to relax for as long as we wanted. It was nice to finally stop hiking and just hang out. I had never been in hot springs before so it was really cool to experience that. At about 8pm, we finally got to our hostel, which thankfully had a warm shower. We walked about 3 minutes through town to go out to dinner. Dinner included soup, vegetables, stuffed peppers, and pudding. We attempted to go out to a club afterwards, but it was so early that it was only our tour group there, and after hiking all day we were not about to wait for it to get packed. 

DAY 4 
Santa Teresa to Aguas Calientes
Ziplining & Hiking

Our breakfast was amazing once again, it was bread, eggs, pancakes, and bananas. Then, we got in the bus to go to the "Inka Flyer" office to zip-line. After getting on all our gear and walking for a little, they prepped us on how to slow down and stop. I had never had to use my hand to stop myself on a zip-line before so I definitely pictured it going horribly wrong. There were 5 lines and they all had such a beautiful view. (I found out later that it was the highest zip-line in South America.) I had so much fun zipping through the same jungle that I had been walking through for the past two days. It was so fast, but the braking was never a problem, so we all survived it alright with no crash landings. For the last line, they switched my harness around so that I could fly "Superman" style, which meant I was completely parallel to the ground.  I tried to fight it at first and tilt a little, because it felt strange laying flat, but when I just let it happen it was an indescribable feeling. After the 5 lines, we had to do the suspension bridge and I had no idea what to expect. There were big gaps that we had to walk on the sides for, and sections where we had to unclip and re-clip our harness (not my fav, my group had to help me with that part and with reminding me to breathe.) Overall, my first suspension bridge experience was actually really fun, and not what I expected at all.

Lunch in the middle of the jungle

Then, we had to walk on the railroad tracks for about 3 hours. Half way through, we stopped at a restaurant in the middle of the jungle. This restaurant was beyond beautiful, I still have no words for it. We ate outside and you could see Machu Picchu past all the trees. Our lunch was guac (best guac I've ever had,) tea, soup, and chicken. We relaxed in the hammocks, and also got to watch the boys play a really intense soccer game.



By the time we got to Aguas Calientes, we all looked like death. I'm not kidding, the locals were staring at us. We got to our hostel, showered, finally connected to wifi, and got our stuff ready for the next day. For dinner, we got to choose what we wanted for the first time and I got the best lamb I've ever had in my entire life, along with soup, bread, and mashed potatoes. Broly briefed us for the next day, and gave us all our train and entrance tickets for Machu Picchu. It was kind of sad knowing that this was the last time we'd all be eating together as a group because we were all really close by this point.

DAY 5 
Machu Picchu



After a brutal 4AM wake-up call, we all agreed to leave the hostel at 4:45 so we could get on one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu. The buses only started at 5:30AM, and we got on the second one which left at 5:29. We were at Machu Picchu twenty minutes later, and we waited on a mob-style line to scan our passports and tickets. Our tour guide was unfortunately sick that day, and they set us up with a different tour guide to take us through Machu Picchu for about 2 hours. None of us really liked this new tour guide, but it could've been partly due to the fact that we loved our original one, and we were disappointed in the change. 

After the 2 hour tour, four of us walked to the gate of Machu Picchu Mountain to start the climb. We got there with about 3 minutes to spare, because they close the gates at 10am. It was a steep trek, with a lot of narrow steps, but the view is definitely worth the struggle. With a ton of breaks (I really need to work out,) it took me a little less than 2 hours to get to the top. On the way down, my legs were shaking so bad and I'm pretty sure they still hate me for climbing this mountain after a 3 day trek. 

All I wanted to do after getting to the bottom was hang out with a llama but I couldn't find any so I just hung out by a breeze and enjoyed the view. Then, I moved to a spot with a better view of all the ruins, and Anna, my roommate from the trek, found me. We just sat there for a while because we both had a late bus and didn't want to explore anymore, we just wanted to relax and enjoy it all. It was really peaceful. Then, Anna knew where the llamas went and she knew I was on a mission to find some so we went on an adventure. The llamas pose for pictures and stand very regally, which was actually hilarious. 

After some struggle with the cashier's wifi, we bought a bus ticket and left around 3:30 to get back to Aguas Calientes. We went to our hostel from the night before to shower and use their wifi and then Anna and I found an amazing pizza place called Incontri. Then, we walked for about 5 minutes to the train station. They line you up by what letter cart you're in and then open the doors to let each mob out, letter by letter. 

I had planned on doing HW on the 2 hour train, since the next day I had a marketing midterm, but instead a tour guide sat next to me and we talked (in my broken Spanish) the whole time. It was so interesting finding out about his life because he goes on back-to-back tours to Machu Picchu, even though he has a kid back home who's not even a year old. After the train ride, we had an entirely too long bus ride to Cuzco (only two hours, but I just wanted to be done traveling.) We got back at 10:30 and I walked to my hostel to finally crash for the night. 

Random side note: Today I got to stamp my passport myself with a "Machu Picchu" stamp. Right after you scan your ticket to get in they have it just laying around so anyone can stamp their passport for a cool souvenir.

DAY 6
Back to Santiago

Thank god I got to the airport early, because they didn't have any working boarding pass machines and I had to wait on a long line with everyone that had to check their luggage. My flights were pretty uneventful this time, since I was prepared for the time difference and didn't have to sprint anywhere. In Lima, I found out that if you go to Starbucks you can get the password to their wifi. 

All in all, this was the best first solo trip I could've asked for. My tour group had people from the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and Canada and we all became so close by the end of it. I never felt like I was traveling alone because they were all so nice and supportive. Our two Loki Travel guides, Broly and Felipe, were also really friendly and funny and they made the trip so fun (even when we had to hike uphill for hours.) I'm so grateful for everything I got to do on this trip and all the breathtaking views; I'd definitely do it again if I could.