Lares Trek to Machu Picchu

Our hiking group with our cooks, horsemen and guides.

As an alternative to the Inca Trail, hikers can choose the Lares Trek to Machu Picchu. It is less crowded (in fact, we hardly saw anyone during the trek), you get to interact with the locals more instead of hundreds of other hikers but you trek at a higher altitude which could affect your hiking condition.

We chose to do this trek with Sam Travel Peru because they have a five star rating at TripAdvisor. We paid $557 each and for this price, it was worth every penny. Our guides (there were two of them) were very knowledgeable and mindful of our hiking capabilities. The horsemen and cooks were very nice and accommodating (we had a vegetarian in our group who was very satisfied with her meals). If you ever plan to do this trek, you can never going wrong with this tour company.

On the first day, our guide picked us up from our hotel in Cusco at around 6 AM and our group made a stop at the town of Calca where our cooks bought some produce in the market for our trek. Some of the hikers also bought some toys and fruits for the kids that we met during the trek.

We then traveled for about an hour to our trail head. After hiking uphill for another hour, we had our breakfast prepared by our cooks.

With some rest and picture taking, we then headed to our lunch spot where we had an amazing view of the Peruvian Andes.

Along the way, we met some kids on the way back from school. It is humbling to know how far they have to travel and that they only use sandals to hike up and down the mountains.

After a good night's sleep and delicious breakfast (considering what the cooks had to work with), we headed to the highest altitude of the trek called Pachacutec pass at about 4700 meters (15,420~ feet). It took us about 5 hours to get to this point and it was a strenuous uphill hike. If you plan to do this trek, make sure to train so you can enjoy the views more at the high passes.

The view from the beginning of our hike on Day 2 

R as he approaches the highest pass

The views were amazing on this day and was worth every uphill climb! We then descended to Quishuarani where we camped for the night.   

On Day 3, we hiked in the morning before heading to Lares for a refreshing soak at their natural volcanic hot springs and lunch. 

We said our goodbyes to our cooks and horsemen before going to Ollantaytambo. Here, we had a couple of hours to ourselves so we checked out their markets and the ruins. 

We had dinner in one of the many restaurants of Ollantaytambo, which was included in the fee, before taking the train to Aguas Calientes, the support town to Machu Picchu. We spent the night in a nice hotel where we took our first shower in three days. It was great to relax and have a good night's sleep before the highlight of our trip, Machu Picchu, on the fourth day.  

Acclimating in Cusco, Peru

Plaza de Armas, Cusco

Since we  started to take interest in hiking, a trek to Machu Picchu has always been our dream. Last year, we finally crossed it off our bucket list. But before starting with our trek, we did a couple of days of acclimation in Cusco since we were told that the highest pass in our hike is about 15,000 feet and altitude sickness (soroche as they call it in Cusco) is a possibility.

Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire, located at about 11,000 feet in the Urubamba Valley of the Peruvian Andes. Because of its altitude, many trekkers stay here first to acclimate before proceeding to the Sacred Valley to start their hike. The moment we stepped off the plane, we felt the effects of high altitude but more on that later.

We stayed in a very conveniently located and reasonably priced hotel called Tierra Viva Cusco Centro. It is just a few minutes walk from the city center and the free buffet breakfast was always amazing during our stay. After checking in and resting for a bit, we walked to Plaza de Armas to have lunch and check out the city.   

A sunbathing in Plaza de Armas, with the Cathedral of Cusco in the background

One of the many parades we saw in Cusco. They love their parades and
it seems like there's one everyday, at least for the duration of our stay there.

The food in Cusco was amazing and that's saying a lot since we lived in Tokyo and New York for most of our adult life. On our first day, we tried some of their corn soup and fried pork belly with potatoes. They were exquisite! Too bad they ended up in either a plastic bag or our hotel's sink because of altitude sickness!

After lunch and walking around town for a bit, we decided to go back to the hotel and rest as our head started pounding. We were also advised to buy some pills for our headache called Diamox and so buy we did. At the end of Day 1, A and R: 0, altitude: 1.

R taking some needed oxygen from a tank. Thankfully, it was free in our hotel!

On our second day, we were feeling much better so we visited Qurikancha (Temple of the Sun). It was an impressive temple and apparently, one of the most revered in this city. We learned a lot about the Inca Empire, the history of Cusco and  Spanish Colonialism. If you like history and architecture, this is a must see!

A view of Cusco from Qurikancha

Courtyard of Qurikancha

R on his way to the lovely gardens of the temple

Whenever we visit a city, we like to go to their famous markets to check out the food and the produce so for lunch, we visited Mercado Central de San Pedro. The fruits, the freshly butchered meat and variety of fish reminded me of my hometown in the Philippines. We ate fried fish and a soup made from innards of a pig for 10 soles (about 3 bucks!)

A at Mercado Central de San Pedro

Fried fish from the mercado. No picture of the pig's innards soup.

After lunch we walked around the streets of Cusco before proceeding to our orientation for our trek to Machu Picchu the next day.

Watching another parade

That concludes our two days of acclimation in Cusco. It was unfortunate that we were affected by the altitude but by eating and resting well, we were able to overcome it and continue with our trek. Please read the next post about our hike in the Peruvian Andes. 

Hiking to the Shingle Gully Ice Caves - Minnewaska State Park Preserve

Last year, we did a day hike to the Shingle Gully Ice Caves in a primitive area of Minnewaska State Park, close to Sam's Point Preserve. We have done a lot hiking in New York and this is probably one of the most challenging but with multiple rewarding views. There are no trails, we had to do some bushwhacking and this is only accessible by joining a guided tour. You can sign up through this website: Sign up page for SHINGLE GULLY.

From the parking lot, it was an easy 35 minute ascent via a carriage road. We then reached a semi-dry brook where we needed to do a lot of rock scrambling. Actually, this hike required a lot of rock scrambling but this part was still easy and fun!

This is where the rock scrambling begins!

We then reached a crevasse which we followed and we did some turns, ascents and descents to get to what they call "The Grand Canyon" of the east. It felt like hiking in Jurassic park, which was pretty cool but very challenging!

Some of the people in our group had a hard time with the ascents but going down was more challenging for A.

We then have to go up again!

After a couple of hours, we reached the "Grand Canyon". If you have been to the real thing, this is just a really really miniature version but the views are still amazing after all the work that we had to do to get here. 

Our hiking group!

R checking out our "trail".

As if this hike was not arduous enough, the weather had to turn bad as you can see from the rain clouds.

We spent about 45 minutes here to eat our lunch and do some picture taking. We then have to go down and then up again to get to the ice caves.

We had to go inside that cave and then go back up again!

 

That slab looked like it was going to fall and it was the size of a car!

After another batch of rock scrambling (at this point, it felt like there was no end to the scrambling), we then made it to the ultimate ice cave. We were not able to take good pictures as it was very dark inside but we gave it a shot.

After the ice cave, it started to rain hard which made this hike more strenuous. We had to go to one last stop which they call the "The Flume". We were not able to take pictures anymore because we had to concentrate on where we were going. It was about 45 minutes more before we reached the parking lot.

All in all, this was a very grueling hike with never ending rock scrambling. But it was an exciting day hike where the views are very rewarding. 

Hiking in Mt. Pinatubo

Mt. Pinatubo is an active volcano in the Philippines' island of Luzon. Its last eruption 15 years ago formed a caldera and Lake Pinatubo has recently been a hiking destination for many locals and tourists. 

In 2014, my family and I hiked to the crater and it was one of the most enjoyable day hikes that we have done. We were able to organize it in 24 hours with each person paying 1,500 PHP (~$33) and this includes 4x4 transportation to the trailhead, a guide and sherpas who carried our lunch and snacks all the way to the lake. 

4x4's are needed to get to the trailhead

The ride was bumpy, dusty, we had to traverse some rivers and there was no air-conditioning but it was very exciting! After a 45 minute drive, we reached the trailhead and from there it was a 5 km hike with a total elevation of about 1000 feet to the crater lake. The landscape was amazing as you can see from the following pictures!

We met indigenous kids during the hike

It took us about 2 1/2 hours of hiking including tons of picture taking before we reach our destination. The lake was amazing and we stayed there for about 2 hours to have lunch, relax and take in the views.

Mt. Pinatubo Crater Lake

My family

Please click on the link for a video taken by my cousin to give you an idea of what the terrain is like:

Mt. Pinatubo Video