Day 3 – 8 miles hiked, 10 hours
I was already awake when the porters came around with coca tea to wake us up at 6:00 AM. I slept well and was ready to go! We had another amazing meal from Chef Alex and began the shortest but most beautiful day of the trek at 7:30 AM.
I mentioned in my previous post that I quickly bonded with everyone in my group. We hiked this trek together, and we organically took breaks at the same time to make sure we stayed as a group (especially on Day 1). We were from all over the world, and I loved getting to know them! I was teased for being the “baby” of the group because I was the youngest and the first to finish each hill. I also suggested a couple of games to play during our rest breaks, but nobody wanted to play, haha! Sometimes, I jogged ahead and chatted with the other Alpaca Expeditions group on this trek because they were closer to my age.
The first half of the day was a flat road from the campsite to the start of the Inca Trail. There are many trails that lead from Cusco to Machu Picchu, and we hiked part of the Choquequirao Trail. Once we reached the trailhead, we hiked uphill for about 20 minutes to a coffee farm owned by a local family.
At the coffee farm, Jaime and the woman who owned the land (Mami, as we affectionately called her) showed us the process of making coffee from scratch. First, we harvested the red “berries” from the Arabica coffee trees. Then, we poured the beans through a hand crank deshelling machine. We set these beans out to dry and roasted the already dried beans from last week. I took a turn out stirring the beans in the pot over the fire. Mami threw in sugar and orange peel into the pot of roasting beans for flavor. Just when the beans turned dark, Mami took the pot off the fire and let the guys of the group take turns grinding the beans. With these grounds, she served the best coffee I’ve ever tasted with fresh avocado and yuca (or “jungle potato” as Jaime calls it). I bought a bag of coffee beans from Mami before we left her farm. 😊
We ate lunch at the coffee farm and rested in the peace and quiet of the jungle. After our meal, we had an afternoon of uphill climbing with sweeping views of the Santa Theresa Valley. The trail was shady and narrow, and we walked in a single line along the edge of the mountain. We had two main rest stops on the way to our campsite. Our first stop was at an epic swing over the cliff. The photos truly capture what it was like to swing over the valley! It was one of the thrilling experiences ever and one of the highlights of the trek.
After a steep incline in the tropical forest, we reached the second rest stop. Here we had an excellent view of Machu Picchu (visible just to the left of me in the handstand photo). Seeing our long-anticipated destinations after the final incline was a special moment for our group! I also stepped away to reflect in gratitude and offer my hike for a special intention.
After a brief lesson on the discovery of Machu Picchu, we hiked the final 30 minutes downhill to our campsite, Llactapata Lookout. We spent the evening exploring the campsite grounds and chatting after dinner. Somehow, we all took turns showing our party tricks on the table. Jaime, Alex, Faheem, and Asmaa did variations of pushups, and I did the splits on the table! Believe it or not, we were completely sober, haha!
After my group went to their tents for the night, I stayed up a bit later and played cards with a couple Aussies from the other group. I learned a new game called Assaf (or Yaniv), which is a popular game among “young adults returning from long backpacking trips” (according to Wikipedia) … how fitting!
kira vesta 
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