Arriving at Machu Picchu on foot is a lot more exciting than getting there by the tourist bus that ferries folks back and forth from nearby Aguas Calientes, Peru. Hikers can sign up for a four-day, three-night guided trip on the Inca Trail. Or, if you’re not quite that energetic, you can do what I did. On a recent trip with Choose Life Sober Adventures, our group of eight hikers (including two guides) got off the train to Aguas Calientes at kilometer 104 and spent the day walking the rest of the way to the ancient archeological site. Here’s the gear I packed that came in handy.
Hiking on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
The Incas really, really liked to build steps, and we walked up approximately a zillion of them on our morning hike. The last 50 or so steps to the Sun Gate were so steep we had to crawl. But then, there it was in the distance: Machu Picchu, the famous 15th-century Inca spiritual site.
I was on a group tour with Choose Life Sober Adventures. The victory was doubly sweet since we’d all fought addictions (as well as steep stairways) to get to the Sun Gate. While Machu Picchu was the featured event in our weeklong tour, it was just one of many fabulous outdoorsy and cultural Peruvian experiences we shared.
Machu Picchu in the distance! / Photo courtesy of Teresa Bergen
From Cusco, Peru, to The Sacred Valley
Our group of 11 Americans — including two Choose Life leaders — met in Cusco, a beautiful city full of Catholic churches built over old Inca temples. The historic core is an intriguing place to walk, shop, and people-watch — if you can stand the altitude. At 11,152 feet, the town left many of us short of breath. If you visit, move slowly and drink lots of water.
Lots of alpaca photo ops in Cusco. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
After an initial day in Cusco, we boarded a private bus along with our guide Jose Soldevila, then headed for the area known as the Sacred Valley. This region in the Andean highlands was once the heart of the Inca empire. At the archeological ruins outside the town of Pisac, we could still see the holes in the hill where mummies were once buried — before their tombs were plundered by grave robbers looking for gold.
We hiked six miles downhill from the village of Chinchero, where we mostly encountered local people out for their Sunday walk. Two nights at the Hotel la Casona de Yucay, a hacienda built in 1810, were quiet and peaceful. We did yoga overlooking the flowery grounds of the hotel.
Pisac archeological site. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Peruvian cultural experiences
Peruvians love to celebrate, and several times, we found ourselves in the middle of a fiesta or religious procession. In Pisac, an older woman determinedly pinned a glass broach depicting the Virgin Del Carmen onto my T-shirt as masked men danced in the town square, surrounded by a thousand cheering onlookers. In Cusco, I joined a religious procession where dozens of people shouldered three palanquins bearing icons of Santa Catalina.
A Cusco religious procession. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Some trip experiences were geared toward tourists, such as a boisterous dinner at Tunupa, a restaurant in Cusco. Musicians played covers of Beatles songs with pan pipes carrying the melody, then stopped to welcome diners table by table and applaud our home countries: Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, Brazil, and the United States.
We had a more intimate cultural experience in the mountain village of Huayllafara. After our bus drove up death-defying dirt switchbacks for about 20 minutes, community members in traditional dress served us a local lunch and explained their farming and harvest cycle.
The lunch was excellent — small baked potatoes we ate with our hands, adding hunks of cheese or avocado and spooning on a chili-herb sauce. There was quinoa soup, chicha morado punch made from purple corn, and a passionfruit dessert. Guide Celinda Humilde, who escorted us to the village, explained that the community travel program helps support locals “without basically changing their life. They just experience a day with travelers.”
Segundino Mamami explaining traditional agriculture. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Group leader Segundino Mamami talked to me with Humilde translating. “We’re happy to share our food and traditions,” he said. “It also improves our economy.” He was surprised that foreigners were interested enough to want to visit. Some even ask to stay for several days. “It’s good because that helps us improve our houses. Now they are more comfortable.”
I also had two shamanic experiences in Peru, one planned and one unplanned. In a Pisac shop, I mentioned my sore throat to the shaman/shopkeeper. Before I knew what was happening, he was treating me with a ceremony that involved blowing herbs in my face, smearing herbs on my neck, and lighting a match in front of my forehead as I tried to keep my eyes closed and trust he wouldn’t set my hair on fire. My throat stopped hurting.
Shamanic healing in Pisac. / Photo courtesy of Teresa Bergen
Our group shamanic ritual happened in Sacsayhuamán, an archeological site on the northern edge of Cusco. As we sat in a circle beside an old moon temple, a young shaman in an orange poncho prepared an offering of food and candies for Pachamama, the earth mother who’s very much still revered in Andean Peru. We each held three coca leaves glued together with llama fat, concentrating on wishes for protection and prosperity. The shaman promised to take our offering up the mountain that night and burn it.
Lake life
While most of our days were busy, with lots of touring, hiking, shopping, and getting from point to point via bus or train, we had one long, relaxed day and night at Piuray Outdoor Center on Lake Piuray. A row of tents (and the friendly camp llama, Pancho) awaited us, facing the lake.
Pancho, the camp llama. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
We spent the late morning on the water, on SUPs or in a narrow six-person canoe. The water temperature was on the cool side, probably in the mid-50s. After a group meditation based on Wim Hof’s cold water therapy philosophy, we had a chance to jump off our SUPs or out of the canoe and chill in the lake for a while. Brrr.
Photo by Teresa Bergen
After the water outing, our hosts prepared a pachamanca lunch. This meal entails cooking tubers, plantains, vegetables, and meats in the ground with hot stones and fragrant herbs. It’s traditionally done for celebrations. Cooking the lunch started with a ritual offering of soda poured on the ground for Pachamama.
Pachamanca lunch. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
In the evening, we had a bonfire. One of our local guides, Wilfredo Huillca, played the pan pipes for us as the sun set.
Machu Picchu
After hiking for seven hours, we got our first peek at Machu Picchu at four p.m. The crowds had gone home. We had a little time to soak in the beauty of the site and the surrounding mountains, which are narrow and steep.
We stayed the night in nearby Aguas Calientes, then returned the next morning for an archeological tour. Our guides Soldevila and Huillca took turns interpreting what’s known and theorized about Machu Picchu.
After leading the four-day Incan Trail hike to Machu Picchu at least 350 times, Huillca is excited about how much could still be uncovered from the surrounding jungle. “There’s more out there,” he said several times, pointing at terraced mountain slopes overgrown with trees and vines. “There will be more to see.”
A misty morning at Machu Picchu. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
The site we know as Machu Picchu was hidden by jungle for 400 years. It’s still shrouded in mystery and conflicting theories. The Incas seem to have abandoned Machu Picchu after the Spaniards conquered them in the 1500s, only about a hundred years after building it. Fast forward to 1911, and Hiram Bingham III, a visiting American, stumbled upon the overgrown ruins.
Temple of the Condor at Machu Picchu. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
“It’s not only a beautiful site. It’s much more than that,” Huillca said. “For me, Machu Picchu is a sacred place.” He talked about worshiping Pachamama and how the Incas found a place with mountains aligning north, south, east, and west. Huillca pointed out pragmatic features of the site, like aqueducts, kitchens, and housing. Some of the more esoteric and extreme Incan ideas caught our imagination, such as “ice maidens,” young girls raised to be sacrificed on glaciers. We also saw altars used for llama sacrifices and tables designed for mummifying the dearest departed.
Table used for mummification. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Traveling with like-minded people
Our group coalesced well because we all were excited to learn about another culture while supporting each other. Also, having fabulous guides like Soldevila and Huillca made life so good. An individual tourist could figure out how to navigate Peruvian trains and the tourist buses to Machu Picchu. However, life is about a hundred times easier when a guide hands you a ticket and escorts you to the right line.
As for the sobriety aspect, we had nightly meetings where we’d talk about recovery-related topics, mention a highlight of the day, and ask for any help we needed. Group member Gillian Kreitenberg of Los Angeles has traveled extensively around the world but also acknowledges that travel can induce anxiety. “Being with like-minded people who have a lot of the same struggles makes it a lot easier to feel comfortable and safe,” she said.
