The last of our training hikes today. I decided to take my full backpack to make it a realistic experience! We started on one of our regular routes…up 300 steep steps and then towards San Blas district. I’d read about a park with hiking trails on the outskirts of Cusco so we walked towards this. It was beautiful, way above the town and so peaceful. We had no idea what we would find as the area is not well mapped. There were a couple of houses along the route with dogs barking loudly. They are not aggressive but they are very persistent ! We walked on through a forest of pine and eucalyptus trees. Following the main path would have taken us down into a deep gorge so we decided to take the path less travelled through the trees. We eventually arrived at a waterfall. I sat on a boulder in the warm sunshine listening to the waters flow and watching a humming bird dip back and forwards to the river. It was magical and one of those experiences that you wish would never end. Later we crossed the falls and took a path that led us beside a deep gorge, alongside ploughed fields, across ancient terraces, through scrub and eventually to the top of the mountain. Such a privilege to be able to walk freely and to see so many flowers along the way. It was a tough climb but well worth the effort. On the return loop we passed by small hamlets of houses at different stages of construction, mostly inhabited with radios on and you could just imagine people going about their Saturday chores. Some houses had a field nearby with a few sheep, a donkey and some chickens.. We also saw cows and llamas tethered along the way. In the distance there was a man ploughing his field with two oxen. We continued along and down, walking through Sacsayhuamán and eventually back to the San Blas district and home via the empanada shop. We were out for nearly five hours … bliss. 

The management of water during the Inca period was in part the key to their success and why Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire. There are plenty of examples still remaining of that era. 

Hiking through the forests above Cusco

Out through the top of the forest, along narrow paths and we found a waterfall 

Footpaths or animal tracks?

The waterfall 

Brave hikers

One for the fans

Is that a waterfall?

Carrying up the mountain 

Beautiful up here

Beautiful tiny wildflower

Llama and a cow

Little farm up in the mountains 

Looking back towards Cusco 

Llama and guard dog 

Hello donkey 

San Blas district of Cusco is beautiful 

A little plaza in San Blas