La Loreta - Lucmabamba coffee farm - Llactapata
- Distance: 12km
- Duration: (with breaks): 7h 00min
- Elevation gain/loss: 970m/590m
Today is a day full of experiences: we made our own coffee, saw the beautiful Santa Teresa valley, even hiked for a bit on the Inca trail, and then slept with the views of Machu Picchu. Yes, THE Machu Picchu.
After a short hike from La Loreta, we arrived at a local coffee farm, where we went through the whole coffee-making process. Very educational! We picked the coffee berries, pealed them with some weird machine, then burned them, and finally brewed our own coffee.
To be fair, it is impossible to make coffee from scratch in a few hours as pealed berries need to dry for a few days. But hey, now we know how it’s made and it’s hard work! Fair price for coffee is still a big issue and so we were glad to at least buy some coffee straight from the farmer at their price.
After the coffee farm, we hiked a bit on the famous Inca Trail. A lot of steps, folks, this is not an easy walk either. The rest of the hike was pretty steep but definitely worth it.
Once on a hill, we could observe the Santa Teresa valley, which is just superb. Layers and layers of mountains surrounding the Salkantay river.
Someone decided to put huge swings on the cliff overseeing the valley. Genius! The best swings I’ve ever had for sure as if I was flying towards the mountains. Not for the faint-hearted though.
The last section of the hike went through a swampy jungle into small ruins from Inca times. This is also where we got the first glimpse of Machu Picchu, resting on the other side of the mountains.
However, the best views of this magnificent city waited for us at the Llactapata campsite. Alpaca Expeditions team claims that they have exclusive rights to camp in this place.
The location of this campsite was just breathtaking. We could see the whole Machu Picchu city literally from our tents! It’s a spectacular valley with peaks everywhere and even taller snowy mountains in the distance. Everyone in the group was just sitting silently around the campsite and observing the views in front of us.
Day 3 tips
- There are some poisonous snakes on the last section of the trail, so if you go independently, pay extra attention.