Why Peru is a Must on Your Bucket List with Teens

By Rhonda Carrier

As we get out of the minibus on our first day of trekking the Quarry Trail in Peru’s Sacred Valley, I blanch.

‘We’re going up there,’ says our cheery guide Adrian, one arm out-flung like a condor’s wing.

There, I see, is a steep, narrow outcrop with sheer drops on three sides. Not being a fan of precipices or of walking uphill for more than about three nano-seconds, I wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew by signing up for this two-and-a-half-day trek through the mountains above the town and Inca archaeological site of Ollantaytambo.

'What makes this a perfect trip for older kids like my 17-year-old were mind-blowing sights such as hordes of wild llamas arrayed across the mountainside, giant Patagonian hummingbirds fluttering around agave trees, a vast, crashing waterfall, and cliffside tombs shedding the bones of long-dead Incas.'

There’s my fear of edges and of plummeting to my death, my only-average fitness levels (I haven’t prepared for this at all), and then the possible altitude sickness to counter. And this is just the start of it. Over the next couple of days, we’re ascending to the Kuychicassa Pass at 4450m. I feel faint just thinking about it all.

Hiking with Kids in the Sacred Valley

The Quarry Trail is a less-visited alternative to the iconic Inca Trail through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu, retracing the steps of Peru's iconic ancient civilisation. This route is a day shorter than the Inca Trail from the starting point near Ollantaytambo but climbs a teensy bit higher. It’s worth considering if you want to trek in the Andes with little likelihood of seeing – or sharing your campsite with – other groups of hikers.

The Quarry Trail has been developed by local communities in partnership with Intrepid Travel, a sustainably minded operator passionate about empowering indigenous people, especially women, and preserving Pachamama (‘Mother Earth'). Aside getting all that spectacular Andes scenery to yourselves, plus three important archaeological sites unique to this trail, other advantages of choosing the route are that it doesn’t need a permit like the Inca Trail does.

You also have the support of horses – on whom you can catch a ride if you really start to struggle with the climb. We didn’t, but knowing it was a possibility was a big help psychologically. On both routes, you’re accompanied by guides, porters and chefs. Some of them literally jog up inclines that feel like they’re going to give you a cardiac arrest – and they’re also carrying tents, kitchen equipment and larger bags. You only carry a medium-size rucksack with what you need for the day – water, mainly.

Having started out by wondering if I was out of my mind for choosing to do this, I ended the trek (and my week in Peru) thinking it was one of the best things I’d ever done – a challenge, certainly, but one that showed me what I was capable of and how important it is to face your fears head on.

And that feeling was shared by everyone on the trip – a group of six of all different ages, from late teens up (part of a total for the week of 14, with eight choosing the Inca Trail). We all found it hard in our different ways, and there was some crying, quite a bit of falling over, lots of swearing, and a panoply of dagger looks and whispered death threats. But our wonderful Peruvian guides Adrian and Christian got us through with their cheerful encouragement and patience and understanding at our individual and collective moments of despair.

What made it worth the pain and fear – and what makes it a perfect trip with older kids like my 17-year-old, who loves nothing better than hiking and camping in his school holidays – were mind-blowing sights such as hordes of wild llamas arrayed across the mountainside, giant Patagonian hummingbirds fluttering around agave trees, a vast, crashing waterfall, cliffside tombs on Qory Sonq´o Hill, shedding the bones of long-dead Incas, and the quarry from which stones were ejected down the mountain to build Ollantaytambo and its massive Inca fortress. Beneath some of the stones still up on the mountain are the tombs of workers who had died during the process.

Along the way, we camped above the clouds, gazing at the setting sun bronzing the lush green valleys and the high glaciers, and afterwards up at a cold and inky sky that glittered with more stars than we had ever seen before. Somehow, in their tiny kitchen tent, our talented and resourceful chefs cooked up up delicious, nourishing Peruvian food to refuel our bodies, including hearty corn soups and fluffy breakfast pancakes served with papaya and other ultra-fresh local fruits.  

These meals with Adrian and Christian were a great opportunity to learn even more about Peruvian life, from politics to family life, schooling and food. As we walked, meanwhile, they taught us about the fragrant wild, often edible, mints and other plants we encountered en route, about animals we saw such as tarantula-eating fire wasps, and about Inca beliefs and traditions, including the worship of the mountains.

Cusco, K’intuy Ocutuan and Macchu Picchu

The trek was part of a week-long trip that begins and ends in Cusco, a fun and funky town full of baby llamas, quirky shops selling everything from local chocolate to great leatherwear and shamanic artefacts, tattoo parlours, cool cafés (guinea pig and alpaca are local specialities, and avocado is everywhere), and a great central market for street-food lovers and people-watching.

From there, we proceeded to a community in the Sacred Valley, the K’intuy Ocutuan, where female leader Urpi told us about how much tourism benefits the families around her lake, where we watched (and took part in) traditional dancing, and where we learnt about the villagers’ textile industry, medicinal plants, farming and cuisine.

Next up was Ollantaytambo and the trek, before we returned to the former to catch the Inca Rail to Machu Picchu. This journey itself, in carriages with panoramic windows to enable you to soak up the insane scenery (we took the 360° Machu Picchu Train), was a fantastic build-up to the world-famous Inca citadel, with live music, a costumed performance of an Inca legend, and free cookies, chocolate and hot drinks.

One of the many benefits of doing Machu Picchu as part of a holiday with an adventure holiday company is that they will book not only your rail journey and hotels, but also your tickets up to the Inca citadel. If you don’t do this in advance, you may be reduced to queuing on the street and perhaps even bidding in an auction for the tickets that are released by the government each evening.

And booking ahead and with an operator means you can get up there early, for when it opens. When we arrived, at 7am, Machu Picchu was still swathed in morning mist and gradually revealed itself like a teasing lover, as did the mountains around it. One of them, Huayna Picchu or ‘Young Mountain’, actually has even higher Inca ruins than Machu Picchu, and sometimes a limited number of people can make the challenging hike up to them (when we were there, a landslide prevented this).

There’s little that can be written about Machu Picchu that hasn’t been said by a thousand others – and however many pictures you’ve seen, it will exceed your expectations on every level. From your guide (part of your trip package) you’ll learn incredible facts that will put all its wonders in perspective, such as how it was built on two fault lines that intersect each other, that the Incas knew how to construct anti-tremor architecture, and that the Andes are young mountains that are still growing, pulling these mighty ruins apart, slow but steadily.

We recommend asking to have tickets to Circuit 1 (there are three to choose from) as it gives you access to the upper level of the ruins, from where you can hike up to the famous Sun Gate or Inti Punku. Alternatively, if you do come all this way on the Inca Trail, the Sun Gate is how you will enter Machu Picchu.

Peru family adventures can be tailor-made for children of any age; small-group trips are available for children aged from five; for this trip trekking the Inca Trail or the Quarry Trail, the minimum age is 15 years. 

This trip can also be extended with a few days in the Peruvian jungle spotting wildlife.

See our sample Peru family itinerary with teens or contact us on 020 3633 0653 or via our online form and we’ll find or put together the right holiday for your and your crew.

See more of Rhonda’s photos and videos from the trip on Instagram @rhondacarriertravels