If Machu Picchu is on your dream list and you’re about to check it off I know exactly how you feel. The anticipation is real. But so is the rain, the wind, and that mist that rolls in without warning at 11 in the morning. The Inca architecture that smells of history when rain soaks the stones. The mountains wrapped in green clouds. The strange silence you feel among the stone terraces at 7,970 feet of altitude. If you don’t prepare for the climate you won’t be able to enjoy any of that and that would be a huge waste.
According to one traveler, Machu Picchu has always been on my bucket list. And when I finally visited for the first time, I realized I had no idea what to wear. I literally stood among the ruins soaking wet in a cotton t-shirt that had doubled in weight. Since then I keep coming back each visit teaches me something new and what I learned about the climate and clothing changed everything.
