Welcome to the Ual Machu Picchu 2022 campaign! These incredible students are taking on the challenge of a lifetime all whilst raising vital funds for Marie curie, the UK’s leading end of life charity.

The Inca Empire once spread across a vast tract of South America that today includes Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. To connect their expansive civilization, the Incas built thousands of kilometers of trails between the four suyu (regions) of Antisuyo, Contisuyo, Chinchaysuyo, and Collasuyo. Today, many of those same passes are hikable, but the most traveled, and for good reason, is the Classic Route which I will be hiking. 

This 26-mile/42 km-long route begins two hours outside of Cusco, once the capital of the Inca Empire, and ends at the Lost City four days later. The trail is a challenge as the elevation rises and falls with the height of mountains—it starts at 8,530 ft/ 2,600 m and ascends to the highest point at 13,800 ft/ 4,200 m, before descending to Machu Picchu at 7,980 ft/ 2,430 m.

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity. They provide frontline nursing and hospice care, a free support line and a wealth of information and support on all aspects of dying, death and bereavement.

Every penny you give will help frontline nurses provide vital care to more dying people and their loved ones. Marie Curie Nurses provide highly skilled care in our hospices and in people’s homes across the UK, day and night. And their trained volunteers and advisers offer practical information and support when families don’t know what to do next or just need to talk.