Following the Inca trail

So, where have we been for the last 2 weeks? Pretty simple. One week trekking around the Salkantay to reach Machu Picchu and one week recovering in Cusco. As we put some efforts to prepare the small surprise you will find at the end of this post, we decided to keep it short and summarized our hiking trip in 6 points.

Top 3

The war signs painted in our face with crushed berries on day 3.

Endless eating. One of the most pleasant things while hiking is that we are always hungry and we can eat as much food as we want without feeling guilty, not even a little. And the food on the tour was excellent. It’s not because you are sleeping in the wilderness that you have to eat sandwiches…

The people. We were blessed, our fellow travelers were just awesome.

Bottom 3

The 1,800 steps that lead to Machu Picchu. I don’t know if it’s because we walked 80 km in 4 days before or because it was 5 am but this is definitely the most horrible thing I ever did, ‘hikingly’ speaking. It went pretty much as follows: one step, one swear, one step, cursing a bit, one step, thinking about quiting, one step, imploring look to the guide, one step…

The tourists in Machu Picchu. Not the travelers, the annoying tourists. The tourists which take the train and the bus to go up and touch everything they are not supposed to, walk on the inca walls and send their 10 year old daughter on the other side of the ‘no trepassing’ sign to get a better picture (seriously, these are all facts observed in less than two hours unfortunately). Machu Picchu is an amazing site, no doubts about it. But as soon as the Tourists (with a big T) invade it, the magic is gone and it becomes nothing else than another Walt Disney, which is getting slowly destroyed by the lack of respect or unconsciouness of the visitors. Very sad…

The guy who played the Rocky song very loud on his phone when reaching the Sun Gate. One thing dude… if we hear you, it’s because we also made it to the Sun Gate. Playing the song doesn’t make you more special or whatsoever.

Also, if I didn’t mention the incredible landscapes in the top 3, it’s because a picture is worth a thousand words. Please see below… 😉

A surprise for you

After almost two months on the road, it’s about time to get some things running. That’s why we just created the Peru photo-album including the day at the Rainbow Mountain and the Salkantay trek we just did. To see the pictures, please click here. The pics of Cusco and Choquequirao – our upcoming 5-day hike – will be added in a week or so. Stay tuned!