One of my favorite places in the world

We started the day rather early, I could have slept for a week. We boarded the buses and I thought we were going to Disneyland or something. Last time I was here, there were not nearly as many people or buses. We had a two hour tour of the main sights and history. It was a misty morning which provided a great ambiance to this amazing place. I enjoyed seeing this place for a second time (who goes to Machu Picchu twice in one life, how lucky am I?). Apparently we hadn´t had enough hiking as we set out for Wainupicchu, the mountain next to Machu Picchu in all of the classic photos. It looks small, but took us a couple hours to climb all the steps. The views were amazing, and listening to ¨The Knew¨ helped me reach the top. After exhausting my trigger finger, we headed back down the hill to Aguas Calientes. We ate a great lunch and had a few beers on the train ride back to Cuzco. Not a whole lot to say, but a lot of pictures... enjoy

Salkantay Day 4: Can we have option 2 now!

So after about an hour of hiking, I was asking our guide if option 2 was still on the table. He told us that 90% of the groups choose option 2. Not exactly a motivational speaker if you ask me. I really was picturing the hot springs as I sweat until my camera bag straps were white with salt (pretty gross I know). I thought I was at my breaking point, when we reached the top at Llactapata (2,700m). There were some ruins at the top, with an amazing view of Machu Picchu. It was a ways away, but it gave us a scale to appreciate the vastness of the surrounding area. We stopped for a group picture and started the descent into the valley below. We passed by a waterfall coming straight out of the side of the mountain. I now provide a challenge to whomever can answer the following. How does a waterfall come directly out of the side of a mountain? The first person to answer this question as a comment on this entry will win a framed picture of their choosing from my trip. After a long descent, we reached the train station (1,870m) where we had our lunch and were confronted with another choice. The trek from the station to Agua Calientes was another two and half hours. We had the option of paying around $2.50 for our bags to go on the train. I of course, carried mine, as that is the exact price of a beer. The problem is I needed two when I got there. We climbed another 15 minutes up to our hostels and enjoyed a boiling hot shower. Tomorrow we are going to one of my favorite places in the world...

Salkantay Day 3: Third day is a charm

After a warmer night sleep (not going to lie, the beers helped too!), we headed even further down. It was an easy (?) 6 hour hike to our camp site at La Playa (2,350). The day started with us navigating the mud washed trails, sometimes hand in hand. We crossed into various different ecosystems, crossing rivers, and waterfalls. We stopped for lunch and a break where a lady had a small shop. Gatorade has never tasted so good. We continued down, passing small houses and communities. La Playa is a very small town, where we stayed for the night. After a quick dip in the river, colder than I thought, we headed back for a cervesa. A local named Flabian asked us if we wanted to play a game of futbol. We obliged, only to find out our guide is a total ringer who used to play for his university in Cuzco. They bet us a beer thinking that we were a couple of gringos, a city boy guide, and a couple of local kids. We showed them, winning two games in a row, including a gringo only goal (I assisted Brandon for a game winner). We enjoyed our hard fought for beer over a discussion of this dreaded decision of option 1 or 2. Option 1 included another back breaking day up a part of the Inca trail to Llactapata (2,700m), including a view of Machu Picchu from about 20km. Option 2 included a nice easy bus ride, a relaxing day in Santa Teresa including hot springs, and another bus ride to Agua Calientes. We decided option 2 was the way to go. Off to bed for another day of hiking.

Salkantay Day 2: Ascending with Jesus

The wake up call was abrupt, as I felt I had maybe fell asleep long enough to let my lungs freeze, only to wake up to AMIGO!... Go away I´m sleeping... AMIGO!... SI.... AMIGO.... the unzipping of the tent, in comes a hand holding a warm cup of tea! GRACIAS. The morning was just as cold, but we had tea and breakfast to warm the bones. Today was the fun one. We started at our campsite at 3,850m and ascended to the Apacheta pass at 4,600m. It was no walk in the park, well it was a national park. Tia decided that she would slow us up too much and decided to rent a mule for the ascent. She deemed him Jesus, her savior. The ascent was grueling, with switchback after switchback. There was not nearly as much chatter on the way up. Reaching the top was a great feeling of accomplishment, so much so that when we took our picture with the sign, I grabbed on with pride, slamming the sign into the side of my head. One of the more graceful moments in my life. After a quick snack and time to enjoy the view it was of the other side. Right after this picture of Tia, we had our first accident. I came over the hill to find my Aunt sitting on the ground. I approached her as if she was joking, cause that is something I would do, to find she actually fell. Just a minor fall but had to mention it to remind her. After a long decent, we reached our lunch spot at Huayracpunku. It was a wonderful riverside spot, where most of the crew laid down for a little snooze, or maybe just to die. I however could not resist the flowing water. After lunch we continued our grueling decent to our camp site at Rayan-niyoc (2,890). I am not too good at math, but that is 750m straight up, and 1,710m down in a day. We were a little tired, and seeing as it was our guides birthday, we had a cervesa (or two). During dinner, we would be confronted with a life changing decision.... option 1 or option 2.... to be continued (just scroll up a little).