Machu Picchu

Our final activity in South America was a trip to the infamous Machu Picchu! Nowadays this can be done easily by taking a train from Cusco and then a bus up to the site. However, the 'traditional' way is is to hike to Machu Picchu, now I am a man of tradition...(not really) but I like a challenge. So after some persuasion I managed to convince Susie to go for the hiking option . We opted for the Salkanty trek consisting of 70 ish Km over four days and the final day touring Machu Picchu itself. We delayed our departure for a few days as unfortunately after trying some local cuisine I had emmm...some stomach issues that would not have been helpful on a very lavatory sparse trek!!
It started with an alarm set for 4am (a reoccurring theme unfortunately) and we were picked up from our hostel by a guide, and a very loud and annoying group of French people. We guessed they were drunk and judging by their behaviour over the next 5 days we were probably correct. Luckily though our big group was split into to two smaller ones, we were in the one without the frogs. Turns out our group was a great bunch and our guide was was a blast!!
Day 1 lured us into a false sense of security as even Susie said that it was easy! That night though in paper thin sleeping bags and temperatures below zero was not fun!
Day 2 was the biggie 24Km, 10 hours of walking, going up to an altitude of 4650 meters with stunning views! Well actually no! We took no pictures at the top because just before we got there a snow storm hit, pretty much a white out and it was freezing, we stopped long enough to look at the sign but didnt want to take our hands out of our pockets to get a camera out, there was a group photo taken which hopefully we will be able to get our hands on....so all in all it was a waste of a day!! The next few days passed with out incident really, but we did get to see some amazing scenery! The highlight obviously being Machu Picchu, a staircase up to it with over 1200 steps (I lost count) the sun even graced us with its presence for the first time in 5 days but worth it in the end! A great way to finish the 4 day trek and celebrate Susie's birthday. Other highlights included seeing a toilet with a toilet seat AND paper! Having a shower for the first time in 4 days (even if it was cold) and having a drunken party on the night of day 3, which we regretted massively at the 5am wake up call!
In all seriousness it was a great experience which I thoroughly enjoyed! For Susie, well
in her words "I enjoy the satisfaction of completing the trek, I mean I wouldn't do it again, and am not going to take it up as a hobby, but I'm happy to be finished it. "
Oh well!!! But given that it could have been quite a strained few days for us, it wasn't and she did fantastically well, even though it may not have been her first activity choice!
Next stop NZ we shall see you on the other side!Read more