A group of us decided about a year ago to plan a trip to Peru. As Machu Picchu had been at the top of my list for as long as I could remember, I jumped at the chance to go. We decided to do the 5 day Salkantay trek which we read was more challenging and less traveled than the Inca trail.
I flew out the day after the school year ended which was a whirlwind of emotions as not only was I saying goodbye to my class, but I was saying goodbye to my school and colleagues as I had just accepted this job in Italy.
My friend Gabby and I flew into Lima and met up with everyone else. We spent a couple days in Lima, enjoyed the sights and of course, the amazing ceviche and pisco sours. We then flew to Cusco a couple days before our trek left in order to acclimate. Epic fail: I forgot to pick up my altitude sickness medication at the pharmacy before I left. Despite the copious amounts of mate de coca, I still experienced the worst headache and got really sick. Thankfully, Gabby had a couple extra pills which definitely helped.
We booked our trek through Llama Path and the night before we left, met our group. We left around 5 am and drove to our location for the drop off which was about 2+ hours from Cusco. And thus it began! We started our ascent into the Andes. The first day we enjoyed breathtaking views and gorgeous weather. The second day, my altitude sickness got worse as we made our ascent to 15,000 feet. However, I managed to somehow keep going and make it to the top, getting slightly dehydrated, but still in good spirits. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as cooperative and we experienced quite a bit of rain and snow...but still pretty amazing.
The rest of the trek was much easier and a lot of fun. We descended into the Andean rainforest and even managed to hit up some hot springs. We had a good group of people which made the trip a lot of fun.
The final day of the trek, we hiked into Aguas Calientes where we had a bed and shower! The next morning we got up early and hopped on the bus. Now as it was the winter solstice, those Incas intended amazing things to happen at sunrise...however, we were thwarted again by bad weather and the clouds blocked our sunrise. However, nothing could stop the giddiness I felt: I was at Machu Picchu! After years of reading about this place and learning about the Incas, I was finally here! We spent some time in the city and then a few of us had tickets to hike up to Huayna Picchu. It was amazing. Right when we got to the top, the sun came out. The view of the city and surrounding mountains were so beautiful. I sat up there and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a good hour before making my way back down.
We left Aguas Calientes that evening and made our way back to Cusco. We spent another day in Cusco and then flew back to Lima where I learned how to make chocolate and had my Josh Radnor (Ted Mosby) sighting. I almost ran into him after coffee on a street in Barranco. He was wearing a blue poncho and had headphones in and I watched him nearly get hit by a car. I told Gabby and she was so mad that I didn't alert her in time for a picture. But he didn't look like he wanted to be hounded by HIMYM fans...
Peru was amazing and I would love to go back....¡Ojalá!
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