So, this might all seem a bit lazy, but sometimes a picture (or a fair few) can tell a tale a lot better than words; certainly, in this instance I hope it will be far less boring than the detritus I was previously in the process of drafting...
First up though, a quick summary. George (Bex's brother if you recall) joined us and we all then joined up with 6 other travellers (all good eggs!) and a guide for a two week organised adventure; a few days in Cusco for the others to acclimatize, three and a half days on the Salkantay trail (high altitude remote trail near the 6271m holy mountain Salkantay), another three and a half days on the Inca trail proper (ancient trail leading to Machu Picchu) and then back to Cusco via rail and road over another three days.
On the trails we camped each night, but we had mules and porters carrying everything aside from our day sacks and had cooks knocking up multi-course meals three times a day!
It was all pretty awesome, especially with George along for the ride, and it was certainly a nice change of pace to let the trip unfold with zero effort on our part (well, aside from turning up and hiking!) Anyway... Over to the annotated pics I promised:
First night's campsite was pretty awesome
...it even came with dogs to pet!
Next day we got our first sight of Salkantay
And then camped right in front of it!
Though it was was well below freezing in the night and still cold in the morning
We soon warmed up on the way too the top of our highest pass (4950m)
Where the views were great...
...and I pried open a tiny celebratory beer
A few days later we hit the Inca trail and it was more beer for George's birthday
...and incredibly a cake made by the cooks!
The trail moved swiftly into cloud forests
And clouded views from camps
Then orange clouds on the approach to Machu Picchu?!?!
Then falling ash too.... Uh oh
Then the inevitable... 7 days trekking and then rubbish views due to illegal crop burning!! Arrgggghhhhh!
We still made it though, and soon loathed the maddening tourism after the tranquility if the trails
Views were improved the next day though
It took two more days to get home to Cusco, food poisoning ruined those a little for me...
...and all too soon we enjoyed a final beer or two with George before he headed home!
First up though, a quick summary. George (Bex's brother if you recall) joined us and we all then joined up with 6 other travellers (all good eggs!) and a guide for a two week organised adventure; a few days in Cusco for the others to acclimatize, three and a half days on the Salkantay trail (high altitude remote trail near the 6271m holy mountain Salkantay), another three and a half days on the Inca trail proper (ancient trail leading to Machu Picchu) and then back to Cusco via rail and road over another three days.
On the trails we camped each night, but we had mules and porters carrying everything aside from our day sacks and had cooks knocking up multi-course meals three times a day!
It was all pretty awesome, especially with George along for the ride, and it was certainly a nice change of pace to let the trip unfold with zero effort on our part (well, aside from turning up and hiking!) Anyway... Over to the annotated pics I promised:
First night's campsite was pretty awesome
...it even came with dogs to pet!
Next day we got our first sight of Salkantay
And then camped right in front of it!
Though it was was well below freezing in the night and still cold in the morning
We soon warmed up on the way too the top of our highest pass (4950m)
Where the views were great...
...and I pried open a tiny celebratory beer
A few days later we hit the Inca trail and it was more beer for George's birthday
...and incredibly a cake made by the cooks!
The trail moved swiftly into cloud forests
And clouded views from camps
Then orange clouds on the approach to Machu Picchu?!?!
Then falling ash too.... Uh oh
Then the inevitable... 7 days trekking and then rubbish views due to illegal crop burning!! Arrgggghhhhh!
We still made it though, and soon loathed the maddening tourism after the tranquility if the trails
Views were improved the next day though
It took two more days to get home to Cusco, food poisoning ruined those a little for me...
...and all too soon we enjoyed a final beer or two with George before he headed home!
