So guys - this is it! The last blog post of our trip. I'm actually in Kingston sitting in my bed typing this and even though its been amazing to be able to drink water from the tap, shower without being afraid of getting water in my mouth, ask for directions in english and eat fresh veggies and chocolate chip cookies I would trade it all to be back in South America for a couple more weeks!
First I'll update you on Steph. If you remember I left off last week just before we dropped Steph off at the airport for her to catch an emergency flight home after being bit by a dog. Apparently she got home safe and sound and has gotten the vaccinations she needed so all is well on her end! After saying goodbye to Steph, we spent the rest of the day getting ready to start the Salkantay trek the following morning at 4 am (they love the early wake up calls here in Peru) and our prep basically consisted of putting together massive bags of trail mix in case the food wasn't up to our standards!
From Cusco we took a bus about 2 hours away to the town of Mollepata where we ate breakfast, sorted our gear and began to walk. It was there that we were divided into groups and introduced to the other people in our trek. We had signed up with the French boys and that meant there were 5 other people on our trek that we didn't know but boy did we luck out! We had the most amazing group to walk with. Everyone was a speedy walker and they were all great fun to be around for the 5 days and 4 nights of trekking!
The first day of trekking was mostly uphill but not terribly steep except for moments where our guide thought it was a good idea to take "shortcuts" and abandon the switchbacks. At this point Allison really wasn't feeling well, having not eaten very much of anything for about 3 days she was pretty weak and was finding it frustrating to be struggling. After a good nights sleep at 3900 m in our deluxe down sleeping bags she was feeling better but still pretty weak. The second day was the hardest and longest as we climbed to 4700 m before descending to 2900m. She was a trooper though and after taking a horse up to the pass she managed to walk the rest of the way and as her appetite returned so did her strength!
The third day we had a 6 hour walk in the morning before taking a bus to Santa Theresa where we discovered the natural hot springs! We spent a LONG time in the baths soaking our soar muscles and scrubbing our dirty feet before heading back to the campsite for dins. Every afternoon we would also have snack time (our fave) where we would get hot chocolate and salty salty popcorn. It was amazing. The rest of the food was actually pretty great as well although all the boys on the trip would argue that the portion sizes were too small. That night the place we were camping at had a speaker system and out of the darkness music started to play and a dance floor was started. After hours of dancing and a LONG time limboing we tucked ourselves in for the night. Each morning we would be woken up by the guides standing outside of our tents shouting "Coca tea amigos!? Coca tea?!" but this morning was extra special as we got served warm freshly baked cake for breakfast! AMAZING! The last day of walking before reaching Aguas Calientes (the town underneath Machu Picchu) was long and hot as we had descended from the mountains and were now in jungle territory. The night we spent in Aguas Calientes we actually got to stay at a hostel which was amazing (as was the shower!).
The morning of Machu Picchu was a funny one. You get up at 4 in order to be waiting at a check point just outside of the city where they open the doors at 5 am and let the line up of people through. You hike up a gazilion stairs and the first 400 people to the actual of entrance of Machu Picchu get granted tickets to go up Wayna Picchu (the neighbouring mountain) as well. It was a sweaty sweaty walk in the darkness of the night but we held a steady pace and got our Wayna Picchu tickets! The morning was spent with our guide who walked us around and showed us most of the highlights. After he left we had a massive photo shoot and killed some more time before we were allowed to hike up to Wayna Picchu at 10 am. It was a STIFF climb and our legs were still sore from the morning climb but it was well worth it! The views were amazing from the top and we spent a lot of time lounging at the top. From there we headed down all the way to Aguas Calientes before having a late lunch and killing the afternoon playing cards at a cafe.
At 7 we took a train to Ollaytantambo before catching a bus to Cusco. It was a long mission home and everyone was pretty tired from the amazing day we had had BUT when we got back to our hostel (just after midnight) we mustered up the energy to spend one last day partying before our flight the next day. We danced the night away and on very little sleep met up with our entire group for breakfast the following morning. After a borderline teary goodbye - especially to the French boys who we had been travelling with on and off for almost a month we packed it in and headed for the airport. Leslie is staying in South America to take a spanish course in Mendoza but she was flying to Santiago, Chile first. She managed to get on the same flight from Cusco to Lima as Allison and I and then we all had about 9 hours to kill in the Lima airport before finally parting ways. It was so sad to say goodbye but we know she will have an excellent time in Argentina!!
And that folks is all she wrote. I know we would ALLLLLL recommend going to both Ecuador and Peru - they were AMAZING countries with SOOO much to see and do. Even though we spent a month in each country there were a lot of things we didn't have time to do our see but what we did manage to squeeze in was unbelievable! Thanks for reading our blog (and commenting - we love the comments) and I will send along Leslie's new blog address as soon as I have it!!
Love love love
HALS xoxoxxo
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