Salkantay Trek - UPDATED WITH PICS!

The past few days have been insane and a lot has happened, so I will try and make it short and sweet. We are also staying in a hostel with terribad internet, so I have a limited window of blogging time.

Machu Picchu!

The Salkantay Trek finished yesterday at Machu Picchu and let me just say, it was WAY more difficult than we had anticipated. Hiking at altitude is a beast, especially when everyone is sick and the hikes are straight up mountains. The first day of hiking wasn't too bad but was a good chunk of kilometers, so we were wiped out. On the first night, we almost had to send a few people back to lower elevation due to the severe altitude sickness symptoms they were suffering...plus the next day we had to hike to the top of a mountain that was much higher than where we were currently! I never felt as sick as the others, but Jack was in a bad way so I was worried we might need to get him out of there ASAP. Luckily we had the most amazing guide in the world who took charge and kept a positive attitude. He gave everyone this herbal concoction that the locals use for the symptoms of altitude sickness and it worked! By the morning everyone was on their way up the mountain. We decided to play it safe and take horses up the mountain which proved to be a terrifying experience. This was no simple trail ride...we were on tiny, rocky paths that zig-zagged up a steep mountain. My mule apparently liked the view and insisted on walking on the edge of the path the ENTIRE WAY. Scary but effective in getting us to the top.

At the top freezing!!

Jack the dog whisperer

After that, we slushed through mud for the rest of the day in pouring rain. I guess you can just never predict mountain weather...that night we spent a very soggy evening in the rain forest which was beautiful but COLD!! By the next day we were ready to lose some elevation and hit warmer weather and hopefully some sun. This third day was one of the most enjoyable of the trek. It was sunny and warm in the rain forest and we got to see some beautiful sights! This was also the day we went to the hot springs and let our muscles relax, so it was only about 6 hours of hiking as opposed to the other days that had around 8 - 10 hours. Everyone was in high spirits and our camp site was nice and warm. We even got to party with an Olympic gold medalist from Holland who was doing the same trek as us! He was a GIANT...apparently he won a gold medal a few years ago in the open swim but I can't remember his name.

Parts of the trail from hydroelectric

The last day was a fun hike across some train tracks from Hydroelectric to our hostel in Aguas Calientes where we would leave the next morning early for Machu Picchu. I was happy to be at an elevation where I had an appetite again! Hiking so hard (burning around 6,000 calories a day) and not being able to eat due to the altitude killing your appetite sucked. It was a pleasant day all around Aguas Calientes was a wonderful town. Mostly hostels and restaurants, but it worked for us! The next morning it was up bright and early at 4am to hike the one hour trail to Machu Picchu. Did I mention it was one hour of STAIRS? The entire way...my whole body was screaming by the end, but we made it.

Machu Picchu was gorgeous, but oh man all the people. There were so many! Luckily we got there early enough that we could take pictures and enjoy it without a million people crowding us out. We got to take some pretty awesome photos, but they may come later due to the crappy internet here.

Anyway, more details to come later. Just wanted to update and say we made it!!!!

Machu Picchu silliness

LOLZ...we had a fun group :)