Day 1 The day began at 4:45 am, so I could be ready to catch yet another mystery bus that would be on out on my street somewhere… So as a I was outside the house waiting, I got the opportunity to see what type of people slither around Cusco at 5 in the morning. 90% disturbing. I got into the bus and saw there were only 3 other people there who were all middle aged. Definitely didn’t have a problem with that, they would at least go to bed at a decent hour unlike the youths I live with. Then I realized that none of them spoke English & only the man could speak any Spanish but with a strong French accent. I would not be getting to know this group too well. So I passed out until we got to our starting spot. Our first walk was pretty milk. The beginning had a decent number of steep climbs, but it didn’t last too long. Then the rest of our walk was all flat. As we were approaching our first camp site, we were greeted by the Salkantay Mountain. Its icy peaks untouchable from our humble valley spot. Little did I know that after lunch, we would be climbing halfway up this bastard to reach its lake. So after I gorged myself with food I was expected to summit this obese mountain without vomiting. The guide said it was good for the digestion. I hate the guide. So after maybe two hours of going only up, my ass was lit up. It was like I had done the stair master on the hardest level for 120 minutes. But as we arrived at the lake, I was lost for words. We had climbed to where the ice cap melted and gave way to the beautiful blue-green lake below. I just couldn’t believe that something so flat could manage to be on something to steep! The ass burning was 100% worth it. We went down the mountain and got ourselves ready for the evening. This campsite was supposed to be butt cold and I did not pack appropriately. I had two sweaters to my name and 3 pairs of leggings while the French family had packed for Everest. I prepared myself for death. As I tucked myself into bed, I managed to curl myself into a fetal position and zip my sleeping bag all the way up so my face was entirely covered. I eventually managed survivable heat and passed out. Woke up alive. Day 2 We were woken up at 5 am to some piping hot coca tea, which was a NEED. I decided that I wasn’t going to change my clothes in fear of my butt literally freezing off, so I put on some extra leggings and socks to mask the smell and gather the courage to leave my tent. The sky was still full of stars, and the ice capped top of Salkantary could be seen in the distance. Let the hardest day of the trek begin. The first hour of the trek was all in the valley, and was very easy going. On all sides were the rising mountain with horses scattering the landscape. I was a big fan of the first hour, but then the mountain punished. For the following two and half hours, the path went nothing but up, and the path very frequently became large boulders that you were expected to climb over. The hike was way steeper than the day’s before. My heart rate was poppin’. When we finally got to the top, which would be the highest point on the trek, we were above where the snow started to form and it was freezing. I should also mention that it was absolutely breathtaking and I was pretty freaking pumped to have climbed it. After we snapped some dope pics, we continued walking to our lunch spot, which another 3 hour walk. After lunch, we walked another 3 hours to get to our campsite for the evening. Sweet God. The temperature change went from frigid cold winter temps to heavy nose sweat weather in a matter of hours. I was excited to be staying in a place where I wouldn’t potentially die from hypothermia. So as my crew rolled into the campsite, we were told that we could have a hot shower for 10 soles ($3.33). So I’m thinking that I’m about to get this piping hot shower in a real bathroom, so I throw the soles in the air and get ready to return to my normal body odor. As I enter this “shower”, I can hear chickens right outside the door and the floor is basically mud. I’m not disheartened yet because there was a promise of a hot shower, not a clean one. So I pop the water on, and it is lukewarm at best. I then take my depressing shower, and try to clean the gross off from the last two days. I barely make it through dinner without falling asleep, and as soon as it’s over I hit the sack around 8:30. Prime time. Day 3 I was first awoken by a dog just losing his shit at something, then the sun started to rise and the rooster started in on it too. Thank god for that coca(ine) tea that sustains me in the wee early mornings. We hit the rode around 6:30 and begin another long day of hiking. The trail that day was extremely windey and almost always overlooking a very steep cliff. Many times the trail just became a strea, or a disturbing bridge made out of mud and leavaes. Seems safe enough. Unfortunately one of the streams got the best of the French woman and she fell head first into a rock. She ended up having a gash right above her eyebrow. Despite her injury, she wanted to keep walking. She was a champion. France was well represented that day. When we got to our campsite for the night, we put on our suits and headed to the hot springs. Sitting in a hot pool was actually heaven because in the past two weeks, I have taken nothing but cold showers. I may have almost cried when I got in, and the view was absolutely amazing. Definitely made the day well worth it for me. I also had befriended a hilarious Scottish girl, who I had met the night before the trip started. We were both in the grocery store, and I was buying big packs of granola bars and water, while she was raiding the store’s candy inventory and buying whiskey. Surely we would get along just fine. So after the hot springs, we had our “party night”, which to me meant that I would have to stay up later than 9. Now as I’m drinking a whiskey coke, this Scott is drinking it neat; I clearly felt ashamed of myself. After a few more drinks, I headed to bed at an ungodly late 11 o clock and drunk eat the rest of my trail snacks. Mistake. Day 4 Due to my drink consumption the night before, I wasn’t feeling too hot when I woke up the next morning. Needless to say, all the breakfast that I had consumed left my body in one form or another & today was the day that we ziplined. I had a feeling that things were about to get pretty dangerous. The ziplining itself actually turned out to be a lot of fun. It was the highest and longest zipline I had ever been on, but the waiting period in between was horrible because I felt super light headed the whole time & was basically just seeing visions of taco bell. So I just came to terms with being super grumpy and anti-social with everybody who tried to converse with me. In addition to feeling like absolute crap, my guide also forgot to leave me my boxed lunch. So I literally have nothing to eat when lunchtime comes around, so I had to spend the last of my petty cash on some more salty back meat. After lunch, we have to walk another 6 miles to Aguas Calientes, which is the town beneath Macchu Picchu. I was so happy when I got to my hostel there because I finally got a hot shower with good water pressure. Gods be praised. When I got to dinner, my guide gave me the breakdown of the following day. His directions were : 1. Wake up at 4. 2. Walk to the base of the mountain at 4:30. 3. Climb the mountain in 45 minutes. 4. See you at the top. Day 5 My alarm woke me up at 4, and it was pouring rain outside. I assessed the situation. At this moment in time, I only had my iphone as a flashlight that would definitely get ruined if I took it out in the rain. I was being asked to climb a mountain, alone, in the dark in the pouring rain. I decided, that if I were to do this right now that I would surely die. So I slept in until the sun came up and made the final ascent then. The climb up to Macchu Picchu was entirely uphill and the stairs were all slippery stones. I went up as fast as I possibly could, forming a film of sweat on every crevice of my body. By the time I reached the top, it had taken me about an hour to get up there. 45 minutes my ass, it took the buses 30 minutes alone! As I finally entered site, I was surprised at how big it was! There are remains of old houses, farms, a main square and sacred sites all on top of this mountain. It was really amazing. A part of it resembles a lot of what you see in the pictures, but the photos could never capture how huge it really is. I explored for about an hour and a half, then sat down to eat some cheese bread on a wall, just taking in the views of the mountains and the town. I then took a bus down the mountain, and for the rest of the day sat at a bar where I drank beer and ate French fries. Well deserved I think.
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