Valle Sagrado Lodge Urubamba

... like we are climbing at a 45 degree angle.<br><br>I find my breathing and climbing pace quickly, and remind myself that this is the big day - we will arrive at Machu Picchu in the afternoon, and as far as the weather goes (which will affect my ability to take awesome photos), all is looking fine!<br><br>Our first milestone is the Sun Gate, an Inca structure that sits atop a mountain pass that is the final obstacle before reaching Machu Picchu. From here we ...

... to breath at such an altitude! However, we were rewarded by unforgettable views on magnificent mountains covered by snow and thought that we just made the most difficult part of the trek. Hence we felt proud when we got to the camp. But we were pleased too soon as it got worse on the following day after spending the night in tents at -15 degrees Celsius.<br><br>On the second day, we had to climb a pass at 4.600 m. It was a small, narrow, rocky ...

... table like a meal from a 5 star restaurant and we sit there with mouths open, drooling like a bunch of slabbering dogs. How the hell do they make this from camping equipment? <br><br>Owch! Things start going uphill a bit. By the time we reach our camp for the night, I´m slobbering involuntarily from the side of my mouth, Nicki´s got oozing blisters and wondering how the hell we´re gonna make it through tomorrow and my legs are feeling like someone drove a ...

... from dirty washing up water. It tasted foul and was enough to put you off alcohol forever but the guides and porters treated it like nectar and drank gallons of it.<br><br>That night we discovered exactly how cold it can be camping at altitude. We were &#8216;only&#8217; at 3,300m (10,725ft) but we crawled into our sleeping bags with all our clothes and shivered. When you wake up needing to go to the loo, you lie there wondering whether you can avoid going so as not to have to ...

... I guess because 95% of the trail was from Inca times as opposed to being restored or new. Beacuse of this, there were also a lot of ruins to see along the way and we have included pictures of a few. <br><br>The route only gained about 1000ft of altitude today so the climbs were a little more gradual than yesterday, but the real challenge was towards the end when we had 2 1/2 hours of knee-jarring descend which ...

... the rest of the dish very well. We also had a brownie with 2 mousses and 2 glasses of wine. How much you ask? 120 soles or around 40 bucks! That meal would have cost $80-100 in the U.S. easily. Anyway, enough about food for now (but more a little bit later)<br><br>Today was a pretty long and tiring day, but we had tons of fun. We had a driver/guide pick us up from the airport and drive us through the valley along the river to a town called Pisac about 40 ...

... This guys were right up my alley, It came to my surprise that I knew more than they did. I liked them the best of anyone I met so far here. We were gonna make plans to do a trek into the hills behind us a few days later, but Victor had to head to Arequipas, where he was born, before the strikes got too crazy and all roads would be locked down. Apparently, some violence broke out recently involving this strike, causing more than a few deaths. <br><br>I chilled in ...

... we pull up in our incredibley expensive taxi, to take one look from above and say..yup, thanks.... lets move on..... but what we do enjoy is the salt terraces. stood on oneside of a steep valley, salt is harvested and put in EVERYTHING.....! even down to your salad.... we can see now why.. there is a lot of it, and its quite a good sight...never new how it was harvested...but here is obviously ...

... and they all want to pet him and hold him. They all clapped and cheered for you when they heard that I was your brother. It was very special to be able to be at the same place that your package and letter arrived. We are sending a letter to you and Addison back home with José. After that we went to the knitting groups meeting and hung out. Jose has them keep track of their finances in a register and was encouraging them to sell some ...

... but when the bellboy opened the door to our room it had not been made up and reeked of cigarette. He was quite embarrassed and immediately got on the phone to the front desk. When the English speaking girl came up from the desk she offered us a smaller room to relax in until they got one ready. I offered to wait in the lobby and not mess up an additional room and requested a room that did not have the "fresh" cigarette odor. She insisted that we relax in the room as she ...