The wonders of the Salkantay & Machu Picchu!!

Hola!!

How is everyone?? I´m good, counting down the days now to be honest. Can´t wait to go travel! I walked the Salkantay. The 5 day trek where I told you all about. It was hard work, but so totally worth it. I went with 3 guys from Argentina, also guests in our hostal and the guide. So no English or Dutch for me. Had a lot of time to practise my Spanish. But the accent from Argentina is very hard to understand. So together with this exhausting tour, it was even more exhausting to speak Spanish. Sometimes I would just tell them in the morning ´sorry at ten o´clock I´ll speak Spanish again´. Although I´m going to the advanced class this week, it is not the same as speaking English.

The first day we walked, as our guide said, ¨easy¨. Which wasn´t my idea of easy. I thought I was going to die. And that was just the first day. The end of the first day, I saw the Salkantay. Pffff high.. that will cost me some energy.. After a first night FREEZING MY ASS OFF we were gonna go for it. Second day is the hardest, that is what they said. I´ve been sleeping with 3 pairs of socks, 2 pair of trousers, 2 t-shirts, sweater, jacket and gloves, still cold.. extremely cold.. We were so high. But surprisingly the climb wasn´t that hard for me. When I was up there, I looked down and I saw a lot of people climbing on a horse.. At that very moment I thought I was allowed to be proud of myself. The other guys were so sick. They just been 2 days in Cusco and the altitude was killing them. They were really sick. I was so happy when I reached the top, I was like ´this is it´, I´m done. Just a little walking the next days.. Wrong thought.. Going down was worse, a lot. My toes and legs didn´t like it. My toe nails are still blue. But I must say the views all the way were amazing. From the beauty of the Salkantay, with rocks and snow you are within an hour in the forest. Amazing!! I enjoyed every part of it, although I was in huge pain. Especially the 4th day.

The third day wasn´t that long. We walked for 5 hours and then we went by bus to Santa Teresa. Where we enjoyed the most beautiful hot springs ever. (Thermaalbaden voor de Nederlanders). That was so relaxing and met some really nice people, with whom I could finally speak English. The fourth day the nature wasn´t that nice as the other days and I was done with walking, to be honest. We arrived in Aguas Calientes, a very touristic town, but finally some good food. During the trek, we had two little old men that walked with us, with horses and donkeys, they were walking it like it was nothing. Crazy! They cooked for us, they were absolutely adorable, but I´ve had better food, to say it in a nice way. And you won´t believe how much chocolate I´ve been eating during the trek, I was hungry all the time.

Day 5 finally, Machu Picchu! We came there and.... I COULDN¨T SEE ANYTHING!!! Cloudy, cloudy, cloudy!! Unbelievable. After a very boring tour, the clouds finally disappeared. And wow, there was Machu Picchu, totally magnificent. I went with a friend to climb Huayna Picchu, the high mountain that you see on the pictures, behind Machu Picchu. Totally worth it, the view was beautiful. Unbelievable how smart these people were, they´ve build everything this way for a purpose. I must say, they were a lot smarter than the people now in Peru.. Ohh sorry did I just say that.. Well I enjoyed my day in Machu Picchu and it was the best last day of an amazing trip. It is hard to show with pictures, in real life it is even more beautiful.

My research is done at the hostal. I´m happy that they are satisfied with it. Just have 9 days left in Cusco. I must say I´m a bit done with it. It is sooo cold during the night. The days are oke, but in the nights, terrible. I can´t believe I´m already half way of my trip. Just 3 months left. It´s going fast. So until the next time, probably in Bolivia or Brazil.

Take care!! Love Lobke