MVTB#4 – There and Back Again

Friday, March 23, 2012
Cusco, Peru

Machu Picchu

Yesterday, we finished the Inca Trail and reached Machu Picchu.  It was a tough hike, but we had a great group and fantastic weather, with it only raining once during our trek through the mountains.  I´m incredibly proud of my wife, who was slowed by a bad cold – which is amplified at altitude – but she just kept going.  One of the lyrics of my last song kept playing in its mind as we walked on and on: “Your horizon takes it shape, no turning back don´t turn that page.”

Mission accomplished

We were a little intimidated early on in the hike as we saw a couple of hikers coming back the opposite way on the back of a donkey, looking green, but all 16 hikers in our group were able to complete the journey.

This was the most difficult thing we chose to do on our vacation, and there were times, especially on day two, when the trail just goes up and up and up that we had to question whether we´d made a particularly good decision including it, but it was amazingly rewarding to finish yesterday, and I felt a huge boost of adrenaline after coming through the Sun Gate and down to Machu Picchu.  Hundreds of pictures later, tired, sore (so sore this morning!), we caught our ride away from the site feeling pretty good about ourselves.  Just an awesome start to our trip.

Today my parents join us in Cusco,  following their own trip to Machu Picchu.  As their route isn’t as long, here´s today´s song.

One more day to explore here, to say goodbye to our new friends from our tour, and then it´s on to Quito, Ecuador tomorrow, which means this is probably the last entry before the Galapagos Islands!


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