The Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu

 The Machu Picchu Shot Wow. Five days trekking around the national park with a finish at the famed Machu Picchu which was much more impressive than I had anticipated. What really made the trip was our group, which consisted of a couple from Hawaii, one other east coast American, three Brits, an Irish girl and two Swedish girls. We all got to know each other really well over the course of the week, and a few days later in Cusco, we’re still having meals together and going out til 6 in the morning.  Hiking in the Five Finger 'shoes' was awesome... The hike covered a lot of different terrain… glaciers, mountain passes, rainforest and regular dirt paths. I started out the hike in my Vibram Five Fingers, which never ceased to attract attention… I managed the whole 80K trip in them, and am now a solid covert that they are the best hiking shoes in non-freezing temperatures. I could bounce off rocks and scramble up boulders with ease… and other than one morning where I had to put them on cold and wet, they were a pleasure to wear. The food on the trip was also great. We had a cook who stopped at nothing to wow us with Peruvian and traditional Andean cuisine. We even had hot coca tea delivered to our tents on the early 5am mornings. Machu Picchu itself was pretty amazing to see in person. I’ve seen it in pictures a thousand times but to be walking among the ruins and marvel at how they put them together was really impressive.  Balloons for Andean kids The balloons came along for the trip as well, as is usual for me. Making balloons for some of the kids that we came upon on the trek was really a highlight. It’s amazing how something so simple can be so entertaining, for both me and the kids. Here’s the link to some of the photos… I haven’t processed the panoramics as yet, but you’ll notice a theme of jumping photos and shoes… something to spice up the photos, since I’ve taken so many at this point. Oh yeah… and the beard has continued to grow… and feels foreign on my face. As if I didn’t have enough ambiguity when it comes to guessing my ethnicity, now people think I’m Israeli.