Cuzco, Peru

It has been such an interesting, amazing last 10 days. My trip hiking along the alternative salkantay inca trail to get to machu pichu has been nothing but truely amazing. I will write about each day in detail starting when i first arrived in Cuzco on Monday 18th, Jan. 2010.

Finally arriving to cuzco around 1pm after a 24 hour bus ride was such a relief. The trip didnt seem as long as it could have, but still, sitting that long is hard. I took the bus with Sylwia (poland) and Lego (spain) that I met at the EcoTruly Park. After walking around town to find a cheap hostel, Lego and I walked around to see the city and find a cheap place to eat. Sylwia told us about a vegetarian place that had really good food, so finally we ended up there. While eating the most amazing tacos and lasagnia, these 4 guys walked by and were looking at the menu on the door. We told them it was good food if they wanted to come in. The place is a little whole in the wall along an alley way. You'd miss it if you werent paying attention. They decided to come in, and we started talking to them. They had also arrived that afternoon from a 24 hour bus ride from Lima. The 4 of them were all brothers who live in California. 3 true brothers (Andy, Isaac, Doug) and a step brother (Ned). They started to tell us about a 5 day hike off the beaten track inca trail they were going to do on Wednesday. Lego and I were interested and Andy gave us some information about it to look into and we exchanged email addresses. i was surprised to actaully get an email from Andy that night about the trek. Lego and I thought about it that night, and on Tuesday went to a few different markets to see what we might need to take with us. We sent them an email to meet up with them at the vegetarian restaurant again 8pm that night, which they never got. However, ironically, Lego was on his way from the hostel to the restaurant when he ran into them in the plaza and started talking to them. They then met me at the restaurant and we talked about the trip. We told them we were really interested and they said it would be great if we came along and were more than invited. They were going to leave at 10am the next morning. We didn't have anything packed, or food, or anything, but they said we could go shopping in the morning and meet them by 10, they would wait for us. I didnt have a sleeping bag, or a backpack that would be good, so luckily, Sylwia let me use her sleeping bag and waterproof pants, and her friend Makayla let me use her backpack. So i had some proper equipment to go, and thank goodness for them, otherwise it would have been miserable.

I honestly dont think i would have done a 5 day trek if these guys didnt seem so prepared with their map and hiking experience. They were so open and inviting, it was hard not to accept their invitation. I was a bit nervous about going because just walking up the steps in Cuzco is tiring, how was i going to hike 5 days through the mountains? After meeting with the guys, I met up with Sylwia at a bar that had live music. An awsome local band was playing. They did some of their stuff and then some american covers, They started to play Bob Marley songs and when they played 'everything is going to be alright' I knew that i was going to be alright going on this 5 day trek. After a few more songs, Lego and I went back to the hostel to start packing what we would take and what to leave behing. I was going to leave my big pack at Sylwia's hostel and just take what i needed.

Here's to the beginning of what became the most amazing experience ever!!!

First let me introduce my travel companions.
Andy-the eldest of the 4 brothers. (29)
Isaac- Middle (26)
Doug-youngest (21)
Ned-Step Brother (25)