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Peru Part 3

This will be the last post until we return triumphantly from Machu Picchu in four days. Kunlun, Scott, and I are headed up the Inca Trail, while Ben will be taking the Santa Maria route which includes downhill mountain biking and hostel stays. The three of us are in a group of 5 — a couple is coming along — and then there is our guide and some porters who will be bringing along the camp, more or less.

We met with our guide tonight to go over the details. He gave us a map and pointed out the stops — the first day will be mostly light hiking without too much elevation gain; the second day will be more of an uphill grind as cross the highest pass of the trip; the third day is supposed to be the most memorable of the hike itself; finally on the fourth day we will arrive at Machu Picchu. What remains to be seen is where we will be sleeping on the third night — there are two possibilities. From the sound of it, our tour company messed up and didn’t book the closer camp site on time, so we are only guaranteed the campsite that is farther from Machu Picchu, which means, of course that we would arrive after the initial rush of people arrive, which would be unfortunate, because one of the main reasons to hike the Inca Trail is to be in the initial group of people who arrive at Machu Picchu. Although our guide said he would try to get the closer campsite, I am skeptical. Kiss his tip goodbye if we aren’t among the first to arrive — that much is for sure.

At any rate, we are able to store unneeded items at our hostel until we return, which nicely lightens all of our bags (unlike the Colca Canyon semi-disaster where we were all fully loaded). Regardless of arrival time at Machu Picchu, the trip should be a lot of fun. Scott and I are both bringing our SLRs — mine minus the main lens, the venerable EF 28-135 IS which doesn’t like zooming anymore, an early problem it had which is now recurring in a harsher form. The upshot of this is that I will probably be purchasing the EF 24-105 F/4L before my trip to Australia and New Zealand later this summer.

Until our return, buenos dias!

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