warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Hey Everyone!
As some of you know, earlier this year I went on a 3 week long backpacking tour of Peru. The highlight of the trip was a 5-day/~90km long hike around Salkantay Mountain to Machu Picchu.. but a whole bunch of other stuff also happened. You can think of this thread as a day by day recounting of that experience.. but mostly an excuse to show off pictures!
It's taken me a while to process all of them, and I'm still not really fully done with that.. but I did keep a journal of my time there, so I have a chronological record of everything of note that happened!
It's mostly in point form, but each point immediately triggers stories and memories; it seems to work for me in terms of documenting an experience like that.. In any case, I thought it'd make sense to break down the trip by day, since my journal is broken down like that as well. The trip lasted a total of 21 days, with day 0 being a bus, train, and car ride mini-trip to Toronto the day before the flight.
Here's a breakdown of the trip, by day:
0. Journey to Toronto
1. Toronto -> New York -> Lima -> Cusco
2. Acclimatization, rest, the world's highest Irish owned pub, and an initial exploration of central Cusco
3. Acclimatization, ping pong, and coca leaves
4. Day 1 of the Salkantay Trek - 21km uphill, high-altitude problems, near-failure, redemption, and beautiful Mt. Salkantay | video
5. Day 2 of the Salkantay Trek - I'm on a horse!, 4,600m (15,000ft) above sea level, 11 hours of hiking, welcome to the jungle, and a birthday party for Cecilia | Part 2
6. Day 3 of the Salkantay Trek - Barefoot football, hot springs, disinfection, alcoholic intoxication, and cards
7. Day 4 of the Salkantay Trek - Hungover 25km hike through the Andes and arrival in Aguas Calientes
8. Machu Picchu, the climbing of Machu Picchu mountain, a llama, and the Michael J. Fox train to Cusco | Start of tour video | Part 2
9. Day tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas | Part 2 | Video
10. Sleepwalking American tourist speaks in tongues, flight back to Lima, and arrival in Miraflores
11. Downtown Lima, the changing of the guard, the gastronomic centre of South America, and an "underwear confrontation" | Part 2
12. Fancy Miraflores, Tony Roma's, and an 8 hour overnight bus ride high up into the mountains to Huaraz
13. Sleepy day trip to Llago Llagodruco, deadly avalanche memorial, Jesus, and I ate a guinea pig | Part 2 | Video | Video 2
14. Huaraz, The Champions League Final, St. Pauli, and beer
15. More Huaraz, fancy dining, and an overnight bus to Trujillo
16. Early arrival in Trujillo, taxi to sleepy Huanchaco, a well deserved 2 hours on the beach, and the best fries in the world | Part 2 | Video
17. Public transportation, the desert, the Temple of the Moon and the Temple of the Sun, and ceviche with a b | Part 2 | Part 3
18. The funniest post office in the world and an 8pm overnight bus to Mancora | Part 2 | Part 3
19. 5am arrival in Mancora, a giant cockroach, 2 hostels, and the best beaches in Peru | Part 2 | Part 3
20. Suntanning, a sunburn, and a night full of bass | Part 2 | Part 3
21/22. Bus ride to Piura, flight to Lima, flight to New York, BS in New York, flight to Toronto, Red Lobster, bus ride to London, cab ride home, sleep | Part 2
It's taken me a bit longer than I imagined to go through my notes and type up the above.. So I'm afraid I won't be able to post any pictures until tomorrow
What will probably end up happening is me posting a new day every couple days, with a writeup and photos. If that's alright with all you fine people
Here's a slideshow with some pictures from the 5 days of hiking, just because I feel like a bit of a jerk teasing you with all this Peru talk and not actually delivering any photos:
Link to video. (There's 2 actual videos embedded in this slideshow)
As some of you know, earlier this year I went on a 3 week long backpacking tour of Peru. The highlight of the trip was a 5-day/~90km long hike around Salkantay Mountain to Machu Picchu.. but a whole bunch of other stuff also happened. You can think of this thread as a day by day recounting of that experience.. but mostly an excuse to show off pictures!
It's taken me a while to process all of them, and I'm still not really fully done with that.. but I did keep a journal of my time there, so I have a chronological record of everything of note that happened!

Here's a breakdown of the trip, by day:
0. Journey to Toronto
1. Toronto -> New York -> Lima -> Cusco
2. Acclimatization, rest, the world's highest Irish owned pub, and an initial exploration of central Cusco
3. Acclimatization, ping pong, and coca leaves
4. Day 1 of the Salkantay Trek - 21km uphill, high-altitude problems, near-failure, redemption, and beautiful Mt. Salkantay | video
5. Day 2 of the Salkantay Trek - I'm on a horse!, 4,600m (15,000ft) above sea level, 11 hours of hiking, welcome to the jungle, and a birthday party for Cecilia | Part 2
6. Day 3 of the Salkantay Trek - Barefoot football, hot springs, disinfection, alcoholic intoxication, and cards
7. Day 4 of the Salkantay Trek - Hungover 25km hike through the Andes and arrival in Aguas Calientes
8. Machu Picchu, the climbing of Machu Picchu mountain, a llama, and the Michael J. Fox train to Cusco | Start of tour video | Part 2
9. Day tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas | Part 2 | Video
10. Sleepwalking American tourist speaks in tongues, flight back to Lima, and arrival in Miraflores
11. Downtown Lima, the changing of the guard, the gastronomic centre of South America, and an "underwear confrontation" | Part 2
12. Fancy Miraflores, Tony Roma's, and an 8 hour overnight bus ride high up into the mountains to Huaraz
13. Sleepy day trip to Llago Llagodruco, deadly avalanche memorial, Jesus, and I ate a guinea pig | Part 2 | Video | Video 2
14. Huaraz, The Champions League Final, St. Pauli, and beer
15. More Huaraz, fancy dining, and an overnight bus to Trujillo
16. Early arrival in Trujillo, taxi to sleepy Huanchaco, a well deserved 2 hours on the beach, and the best fries in the world | Part 2 | Video
17. Public transportation, the desert, the Temple of the Moon and the Temple of the Sun, and ceviche with a b | Part 2 | Part 3
18. The funniest post office in the world and an 8pm overnight bus to Mancora | Part 2 | Part 3
19. 5am arrival in Mancora, a giant cockroach, 2 hostels, and the best beaches in Peru | Part 2 | Part 3
20. Suntanning, a sunburn, and a night full of bass | Part 2 | Part 3
21/22. Bus ride to Piura, flight to Lima, flight to New York, BS in New York, flight to Toronto, Red Lobster, bus ride to London, cab ride home, sleep | Part 2
It's taken me a bit longer than I imagined to go through my notes and type up the above.. So I'm afraid I won't be able to post any pictures until tomorrow

Here's a slideshow with some pictures from the 5 days of hiking, just because I feel like a bit of a jerk teasing you with all this Peru talk and not actually delivering any photos:
Link to video. (There's 2 actual videos embedded in this slideshow)