The title says it all- our plans to hike the original Inca Trail are SQUASHED. Permits have been sold out until August 15. By then, we'll almost be returning to college. What now? What happened to accomplishing the holy grail of world trekking? After taking the stress out by snow shoveling I returned to Google and found the 6 best alternative routes to hiking to Machu Picchu on National Geographic. Turns out the 5 day/4 night Salkantay Trek takes you through snow capped Andes, past hot springs, and through waterfalls that are the product of a cross section between Atlantic and Amazonian currents. And it's a difficult endeavor- I wouldn't want to pay close to 600 bucks to just breeze through miles of high altitude walking.
At first I thought there was no way this summer could be consummated without the traditional trail, but now I'm starting to have second thoughts. First off, the traditional trail is crowded beyond belief compared to the Salkantay. Secondly, I'm not a big fans of ruins, and neither are the alternative treks. Thirdly, the Salkantay seems much more beautiful. So there's that.
 |
| snow-capped Andes on the Salkantay |
No comments:
Post a Comment