What up from Cusco where I am leading the very first Be My Travel Muse Adventure Tours.
So we're starting off in Cusco which is the jumping off point for a lot of really cool stuff
like Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail, Rainbow Mountain, and today we're going to a place
called Salinas de Maras.
It's some salt mines but they look really cool, different colors like pinks and beiges.
So we're gonna head there first and then just kinda gear up, get used to this altitude before
heading on to the Inca Trail.
So our first real stop of the trip is a place called Chinchero in Peru.
This is where they make some textiles in the ancient Inca fashion and they use the fur
from alpacas and llamas.
You can find stuff like that all over town but here you can be sure that they've actually
used the fur from these animals.
So it's interesting because they've got a lot of other cultural things here like the
guinea pigs.
It's like they knew I was coming.
And now we're at the Salinas de Maras.
It's really pretty.
I saw this on Instagram and I really wanted to come here and I am pleased.
Wow, this is so cool.
So today it's day two, of Be My Travel Muse Adventures.
So we're gonna do a [foreign language] up here to this mountaintop.
We're in the Sacred Valley today which was good to the Incas and so we're gonna do some
climbing and then some zip-lining and it's gonna be fun.
The whole trail is basically straight up but we're in this beautiful valley and it's really
fun to do this physical challenge and then we get to zip...and then we get to zip-line
down after.
So that sounds pretty cool to me.
Okay, now we've made our way into this cool dome thingy, just a little pit stop on our
way to the top.
Zip-line time.
Good morning.
It's about 4:15 in the morning and we're just about ready to head out on the Inca Trail.
Yeah. Let's go.
Where are we now? Well, we're about to be on Inca Trail, Peru
What's the name of this place?
Oh, I don't know the name of this place.
This is the start of Inca Trail, Kilometer 82.
Kilometer 82.
We've arrived in Kilometer 82.
Pete's very excited.
Pete: Very excited.
Very excited about our manpower over there.
Christine: I'm excited too.
I'm excited about the breakfast that's happening.
Pete: Yeah.
Christine: Just packing up, getting ready to go while our gourmet breakfast is made
over here.
I see a coffee canister which makes me...brings me immense joy.
So yeah we're just packing up...
Pete: Kristin got me food yesterday and then didn't share it.
I thought about sharing it though.
Pete: And she thinks the thought.
It's the thought that counts.
Pete: Really it's the action that counts.
That's weird.
Pete: Yeah.
Remember when I got you food and I delivered it?
Yeah, I do.
I thought about that as I ate the pizza too.
Pete: Friends are for.
That's what friends are for.
Pete: Yeah. I'll remember that.
I'm sorry, Pete.
This is beetle, you know.
There's no problem leaving with anything this.
Female: Just a little beetle blood.
Okay this is already absolutely stunning.
So we made it to our lunch stop and little did I know they clap for you every time you
come in which maybe tomorrow will be a little bit more necessary.
Quite the setup going here.
I like your outfit.
Pete: Gracias.
I gotta protect my sensitive neck.
Alright.
Coming to the end of day one now and it's been a really beautiful hike.
I didn't really have any expectations but the altitude is tough.
Pete: Definitely.
But today was a pretty flat, mostly flat day, so we've just got a little bit of
uphill to go so that tomorrow is not quite as gnarly because we have two passes tomorrow.
Thank goodness for porters.
We made it.
Everyone: Woohoo.
Man, the air is thin up here.
View's a bit misted in here but we're at 4,200 meters which is 12,000 feet?
Only 12,000 feet.
And this is the highest point of the Inca Trail so it's literally all downhill from
here.
Well kind of, we go uphill and then we go downhill.
Ow.
Pete: You just hit your head?
Christine: Yeah.
It's a lovely trail today.
I heard that there were 140 microclimates in the world and 80 of them are in Peru or
something like that.
Pete: Eighty-four.
Fact checked.
Good thing Pete is here to help us out with that.
Pete: Yeah, that's right.
Christine: Okay.
Let's do this.
Jesus Christ.
Look at his face.
Male 1: All on one, two, three.
Everyone: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...
Male 1: The best wishes.
End of the cycle.
Okay, back in the hotel in Cusco.
Finally had a shower which feels amazing.
The room is already a complete mess but what else is new?
So anyway we have kind of a quick turnaround to hike Rainbow Mountain.
Yeah, time to hit the sack, wake up super early tomorrow, see you then.
Good morning from Rainbow Mountain.
I have come dressed for the occasion.
So we're at almost 5,000 meters here.
I can barely breathe even talking to you right now.
So it's like maybe a three-hour trek and I'm not even acting right now, it's thin air.
Okay, we're at the beginning and this is the point at which you can decide if you want
a horse or not.
To be totally honest I'm afraid of horses.
Pete: Me too.
So is Pete, so.
Pete: Horses are big and scary.
They're big and scary and they have their own brain in there.
They can just do whatever they want.
Pete: I just wanna let the horse do what the horse wants to do, you know?
I don't really wanna let the horse do what it wants to do.
Pete: He wants to sit around and eat, yeah that's what...
I'm gonna trust the old legs here.
So I can see the end of the trail now and I can...I think that I'm definitely a lot
more than halfway maybe.
Okay maybe halfway, maybe a bit more.
The trail at least so far is mostly flat.
It goes up when you get to the end but it doesn't look steep by any means, but the thing
is the altitude, like I keep mentioning because it's impossible to ignore.
And also it's very tempting when all these people go by offering you a horse.
It's a very seductive option but again, I kind of fear horses so I think I'm fine to
keep going and finish it.
Dippin' Dots, free Dippin' Dots.
And honesty, please.
Pete: This is just hard.
Christine: Made it.
That's a wrap on our super cool group trip to the Inca Trail, and to Rainbow Mountain.
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Bye.