Following the tracks of the Incas...

We needed to acclimatize (air becomes scarce up there) but now everything is alright. Cusco is a very beautiful city. It was built by the Spanish on the remains of Inca temples and palaces. The city is enclosed between high hills and we spent the last four days going all over its different areas. It was quite a lot of climbing but it gave us the opportunity to get ready for the next tough days to come.

Tomorrow at 6 am we will be putting our shoes on for five days of trekking ... final destination: Machu Picchu!

As you may know most of the tourists reach this famous site by walking on the Inca trail. But as too many of them feel like doing it at the same time, the trail is now open to only 500 people a day. You need to book your trek months in advance and prices are very high. So we decided that once in Cusco we would take an alternative trail.
Well... it was without thinking that alternative treks are also very popular and as a consequence quite expensive too. We had to roam travel agencies hoping to find a good deal. No need to say that our mission was tough, there are hundreds of agencies in town trying to convince you that they are the best. It is hard to know who to trust. We finally decided to go for a well established company. They are not the cheapest but it's a unique adventure so we wanted to make the most of it!

We met our guide tonight. He seems nice and very experienced. We will be trekking with seven other people. Our bags are packed and we are ready to go! We'll let you know how it went in a few days!