Macchu Picchu seen from the sun gate after a four day hike on the Inca trail; that is how we thought we’d see the historic site. That was in 2008 after a trip to Costa Rica with GAP Adventures. We had read that only 500 people a day were allowed on the trail -hmm- 500 people a day. That sounded a little crowded and Linda and I put it on the back burner.

Last year, our friends Tammie and Jim (without Jim’s knowledge) sent us a link to the Mountain Lodges of Peru website. We checked it out and decided this looked like a great trip. The beautiful lodges won out over the tents…”yes of course the tents would be fine, but wouldn’t it be nice to get into a warm bed at night? How about the gourmet meals?” 

The planning started – how much would it cost, where should we fly from, would we fly direct or do the airplane shuffle. We chose to fly with carry on luggage and direct, thus worry-free. So very hard for me to do as I often want to take enough stuff to survive any disaster. 

This is all we took during the whole trip!

Linda and I were packed at least a week before departure, reloading often and making sure that we had enough of the right things to make it through all the days. Only carry on luggage she said. One of the first things that we chose to leave behind were the electronics – only one light weatherproof camera along. This necessitated taking a paper notebook rather than a smart-phone, a tablet or a computer. Once we return, assuming that I made notes each day, the photos and notes would be posted.

(If nothing else, the large camera has to come on the next trips. I found that the photos weren’t of the same quality as I normally take. Lots of bad framing of the photos, out of focus, wrong lens setting etc. Live and learn but there are still a few good ones and lots of video.)

Linda’s bag was light and mine, only a little heavier – sitting at 15 lb for me. It was very tough to pack, questioning every item and would we be warm enough in the cold pass. 

At the airport the Air Canada Lounge was a treat – after the over eight hour flight the hotel in Lima – Literally across the road from the airport at 12:40 am was a bigger treat.

We had to leave for Cuzco very early in the morning, which made the hotel with a walkway to the departure area very, very convenient.

We arrived in Cuzco and here we are with our friends on our way to the taxi to the hotel.

More another day.