Top Ten

1. The Salkantay Trek with the Mountain Lodges of Peru (MLP) – Pretty much the best trip we’ve ever done. Amazing scenery, great people, fabulous food, fancy lodges and spectacular hiking. What else can we say?
2. Machu Picchu – Though technically part of our MLP trip, it deserves its own designation because it was just as good as we hoped it would be, and better.
3. Getting to see and stay with family – What a treat to have a cousin living in Lima, Peru that was wonderful enough to host us and treat us like, well, family!
4. Swimming in the Amazon River – There were a lot of amazing parts about our jungle lodge adventure that we loved, but getting to jump in the water and escape the jungle heat for just a few minutes was truly priceless.
5. The Colca Canyon and the end-of-the-hike oasis – Just when you are getting hot, dusty and tired of walking, the blue-green pools of the Colca Canyon oasis are there to reward your amazing day of trekking with a refreshing soak.
6. Kayaking around Isla Suasi
7. The food (see below)
8. Hot tubs on MLP trip – See, we can’t stop talking about this trip.
9. Mountain biking in the Sacred Valley – Yep, that was a good day.
10. Rooftop views of Arequipa sunsets against the surrounding volcanoes

Bottom Five

1. The protests changing our plans in Cusco – Read Ted’s post about the protest delays. Not a big deal, but obviously not ideal.
2. The jungle was HOT, too hot – We must sound like big whiners.
3. Our grumpy host mom in Amantani – Sadly our ‘cultural tourism’ experience was a bit tarnished because we weren’t in the market for any local handicrafts.
4. Uros floating islands – Tourism exploitation at its worst.
5. Leaving the country – Could have easily stayed longer. That’s why I know we’ll be back!

Food and Drink – Favorite meals, dishes and drinks

This is really tough. Peru’s food is over-the-top. They are apparently in the middle of a culinary revolution down there. Nearly all the food was excellent – both in taste and presentation. I tell you, I think we need to start seeing some more Peruvian restaurants at home.

1. Lomo Saltado – What I’d call the ‘national’ dish and served in nearly every restaurant serving traditional food, lomo saltado is strips of beef, served with onions and bell pepper in a delicious sauce/gravy over rice and/or french fries.
2. Pisco Sours – The national drink. Made from grapes, Pisco is an alcohol that both Peru and Chile claimed to have created. The Peruvian version is made with sugar, simple syrup, sour mix, ice, and blended with egg white.
3. Ceviche – When ceviche is good, it is really good.
4. Pretty much all our meals on the Mountain Lodges of Peru Trip – We’ve never taken so many pictures of food in our lives.
5. Amazing seafood restaurant with Ryan and Angela – One of the Lima food scene’s many gems. We were craving seafood and no one was disappointed!
6. Eating Amazonian piranha that Ted caught earlier that afternoon.
7. Set-menu lunches – We were served gigantic portions of delicious food and it cost us less than $2 a piece. Definitely a winner for those of us on a traveler’s budget.
8. Machu Pizza – Well the name is cheesy but that didn’t stop us from going back again. Probably the best pizza and garlic bread we’ve had on our trip and served with dipping sauces made them even better.

Our first such trip arranged with AWR’s assistance was the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu with Mountain Lodges of Peru (MLP). The most popular trek to Machu Picchu is the famous “Inca Trail”, but due to its immense popularity, limits have been imposed on daily access (500 people per day – needless to say, the trail is crowded).  In reality, there are many Inca trails in the region, and some of these alternative treks provide equally stunning scenery, and a much more private atmosphere. The Salkantay is one of these treks.

We knew ahead of time that the MLP trip would be fancy, but we really had no idea what we were in for. The 8-day trip was the most fantastic that either Ted or I have ever been on. We emailed our parents that we felt like we were on our second honeymoon! Anyone who is considering a trek to Machu Picchu that wants a “comfortable” experience should seriously consider the MLP trip. Hands-down amazing!

As I mentioned above, there are many different hikes that get you to Machu Picchu and most of these involve rather long days of hiking and then camping each night. The other companies usually make the trip in 3-4 days. The MLP trip is different, not only because they spread out the 24 miles of hiking over 6 days, but you get to spend each night in incredible lodges (with hot tubs!), eating beautifully-presented, wonderfully-delicious meals. In addition, the staff and guides provide over-the-top service and think of every last detail to spoil you rotten (why yes, I would love a cool towel and a glass of fresh fruit juice after my long day of hiking).

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves but a few of the many highlights included:

-Our first view of the Humantay Glacier. There we were walking along on our first day of the trek and then we rounded the corner to see the most beautiful glacier-covered mountain peak.

-The view from the hot tub at the first lodge (with the Salkantay Glacier and Humantay Glacier in the distance).

-The highest we’ve ever been! The pass on our third day of hiking took us over 15,000 feet! Ted and I have done a few 14ers (14,000 foot peaks) in Colorado, but this was certainly our first 15er.

-Wayra Lodge – the second lodge we stayed in our trek. It has to be situated in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  And, it’s only accessible by foot – no roads!

-The food. Peruvian food has been impressive nation-wide, but food we had on this trip was truly gourmet. We’ve never taken so many pictures of food in our lives. They were absolutely works of art.

-Our great group. We got to meet fun, unique people that are also in the travel industry. We were also lucky to have amazing guides and be accompanied by two cool MLP office staff members. You spend a LOT of time with your group, and we are certain that they were part of the reason we had so much fun.

-Oh, and by the way, did I mention it culminates at Machu Picchu, the most amazing historic site on the planet!  More on this soon!

So if you can’t tell, we absolutely loved the trip and would do it again tomorrow. It was literally the first thing we did upon arriving in Peru and it certainly set the stage for the amazing time we were going to have in this country.

More pictures?  Check out the full MLP album here.