This is one of those extra special places for which it is difficult to describe its beauty and magnificence in words. We'd seen pictures, we'd heard stories, but there was just something extra to be said for standing on top of this world heritage site and seeing it for ourselves. The way the morning mist and afternoon sun danced around the remaining ruins of this impossible ancient Inca city built upon an impossible landscape are better shown in pictures than said in words. We thought to truly appreciate the magnificence of the place we'd spend four days meandering there from Cusco on the Salkantay trek.

Cusco is the gateway city to Machu Picchu and sits at an unbelievably high altitude of 3400 metres above sea level. Even climbing the stairs to our hostel room for the first few days was enough to literally take our breath away. As we collapsed on our bed each time we were glad we had given ourselves a few days before our trek to acclimatise. Jess had caught a head cold in Lima, which was only exacerbated at such a high altitude and she spent the first few days in bed anyway. We decided we'd save exploring Cusco until after the trek. Thankfully, with plenty of coca leaf tea, Sudafed and altitude sickness tablets, by the time it came around Jess was out of bed and somewhat ready for our much anticipated five day trek.

As an alternative to the ever popular and increasingly expensive Inca Trail we chose the Salkantay Trek which is itself becoming almost as famous - and now we know why! From alpine lakes to lofty mountain passes, dense tropical rainforests, cascading falls, refreshing hot springs and an abundance of wild flora and fauna. Throw in Machu Picchu in as a grand finale and, well, our pictures say it all! The local guides and staff (including the mules) were fantastic too, carrying most of our gear, preparing healthy traditional meals for us three times a day and even waking us up each morning from our tents with a steaming cup of sweet coca tea!

Considering it is the wet season, we were lucky with the weather. The ever-present mist consistently blocked our views of the surrounding mountains, but every so often the fog would drift and reveal breathtaking glimpses of the glacier covered peaks. It only rained heavily for one night, which only meant more ankle-deep streams to wade through and a few minor landslides to scramble over. At one point we spent a good half hour pulling and pushing a minivan out of a sticky situation. They had boldly and impatiently attempted to drive straight over a fresh landslide!

After three solid days of trekking, from an incredible 4600m mountain pass where we were struggling for a full inhalation to sweating it off in the jungle below, we welcomed a visit to the Santa Teresa hot springs. Located next to the ever raging Urubamba River and surrounded by green terraced hillsides, the setting couldn't have been more perfect. We pre-showered in a natural steaming hot waterfall and then soaked until our feet ceased to ache.

Feeling well spirited and revived, we allowed ourselves to pay a bit extra and go zip-lining the following morning. It seemed that we were slightly misinformed. Rather than zip-lining above the path we would otherwise be hiking along as we had been led to expect, we simply zip-lined around the valley and back to the same spot. The safety was also a little sketchy. Without much of an introduction, only a single carabina holding us 300m above the valley floor and threadbare gloves to break with, the guide was an entrepreneur to say the least. Before we had reached the first zip-line he was already half way to the other side of the valley, leaving us with our 23 year old non-English speaking inexperienced co-guide Liz to connect us to the cable. Liz had never before seen a harness in her life! Nevertheless, the harness kept us from plunging into the trees below and the setting couldn't have been more beautiful. One of the zip lines was an epic 1.5 kilometres long!

After surviving all this, it was a nice flat walk along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes - our lay over town before Machu Picchu. Developed simply to accommodate the masses of visitors to Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes is about as touristy as you can get. Our guide compared it to Las Vegas and wasn't far off the mark. Regardless, the town itself was absolutely gorgeous with quaint bridges crossing over the town's natural centrepiece - something between a waterfall and a gushing creek, which flowed into the continuously raging Rio Urubamba below. We dreamed of a few cold beers when we arrived, but were also exhausted and eager for the day ahead in Machu Picchu that we hit the hay pretty early.

When we woke in our windowless hotel room we convinced ourselves that the gushing sound of water was simply the river below but soon faced facts - it was bucketing down! Glad with our group's late decision to catch the bus up to Machu Picchu, we threw on our rain jackets and prepared ourselves for a very wet day. Miraculously, as the bus approached the ruins the rain ceased and our first glimpse of the ancient world heritage city was a perfect balance between eerie fog and lush, green mountain peaks. As the fog drifted around we explored the remains of the city. After seventy years of building, and only a hundred years of habitation, Machu Picchu was deserted before the Spanish could find and potentially destroy it. We think the real wonder of this city for the rest of the world is its fascinating setting. The Incas' hired the best architects in theEmpire to build their city on a mountain peak (to be closer to the gods) and cleverly incorporated the mountains natural topography. Only the soil for crops was not from the mountain itself, but carried up by llama from the more fertile Sacred Valley below.

After our guide described the various temples, houses, rituals and lifestyle of the Quechuan citizens of Machu Picchu, we were left to our own devices. Wanting to make the most of our day in this beautiful place we hiked up to Machu Picchu Mountain, a soaring 600 meters above the ruins. The hike was more challenging and steep than we anticipated but the views of Machu Picchu and neighbouring Wayna Picchu Mountain were surreal. With time to spare afterwards, we forced our legs up one last trail to the Sun Gate and the official entrance into Machu Picchu from the original Inca trail!

After a slow hike back down the mountain into Aguas Calientes and a comfortable train ride back to Cusco we were all deliriously content zombies. Our trekking group all got along so well over the last few days that a shower and a good night rest were all we needed before rendezvousing to explore Cusco together. With clearer heads and adjusted lungs, over the next couple of days we hiked to the hills around Saqsaywaman, enjoyed a free walking tour of the oldest continuously inhabited city, explored the markets, drank pisco sours and sang karaoke. More than content with our amazing once in a life time trek to Machu Picchu, we are now heading across the Andes towards Lake Titicaca, the world's highest alpine lake!