Hola Peru!We first entered Peru via Lima only to spend a single night in the Miraflores area of the city and hightail out of there first thing in the morning to fly to Cuzco.Cuzco is about 10,000 ft. above sea level so we planned to spend 4 full days here before embarking on the arduous Inca Trail.Cuzco is a beautiful city centered around Plaza de Armes where you can find approximately 15 young boys selling postcards, 35 waiters shoving their respective menus in your face (even if you just finished a meal in a neighboring restaurant), 25 artists selling their watercolor art, and 50 women offering, "you want massage lady?"Once you get away from all those hassles, it truly is a beautiful city set in the spectacular Andes Mountains. The first few days here were a struggle just walking around in the thin air but with the help of drinking coca tea and chewing coca leaves, we were acclimated to the altitude just in time for our 4 day trek.Our journey to Machu Picchu started early getting picked up at our hotel at 6 am where we met John and Ken (our trekking buddies for the next few days) and then continuing on to pick up our porters and their gear and food.For a group of 4 trekkers we were supplied with one English speaking guide, Frankie, and no less than 5 porters (including one chef) to carry our tents, food, and cooking equipment.We arrived at kilometer 82 (the start of the Inca Trail) at about 10 am and started on our way.The first day of the trail was quite easy as we stopped for lunch after only 1.5 hours of hiking.It was there that one of the porters pulled out a spring scale and informed us that Greg's pack weighed as much as what the porters were carrying (26 kilos / 56 lbs.)Our Spanish isn't that great but I think they were taking bets to see if he'd make it to the top.It was also here that we were introduced to the quality of the toilets that we would have the pleasure of using over the next 4 days, the aroma was worthy of a gas mask!After our first 3 course gourmet meal we continued uphill until we reached approximately 9,500 ft. in elevation where we found our porters setting up our tents for the night.We rested up that night knowing that the second day was the hardest.5 am came early and we were greeted with coca tea and omelets - the chef was amazing.That morning we climbed up over 14,000 ft. above sea level in 4 hours.This climb pushed us all to our limits.At that elevation we could hardly hike 20 meters without taking a Gatorade/coca candy break.As we proceeded at slightly better than a snail's pace, all the porters were constantly running past us - these guys are incredible.Very few of these porters have actual backpacks as most of them have huge potato sack tied around their shoulders and waists.There was a huge sigh of relief when we finally ascended to the summit at about noon.After a quick rest there, the rain started and we started back downhill.The 2000 ft. we descended from that point may have been worse than the 4000 ft. up as the rain and fog made moving slow.Once again the porters seemed to bounce downhill as they took the steps two at a time and did the day's hike in slightly more than half the time that we completed it in.That night we celebrated and lightened Greg's load as we drank some of Peru's finest Gato Blanco wine (2 liters worth) - the porters had a big party that lasted well into the night.The porter's party the night before meant we were the last to depart the third morning.Before leaving though, our chef (AKA "the ladies man") baked us a cake for breakfast - how do you bake a cake in the middle of nowhere?The third day was the longest. After another 1,000ft of up, came the 3,000ft of down, and the down was steep, wet, uneven boulder steps - great for your knees! Every step we kept reminding ourselves that we would be treated with a hot shower and a beer at the bottom.When we were able to look up from the ground, the views were incredible; we were almost in the clouds.We also got a taste of what we had in store for tomorrow by passing through a few Incan ruins. The campsite was in sight for a long time before we reached it, and when we finally did, we jumped in a shower and guzzled down a beer or two.After our daily snack of popcorn, cookies and wontons, came our final dinner.We then thanked the porters for their hospitality (I can't imagine having one day off and then doing this all again like they do for months on end) and then passed out for the night.4am came with a knock on our tent, coca tea and pancakes before setting off for our last day.The last check point opened at 5.20 and from there it was a one hour mad dash to the Sun Gate to get our first view of Machu Picchu.When you have been walking towards something for 4 days, you can't imagine everyone's excitement to get there!The last 5 minutes were painful, legs were throbbing, knees shaking, back aching, but the view erased all that as we waited for the sun to rise.Then it was 30 more minutes downhill to reach the ruins.It was breathtaking.Everyone had made it, including a stray wiener dog that we saw everyday on the trail, he also seemed so happy to finally be there.Frank gave us a tour around the grounds of Machu Picchu, explaining the history. After 5 hours we left making our way back to Cuzco the lazy way that so many people come and go from - the train.Naturally the train ride was complete with a fashion show on the featuring alpaca wool clothing?!We never laughed so hard as when the Peruvian "model" flashed his best Zoolander "magnum" look.After a few days of recovery back in Cuzco, we will be catching an overnight 12 hour bus to the Bolivian shores of Lake Titicaca.