(01)The place
The old Inca roads on foot, and a kitchen in Ollantaytambo that feeds us like family.
We acclimatise properly: two slow days in the valley before anyone goes above three thousand metres. Then we walk the Inca roads that the main trail left behind, with a team from the village of Huilloc.
Machu Picchu is on the route, but it isn’t the point. The point is the kitchen in Ollantaytambo where Rosa feeds us like family, and the market in Pisac that nobody leaves empty-handed.
(02)Three moments
What you’ll still be talking about.
The Lares pass
Three days on foot over a 4,400m pass, through villages where the weaving is still done by hand.
Rosa’s kitchen
Cuy if you’re brave, trout if you’re not, and a pisco sour that settles every argument.
Machu Picchu, early
The first bus, the Sun Gate, and two hours before the crowds catch up with us.
Next stop — Tanzania
Serengeti