It started off with a pre dawn pick up in Cusco. As my brother and I waited in our recently purchased Peruvian attire we were herded into a local\’s taxi, at which point we were welcomed with a lovely smile from a local man and as we began to roll down the cobbled road he turned to us with a questioning face and dribbled out the word \’airport\’?. Kurt turned to me and we both started to laugh. \’That was a short 5 day hike hahaha\’. The hike started at 3600 meters, I can safely say my blaza attitude towards low levels of oxygen at high altitudes, soon became a grasping reality, by grasping I mean grasping for my breathe like a one armed brick layer in Bagdad that\’s just finished building the Empire State Building. All in all it was by far the best hike I have done to this date. With an extremely diverse topography and amazing scenery around every corner. I would recommend the Salkantay trek to anyone. Just come prepared with warm clothing, etc.