Bonnie and her husband Robert just got back from Peru, where they took on the challenge of hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. They sent us this great account of their trip and some beautiful shots of the Andes Mountains. Congratulations guys! What is your name and where are you from? My name is Bonnie Nelson and I am from Houston, Texas.
Bonnie & Robert in the mountains
Where did you travel to? Can you give us the brief story of your trip? Robert, my husband, and I hiked the classic 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru! Why did you choose this trip? We had friends that had taken a trip to Peru and done it, and they told us how incredible it was. I had been to Peru before and knew I wanted to go back. Also, we are very adventurous! What was your favorite part of the trip? Experiencing the nature, learning about the history of the land and living for four days without running water or electricity. What part of your trip will you never forget? Getting to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass.
Climbing to Dead Woman’s Pass
Who was your favorite guide and what did they show you? We only had one guide, Juan de la Cruz. I give him 6 out of 5 stars. He led our group on the entire trek, shared Incan history with us and taught us some of the language. Juan knew exactly what he was doing and that made our trip so smooth. Did you take photos? If so, which is your favorite photo and why? No way can I narrow it down to just one favorite photo. I have a few favorites. One where I am hiking on the trail and you can see that there are clouds BELOW me.
Higher than the clouds!
There’s also the one of my husband and I with the mountains in the background, it’s one of my favorites because you can see that we are completely in our element. Do you have any other stories to share with us? So many things stick out in my mind: the porters waking us up every morning at 5am, “Buenos dias, amigos, coca tea?”, running into llamas, the porters laughing at me as I attempted to wash dishes in the freezing river, and seeing Machu Picchu at dawn from the Incan Sungate.
Robert meets a llama!
