WEBVTT - The DeanLounge: The Inca Trail 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:05.320 Hello everybody, and welcome to episode three of The Dean Lounge. 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.520 I'm thinking like Amex Lounge, Dream Lounge. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:16.000 Yeah, the Centurion Lounge, the Chase Lounge, Delta Lounge, the 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:16.840 Delta Lounge. 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:18.080 How many lounges have you been to? 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:23.119 Just hanging out in the Dean Lounge. Mostly, as you've 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:25.959 noticed by the angelic voice on the other side of 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.639 this room, Kaylin has returned from the DMV and she 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:33.280 is now gracing us with her presence on this episode 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.840 of The Dean Lounge. I was lamenting on the last episode, 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.120 just before you returned, about that name and about how 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.879 I need to find a new name for this episode 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.480 for this part. I don't. I hate it. I hate 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:46.680 it so much, and I know I'm the one that 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:48.640 thought of it, so I feel comfortable saying that I 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:50.839 absolutely hate it. I was going to bed last night 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:53.519 and I was trying to think of things that I 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.600 could change it to. By any deans necessary, that's not 0:00:57.640 --> 0:00:58.400 really traveling. 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.840 Yeah, it's like you're getting to any destination. 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:03.560 A Dean's to an end. 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.480 How is that travel exactly? 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:10.039 It's not. But I'm trying to imagine like a cool 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:13.040 play on words that also is traveling the Dean Lounge 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:15.840 is okay, I'll give you like a five six out 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.399 of ten, maybe like a five and a half out 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:18.840 of nine. 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.840 No, we don't do half numbers here anyways. 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:25.720 So that's where we're at with the Dean Lounge. If 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:27.760 you haven't listened last week's episode, go ahead and listen 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:29.240 to that, because I was kind of the precursor into 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.160 this one. This episode, we're gonna be talking about that 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.880 same trip that I was on, but just a different destination. 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:38.080 And I feel like they both kind of warrant separate 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.559 episodes because they're both pretty big aspects of that whole 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.360 trip as a whole. This week on The Dean Lounge, 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:46.960 we're taking a trip south of the border. And then 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.800 we're taking a trip south of that border. Oh wow, 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:55.160 we're going to Peru. Ooh, and just like in Peru, 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.040 we're going to be drinking some all back. 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:58.760 I was wondering why you bought that. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.080 Yeah, well, I got this for us to drink for 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:08.200 the Argentina episode, but you weren't here, obviously, and so 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.160 I saved it for this. Actually, I don't know what 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.359 Peruvians drink. I'm gonna let the microphone hear this. 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:18.560 Little ASMR. 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:19.160 There you go. 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:20.040 Thank you so much. 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:21.640 Well, look at the light on the mountains behind you. 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:26.440 By the way, Dean Lounge has some great views. 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:27.840 Great views, free drinks. 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.480 What could you just like the MX Lounge? 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:31.960 That's right, what could you just like about that? 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:36.120 Cheers cheers to Peru drinking Argentinian wine. 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.400 Well, I don't know if I mean. Malbick might also 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:41.000 be Peruvian, although this was made in Mendoz, Argentina, so 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.000 it would have been more perfect for the other episode. 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:45.120 I'm so sorry I had to go to the DMV, but. 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.680 I'm not going to drink a glass of Malbeck by myself, 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:50.359 especially or a quarter at ten in the morning. 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:51.520 So this is great. 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.080 Yeah, so we're keeping it on the same continent at least. 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.320 But yeah, so, as I mentioned in the last episode, 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:03.480 after the w track in Patagonia, I flew up to Cusco, Peru, 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.120 And I haven't really done much prep for this, so 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.160 I can't give you any specifics. But it was early December, 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:13.400 I know that, in twenty eighteen, and originally what I 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:18.160 wanted to do is just visit Machu Picchu. Have you 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.040 heard me talk about this at all? I want to know, 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:22.720 because it's nice to know if you're asking questions genuinely 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:24.760 or if you're asking questions just to kind of keep 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:26.640 the conversation going, like. 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:30.600 A certain podcast where yeah yeah, where the co hosts 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:31.680 just ask silly questions. 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:32.960 Have you heard me talking much about Peru? 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:36.760 No? Okay, no I haven't. I mean, I know you 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:38.000 said it changed your life. 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:40.360 That was the w track that changed my life. But 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.480 this is an extension of that same trip. So this 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.720 one had less of an impact on the life changing aspect, 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:47.080 but it was still an amazing trip. 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:49.600 Yeah, I haven't heard you say much about it. 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:57.160 Great, let's keep that energy going. Yeah. So I flew 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.720 from Portinatalis back to Santiago, and then from Santiago, I 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.760 took up a flight from there to Cusco, which is 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:06.880 where I would imagine ninety five percent of people that 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.040 visit Machu Picchu fly into. Because it's still kind of 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:13.880 a bit far. It's got I can't remember. It was 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.560 like an hour or so on a train and then 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.560 like a thirty or forty five minute cab. But so, 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:21.080 what I was doing when I was planning this trip 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.160 was I was talking to my good friend Ben Higgins, 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:26.760 who had been to Peru randomly. I didn't even know this, 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.360 and he said that he had hiked the Inca Trail many, 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.920 many years ago, and I was like, oh, my gosh, 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.320 I'm going to Machu Picchu. It's been on my bucket list, 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:36.760 like it's on everyone's bucket list. Obviously it's a modern 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.159 mart Well, it's not a modern marvel. What would that be? 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:43.320 A a historical marvel? Sure, we'll call it that. And 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.360 I was like, I'm going there. I've always wanted to 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.160 see it, you know, I've heard incredible things and it's 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:50.960 something I've only seen in photographs, so I would love 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:52.560 to see it with my own eyes. And when I 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:54.040 was telling him that, he was like, well, have you 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:57.200 ever considered doing the Inca Trail? And at the time, 0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:00.000 I was willfully uninformed, and I said, I've never even 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:01.839 I heard of this Inca Trail before. 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:03.040 I'm surprised by that. 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:04.920 Well, this is a long time ago. This is five 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.960 years and two months ago, So right before we started dating, 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.159 sixty two years sixty two months ago? Was it right before? 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:15.039 It wasn't right before, but it was probably about six 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:16.400 months before, seven months before. 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.960 It's tracks because we're coming up on five years, okay. 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.720 Okay, and and so he was like, I did this 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:26.320 thing called the Inca Trail. It's a I'm going to 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:27.400 get this wrong kind of like I did in the 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.679 last episode. It's a four day hike, starting in Peru 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:36.360 obviously and ending at the ending at Machu Picchu. And 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.760 he just raved about it. He talked about how he 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.080 had like a spiritual experience on it, and just the 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:46.800 whole endeavor itself was amazing, like he was really proud 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.520 of himself for having done it. And so then, obviously, naturally, 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.040 I went online and looked up what it would take 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:53.600 to go do the Inca Trail, and I found a 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.279 tour company. I'm pretty sure don't quote me on this, 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.600 but I'm almost positive that you have to have a 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:00.359 tour guide for the Inca Trail. 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:01.919 I was just about to ask if you did it 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:02.479 by yourself. 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:04.960 Unfortunately, I don't think they'll let you do it by yourself, 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:09.560 but there probably are workarounds. There is another trail called 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.240 the Salcona. I think that is not the Inca Trail, 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:13.760 but it still pops you out in Machu Pichu and 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.039 it's a little bit longer, a little bit further but 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:18.520 that one, I don't think you need a guide for it, 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:20.279 but I'm almost positive on the in Co trail you 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.599 need a guide because it's all sacred lands. And so 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:25.840 he was telling me about his experience about how he's 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.080 up there for four days, and I think even though 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.600 he had a guide, he like was he's either by 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:32.440 himself or with a friend, and he just said it 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.280 was like the concept of being isolated and alone and 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:38.760 doing all that stuff was amazing for him. So he 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:42.000 raved about it. I then got online and started doing 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:45.320 some research, and I found a tour company relatively affordable. 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.880 I'm curious what you think a guided trip to the 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.080 to the Machu Picchi through the Inca trail it would cost, 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:52.640 because I was surprised by the. 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.400 Price today or five years ago. 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:56.960 Yeah, I guess it's probably a little bit more expensive today. 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.480 Let's go today, I would say fifteen hundred. 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.599 Oh what would you say five years ago? Thirteen hundred, Yeah, 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.640 you're pretty good. It was it was like ten fifty, 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:08.840 like so one thousand dollars and a thousand and fifty dollars, 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.679 which I was surprised by. They you know, they carry 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:15.400 your food, they bring your tents, they feed you. They 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.720 they inform you, they like set up your bed and everything. 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:20.400 It's pretty nice. 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:22.200 So thousand dollars for four days, that's like staying in 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.960 a nice hotel for two hundred and fifty bucks a night. Yeah, 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:26.560 which I guess now that I said out loud, is 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:28.600 kind of expensive. But you're getting a big experience out 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:32.080 of this. So I looked it up, I coordinated everything 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.920 and got it all booked, and then after Patagonia, I 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.800 flew up and I think I spent like one day 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.360 in Cusco. Cousco itself is an incredible city. It's very 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:46.239 hilly and it's got cobblestones everywhere, and I did slip 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:48.440 on these like steep cobblestone roads a couple of times 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.040 and kind of hurt myself. I think I like busted 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.760 open my toe once, like the right before even going 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:56.280 on the Inca trail, which was obviously a bit of 0:07:56.280 --> 0:08:00.640 a bummer. But I the guy the company comes and 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:04.800 picks me up, takes me to the trailhead, which I 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:06.800 could not even come close to telling you where it is, 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:08.760 but it was probably about an hour drive from Cusco, 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.160 and I get introduced to the guide obviously, and then 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.200 there's one other guy, this younger German boy, guy young 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:18.560 man is hiking with me, and he was really cool. 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:20.680 It was one of those situations where I was expecting 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:21.880 it to be a group of like ten of us, 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.560 but it was literally just us three the guide, me 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.880 and him, and then the shurpas, which were pretty essential. 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.240 They're pretty amazing. They're so strong and so fast. They 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.760 carry all your stuff for you, Like if you were 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:34.360 to go on a hike, that's what you would want 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:34.560 to do. 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:36.560 Oh yeah, well you're my shirpa. 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.280 I'm your shirpa, but I am no shrp. But I 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.960 can't hold a candle to these guys. They're pretty impressive physically. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:47.040 So we get there and start hiking. This was also 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.880 the first trip that I bought a camera for. I 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.360 bought a Nikon D thirty five hundred for four hundred 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.520 dollars from Best Buy. Use the kit lenses, which, if 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.680 you word ask me nowadays, never use the kit lenses. 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:00.560 They are the biggest piece of rubbish you could possibly get. 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.120 And I was shooting an auto mode, I think, or 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:04.960 I was like just learning how to use manual mode, 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:06.959 but I didn't know well enough, so I would just 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:09.839 revert back to going to auto just because that's I 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:11.840 wanted to pretend like I knew what I was doing 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:13.520 by using a nice camera even though I was only 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:14.360 using an automode. 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.400 What inspired you to buy the camera? You just want 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:18.520 to take photos on the incato. 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.920 I think my inspiration for the camera was I wanted 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.280 to if you listen to the last episode, which obviously 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:26.240 you haven't, unfortunately for. 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:27.240 You hasn't even hurd. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.200 I knew that I wanted to be I knew that 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.520 I wanted to take traveling seriously and travel to a 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:37.959 lot of new places, and I knew that I would 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.280 regret not getting nice photos, and so I was like, 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:42.760 I need to get a camera and figure out how 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:43.360 to use this thing. 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:45.920 Do you ever look back on those photos. 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.840 All the time and they're awful? 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.040 But can't you can still appreciate it. 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:52.600 At the same time, too, though, I looked back on 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.360 photos from another trip that I did, and I was like, 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.640 these photos are so much better than the photos I 0:09:56.640 --> 0:10:00.000 take now. It's so weird how I feel like I've 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.080 regressed a lot in terms of like my photography ability. 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.200 I totally disagree. But we did also talk about moving 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.800 to Colorado and how that's going to spark our creativity 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:09.240 a bit more. 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.000 I sure hope. So we haven't really been taken many 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:12.960 pictures while we've been here though, which just moved. That's true, 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:15.240 we're still moving in. But yeah, that's why I got 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:19.320 into photography, And honestly, if you're thinking about getting into photography, 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.040 don't do it. It's an expensive hobby. 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.520 Don't discourage people. But it's also a very fun hobby. 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.240 You can buy lenses used, you can buy cameras used. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:28.840 It's a money pit, and if. 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:30.959 People aren't wanting to switch, like say someone's committed to 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.360 Nikon or Canon and they want to switch to Sony, 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:35.920 you could get lucky with everyone selling their gear. Just 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:36.720 have to hold out for that. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:38.839 Buying used is definitely the way to go. I think 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:40.679 I sold my last camera for like half of what 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.679 it would have been brand new, So definitely look for 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:56.360 those deals if you're interested in getting into it. So 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:58.319 I brought my camera up to the Inca Trail and 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:01.760 I remember walking through these like big val and there's 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.440 like these old ink and ruins and they were just 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:08.319 like set in the most picturesque valley I've ever seen 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.760 in my entire life, and it's just so cool because 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:13.800 you would literally stop and explore these ruins for you know, 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.600 thirty forty five to sixty minutes and then just carry 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:18.559 on and then in an hour later you'd see another one, 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:20.719 and then an hour later you'd see another one, and 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.839 it was it was cool. I don't think I had 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.440 the same type of spiritual experience that Ben said that 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.440 he had, but I was also kind of like my 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:31.640 dopamine levels were already kind of spiked from the trip 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:33.280 that I had just went on, so maybe that's why. 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.800 But yeah, so that was it. And then, like I said, 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:37.800 this tour company, as I'm sure most tour companies are 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:40.440 going to, they feed you every night, every morning, and 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.920 they give you lunch, and it's just so nice to 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:44.400 don't have to worry about any of that stuff. Like 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:46.520 kind of similar to the w Track, where they you 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:48.240 would go to like a refugeo and the would look 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:49.800 free there, but this way it's like kind of like 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.440 a traveling circus with you. There's probably like five porters 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.080 or something like that, and they'll just be like, all right, 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.280 we're setting up here, and then they two hours later, 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:01.640 an hour, an hour later, you're eating some delicious soup. 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.760 And eating some Pruvian food and porters different. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.800 Yeah, I would say porters. I think it all just 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:13.720 depends on geography. I think Shirpas are like maybe more Asian, 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:20.280 and porters are more North and South American. If I 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.720 were to guess, all fact check you Asian, African is 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.079 a Shirpa. No, I don't even I don't want to 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.040 say Africa, but mostly Asian. Like if you were to 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:28.880 go to Nepaul, it's okay, you don't eat easy your phone, 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.560 if you were to go to Nepal. If you were 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:33.199 to go to Nepal and do everest, you would have 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.240 a shirt, but you wouldn't have a porter. But if 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:36.680 you were to say porter, you wouldn't be wrong. You 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.240 would just I think it's just a dialect thing, but 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.480 I could be wrong, who knows. I went back in 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:42.679 fact check some of the things I was saying on 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:44.120 the last podcast, and I got a lot of things 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.360 wrong after listening back to it. So it's kind of 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:50.000 embarrassed by that. But but yeah, there was one day there. 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.480 The hiking is pretty easy. There were people of all 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.040 shapes and sizes on the hike, which was cool to. 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:56.199 See how many miles, is it. 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.600 I want to say it was like thirty five, okay, 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:00.640 could be it for four days. One of the things Where'm 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:02.800 going to FactCheck and be like, oh, it's actually twenty. Yeah, 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.360 you know, it's not a lot, it's less than it's 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.000 less than you think. But like I said, there are 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.120 people of all shapes and sizes, people of all speeds. 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.599 So like while we weren't hiking with these people, you 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.559 would kind of all camp in the same area, and 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:17.520 then the next campsite would also be kind of in 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:19.559 the same area. So you would occasionally see the same 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.559 person over the course of a few days and not 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.600 really interact with them much other than like the friendly nod. 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.120 But there was one person in particular I remember, who's very, 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.760 very slow, and you could tell that she was like 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.760 struggling a lot with it. But what was cool was 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:34.760 by the end of the trip in Machu Picchu, I 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:36.600 sell her again in Machu Picchu. So it's like it's 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.839 just very clear that you could you don't have to. 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.840 There are certain limitations again obviously, but like you can 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:43.920 make it just it just you're going to take a 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:46.079 little bit longer, but your your pace doesn't really matter, 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:46.880 as long as you make it. 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:47.200 To the end. 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:50.960 Goal. I remember on the second day is the second 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:52.520 day was the hardest day. I think there's like the 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.000 most of her I can't remember the name of this 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.160 this section of the trail, but it's pretty steep and 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:59.959 pretty long, and I like hustled up to the time 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.760 of this pass that you have to cross over and 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.400 then descend on the other side. And I really wanted 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.760 to fly my drone. And this was back before I 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.360 knew anything about drones and like where you can fly them, 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.439 where you can't fly them, what's legal, what's not legal. 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.520 And I don't think it was technically illegal to have 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:19.080 flown my drone, but it was definitely frowned upon, like 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.960 it's a sacred valley and the last thing they want 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.560 is people like infecting it with noise and all that stuff. 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.480 So I jumped over the side and I kind of 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:29.360 hid myself in the bushes and I like got out 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:30.920 my drone and I was about to fly it. And 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.480 not like a marshall, like a ranger. Oh no, they 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:37.240 didn't actually see me. Someone else, like another I think 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.280 it was another guide, was like you definitely should not 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.440 fly that there. I look it for like thirty seconds, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.880 put it back to my bag, and you know, gracefully 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.040 left and understood. And then the next morning I woke 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:50.040 up to rangers shaking my tent, like asking if I 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:51.680 was flying a drone, and of course I said yes, 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.040 and they're like, delete all of the footage right now, 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:55.480 like you have to delete all the footage, like it 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:57.440 was a big no no. So if you're thinking about 0:14:57.480 --> 0:14:59.280 flying your drone, they've even cracked down more. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:01.520 To say, this is five years ago. I bet now 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.040 it's way harsher. 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.800 Yeah, they've definitely, at least in North America, I imagine 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:07.720 it's got to be the same elsewhere too. They've cracked 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.320 down quite a bit more with the drone laws. So 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.480 just be very aware of that. You can't fire a 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:15.080 drone in every country, Like we just went to Tanzania 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.600 couldn't even bring the drone, So just keep that in 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.320 mind when you're doing that. But then on the last 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:23.000 day when you're into Machu Picchu, you what you do 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.840 is everyone lines up on at this gate right before 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.680 Machu like mile four miles right before Machu Pichu, and 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:32.400 they can't open the gate until a certain time in 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.320 the morning. And we me and my German friend who 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.560 I was hiking with, and the guide obviously he was asking. 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.400 He's like, yeah, like it's kind of up to you guys. Tomorrow. 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.320 You can wander in whatever time we want, or we 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.280 can be the first ones into Machu Pichu. And both 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.360 of us were like excited and eager, and so we're like, 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.880 we have to be the first ones in there. So 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.520 he said, Okay, we're gonna wake up at three. The 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:55.760 gate opens at five. We'll get to the gate at 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:57.680 like three point thirty and just wait for an hour 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.120 and a half for them to open it and we'll 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:01.520 be the first in line. So we wake up, we 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.840 go to the gate, and we are fortunately the first 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.560 in line, but like within twenty minutes, it was probably 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:09.680 one hundred people behind us. So thankfully we got there 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.280 when we did. They opened the gate at five on 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:14.920 the dot, and we like sprinted the next four We 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.600 didn't sprint, but we were at least jogging for half 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:19.040 of it, which was hard for me because I'm not 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:23.480 an endurance guy. So jogged for the last four miles 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.720 and got into Machu Pichu as the sun was rising 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.040 and there wasn't a soul in the park and it 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.480 was the most incredible thing because normally when you see 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:34.400 Machu Pichu and immediately following like once they opened the 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.320 main gates too, it just is crowded and so packed, 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.680 people everywhere bumping shoulders. But we had it all to 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.360 ourselves for like thirty minutes, which was really cool. And 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:44.840 if you have the chance to get there and do 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.320 the contrail, I highly suggest you try and do something 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.840 similar because that's a that's an experience that you can't 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.080 really replicate, Like you can go visit Machu Pichu, but 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.440 being there alone is something that you kind of have 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.720 to work for and earn or somehow get incredibly lucky, 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:00.840 I guess. So if you're thinking about going, consider doing that. 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:06.119 It's definitely worth it. There's another thing, wal Quina Piachu 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:07.760 or something right next door to that you can like 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.040 elect a hike if you want to. Did that, and 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:11.679 that's really cool too because it brings you up an 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:14.600 adjacent peak and you can look down into Machu Pichu 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.760 and just kind of see it from a different anglet 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.399 you're not really used to seeing. So that's my advice 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:25.399 with Machu Pichu afterwards, I went into the town I 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:28.399 think it's called Machu Pichu City, like literally right at 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:30.960 the base of Machu Picchu. I've said Machu Pichu so 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.360 many times. It's starting to feel like such a weird 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.040 word to me now because I've said it so many times. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.760