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A Journey Inspired.

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A Journey Inspired.

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Here’s my honest review ⬆️ and some Rainbow

Here’s my honest review ⬆️ and some Rainbow Mountain tips for your visit! ⬇️ (save and send this to your hiking buddy 🥾)

The classic Rainbow Mountain (aka. Vinicunca) sits at 5,036m and is one of Peru’s most iconic hikes.

The trail itself is short but no joke thanks to the altitude. Most people take 1.5 to 2 hours up, and many opt for horses or ATVs near the top. We hiked it at sunrise, which completely changed the experience.

A few things I wish everyone knew before going:

• This isn’t the only Rainbow Mountain. If crowds aren’t your thing, look into Palcoyo instead. It’s lower elevation, less steep, and way quieter you’ll still get rainbow colours without the struggles.

• Bring cash. You’ll need it for:
- photos with alpacas (around 4 soles)
- Red Valley entry (30 soles pp, sometimes negotiable)
- Entry to Rainbow Mountain (25 soles pp)

• What to pack: Layers (it’s freezing early and sunny later), windproof jacket, sunscreen, hat, gloves, water, snacks, and small bills. The weather changes fast up there as you can see my friend was stuck in a snow storm! I didn’t use hiking poles and hiked it in trail runners (easy terrain).

• Altitude tips: I didn’t feel a thing even without meds! But move slow, hydrate, eat well the days before, and listen to your body. Some people take altitude meds, some don’t. If altitude hits you hard, there’s zero shame in turning around, taking an ATV, or choosing a lower-altitude hike near Cusco instead.

• Standard group tours are around $40 pp and arrive mid-morning when it’s packed. Sunrise means hiring a private guide, which can cost $200–250 pp. Our sunrise hike ended up being around $90 pp because of a very chaotic mix-up (story for another time)… and the company no longer exists 😅 so feel free to ask me for a tour link but don’t ask me for this guide’s contact.

Was Rainbow Mountain worth it? For us, 100%, because we chose a quieter experience, respected the place, and didn’t rush it. Rainbow Mountain isn’t just a photo spot. It’s much more magical than that and a very sacred place.

📌save this for your Peru trip and follow @ajourneyinspired
if you want more honest hiking guides like this!

Send this to the friend you’d drop everything an

Send this to the friend you’d drop everything and go hike with or the one you’ve been missing lately 🤍

Vancouver’s been serving us rare sunny days the past couple weeks and we feel so spoiled!!

So on Saturday, we said yes to a spontaneous day trip and ended up finding one of our new favourite local day hikes. If you want to know where this is, just let me know in the comments and I can send you the @alltrails 🙂

Don’t you agree that life really is better when you don’t do it alone and when you’re outside? ☺️

#adventurepeople #hikemoreworryless

Everything I wish I knew for packing before the Sa

Everything I wish I knew for packing before the Salkantay trek ⤵️

(many of these tips and gear recs are applicable for day hiking and popular treks in Central/South America like Acatenango! 🌋)
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This is Part 5 of my Salkantay Trek series. If you want to see what the journey was actually like, check out my previous posts :)
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Tbh the guided Salkantay trek feels like luxury, but without it, it’s pretty hard to logistically accomplish. The hike’s still hard at altitude, but if I had the choice I’d actually carry my own belongings without a porter.

There’s so much I learned on this trek that you only know from experience! I’m sharing this so you can be prepared and not learn the hard way 😅 keep in mind every tour company might be slightly different!

PACKING LIST ➡️ If you want the spreadsheet I shared with my group, COMMENT and I’ll send it to you (must be following @ajourneyinspired or I can’t DM you!)

OTHER TIPS ⬇️

• The water provided by the cooks is filtered and safe and so much effort goes into this. I didn’t use my filter

• Share items whenever you can like shampoo, sanitizer, sunscreen, bug spray.

• Plan for all seasons. Day 1 you’re bundled in a puffer, shell, gloves, and toque in the alpine. By the last day you’re sweating in a t-shirt in the jungle.

• pack snacks, what they give you isn’t enough

• Your daypack can’t be too big. Machu Picchu has strict bag size limits

• Bring your own sleeping bag liner. I’d also bring my own sleeping bag next time. We actually negotiated and got all our rentals for free including hiking poles, sleeping bag, liner, and upgraded mattress.

• Save 1 clean outfit for Aguas Calientes - you’ll want clean clothes after the hot shower at the end

• Before the trek, your luggage is stored at a large facility. On the last day it’s a bit chaotic getting everything back into your suitcase on the street

• no one wears shorts in South America!

• Bring change in soles for tips, snacks, bathrooms, & hot springs.

• Hiking boots were overkill for me. They asked us to bring runners too and I changed into them after day 1

Any questions? Follow @ajourneyinspired for more adventure travel tips!!

#perutravel

Do you think Machu Picchu is really worth visiting

Do you think Machu Picchu is really worth visiting (and hiking for many days to see)?

Save these tips if seeing this Wonder of the World in Peru is on your bucket list! 🤍
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In November I had the chance to lead a women’s only group trip to Peru and it was one of the best experiences in my life (and I would love you to join me next time!!)

I came back with sooo many tips stories to tell you including what I’ll detail below so send this to your travel buddy and keep reading! ⬇️

Everyone shares this iconic postcard photo, but very few people talk about how nuanced visiting Machu Picchu actually is, especially once tickets, circuits, time slots, weather, and transport are involved.

Here’s the story of what actually happened to us behind the scenes ⤵️

A few months before our trip, Kerry and I discovered our tour guide @trekwithalpaca accidentally booked us Circuit 3 for the 6-9am entry, which does not include the classic postcard viewpoint.

Circuit 2 (the most popular circuit with the best mix of viewpoints + ruins) was completely sold out online. This was so disappointing 😭 Fortunately because we discovered this ahead before our trip, through back channels, @mapo_tapo managed to secure Circuit 2 tickets for 9-12pm later that same morning.

The day we had been anticipating finally comes. It was rainy season and completely foggy when we entered zero visibility (see the carousel for realistic pictures!) We still went ahead and toured circuit 3B in complete fog at 6am, but all of a sudden at 8:30am the fog lifted, just in time for our Circuit 2 tour!

Doing two tours in one morning, despite being exhausted from trekking the Salkantay, turned into the most perfect Machu Picchu day we could have asked for. Plus it was basically buy-one-get-one-free because of the tour guide’s mistake 😂 And this is why I believe everything happens for a reason ❤️
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This post is part of my “What it’s really like to hike the Salkantay Trek” series. If you’re planning Peru, hiking South America, or just dreaming right now…

👉 Follow @ajourneyinspired for more tips and honest recommendations!

If you have any questions comment below or DM us!

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