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The Lovely Chalet Company, La Plagne 1800, Mâcot (2026)

22/09/2026

We’ve been hiking in Colca Canyon this weekend, the second biggest canyon in the world. Essentially it takes a day to hike down into the canyon, another (easier) day traversing the bottom and yes you guessed it, another day hiking back up.

Rather than go on an organised trip, taking inspiration from Adam and Bethan, our ski buddies who travelled in SA last year, we decided to organise the transport and accommodation ourselves as they had.

What a fabulous few days we had. The descent was tough, we prefer ascending! We stayed in a trio of local family hotels which were all sweet, the food the second night was excellent, simple but delicious. And on our third night we stayed in the Oasis at the bottom of the canyon and the hotel had a pool. It was like staying on a movie set - a bit bonkers.

Tour Operators suggest the ascent on the third day is a 3.5 hour hike. We wanted to do it in under 2.5 hours, so we set off at 0530 just as the sun was rising, luckily we were mostly hiking in the shade. We did it - we crossed the finish line in 2 hours 29 minutes and 52 seconds! We were greeted close to the finish by a pair of Condors circling above us. Magical!

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19/09/2026

Sunset over Arequipa ❤️

We took the overnight bus to Arequipa on Tuesday night leaving Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu with heavy hearts. The main destination of our South America trip to celebrate Julie’s 60th birthday next July, our visit to the Cusco area has been truly spectacular.

We reached Cusco a week before we planned to, but this was a real blessing as it gave us time to visit Pisac, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley which we hadn’t planned; Ollantaytambo in particular was charming.

Arequipa, the White City has also been a beautiful city to visit. We stayed in a sweet little hostel called Bubamara very close to the main attraction in Arequipa, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina.

We’re more nature lovers than clerical buffs but we were wowed by the beauty of the Monasterio. We spent over two hours learning about the daily lives of the Sisters, how the Monasterio evolved during the Spanish colonisation and saw the beautiful restoration following earthquake damage.

As usual we’ve eaten well visiting just a fraction of the cities eateries. Puka Puka coffee shop was a perfect start as we arrived at 0600 on the bus. Masamama (bakery/cafe) has refreshed us and given us delicious bread for our sandwiches, and dinner at Decantador, which we found accidentally was superb and excellent value. The local black olives, macerated in honey and rosemary were the best we’ve ever tasted!

We’re heading to Colca Canyon, close to Arequipa for 3 nights, it’s the second biggest canyon in the world. We’re looking forward to hiking to its base (and back up) and seeing more of rural Peru.

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18/09/2026

Our visit to Machu Picchu on Monday was very special, and emotional, couldn’t believe we were actually there!

Our tickets for Circuit 3B gave us entry from 0600 (to 0645) and we stayed for about 2 hours. Buses started running up to Machu Picchu at 0530, but we decided to walk up! We’d walked 74 kms along the Salkantay Trek, we weren’t going to take the bus for the last part!

It looked pretty high with a lot of vertical steps! The path up to Machu Picchu is the other side of a river and the gate to the bridge to gain access opened at 0500. So we planned an 0400 alarm call, got ready and started walking to the bridge (which is a 20 minute walk!) at 0440. We arrived at the bridge as the gate opened at 0500 giving us an hour to climb up the steps before Machu Picchu opened at 0600. We were delighted to have the first entry slot at 0600 allowing us to experience such a special day before the hordes arrived.

We set off with some of our Salkantay Trek buddies. It started to rain as we climbed the steps, but it was nice and cooling. We reached the top just before 0600 so were one of the first few visitors to enter Machu Picchu.

The weather wasn’t great, misty, drizzly and very cold and windy however clouds were passing through which was very atmospheric and enchanting. We toured our circuit in awe; what the Incas achieved was incredible, their stone masonry skills were sophisticated and architecturally brilliant. It was an absolute privilege to have had the opportunity to visit the majestic site.

We walked from the top back down the road to Aguas Calientes, it was a peaceful walk (when we weren’t dodging the crazy buses!) giving us time to reflect on the splendour and listen to the birdsong.

After a light lunch we took the Peru Rail train back to Ollantaytambo and then a minibus back to Cusco, where we spent the last night in the Magic Packer Hostel. There was a Curry House opposite the hostel which had great reviews, so we celebrated our trek and Machu Picchu visit with a delicious curry. Perfect! ❤️

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17/09/2026

Saturday - Salkantay Trek Day 3 - 0630 start, 10km hike. A shorter hike, we visited a coffee plantation en route and learned about coffee roasting. We checked into our third campsite late morning, very nice new cabins, a vast improvement on the previous nights accommodation.

After lunch we visited the local hot spring/pools, great to sooth our tired legs. We all had a few b**rs afterwards, lots of bonding, banter and leopard jokes before returning to the campsite for dinner. Another early night as we had a long hike the following day!

Sunday - Salkantay Trek Day 4 - 0530 Start, 24Km Hike. We all had tired legs, so it was a tough morning despite the glorious sunshine.

The terrain changed, we were hiking in the humid Peruvian jungle along the Salkantay River, a tributary of the Amazon. We ascended high up to Llaqtapata Inca Ruins giving us a glimpse of Machu Picchu, a special moment for all of us.

We descended back down to the river, after lunch at a local restaurant we walked along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, the closest town to Machu Picchu. It was a tough 2 hour walk; the terrain, large compacted stones were difficult to walk on. Nearing the end of our 24Km, 10 hour walk, the last couple of hours were hard!

We checked into the Yanay Collection Hotel in Aguas Calientes around 1700. Our room was very sweet, perfect after a hard day! We all dined together in the hotel, another very early start. Our Machu Picchu tickets gave us entry at 0600, we were the first visitors of the day.

A huge sense of achievement after completing our 74km Salkantay Trek and great excitement for our visit to Machu Picchu!

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17/09/2026

Thursday - Salkantay Trek Day 1 - Guide Raul.
0430 pick-up, 0630 breakfast, 0845 10km Trek begins!

We hiked up to Laguna Humantay, a beautiful glacial lake above our first campsite at Soraypampa. A steep climb, it was a tough hour or so walk up and back down.

1400 campsite check in and then lunch. Raul recommended we have an afternoon nap. Great - after an 0345 alarm call, Julie was very happy, meanwhile Rich watched Death on the Nile 🤣 1730 we had dinner and then off to bed ready for an 0530 departure for the next day.

Friday - Salkantay Trek Day 2 - 0445 wake-up, 0530 Start, 22km Hike.

We hiked up and over the Salkantay Pass and started walking up hill almost immediately, Raul advised it would take us around 3.5 hours or more. There were 15 in our group, after a tough walk up to Laguna Humantay on Day 1, four of the ladies decided to take a horse ride up to the Salkantay Pass summit! Lightweights 😉

We arrived at the summit at 0850, in 3 hours 20 minutes, we were among the first handful to arrive. It was tough, but thankfully not as tough as the previous day, so a pleasant surprise.

(It transpired that we were a very fast group, beating the average walk times over the four days according to Raul.)

It started to snow as we reached the summit so we all layered up. It cleared up for a while as we started our descent but during our lunch it rained hard and continued to rain intermittently throughout the afternoon which made conditions under foot pretty tough.

We arrived at our second campsite at around 1700 after a tough 22 Kms and 10 hours hiking. We checked into our accommodation, most of us had a b**r, then after luke warm showers we had dinner and then went to bed. Julie had been cold the previous night, so hired a blanket which kept her warmer!

The second campsite was pretty grim, dirty showers, one had just a tarpaulin sheet round it and dodgy electrics. During the night a cow was grazing among the wooden cabins, which woke us all up - not great when we had another 0530 start! At one point the cow barged our hut door! One of the guys thought it was a leopard prowling around - hasten to add we took the p**s out of him for the rest of the trek! A great group with lots of banter!

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17/09/2026

Salkantay Trek/ Machu Picchu -1 ❤️🙏

Final Trek Preparation! We checked out of the lovely Nodo Hotel after two great nights, two delicious breakfasts and super hot showers!!!

We walked across town and checked back into the Magic Packer, the hostel we previously stayed in. Our Trek pick up time was 0430 so we decided it wasn’t worth paying for a hotel room - saving the travelling budget 😉

First stop of the morning was the Indie Cafe & Concept Store. Our second visit after Rich found it by accident, the drinks (and cake) are excellent value and the staff are super nice!

Then we stocked up on Natures Valley snack bars from the super market. All the local brands of snack bars taste like chewing cardboard, they make your mouth dry and do not appear to have any nutritional value whatsoever - so we’re paying a premium for the Trek snacks! We bought nuts/dried fruit and a day worth of fresh fruit (no more than that as it’s heavy to carry) from San Pedro Market - much better value.

Mid afternoon we went for a drink at Onirica, a tiny hole in the wall cafe that we’d spotted a few days before.

Next stop KB Adventures, for our 1700 Salkantay Trek briefing. We were issued duffel bags to put some basic kit and toiletries in which the horses transport from camp to camp each day. We have a 30 litre backpack each and the duffle bag holds about 45 litres, including the sleeping bag that we’ve hired from KB. It was more than enough room for our stuff.

We’d skipped lunch so after the briefing we went to Jack’s Cafe for dinner then an early night ready for our 0430 pick up. Excited and also a bit nervous!

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17/09/2026

Salkantay Trek/ Machu Picchu -2 ❤️

Back in Cusco with two days to kill before our Salkantay Trek begins we’ve been meandering around the streets soaking up the atmosphere of this fabulous city. We ate fresh pineapple, bought from a street seller. We’ve had it before, it’s beautifully juicy, even the core! and only 2 soles (50p) per slice.

We passed another parade of marching bands celebrating a religious festival and rather disturbingly some of those marching had young dead limas/alpacas hanging around their bodies, one front and one back. Not great, and there were quite a few of them.

There were lots of street food stalls so we decided to throw caution to the wind and ate from one of the stalls. The lady was very sweet and delighted we chose to eat her food, simple but very nice, cooked pork, fried potatoes and huge corn kernels, one of the hundreds of varieties grown here. Thankfully we had no ill effects from the food with our Trek departure looming!!!

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10/09/2026

On Monday morning we said goodbye to Rosario, the delightful owner of Q’Ente Wings Guest House in Ollantaytambo. We’ve enjoyed a lovely room, hot showers and breakfast with views across the town and ruins from the third floor terrace. We thoroughly recommend this sweet family run Guest House ❤️

We took a Colectivo taxi, back to Cusco. Very reasonable at 15 soles each (about £6), for an almost 2 hour journey!

We checked into the Nodo Hotel just yards from the main Plaza des Aramas. A Lovely little treat to ourselves for a couple of nights before our 5 Day/4 Night Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. The MAIN Event on our South American trip! Getting very excited indeed!

There was another huge Parade taking place in the City with dozens of different marching bands, dancing troupes and of course the Cholitas! What an incredible spectacle ❤️

Later we also treated ourselves to dinner at Hapya Restaurant in the San Blas district. Voted the top restaurant in Cusco on TripAdvisor, it was excellent. A beautiful setting, outstanding food and very, very reasonably priced.

Another amazing day here in Cusco! We love the vibe here! ❤️

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09/09/2026

After our big hike, on Sunday morning we took it a bit more leisurely. We had morning coffee and cake at Emiliano’s Cafe before visiting the Graneros Ruins here in Ollantaytambo. It was free to visit which was a bonus and just a couple of hundred metres from our Guest House.

Well worth a visit, giving great views across to the main Ollantaytambo Ruins and the Sacred Valley.

Looking for somewhere to have lunch we stumbled upon a quirky restaurant called Templo de Wow overlooking the main Ruins. A bit hippyish, but the food was good value, very nice (we both had enchiladas) and the view was spectacular. It’s not on Google maps, but go down the road (Calle Patacalle) and you won’t miss it!

And of course, another parade to view! The Peruvians do love a parade!!

Late afternoon we popped into another coffee shop on the Plaza de Aramas, Tambo Brewhouse. Lovely Cappuccino and Fruit infusion with cake! A new coffee shop, only opened two months ago.

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08/09/2026

On Saturday we hiked up to Intipunku (the Sun Gate) about 8kms above Ollantaytambo. Recommended to us by Dorz, the lovely NZ lady we met in Sucre. Allegedly one of the most difficult hikes in the Sacred Valley, it was pretty tough, Julie was exhausted as we reached the top. It was quite a steep climb for the last 2-3 kilometres. But wow, it was worth the climb. The views across the Sacred Valley and over to the snow capped mountains were magical.

We started the hike by zigzagging our way through the farmers fields along the Sacred Valley floor which was fascinating, seeing the irrigation system and all the crops they are growing. Having seen farmers use oxen to plough the fields we then saw a huge drone spraying one of the fields. Such a difference in farming techniques!

The hike took us about 6 hours; we got back to Ollantaytambo and stopped off for a coffee 😉 at a coffee shop just around the corner from our hotel called Latente. Badged as one of the top 100 coffee shops in the world it was nicely styled, modern but using the traditional building structure. We had drinks and a cake each, well deserved after our epic hike, they got my drink wrong (but not an issue) and the cakes were very expensive (for usual Peru prices) but was on a par with what we would pay in Europe.

We returned to the hotel for a little rest and then went out to dinner in one of the restaurants in the market square, very close to our hotel. Qori Illari, is a pizza restaurant, serving other dishes too. Rich had pizza, Julie had Caldo de Gallina, a traditional Peruvian dish, a chicken soup with a hunk of chicken on the bone in it, a boiled egg, potato and noodles. Doesn’t necessarily sound great, but it was delicious, filling and very nutritious! Great to try the local dishes!

Tired, but another fabulous day!

Follow us on PolarSteps for our in-depth travelogue and recommendations (download the App and search richandjulielove) ❤️🇨🇱

The Lovely Chalet Company

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