Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We chose the hard way to Machu Picchu.
This is a story-driven hiking and trekking vlog documenting our experience on the Salkantay Trek, one of the most challenging and scenic alternatives to the Inca Trail. Over three intense days, we hike 40 miles through the Peruvian Andes and rainforest, reaching high altitudes and pushing through exhaustion on our way to Machu Picchu.
This video focuses on what it’s really like to complete a multi-day trek in Peru. Early mornings, thin air, long miles, and the mental challenge of continuing when your body is tired. From glacier views and mountain passes to jungle trails and river valleys, this is the full Salkantay Trek experience.
If you regularly watch hiking vlogs, trekking documentaries, Machu Picchu videos, or Peru travel content, this video is for you. This is not a guide or itinerary. It’s a personal story about choosing effort, doing hard things, and following through on something you said you would do.
This video leads directly into our next episode, where we finally arrive at Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the New World.
📍 Follow along on Instagram: @emmaketeler
👍 Subscribe for more Peru travel, trekking, and hiking vlogs
We chose the hard way to Machu Picchu.
This is a story-driven hiking and trekking vlog documenting our experience on the Salkantay Trek, one of the most challenging and scenic alternatives to the Inca Trail. Over three intense days, we hike 40 miles through the Peruvian Andes and rainforest, reaching high altitudes and pushing through exhaustion on our way to Machu Picchu.
This video focuses on what it’s really like to complete a multi-day trek in Peru. Early mornings, thin air, long miles, and the mental challenge of continuing when your body is tired. From glacier views and mountain passes to jungle trails and river valleys, this is the full Salkantay Trek experience.
If you regularly watch hiking vlogs, trekking documentaries, Machu Picchu videos, or Peru travel content, this video is for you. This is not a guide or itinerary. It’s a personal story about choosing effort, doing hard things, and following through on something you said you would do.
This video leads directly into our next episode, where we finally arrive at Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the New World.
📍 Follow along on Instagram: @emmaketeler
👍 Subscribe for more Peru travel, trekking, and hiking vlogs
