TMB - Day 0

From New York City, we flew to Geneva, Switzerland on June 24, 2016 with a brief stopover in Amsterdam. We arrived in the morning of June 25 and from Geneva Airport we took the ALPY BUS (http://www.alpybus.com) to our hotel  for 49 euros each. It was very easy to reserve for a seat and the bus company sent me a very detailed information on where to meet the driver. The bus took us directly to our hotel in Les Houches called Hotel Chris-tal. We did our reservation a couple of weeks before we left for our trek and we did it directly through their website (http://www.chris-tal.com). The owner was very nice and communicated with us through e-mail in a timely manner when I had questions about our reservations. He also speaks really good English. For one night, we paid 95.15 euros for our room and paid an extra 10 euros each for breakfast. 

Since we arrived around noon in Les Houches, we decided to go to Chamonix to grab some late lunch/dinner. The hotel provided us with free bus tickets and the bus stop is just a few steps from the hotel.

Chamonix is a very nice town with so much stores and restaurants. Prior to the trek we did not have a map so we bought one here from one of the many sports stores for 10 euros. It is much cheaper compared to what they are selling here in the States. Unfortunately, we only used it once as the book we purchased was very detailed and included maps that were easy to follow.

Chamonix

There are so many restaurants to choose from! You can find restaurants serving French, American, Chinese, Indian, Italian, etc. food. Our guide book had many suggestions on where to eat but since we were in France, we decided to go to a French restaurant.

After our late lunch/ early dinner, we went back to our hotel in Les Houches for a long rest before the start of our Tour Du Mont Blanc the next day.

Tour Du Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc, at 15,781 feet, is the highest mountain in Western Europe. It is the tallest point of a spectacular massif of mountain peaks stretching 60 miles by 20 miles. It is also one of the world's deadliest mountain and has the highest fatality rate in Europe. So for those of us who are not trained alpinist, we can still see one of the the most spectacular mountain scenery in Europe by doing the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB). 

Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) from the Italian Side 

The trail is about 160 KM that circumnavigates the massif, passing through France, Italy and Switzerland. We completed the trek in 10 days with a total height gain (and of course loss) of 35,000 feet. It is the toughest hike that I have ever done (way harder than the Peruvian Andes!) but it is worth all the effort as the rewards that we saw on every climb were magnificent. 

July and August are the most popular months to do the trek but we decided to start early (June 25 - July 5) to avoid the crowds and also so we can still enjoy the snow on high passes. We made the right choice because aside from the fact that there were relatively not a lot people in the trails, the weather was great and we only had 1 rainy day during our entire trek!

OUR GUIDE BOOK

Here is a video of our trek:

Below is our itinerary. I will be posting more information for each day of our trek on other pages.

DAY	DATE	LOCATION			REFUGE/HOTEL/CAMP
0	25-Jun	Les Houches			Hotel Chris-Tal
1	26-Jun	Les Contamines			Hotel Christiania
2	27-Jun	Les Chapieux			Camp - Across Refuge de la Nova by the river
3	28-Jun	Rifugio Elisabetta			Rifugio Elisabetta
4	29-Jun	Courmayeur			Hotel Croux
5	30-Jun	Rifugio Bonatti			Rifugio Bonatti
6	1-Jul	La Fouly			Camp - Camping Les Glaciers
7	2-Jul	Champex			Les Rocailles Campsite
8	3-Jul	Le Peuty			Camp near Refuge Le Peuty
9	4-Jul	Tres Les Champ			Village Vacances Camping Pierre Semard
10	5-Jul	Chamonix			Hotel Richemond

Finally, Machu Picchu

Our trek was not at all technical. There were no rock scrambling nor any ice/snow climbing. But the high altitude was punishing! We hiked over 40 kilometers with the highest elevation at over 15,000 feet. We are relatively young and fit (at sea level) so we were surprised when we found ourselves gasping for oxygen as we hiked (sometimes dragged) our way up to every high altitude pass. But for each peak that we reach, we were rewarded with sweeping and spectacular views of the Peruvian Andes and some ancient Inca sites. The pictures we took were magnificent but they do not compare to the real scenery.

On the last day of our trek, we reached our destination - Machu Picchu: the lost city of the Incas. 

As we climbed our way to the site, the magnitude of it all came into focus. It is really beautiful, both historically and architecturally. However, Romeo and I agree that the journey, by far, surpassed the destination. Yes, we had a hard time adjusting to the altitude and we almost did not complete the trek. But we have this huge sense of accomplishment (and superiority :)) that we just did not feel in all the places that we have visited, thus far.