We battled for 5 long months to get a visa to visit Peru: it was hard, but we finally made it! Ever since we left Dubai, we were dreaming about going to Machu Picchu… And little did I know the day was going to be even more awesome than expected!

As we didn’t book with the 3 or 4 required months in advance that it takes to walk the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, we ended up taking a bus up there – much faster and easier on the core than 4 days walking in the mountains! We had to wake up at 4.30am to be some of the first people to arrive. Ashray woke up singing out loud “lovely day, lovely day!..”… I could have slapped him in my sleepy state, although looking at it now, I would’ve regretted it deeply.

To make up for the lack of Inca Trail hiking, we decided to go all the way up to Waynapicchu, the highest mountain surrounding the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu. Only 400 people can make it there each day and, for this, we got our tickets right on time.

The gate for the climb opened at 7AM – at this time I was thinking “this better be good!”. You got it right: I am not a morning person. The climb up was steep but there are little steps all the way up – those Incas sure knew how to build stuff. Stuff to last!

You see so many people of all ages going up that sometimes it’s quite inspiring. Other times it can get frustrating when a 60 year old guy walks right past you and gives you a condescending look.

When we finally reached the top, I couldn’t care less about my legs, the lack of breath (the climb + the altitude = killer combination!) or even the crowd taking photos all around. This was such an inspiring place! The top of the mountain is not even flat, it is just a collection of massive rocks that have adjusted to each other over centuries.

And so Ashray suggested we sit on a more secluded rock, overlooking the impressive Machu Picchu, just over the cliff. We were at 2720m over sea level. In other words, we were on top of the world! We turned on the video camera to make a video introduction of Machu Picchu, like we tend to do for new places we visit. After a lot of rambling (from my end, of course) I noticed Ashray was looking nervous. “It’s the altitude” I thought. But it wasn’t!

When I finally stop mumbling about how inspiring this place is, how well organized the Incas must have been and blablabla… Ashray said how happy he is with me. How great our travels together have been and how he wants to keep it that way. “Me too”, I said with a smile. But his uneasy lips were hiding something more: A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL!

I started hyperventilating – but in a good way! I said a nervous “of course!!!” followed by countless “Oh my God, oh my God!!”-s without being able to move much, that is if I didn’t want to free fall down the mountain. This was the most romantic thing EVER!

So here is the awesome news: WE’RE ENGAGED!

We are really excited about all of this and happy to share the news with you!

We have tons of plans ahead: Bolivia, Mexico, USA, Portugal, India and, of course, a wedding to plan! I am going Bollywood baby!! ;)

We will keep you updated about all the fun things to come.

In the meantime, raise your glass with us! :D