'It was literal hell': Aussie traveller reveals the dangerous mistake she made on dream Machu Picchu trip
A Sydney woman has described a trip of a lifetime to Peru as turning into “literal hell” after making an awful mistake.
Renata Yannoulis, 26, was meant to be on the trip of a lifetime to Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains in 2016.
She had immunisation and took a number of precautions before going but made an error in judgement.
“We chose one of the cheapest companies we could find to take us there. In retrospect, that should have been an indicator of what was to come,” she told news.com.au.
Ms Yannoulis said alarm bells went off when she first noticed the guides cleaning dishes in water next to the public toilets.
Stuck on a rugged track, with no travel insurance, no money to get the group out and a language barrier, the group had no choice but to eat the food they were given.
A stomach virus then hit the group and the hike turned into Hell.
“One person tried to get up and get to the toilet at the campsite in the middle of the night, and out of sheer exhaustion actually s*** themselves in the tent,” she said.
“We cried with her. We were all in it together.”
Ms Yannoulis said the group relieving themselves in front of 200 people quickly became a regular occurrence.
But the group managed to carry on and hit the top of the mountain.
Unfortunately, after days of illness they could only manage three hours in the village.
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“Basically, I took a couple of photos and then pretty much took a nap on the ruins. I feel like I didn’t get to have my ‘wow’ moment because we were all so exhausted and sleep-deprived and sick,” she said.
New research from Southern Cross Travel Insurance states more than 25 per cent of Aussies get sick from bad food overseas.
But despite the crippling stomach cramps, Ms Yannoulis said she still enjoyed the trip and “can laugh about it now”.
