According to folklore (and plate tectonics), Scotland was once supposedly warm. If you believe the locals, Scotland — and the whole of Europe, for that matter — was once situated close to the equator. The locals paint Olde Scotland as a tropical paradise, but after spending a few days there I suspect it was the whisky talking.

Before arriving in the Galápagos Islands, we thought we knew what to expect: A tropical, humid climate with freakish, other-worldly plant- and animal-life. And maybe a Charles Darwin theme park or something. But even better than all that, we found something far more elusive on this over-populated planet: solitude.

Though Quito was merely the second capital of the Inca Empire, it was and still is first in “cities surrounded on all sides by active volcanos.” It’s precarious position made for spectacular city views (and a highly profitable insurance industry). Still, we weren’t there for the views, we were there to kill time until the Galapagos.

In our quest to visit the world’s great centers of civilization, we've been to Roma, Athens, Egypt and others, but no civilization we’ve seen did more in less time than Peru’s Quechua people (popularly known as the Incas). And nothing those other civilizations ever did — even the great pyramids — can match the engineering prowess and coca-fueled madness on display in Machu Picchu.

Since there aren’t any nonstop flights to Machu Picchu — the Incas were advanced, but not enough to build airports (dammit!) — we had to get there from Cusco by traversing the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Many people choose to spend five whole days hiking the infamous “Inca Trail,” but that’s mental because you can take a perfectly civilized PeruRail train the entire way in, like…two hours.