Pictures... inbound!

I´m not convinced this is going to work... but I´ve been & bought an adapter so that my camera card will plug in to the hotel´s computer via usb - the only problem is that the usb slots have all had stickers stuck over them to stop people doing the same so I had to be sneaky & do it when the lady on reception wasn´t looking!

Anyway, Polly left me a chastising comment so what choice did I have but to break the law?!

Anyway, see how these turn out... & shhhhh...


Head in the clouds... day 3


Tunnel through the mountainside, day 3


Pathway through the cloud forest, day 3

- This internet connection is seriously slow, so I´m going to upload just a couple of images from Machu Picchu then call it a day. As soon as I get to a faster connection - or think of a way to get them onto the iPad - I´ll upload some more.


First sight of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate...


As the clouds start to burn away Machu Picchu appears...


Machu Picchu in all its glory... breathtaking!

As soon as I can I´ll upload high res versions - they really show the city off in all its glory.

Day 17 / Inca Trek Day 4 - The Big Cahooner

... 1:00am - no sound of dogs, no sound of cockerels, so sound of donkeys, not even any sound of John snoring - why? Because I couldn't hear any above the sound of the rain thundering down on the outside of the tent that's why!!!

Oh no. To decamp in the rain - let alone walk the final part of the trail - would be horrendous. & very dangerous due to the sloppy uneven rocks underfoot. Serious prayer required. I had about 2 hours in which to pester God so much with prayer that surely, this one last time, He'd come through for us. That's how it works isn't it?!

I knew Fiona was awake too - basically if Fiona's awake she's talking. If Fiona's not talking it means she's asleep. She & Maddy are best pals, both Christians, & are great fun. Fiona just has bags of energy - & loves talking :) She even talked all the way up to Dead Woman's Pass on day 2! She & Maddy were in the tent next to us.

Over the next 2 hours bits by bit the drops became slower & softer. By alarm call at 3:00am all that could be heard was the occasional fall of rain water from the leaves of the trees above our tents - of which one went straight down the back of my neck the minute I unzipped the tent door! Why does that always happen?!

Another prayer answered. I do believe we're being looked after on this trip... funny that :)

Camp was a hive of activity from the off - people brushing teeth left right & centre, last minute supplies being crammed in to backpacks, porters' backsides sticking out of tents as they rolled up sleeping bags & mats within, anoraks being put on & zipped up 'just in case'...

A hurried breakfast of cake & coffee & camp was empty of Trekkers by 3:55am.

We walked down to the checkpoint which was in darkness but achieved our goal of being first - just in time too as moments later another group of about 20 came down from the campsite & joined us. Behind :)

The next hour & a half were cold, wet & boring. Nowhere to lean against to 'nod back off', just a damp perch to rest on while we waited. One by one torches were turned off to conserve batteries - & because there was nothing to look at anyway! It was pitch black. Slowly, at about 5:10am, it started to get lighted. Gradually the mountains & valleys came in to view as the darkness faded & the cloud filled valley started to clear. It was very misty, but very picturesque. Then, the checkpoint opened & the still of the last hour & a quarter was gone. Backpacks on & clipped in to place. We went through the gate & WE WERE OFF!

It reminded me a bit of greyhound racing. Where the dogs are all in their cages waiting excitedly, then they see the 'hare' go by & the traps doors are lifted... & they're away, legs moving so fast they're a blur - it was a bit like that. Except our legs were only blurred because we were all still half asleep! But the pace was manic!

We had no idea how long this bit was supposed to last for, or how far it was, or what the gradient was going to be like - I'm sure we'd been told, but my brain had deleted the info. So as we walked, hitting some really steep gradients & steps along the way, I could feel the energy starting to drain from me. Somehow I'd managed to start at the back - where I didn't really want to be as I'd worked hard to stay near the front throughout - so in addition to the breakneck pace, I pushed myself even harder to find little 'spaces' either side of the guys in front to politely pass. By the time we actually reached the Sun Gate I was in the middle, which I was happy with :)

The Sun Gate is the point at which the sun rises from the viewpoint of the Sun Temple in Machu Picchu. As such the views vice versa, from the Sun Gate towards the City, are amazing... on a clear morning. Which this morning was sadly not. It was a bit of an anti-climax. This had been the main reason for getting up so early & is always a gamble because the guides never know whether Machu Picchu is going to clear on any given morning until the actual time comes.

Other sad news was that Helena was now poorly with the stomach thing & was really struggling. Mind you, the pace probably wouldn't have helped - it about finished me off!

We had a breather at the Sun Gate & then started off for the final part of the trail to the City. It was a steady downward path from the Gate to the City & by the time we reached it it was thickly shrouded in cloud. Every now & then the cloud would thin & reveal a tantalising glimpse, but we were going to have to be patient & wait for 9:00am when the sun would rise high enough to burn away the remaining clouds. With the time at 7:30am, we again settled down patiently.

Aneke & Chris, who hadn't done the trail, were waiting for us with Angel, & it was great to hear their news as we waited - Aneke had done the Lares Trek while Chris had taken the opportunity to further explore Cusco & to visit The Sacred Valley of the Incas. Angel had very kindly bought a bottle of 'Champagne' & some little glasses so after we'd toasted our success we gathered for some group photos & to thank Henry & Enrique for their work guiding us through the trail over the 4 days.

9:00am came. There it was. The Lost City of Machu Picchu. It was absolutely breathtaking. To think that I was standing in the very spot where all the photos I'd seen in the books & on the Internet before I came was boggling. Aside from that, to think I was standing where ancient Incas had stood over 500 years ago, where they had walked, where they had worked, where they had worshipped... just awesome. & to think I had walked here along the same paths they had walked, along the paths they had made by hand over a period of hundreds of years... just too big for my little brain.

I wandered round, half listening to what Henry was telling us, half drifting off in to my own imagination of what might have taken place in each of these perfectly built rooms, looking to the Sun Gate to see where we had walked down from & imagining Inca people looking to the same place, from where I was standing, in a completely different space in time. I was a very happy chap :)

It's thought that the people of Machu Picchu fled the City before the Spanish ever found it. Other towns had been found & destroyed by the Spanish because traffic & trade had led them to it. With Machu Picchu being deserted before the Spanish even got that deep in to the valleys - & with it being so high - it just 'got missed', which explains why it is so remarkably intact. With the Inca tribes of the north fighting the Inca tribes of the south - & with their unsophisticated weaponry compared to the Spanish - it was an easy task for the Spanish to conquer & defeat the Inca people.

Machu Picchu remained hidden for nearly 400 years until it was 'discovered' by American historian Hiram Bingham in 1911. The vegetation that had grown to cover the city over the last 400 years was painstakingly removed over the years that followed, between 1912 & 1915. The city that was revealed was almost as it had been left the day the Incas had fled. A piece of time, freeze framed.

The City is both the best & the least known of the Inca ruins. It isn't mentioned in any of the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors (for the reasons mentioned above) & archeologists today can do no more than speculate on its function. The local Quechua (Inca decendants) farmers in the area knew of Machu Picchu for centuries, but it wasn't until an 11 year old boy led the American historian (who was actually in search of Vilcabamba) to the site that the rest of the world became aware of its existence.

We spent hours walking round the City - until we had reached saturation point I think - then one by one we walked down to the exit & caught the bus down in to the town of Aguascalientes for some lunch & to wait for our train.

The train journey took as back past the point at which we had started at 'Kilometre 82' - it seemed so long ago now, but in reality had only been a few days ago. We were all pretty smelly, definitely exhausted, but happily content at what we'd achieved - & certainly still in total awe of what we had seen.

We disembarked at ican'trememberwherebecausemybrainhasgonetosleep & hopped on the GAP minibus for a 2 hour drive back to Cusco where we collapsed in to our rooms & very quickly drained the hotel of every drop of hot water!

It was suggested that we had a 'night out' after dinner, but even the youngsters were slow to agree... I was whacked, so as soon as we'd finished eating (I had an Alpaca cheeseburger & a very large glass of red wine - very nice!) I headed back to the hotel with Mike & John & after a quick catch up on emails from home I hit the sack - hard!

A free day in Cusco tomorrow, before heading off to the Amazon Rainforest for 2 nights on Tuesday. So tomorrow will be gift day - up early, get sorted, hit the town. I have some ideas :)

Signing off, powering down, refuelling. Adios :)

Day 16 / Inca Trek Day 3

I have some bad news to start the blog with... I reached capacity on my iPad today. That means I've filled the 16gb memory on this thing with photos & I can't load any more on now until I get home & download them all. So from here there'll be no photos - which is a shame because I've not reached Machu Picchu yet or been to the Amazon :( Nevermind - if can't work out a way to upload them without using the iPad I'll upload them later. Sorry :(

Anyway, back to business...

Although a quieter night, it was a very, very cold one - & to top it all (a) I couldn't find my sleeping bag liner, & (b) my inflatable pillow had a puncture! So I woke up at around 2:30am cold & with a stiff neck, although Mike had very kindly lent me his little pillow but it was a bit 'flat' - but not as flat as mine! I had to fold it in half & in half & in half to get my head at the right angle, then when I moved in the night it sprang back flat again so I had to fold it up again - this happened every time I moved... it was a long night!

I spent the next couple of hours tossing & turning in my sleeping bag, wrapping my arms around myself trying to generate some body heat & pulling the drawstring so tightly around my face that it was barely a slit. It worked a little but by 4:30am the old body clock had started working again & it was time to abloot anyway!

I don't know how many of you rememember the detailed description I gave of the loos on the Everest blog - but the loos while we've been on this trek have been exactly the same, with the exception that they've been outside & have been absolutely disgusting! Everyone uses the same loos - even the porters - & all I'll say is it's no wonder Peru lost 2-1 to Chile the other night, their aim is appalling!

Still, I've managed to keep hold of the loo roll this time - none have got away from me. I think my calf & thigh muscles must have come on a bit too since Base Camp as I haven't fallen over either :) I have a great system going... as it were :|

Anyway, thought you might like a little toilet talk. Back to the serious stuff :)

"Morning tea" came again at 5:00am - in the form of coffee again. Breakfast at 5:30am - jam on toast, pancakes (!) & a hot chocolate :) Water bottles topped up & back on the trail at 6:00am. Today was set to be a lot easier on the muscles & lungs than yesterday - but I wasn't holding my breath (see what I did there?) boom boom. Just climbing the 12 or so steps up from the toilet block first thing this morning about finished me off, so I wasn't even sure if I'd get out of the camp!

Update on the poorly people by the way - John & Ruth are cured & back on track (see what I did there?!), however Anna has woken up this morning with sickness & headache. Prayers went up again - God's certainly got his hands full with us lot this trip!

Today is the longest distance we cover in one day - 16km in total. Yesterday we reached the highest point on the trail - Dead Woman's Pass - today we will reach the second highest point, Runkuraqay at 3998m (13193ft), where hopefully (weather permitting) we'll get some clear views of the snow-capped Cordillera Vilcabamba, a small range of the Andes Mountains extending about 160 miles. There are three passes in total today but nowhere near the verticals of yesterday - Runkuraqay, Sayacmarca at 3600m (11880ft) and Phuyupatamarca at 3700m (12210ft).

After the energy draining, muscle sapping day yesterday, there were very few of us without aching bodies this morning - & everyone's knees were creaking! But as we walked, everything seemed to loosen up & with a steadier pace, more consistent pace - & at times a far more 'balanced' gradient - we were able to take in far more of our surroundings as we walked.

The trail up to lunch time took us through the beautiful cloud forest - so named because the forest is so dense with trees, bamboo, grass etc that the humidity is really high. The effect of this, with the firesy being nestled in a valley too, is that huge clouds form all the way through the forest giving the effect that we were walking through the clouds as we followed the trail. At some points the cloud cleared a little & we were able to see over the edge of the path we walked - the drop was sheer, & huge! It made me slightly nervous of my footing as I walked along the narrow, original Inca path, made of uneven, wet, rocks... one slip & I literally would be gone. It was made worse by the fact that I was walking on my own (I quite like it that way) & really, no-one would have known until the next checkpoint! Anyway, I didn't, & all was well. It's amazing where your mind goes as you walk...!

Emerging from the forest by lunchtime, the food & kitchen tents had been set up ready for us. The toothless smiles of the porters greeted us as one by one we arrived. Lunch today, yet again, filled us with awe as after the asparagus soup starter came a buffet! Dish, after dish, after dish kept appearing from the kitchen tent - there was chicken in sauce, crispy wontons with cheese inside, fresh salad in a beautiful spicy dressing, potatoes, rice, a sort of ham/chicken/pate type pie, mashed potato... it was just amazing - & very tasty too. Pudding - have a guess? Jelly! Strawberry jelly! It was just great. The thing that just topped it off for us I think was as we sat eating, a mother Llama & her 2 cria (baby llamas) came & walked up to our tent door as we were eating, had a look in, then walked on past & stopped to graze just outside! Surreal.

Needless to say, nobody wanted to restart after lunch. Anna had crashed, a couple of others were nodding & John, of course, was asleep :)

But, the 'Gringo Killer' was waiting for us, & we were to see exactly why yesterday's descent had only been the 'tickler' for today. I think the descent's name refers to the gringo's (us) knees... not literally us getting killed! So called because it is a 1000m (3300ft) descent, with no breaks (other than bones! Lol). If you need a breather, you teeter on the edge of one of the thousands of original Inca steps, draw breath & then resume. Concentration needed to be 110% - anything less & we'd have been over & at the gradient we faced I don't think any of us would have stopped rolling for a while either, especially John!

The descent took about 2 & a half hours - & it was constant. Owen will often present to me 'which is worst' scenarios - like "which would you rather be: really good looking & skinny, or really ugly but have big muscles". In that particular scenario the choice has already been made of course, but in others it may be really hard to decide - & today Owen could have asked me "which do you prefer: hard climbing up or hard climbing down?" & I have to say in all honesty I just don't know! The obvious choice for all of us I guess would be downhill beats uphill every time - but I gotta tell you, the jury's out for me!

At the end of the descent, Henry had given us a blue pill red pill choice - where the road forks we could either (a) fork right & take a nice leisurely gentle shortcut down to the camp at Winaywayna or (b) fork left & face more steps going up & down, taking a longer route to the camp, but enjoy some great views of the valley, the Amazon basin, & see some Inca terracing up close & personal. Well, I chose the red pill of course didn't I - more steps & a longer route! I figured, walking's what I came here to do - it's not as if I'll ever get to this again! By now Francis, Coral & Brianna had caught up, so we all took the red pill together.

We were not disappointed. The views were incredible. Of course we took the obligatory photos of each other with the huge landscapes in the background - but they really were vast. Huge mountains pushing themselves up out of the earth, forming the deep deep Urubamba Valley in between, each mountain peak disappearing into clouds - & behind them huge snow covered peaks of the Andean mountains - & so green! Trees & vegetation everywhere - every inch of the mountainsides & valleys beneath carpeted in green. How can mountains this high be covered with such life? Boggling.

From our viewpoint we could see the campsite on the other side of the valley, sat on a series of shallow terraces. Little spots of red on an otherwise green mountainside, they seemed quite out of place - but very welcoming :)

The walk across to them took a very short time & very soon we were sat in the doorways of our tents with our feet in bowls of warm water, prepared ready & waiting for us by the porters. Our heroes :)

Anna had taken the blue pill at the fork & was already at camp, but she looked far better & was feeling better too. Another prayer answered :)

A 6:30pm dinner followed our 5:00pm popcorn tea & everyone was eager to get to bed early in preparation for the early start the next day. It seems a bit of a blur now - & as I write this everyone else has crashed out in bed so I can't ask - but I think our 'last supper' was soup followed by chicken... it was very nice whatever it was, but after being awake now for some 20 hours non-stop my brain has just deleted that snippet of info. I'm sure you don't mind though do you? If you do, email me & I'm sure someone will remember...!

Before dinner I somehow became treasurer & it was up to me to collect everyone's tip money. It's customary in Peru to tip for just about everything. Tour guides & porters are no exception, but I have to say, we all felt more than happy to thank them this way for all their hard work, their smiling faces & their willingness to please. So after collecting it all in I split it up (as recommended in the guide book) & after dinner all the porters & the 2 chefs were asked to join us in the food tent. It was a very tight squeeze & by the end a very fruity aroma had joined us in the tent too!

I had asked Miguel (Spanish for Michael) to say a few words on our behalf as he is fab at speaking Spanish, which he did brilliantly. He then presented Marco with our tips, which we had put in an envelope (they would share it out accordingly amongst themselves later) & we each took the opportunity to thank each one of them for their work. It was great :)

Anyway, bedtime beckoned & we headed off. 3:00am was to be the wake up time in the morning, hoping to leave for the checkpoint (a short five minute walk) by 4:00am. Although the checkpoint itself didn't open until 5:30am, we wanted to be first in the queue as the trail after that point would be narrow & difficult to overtake if we got sthuck behind a slow walker.

After I'd managed to locate the large stone that was sticking in to the base of my spine (by getting out of my sleeping bag, going outside & sliding my walking pole underneath the tent and giving it a good jiggle/scrape - which I'm sure would have been an interesting view as I squatted there in my skin tight thermal tights & my walking boots), & folding Mike's pillow into eighths for the umpteenth time... I nodded off.

Day 15 / Inca Trek Day 2

"Morrrrning Tea!" oh, that cry outside the tent took me back :)

It wasn't quite the same though - what with Mike grinning at me from 'the other side' of the 'tent' & not Rob, coupled with the fact it was actually coffee. But the thought was there. It was certainly flaming cold enough! Corrr!

Dressed super quick & in to the food tent for breakfast... porridge to start (I put a hefty dollop of honey - yes, honey! - in mine), followed by pizza! How on earth do you cook fresh pizza up here?! Beautiful crispy base, with fresh tomato, olives & melted cheese. Man, will Marco ever cease to amaze us?! Finished off, as ever with a nice hot coffee :)

6:00am, vamonos (Spanish for 'let's go!'). A brief walk to the second checkpoint of the trek. While we were waiting, we had a 'weigh in' to see which of us was carrying the heaviest backpack as there were some random scales at the side of the waiting area. First prize went to Anna whose pack weighed in at 9.7kgs. Second prize to... yep, you guessed it, me! Weighing in at a very close 9.2kgs - only half a kilo off winning. Not sure whether that's good or bad though... ask me later!

We were cleared for take off & bang, we were straight in to it. The plan for the day: climb, climb, climb, short rest, descend. Estimated time 7 hours. Estimated arrival time at camp 2, 2:00pm. None of us expected it to be so hard though.

Warmiwanusca, or Dead Woman's Pass, sits at 4198m (13769ft) above sea level. This will be the highest point we pass on the trek. Again, the trail is original Inca consisting of a mixture of rough rugged stone paths, steps varying in height from a couple of inches to knee height, loose dirt, unstable rocks & wet rock where fresh water streams flow across - & until we reach Warmiwanusca it's up, up, up & more up at inclines that hurt your neck as you look up at where you're walking.

It was a killer. Five & a half hours of absolute purgatory. I can honestly say I have never, ever, done anything so hard in all my life - & I thought Everest Base Camp was hard! For those who know it, this climb was even harder - & longer & certainly more relentless - than even the Namche Bazaar climb! At times I thought my heart was going to burst out from my chest, at others I thought I was just going to keel over & die! Today will stay with me - & no doubt haunt me - for a long, long time.

The views, of course, were spectacular. I took as many photos as I had energy for, but in the end I couldn't even lift my feet over small stones my legs were so heavy - so I'd just walk round them! I'd rest to take a breather & take some water, my heart rate would come down, my breathing would even out & I'd feel ok to set off again - then within a step or two I'd be faced with a huge step as high as my knees & I'd have to heeeeeave myself up it & all the energy would just drain away & I'd have to stop again!

In the end, the final destination came in to view. Right up high above me was the silhouette of where the valleys met at the very top of the path I was walking along. Through the zoom lens on my camera (on max) I could make out the shapes of people moving along it - like little hairs on sticking up from an imaginary arm. So, that was the goal then - question was, how long would that take. At that point it looked impossible.

Step after painful step I plodded on. Sometimes I'd only be able to make a dozen paces before it came too much, then I'd get in to a bit of a flow & I'd manage longer. But always, it was the knee height steps that would just deflate my energy level in one fell swoop. Another hour passed & I was encouraged to look up & see that I could make out the shapes of the people on the edge above with my bare eye. I plodded on.

Another half an hour & I was within touching distance, yet with each step it remained just out of reach. By now my chest was hurting with size of breaths I was needing to take to just stay with it. I was feeling every gram of the 9.2kgs I was carrying on my back & I was wishing I could just curl up...

Then - I was there. 4 smiling faces greeted me - I was the fifth in. Rene got there first, Brianna second, Ruth third, Angelina fourth. Very well done to them, but I just couldn't have done any better - I didn't think I was going to make it in at all!

The remaining 10 came in over the next hour, so we had a good long rest time - during which I emptied my backpack of all food! 2 packets of cheese biscuits, an apple, a cereal bar & a bar of what looked like bird seed - my body was just crying out for sugar! Once everyone had come in we spent a little longer resting so that everyone could recoup a bit, then we a group photo - times 15 cameras! It took a while :)

Then came the decent. Not as hard on energy, but very hard on the body. Almost vertical in some places, with steps as deep as the knee high ones a good chunk of the way, it took Rene & I (as we walked together for this last part) just under an hour to descend the 1162m (3655ft) - & boy did my knees & thighs know it! They went in to spasm & started to shake the minute we reached camp - & the worst of it was that this was just a short introduction into tomorrow's afternoon decent (more details to follow!). They soon calmed down though - thankfully! Tonight we will camp at Paqaymayo at an altitude of 3660m (12078ft).

The other 13 started to come in after about another 5 minutes & over the next 45 minutes.

We had another wonderful lunch - soup, spicy chicken with piped mash potato (!) & apple pie for pud. Amazing.

An afternoon spent recovering was gratefully received during which I blogged while Mike diaried. Tea was at 5:30pm - cheese puff pastry turnover & apple puff pastry turnover, plus hot chocolate. Dinner was equally delicious - soup, more spicy chicken finished off with you'll never guess what... a proper iced sponge cake! How on earth...?! Just amazing - it was really like & scrum my too :)

Interesting statistic of the day from Mike: "Today we have ascended a total height of 1219m (4022ft), which is the equivalent of climbing Ben Nevis in one day - but from sea level." I think we can pat ourselves on the back :)

A long day awaits us tomorrow: up at 5:00am, breakfast at 5:30am, leave camp 6:00am. Walking 16km total - with a mixture of hard uphill & rolling gradient. At the minute I just need sleep - so dogs, donkeys, cockerels & John's snoring pending... we'll see!

To be continued...

Day 14 / Inca Trek Day 1... & so it begins

Well, 4:15am came around far quicker than any of us would have liked. Not helped by the party revellers under the window at 1:00am, the person in one of the adjoining rooms who decided to move all the furniture around in their room at 2:00am & finally the drum & bass that reverberated through both the hotel & our bodies at 3:00am. Apart from that we slept great & it was over far too soon.

Showers, frantic final packing - adding to & taking away - & breakfast at 5:00am. Bad news greeted us as we congregated - both John & Ruth had been up most of the night being poorly & Maddy was borderline being poorly too, but was managing to hold it together. We needed a plan - so Mike & I decided we would pray. We had to do it separately as neither of us had finished packing, but when we met up afterwards ready to board the bus we commented that we both had an overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be ok... more news on that in a bit :)

5:30am, we were on the road. 2 hour drive ahead to the town of Ollantaytambo (also known as Qoricancha) where we had a 20 min break to use the loos & get a final stash of snacks/water/choc etc - also to get rain ponchos which we've been advised are better to trek in than a rain mac... we'll see! I bought a bright yellow poncho - it seemed a good idea at the time.

Back on the bus for the final part of the bus journey, we arrived at 'kilometre 82' at Chillca, where the passport control point was & the official 'start point', complete with sign :)

We pulled into a fielded area, disembarked & gathered together to collect our hired walking poles & sleeping bags. We were also given a small bag of 'snacks' consisting of some fruit, some biscuits & a couple fo boiled sweets - we would be needing these! In addition our main guide Henry (who we were introduced to at the breifing meeting in Cusco the day we arrived) we were also introduced to Enrique, Henry's right hand man. Introductions over, it was time to 'move out' :)

We then had to stand in the chilly shade of the outdoor checkpoint for 30 minutes, waiting for our paperwork to be checked :( but at 9:15am - & after the obligatory group photo under the sign (on 15 cameras) - we were off! We crossed the railway bridge & followed the trail alongside the Rio Urubamba (Rio means River) & the railway track. We set a good pace & were all pretty close together - & would you believe it, John & Ruth's recovery was coming on in leaps & bounds... good stuff this praying!

With regular stops to get our breath, drink water & to eat the fruit & sugar snacks we'd been given at the beginning, we covered the first part of the route in good time. Just before the trail split away from the both the river & the railway line, we reached 'Llactapata', home to the next largest Inca ruins when compared to Machu Picchu. Although deep in the valley below where we had climbed to, the ruins of the town were extremely clear to see & were incredibly well preserved. It was fascinating to see where the channels for water supply down from the mountains were, where the living quarters had been, where the livestock would have been kept, where the water storage areas had been, where the store houses were, where sacrificial offerings of animals would have been made - even the vast terraces on which they had farmed. It really was fascinating - & to think we were actually walking the exact same pathways the Incas had walked was just boggling.

It was at this point it started to rain. Great chance to try out my new rain poncho I thought. I got it out. I was disappointed to find out that it was basically a plastic sheet - similar to that you'd put on the floor if you were decorating a room - with a hole in the middle (which I had to stretch to get my fat bounce through) - with a very pathetic hood. As soon as a gust of wind came, the whole thing blew up in the air & all I could see was bright yellow. Unperturbed I made a slight change to the design & knotted the back bit to the front bit on each side with a knot about where my hips were. This seemed to do the job - even if I did look like a child's bath toy.

We set off to where we would be stopping for lunch - which was downhill from where we were. As I came down, the wind came up, I inflated & nearly took off! Again, all I could see was yellow! Fortunately, it provided everyone in the group with much amusement & I managed to negotiate the rocky path underfoot without breaking my ankle - not to mention getting blown off the side of the mountain. However, I did arrive at our lunch point looking a complete berk. But at least I was dry. The yellow rain poncho will next be seen at 60 Main Street when Jez comes to paint the windows :|

We walked (one of us floated) across a small bridge, through a wooded area - & wow. There before us in what I can only describe as 'animal eden' were 2 tents - surrounded by virtually every animal you could think of. There'd were pigs, little piglets following, chickens, little chicks following, donkeys, dogs, little puppies following... the list goes on! But what was particularly fascinating was the hive of activity - it felt like there were people everywhere. One of the tents was the 'kitchen', the other was the 'dining room'. The kitchen was where the head chef - Marco - & the assistant chef (can't remember his name) worked their magic. All the other guys - of which there were 20 - were porters. Henry told us that Marco was one of the best chefs that GAP had, so we would be eating very well... :)

He wasn't wrong. We dumped our backpacks on the groundsheet, washed our hands & waited to see just what could be cooked in the middle of nowhere half way up a mountain...

Out came the starter (!), a lovely vegetable soup. Next came the main course, beautifully cooked trout with fresh - yes fresh - hot vegetables, sliced potatoes & a lovely 'sweet & sour esqe' sauce. Lastly the pudding, a fresh strawberry mousse. All washed down with a nice cup of coffee at the end. I ask you - who could have predicted that little lot?! It was amazing & we all gave Marco a round of applause when he came to introduce himself to us afterwards. We'll certainly not be going hungry this trek! I was starting to worry just how I was going to disguise this on the blog - after all, we're supposed to be having a hard time here! I have decided that honestly is the best ploy though - the cat's bound to get out the bag at some point otherwise!

After lunch, we had about 40 minutes before we needed to head out again, so some mooched around taking pics, others napped, others just had a walk around. I desperately needed 40 winks, of course, but knew if i lay down there would be no way i would be able to get up again! So I joined the moochers & i think i got a shot of every animal :)

Time up, we moved out again & started to hike quite hard - almost straight away - to reach the next viewpoint where we would be able to see 'Veronica' - the tallest Andean mountain in Peru - at 5682m. It was a hard hike - after being left to feel so pampered by lunch, the last thing I was expecting was a hard hike! I felt almost hard done to! The sun was at it's hottest point as it was around 12 noon & we were hiking to around 2900m above sea level, so we were a lot nearer to it as well! By the time we reached the viewpoint I was a dripping, sweaty, soaking mess - even my head was sweating! It was sweltering - & I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes, because I'd forgotten to bring any mosquito spray. Derrr.

However, within minutes of stopping - especially because we'd stopped in the shade - body temperature dropped & the wet clothing became freezing cold! However, we got some nice shots of Veronica - it was lovely to meet her - then we set off for the last push to our campsite at Huayllabamba sitting at 3100m above sea level, by which time out trekking for the day would complete & we would have climbed approximately 700m (2310ft).

We duly arrived at the campsite & again were blown away by the efficiency of the team - especially the porters. These guys must have superhuman strength. In between us setting off after lunch, they had decamped the lunch venue - in its entirety - overtaken us, set up camp here including all the sleeping tents, the eating tent & the kitchen tent, & were there to greet us with smiling faces as we staggered in through the gateway! Phenomenal.

Before we went & sorted ourselves out in our tents, Henry gathered us all together & we spent some time being introduced to the team - including their names, their ages, where they were from & their marital status (nearly all were single!). After this we introduced ourselves - in Spanish (ooh, get us) - with name, age & where we were from. The ladies were each asked their marital status & the men were asked if they had any single sisters at home! I didn't realise it was that kind of trek!

Afterwards we went off & got ourselves sorted in the tents, freshened up (including feet!), then went to the food tent for tea at 5:00pm - FRESH POPCORN! Made from Peruvian corn & accompanied by bread, strawberry jam & hot drinks :) It just keeps getting better... & more surreal by the minute! Salted popcorn, at 3100m, in the middle of the Andes... wake me up will you?!

An hour & a half later we sat down to dinner. A beautiful soup to start, with more fresh vegetables, potatoes, omelette pieces (?!), chives... then we had fresh chicken with yet more fresh vegetables. Wonderful. No pudding - which is what I guess 'tea' does & means the guys can clear all the food stuff away, get washed up etc & have the food tent cleared ready for lights out by 8pm. The sleeping arrangements for the porters are organised by raffle - 19 of them (not 20 as the head porter has a tent) draws lots for sleeping position on the floor of the food tent. The table are folded away & they bunk down on a ground sheet - the best lot apparently the one in the middle as it's the warmest!

We all teeth brushed & ablooted & everything went very quiet, very quickly. That was until 3:00am when the dogs started barking, then the cockerel started at 4:00am.

The tents are 2 person & are very small, so it's interesting trying to juggle backpack, boots, walking poles, duffle bag, sleeping bag & emergency supplies in case you get 'caught short' in the night - which I did of course! Then the zip got jammed & I couldn't get out. Stupid cockerel - my body was nicely shut down until he started, then he wouldn't shut up. You know what it's like when you wake up & can't get back off... well, if you're old like me you will ;)

Then, before I knew it, it was...