Four days of....

Inca caves
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Time for our trek to Machu Picchu.....

Hard to write something original here (not that the rest of this blog is covering unexplored pastures!), as it must be one of the most popular gringo trips in South America. We had booked ourselves onto the extra expensive 1st March start date, not by choice but we have to move quickly on this trip. So much to do....

Leaving on the first of March meant that the trail had had a whole month to recover, hopefully this meant clean paths, clean toilets (they get pretty bad, although if you have been to a festival then they are peanuts) and less folk around. It wasn't too far from this, although there were a lot of folk on the path. Must be one of the busiest days.

That's a long way down
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For those few that don't know, the Inca (or should I say Inka?) trail is a path that leads to Machu Picchu via various inca remains that have been discovered over the last century, mainly by the Harvard scholar Hiram Bingham. The path, rather surprisingly, is only about 45% authentic, the remainder being created by the Peru tourist board or equivalent. The made up bit includes the second day hike up to dead women's pass allegedly, although as mummies were found here I guess it must have been some sort of Inca trail. The 'traditional' trail takes four days to get to Machu Picchu. It is a pretty straight forward trek apart from the second day, which involves a climb of around a kilometre.

Smile, we made it
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We had chosen a company called Andean Life as we had met folk around on our travels who recommended them to us. From the start they were very professional. The food we had over the 4 days was sublime. Hard to believe the guy didn't have some sort of giant oven with him. Three course meals were the norm, sometimes even stretching to four. So much for four days where we don't gorge on rich food! Our guide, 'Super cool Freddie' was a hoot all the way through, although he did struggle somewhat in the drinking games after that hellish day two. Bless his cottons....

Relief personified
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Machu Picchu was obviously very impressive, although we couldn't see fully MP in all it's glory from the sun gate, the clouds cleared shortly afterwards and we could see all. After a very informative tour of MP by Super cool Freddie, where we learnt all about what those Incas were up to, or at least what people believe they were up to. After that we were left to our own device so we decided to climb Winy Picchu, a lookout built on hill next to Machu Picchu. After a 25 minute climb we reached the lookout, where you get amazing views over MP. The buildings are perched right on the edge of sheer cliff faces. These Incas were mad. We reckon at least 50% of the workforce must have died building it, as it was a sheer 500m drop below. Maybe not, but they do like high places.

Don't you dare...
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We had a great tour, thanks to a great crowd, great guides and great porters. A thoroughly enjoyable experience, even if we did have to get up at ridiculous times in the morning.

That's right, this traveling lark is not one long lie-in folks. In fact, I can't remember when we had had more than 9 hours sleep.We need a beach! And soon. Wouldn't mind a chicken vindaloo and a cup of Tetley's too.