Woke up and peered out of the tent this morning to find sunshine!!! And an amazing view. Due to the clear skies it was freeeeeezing and we all layered up even though we knew we'd be peeling it all off as we walked. Honestly, we saw so many great Incan sites today. They were all just amazing. The best one by far though was Winaywayna (see cover pic). It was a massive set of terraces with the remains of some religious buildings on top. While we were there Bec a...

It rained all day. Most of the time it wasn't that heavy... Just the type of constant drizzle that eventually seeps through everything. Ascending 1200m (to 4300m) in that sort of weather is tough. Danielle, Brad and I were soon ahead of most people, as we seemed to have coped with the altitude better than others. By the time we reached the top of Dead Woman's Pass we were soaked through and freezing. Even though I could see my hands gripping my walking poles, I...

Got up early to drive out to out starting point for the trail. We met up with our porters... Who outnumber our group (and each of them carries 25 kilos of stuff) and they loaded up and started sprinting off into the distance. We had to show our passports before starting because apparently there has been some pretty violent crimes on the path before so the have started tracking exactly who comes in. The first day was pretty easy as we walked along fairly flat grou...

After leaving cuzco we drove to Ollyantambo, which was only about 45 mins but on the way we stopped at a couple of local houses to see their livelihoods. The first house we stopped at was a chocolate house. The girl there showed us how to get a cocoa bean, roast it, grind it up with raw sugar, melt it down and reset it in a brick shape and voila... Chocolate!! It is a far cry from Cadbury but it is still amazing!! Took a block for the road and went next door to a...

This morning, after some help from Deb the Travel Doctor, I was as right as rain. After brekkie we headed off to the Cuzco markets near the town square. Amazing. These markets had everything from local handcrafts to juice stands to areas where you can get a pig slaughtered. Truly awesome. There was so so much I wanted to buy but we get another free day in Cuzco after the inca trek, so I'll be going back for sure. Some of the group bought thermals for the trek, bu...