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Day 1 - Inca trail
We woke bright and early, ready to be collected for the start of our Inca adventure. Travelling to Ollantaytambo by mini van - traditionally the start of the classic inca trail - we stopped in town for a quick look around and a cuppa hot cocoa leaf tea, before continuing on our way to the dizzying heights of Abra Malaga 4316 mts above sea level. Here we swapped mini van for mountain bike, and began our journey in earnest, cycling 40km down the winding mountain. Although the route was paved road, Serge and I still managed to find some choice off road sections and had soon left our fellow group (slow pokes) for dust! A near miss later - Marys rear wheel and disc brake had worked its way loose and was about to send her hurtling over the cliff edge - Luckily Serge spotted this in time to save her from an untimely death (slightly embellished here I think) and we had made it to Huamanmarca for a well deserved rest and lunch break. Continuing on to Santa Maria we spent the night at a guest house in town - awoken before we had even slept by a earthquake tremor which shook the whole building, but to be fair a washing machine on spin could of done just the same!
Day 2
The walking begins. Another early rise and shine and we start our easy 6 hour trek to Santa Teresa. Along the way we saw so many things from cocoa and coffee plantations to wild animals, birds and butterflies, we snacked on tangerines plucked straight from the tree and savoured the taste of sweet grenache, all the while admiring the amazing views of the scenery around us!
At the highest point of our climb we came across the funkiest little cafe shack in the middle of the forest - here there were hammocks to laze on, monkeys to play with and even a tame Capybara (large peruvian rodent) to fed milk. Not wanting to leave it was with heavy steps we left and continued on our way down to Santa Teresa for the night.
Our accommodation was the Treetop Eco Lodge with views over the river. This is the same river which 2 years previously had flooded and almost devastated the town and destroyed a luxury 'Natural Hot Pools' complex - not dissimilar to Hamner Springs in New Zealand. Although the complex is now destroyed the hot pools have been re-dug and this is where we rested our weary bodies and enjoyed a nice cold beer sold to us by an 8 year old no less !
Day 3
The final leg of our trek was from Santa Teresa to Aguas Calientes - aka Machu Picchu village. That morning we started an uphill climb along the narrowest, steepest and scariest trails to the ruins of LLactapata. These ruins were only discovered in 2003. They were a stop off / resting point for the Incas when they were travelling from place to place. Here there is a channel carved into rock which points directly towards Machu Picchu - our first glimpse!!!
From there it was a hard, slow and sheer descent through the cloud forest. It became very wet and humid and even cold at times. We carried on to Hydroelectrica, but, instead of following the railway tracks by foot, we took the train instead to Aguas Calientes and our final rest point for the night.
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