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Following our pick up at 5:30am we took a two hour bus trip to the village of Ollantaytambo. In Ollantaytambo we met the rest of our trekking group, picked up some breakfast and got a few supplies for our trip. We bought some Munya and Coca leaves to help us cope with the alttitude. I got my passport stamped and was now ready at the summit of Machu Picchu all set for a challenging 4 day trek to reach one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.
Day 1: As we began the accent up the mountain a couple of our trekking buddies struggled with altitude sickness. Thankfully they recovered quickly and it wasn't long before we got going again. It was such an amazing feeling to be travelling such a historically iconic trail. As we took off after our lunch we saw an incredible site, two mountain bears in the distant mountain terrain. I loved seeing more of my kind in their natural environment. It was a real treat for the first day of our trek. We reached camp late that evening and sat down to a delicious 3 course meal. I tossed and turned that first night in the tent but eventually got a little bit of shut eye.
Day 2: Wake up call at 5am. I through my paws in the air, yawned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Time to wake up already? A nice hot drink was handed into my tent, I got some breakfast and I was ready to face the world again. Our second day came with a warning. We were told this would be our hardest day trekking. We began our climb at 6am and indeed it was a tough climb. After our brunch pit-stop it began to rain heavily. The rain felt like ice on my fur. Even with the added challenge of the rain we reached the highest altitude of 4200feet. This peak has been given the name Dead Woman's Pass. I dread to ask why it has been given this name. After reaching Dead Woman's Pass the rest of the days trek was down hill. We were all excited at the prospect of walking down hill. However the downward deccent was definitley more of a challenge. Even with the tough deccent we reached our camp at 3pm ahead of schdule. I was so happy to lie down. I slept until dinner and slept like a baby bear afterwards.
Day 3: Our third and longest day of trekking did exactly what it said on the tin. We began our trek at 5:30am and had a 10 hour trek to our campsite. On this day I developed a serious dislike of steps. However on the flip side of this the views were absolutely spectacular. We encountered lots of beautiful Inca ruins along the way. Wanupicchu and Machu Picchu were visable in the distance and as we descended the views just got better and better. A couple of llamas joined us for some of the walk. We also went through some Inca tunnels. It was a massive sense of achievement completing that third day. Machu Picchu was almost in our sights. We had another fantastic meal and said our goodbyes to the porters and chef.
Day 4: The final day of my Machu Picchu adventure began at 3:45am. We had breakfast and waited at the gate of Machu Picchu park at 5am. We had a half hour wait before they opened the gate. We hiked for an hour and a half after that before we reached the first Inca ruin. We hiked for another hour before arriving at the wonderous sight of Machu Picchu. My first impression was that it was just enormous and so beautiful. It was extremely misty when intially got there. You could say it was 'mist-i-cal' to try and put a positive spin on the set up. However as the mist lifted it exposed more and more of the glorious Machu Pichhu ruins. After experiencing the wonders of the ruins we hopped on a bus to Aguas Calientes. We recieved our hiking certs and took off for the hot springs for a nice relaxing dip.
The next day in Cusco every bone in my bear body was aching. I booked in for a full body massage and have never have I felt more in need of one. We strolled around the markets and had a nice celebration. The next day we got on a tour bus 'Wonder Peru' down to the town of Puno by lake Titicaca on the Peruvian/Bolivian border. On our way we stopped off at Saint Peter and Paul's Church where most of the people from Cusco exchange their marriage vows. We went to a pre Inca Museum and out that two cattle on top of houses all over Peru are put there to protect the house. When we got to Puno we we booked an overnight stay on Armantani island on Lake Titicaca leaving the next day. I curled up in my bear cave for a good nights sleep ready for my next big bear hunt adventure.
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