Today has finally arrived!!!!! After years of dreaming about seeing Machu Picchu I was only hours away! I'm pretty sure everyone had had enough of my twitching at the breakfast table but I was just so excited. As soon as we got through control at about 5:30am (we got up so early so we could be one of the first in the massive line that waits to get through control) I raced ahead determined to get there before the sun came up. It was only 2 hours away, and once I...

Wow, last night was a freezing -9 degrees! Day three of the Inca trail was going to be another biggie. A 4:30am porter wake up call and coca tea, quick breakfast and wash then we were on our way by 5:30. We knew what we were in for - the longest walk today, 16km consisting of two more passes, the highest at 3950m. And if that wasn't enough, then there was to be a steep hill down, only 3000 steps to our campsite! Despite all that, I knew it was gonna be another...

Thankfully I woke to feel loads better and my guts had settled down alot, and the fact that my tent buddy Monika is a neurologist with a first aid kit with "the good stuff" in it did wonders. We were woken at 5am by the porters with a steaming cup of coca tea for the altitude and a small basin of water to wash our hands and faces. Amazingly, breakfast was pancakes, toast, fresh tropical fruit and hot chocolates - all carried by the porters! We set off at a slow...

The day has come!! The moment i have been waiting for.....the Inca trail! Unfortunately, I had eaten something that really didn't agree with me so my start to today was anything but ideal! Nevertheless I was so psyched to get onto this trail I soon forgot about it. We met up with our guide Edwin in the early hours of the morning and all piled into the van to get to Ollantaytambo, the town at the start of the famous 45km Inca trail. After a quick breakfast, we g...

Waking up knowing you have a delicious buffet breakfast is always good, and being the absolute tight arse that I am, I stole a bunch of food for lunch as well! Learnt that trick off mumsy. We all piled into a van and met yet another tour guide Wilfredo, who will be taking care of us for the next two days during our stay in Chivay and the Colca Canyon. Arequipa is at about 2500 metres above sea level, and getting around town is slightly difficult due to the alti...