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Well, we've come to the end of our Lares Trek and Machu Picchu visit, which was definitely a major highlight and one of the most important trips on our itinerary. We've had a very long and tiring 4 days but it's safe to say that we loved every minute!
Day 1
We woke up at 4.45 today, got ready and packed the last few things into our duffle bags. We had some breakfast while we waited for our tour guide, who arrived at 6am. We squeezed into the minivan and were introduced to our group of 8 others, and our guide Ray, and his assistant Selso. We had a short drive before we stopped in a small town where we bought coca leaves, bread and sweets for the locals that we were going to meet throughout the trek. We also stopped for some drinks/breakfast, where Jess and I had a questionable hot chocolate. We drove for a little longer and stopped again in Lares where we used our last proper toilets and stretched our legs. 20 more minutes up into the mountains and we met our porters etc by the road. they packed up all of our stuff and loaded the horses as we got ready to start our trek. Backpacks and sun cream on, and walking poles at the ready. We walked for two hours, mostly flat, with a few short breaks. It was easy to start with and the pace was good, Jess and I walked at the front with the guide for most of the way! We stopped in a village and were flocked with children, to which we gave the bread from the market earlier. They were very sweet but it broke my heart to only give them a tiny bit of bread, and I also found it a bit strange taking photos of them like they were zoo animals. But it was lovely to experience some local culture, especially since we would have missed out on that if we had done the Inca Trail. We continued through the village and came to our lunch camp on the other side of the village. It was cold by now and we all huddled in the tent and were happy to receive a huge, warm lunch. We walked for three more hours after lunch and arrived at our camp, on top of a mountain at 4200m above sea level, at around 5pm. It was a very cold evening, and we were thankful of a hot drink (generally coca tea, good for the altitude) and snacks. We had a huge but lovely dinner about an hour later, which no one really wanted, and then we all collapsed in our tents about 9pm.
Day 2
We were woken up this morning with some coca tea at 6am. I lay awoke most of the night because of the cold, and Jess slept sporadically, so we didn't appreciate the abrupt 'Buenas Dias' right outside our tent!! It took us a long time to pluck up the courage to get out of our sleeping bags, but my feet were like ice either way, so i braved it first! We had a quick breakfast and then Ray introduced us to our porters and cooks, and we introduced ourselves also. It was nice to get accquainted with all the people who were working so hard for us and cooking us such good food. Our group are all so friendly and i like to think the porters felt appreciated. We left camp just after 7, and walked most uphill, with a lot of breaks to catch our breath until 10am. I felt quite acclimatised to the altitude by this point, although breathing was still a struggle. Mostly i struggled because of my fitness and lack of practice. Jess is very fit but struggled more with her breathing. Still, we were usually at the head of the group, which meant we had a while to rest while the others caught up, good thinking! At 10am we arrived at the highest pass of the trek, at 4600m above sea level. We stopped here for a snack, and left some coca leaves on the wall as a tribute to Pachamama (mother earth) as we crossed over the pass. We were thrilled to be going downwards after all the uphill, but it was gravelly and slippy so probably more of a struggle. We continued walking at all different gradients until we reached the second pass, at 4380m, and had another short rest here. 1 more hour of walking downhill, and along paths with very steep drops that made my legs like jelly, we passed through more villages, giving more gifts to the locals (and practising our extremely limited quechua!). We arrived at our lunch camp about 2pm. Another huge meal and more coca tea, and we continued the walk. Lots of downhill now (luckily meaning we descending from the altitude sickness and the cold), through potato farms, and more villages full of kids desperate for sweets, and lots of stopping caused by lazy cows and stubborn donkeys! 3 hours later, when the sun had set, we arrived at our camp sight, right at the bottom of a very steep hill, so our knees and ankles were killing! We were still full and exhausted, and just wanted to collapse in our (fortunately much warmer) tents, but had to stay awake for another filling dinner of carbs, carbs and more carbs! Ray told us some ghost stories and real experiences of some of the spirits that occupy the area. Slightly spooky, but being the cynicists that we are, Jess and I put it down to cheap antimalarials that cause nightmares, which we were glad we didnt buy! We were in bed by 8, and i took an antihistamine to help me drop off... i didnt want a repeat of the night before!!
Day 3
We woke up, much warmer and much more rested, at 5am, to more coca tea (just for me, jess isn't a fan). We braved a proper change of clothes, unlike the morning before, and had a lovely breakfast of porridge and pancakes. We then had a ceremony to say thank you to the porters and cooks, and give them our tips which i had kindly organised the night before. I had to improvise in spanish for a little thank you speech, as i was the only one who could. It was not very eloquent or detailed but they seemed chuffed that i had attempted something!! We set off around 6.30 and began with a mild uphill walk. Obviously we were all exhausted so it didn't seem too mild, and we were slightly behind schedule for most of the morning. We arrived at an Inca sight called Puma Marca where we had a look around and Ray gave us a brief introduction to the Inca history. We walked on a little longer, and then joined the inca trail for a couple of hours. It was full of vegetation, and very narrow, and afterwards we were even more thrilled that we didn't do it! We arrived in a little village, and walked along the road (cars and civilisation... how strange!!) for 30 mins until we arrived, ecstatic, in Ollayantaytambo. We had an enthusiastic and quick celebratory soft drink at a restaurant, and we picked up our duffle bags. Here we said goodbye to Selso, the assistant guide, who always stuck at the back of the group and had been a massive help to whoever was at the back. We were all so thankful, and gave him a nice big tip, which he seemed really touched with. We were all sad that our group had been split up a little early. Then we hopped in motorised bike taxis to the train station. One and a half hours on a rubbish, very slow train to Aguas Calientes went quite quickly as we all slept from the exhaustion. Arriving in the touristy town at the entrance to Machu Picchu, we were showed to our various hotels, and had the luxury of two hours to shower and relax. At 4pm we met everyone for a proper celebratory drink, and all had a laugh, slightly more upbeat now that we were clean! Karen and Rob, a canadian couple who had been substitute parents for the last 3 days, very kindly treated us to the drinks, and also gave us loads of advice for some of our next destinations! We went straight to a nice little restaurant for dinner at 6pm, where jess and i had pizza and pancakes, very delicious!! We had such a lovely trip, and evening, and didnt want it to end, but when Ray announced that we had to be up at 4am, we were happy to get to bed sharpish! We were in bed around 8, so comfy in comparison to the previous nights, but unfortunately i wasn't feeling well so didn't sleep too well. Also we were sleeping right next to the Urubamba river so it was very loud. I managed to drift off for a while until...
Day 4
Our alarm went off at 4am! Heartbreaking when you're lying in such a comfortable bed after such a long weekend, but we got up and got ready and went to meet the others round the corner for breakfast. I was still feeling unwell and only managed to stomach some watermelon, but Jess managed to take advantage (as much as you can at 4.45am) of the very impressive spread, with eggs and sausages and potatoes etc. We walked up to the bus stop at 5, and got in the long queue for the buses up to the entrance of Machu Picchu. We waited about half an hour and then caught the bus up the mountain. Quite a long queue at the gates, and we waited with Ray got our passports stamped with a Machu Picchu stamp, and then we began our tour! It was very misty when we arrived, but cleared up bit by bit. We walked around all the ruins, learning all about all the construction, and the meaning behind it all, and about the history and discovery of the entire site. We saw the different palaces and ceremonial rocks, and the storage buildings, houses, and royal houses. Also a lot of stone representations of the sacred animals, the condor, the puma, and the snake, and also of the inca cross which represents millions of things i couldn't possibly tell you! Ray really knew his stuff, and tried his best, but there are only so many inca walls you can look at, especially when you're tired and ill, and i think everyone was quite glad when the tour was finished and we could explore ourselves. I spent a while in the toilet, and then we covered ourselves in sun cream (it was completely clear and really warm by now) and took off as many layers as possible and then Jess, Athena and I wandered around the park. We took lots of cool photos, and got annoyed at a group of Israelis who were getting in the way of everyones photos, and then decided to call it day. We got the bus back to Aguas Calientes, and got updated with the world again via an internet cafe. We had a quick lunch and then met the group to get the train back to Ollayantaytambo. I tried to sleep the journey again but it was very bumpy and loud. We were picked up by bus from the staion and here Rob said a very big thank you to Ray from all of us, and gave him a big tip that we collected earlier. He said a really sweet thank you and then Raegan thanked the group for such an amazing time, and we all got a bit emotional! We drove back to Cuzco in about 2 hours and got dropped at our hotels. We had time to sort out our stuff and get a shower and then we met most of the group for dinner in the main square. We had a bit of a wander round while trying to decide where to eat, and i bought a gorgeous oil painting from a street vendor (i haggled to half the price, felt a bit mean!) and Jess got bullied by a very funny, cute little boy into buying a little hand painted card. We settled on Cafe Bagdad for food, because we were cold and hungry, but we were so glad we did! The menu was extensive, and contained the first mexican food id seen so far, so i was very chuffed. We also got a free glass of wine each, and some amazing live music from the house band, playing traditional music with the local wood instruments. I enjoyed my burrito and wine, and the brilliant company of our amazing group, and then we sadly said goodbye to everyone, as we're all going our seperate ways tomorrow. We went back to the hotel and pretty much got straight into bed, in very good moods after such a great 4 days. Nothing was keeping us awake though, and it didn't take long for us to begin our well-deserved rest!!
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