Hola!

Ok so it´s been ages since i´ve written as it´s been so full on, so i´ll split the last three weeks into two i think. If you get to the end of both, there´s a prize...

Ok so last time i wrote i was at the end of the Bolivia tour, which was amazing. 7 of us were continuing on the Peru leg and we met our new tour leader Manuel in La Paz. The poor guy was supposed to be going home that day but had to stand in for our other tour leader as he got really sick.

Anyway, Manuel was/is an awesome guy so it was great that it worked out that way in the end. After a briefing we all went out and said goodbye to our previous group and then got our stuff ready for the early start in the morning. We took a bus from La Paz crossing the border into Pery. Again the border was pretty hilarious, shed like almost. We got a water taxi and after 7 hours of travel arrived in Puno. Puno isn´t really the gem of Peru, it´s pretty crap in fact but we were only staying there one night before our trip to Lake Titikaka the next day.

Manuel took us to a lovely restaurant that night were most of us tried the local trout, which is a bit of a speciality. It has since come to light as the trip has carried on that Manuel is a bit of a foodie, or maybe feeder is a better word. ( we are all about half a stone heavier than when we started three weeks ago) After sampling the Puno nightlife, ahem, we went and packed for the next two days as we were told we would each be staying with a local family on one of the islands off Lake Titikaka.

The next day we met our local guide, Alessandro, who was an absolute legend. So eccentric but i am not sure he was really aware of what was going on most of the time. However, he was extremely knowledgable about the area and let us all know what to expect from the next two days. After that we went to the port to buy some food and toys for the host families we would be staying with. Lauren and I were staying together so we went for some lovely Hannah Montana goods. ( We ended up staying with a family who had a 17 year old son...sure he loved them)

We then got on our private boat and made our way across Lake Titikaka to the first of the Islands we were visiting. Lake Titikaka is the 3rd highest lake in the world ( i think world not south America) It is massive and truely beautiful. The water is sooo blue and it´s offset beautifully with the gorgeous blue Peruvian sky. Alex told us about the shape, size and history of the lake which has a Bolivan and Peruvian side. He then taught us some Quecha language, which is one of the languages spoken by the Incas, and the language that the families speak on the Island we would be staying on.

After a couple of hours we stopped at Taquile. Taquile is so beautiful it hurts. We hiked up to the highest point, took in our surroundsings and got another sermon from Alex. We then had an amazing lunch on the top of a cliff overlooking the lake. Lunch was 6 pounds and consisted of three courses, fresh trout being one of them. I had one of those ´life is good´ moments at this point! After lunch we walked around a lot more, learning about local farming, customs and history. We bought some things from the families living there and then got back on our boat to head to our home for the night.

We arrived at Laquina around 4 and were greeted by a band. It was crazy. We had a rockstar welcome. Everyone was so friendly, even though all we really knew how to say was ¨hello´.We were then escorted to the local football stadium, the band marching behind us! There we were challenged to a game. I felt obliged to participate for a while, which no mean feat, football at 3600 metres above sea level is pretty damn exhausting. I gave up after about 5 mins for beer.

After the football ended, we lost 3-2 by the way, we were taken to meet our families we would be staying with. My mummy was called Juana and her son was called Wilbur. each of the families then took us to a place where they changed us into traditional dress. This was a highlight for me as i have been wanting to get my head in a Cholita hat since we first set foot in Boliva. The Cholita´s wear about 3 layers of skirts to create their silohette. Because we were a bit smaller than most of them, it took 6 skirts to get the right shape. We then had to put on two belts, a jacket, a sash and then the all important hat. We also had bag and extra accessories to wear. I looked more like Nanny Mcphee than a traditional Cholita, but i embraced it anyway.

After we were all suited and booted, we were shown traditional dance moves and then we had a full on party. They made sure we danced with everyone, and i was appauled at how unfit i felt after 45 mins of dancing. Everyone was so energetic they put us to shame. At one point i was being swung around by a 6 year old, again no mean feat.

After the festivities we were taken to our prospective homes for the evening. Juana and Wilbur had made the out building we were staying in really comfortable. It was alot better than what i had expected. The main living building was also the place that Juana did the cooking. This meant that the place was warm and cosy. They then had one other building which is where the family all slept. Juana made us a lovely dinner of Quinea soup, followed by a veggie stew and rice. There was so much food but i felt bad leaving anything, so i powered through. We tried to make coversation with both of them, but they spoke very little Spanish, let alone English, and we only had a sheet with 20 words in Quecha. There was a lot of smiling and nodding, which seemed to get us by for a bit. We did end up going to bed about 8.30 though, as there was obviously nothing to do and our faces hurt through smiling. I slept fairly well, but the rooster and stray dogs woke us up really early. Lauren even threatened to break her veggie values and kill the rooster, i stopped her.

We were then treated to a breakfast of chips (!) and pancakes. Again, Juana had made so much food it was ridiculous. We ate all our chips and a couple of pancakes, bought some of the things they had made off them, then said our thank yous and goodbyes and went to get the boat. All this before 8am.

After all the families said goodbye to us, we set off to the floating Islands on Lake Titikaka. These islands last 20 years and are made from reeds being reinforced and bound together. Alex explained the process in great detail, but quite rudely i sort of switched off half way through. The islands are amazing though, when you walk on them you can feel it moving but it still feels quite secure. About 20 families live on each of the islands in houses mainly made up of one room. I visited one of the huts owned by a girl who is my age and has 3 children. She was quite disgusted to learn i was the same age and wasn´t married or a mother. (on the shelf at 26 i think she thought). It was fascinating to see how basically but effectively they live. It really makes you think about what you have and what you really need. We then went on a short boat trip around the islands on a traditional Peruvian boat before having a picnic and heading back to Puno. The whole trip was really awesome.

The next day we travelled to Cuzco. Cuzco is 3500 metres above sea level ad was built by the Spanish on the remains of Inca temples. It has lots of Inca walls and ruins and post Spanish buildings. It´s a really beautiful place. It is also awash with tourists visiting on the way to Machu Picchu, so it is really quite busy and lively, but in mainly a good way. Some people apparently call it Sin City, but i think that´s a little over the top.

We had a look around the main square and surrounding area as soon as we got there and then got ready for our big night out in Cuzco. We went to a traditional Peruvian restaurant to start off with with was amazing. I had a beef saltado which is like a really amazing beef stew. After lining our stomachs we went to the bar that Manuel used to work in for a few drinks before heading to a Pisco bar. The Pisco bar was crazy. It looked like a really swanky west end club, and there were hundreds of cocktails made out of Pisco. We all had a couple, and honestly i have never tasted drinks so strong. It only hit me when i went out to the terrace. ( as it generally does). After getting suitably sloshed we headed from the lovely, classy (but cheap) bar to a horrendously bad club. It wasn´t anyone´s fault, they were all much of a muchness, but it was just like a carpet club full of tourists dancing to terrible music. We tried to request some stuff as per usual, and all we got were some suspect Rolling Stones and Strokes remixes. We drunk through it and it was all fine and we had a great night. Luckily we had a couple of guys from our group with us on the way home though as it all looked a bit sketchy when we left. There are a lot of people trying to get you to buy their things as well as a hell of a lot of beggars, it´s quite overwhelming.

The next day we looked around the city, went for walks around the cobbled streets, visited the Inca Museum, which was really interesting, and then got our briefing for the Inca trail! I don´t mind admiting it was only at the briefing that i started to realise it was all real and i indeed would be trekking 30km in high altitude in the next couple of days. At the end we were all given a small holdall. This holdall is the bag where you put all of the clothes, tolietries, snacks, sleeping bag, mattress and walking polls in. This is then carried by the llamas or porters, you just carry your day back on the trek. The only thing is, you have to pack extremely light as the bag that the porters carry is only allowed to weigh 6kg.

Luckily we all managed to get the weight of our bags to this or there abouts. We then went out for another lovely meal in Cuzco to discuss our fear and the plans for the next few days. We then travelled to Ollantaytambo the next day so that we would be closer to the starting point for the Inca trail the following day. Ollantaytambo is the home of the Sacred Valley and basically full of Inca remains. Many of the buildings show the remains of Inca walls and the streets are all very narrow. It´s a great but very basic place, and there are obviously a hell of a lot of tourists there waiting to go on the Inca trail. We looked around, went for dinner and then all went to bed really early as we were getting a wake up call at 4 the next morning. 4!!

4 came round very quickly and after running around doing last min prepartions and trying to eat something to set us up for the day, we boarded the bus. There were 3 of my group on my particular trek and Manuel decided to come with us as well. the others were in another group so we had to say goodbye to them for 4 days, which was weird considering we spend nearly 24/7 together. We then joint up with 8 other people and stopped at the starting point of the trek, some thermal baths! We didn´t get a chance to go in them, but we were given snacks here to keep us going until lunch time. The first part of the trek was pretty hard going as it was all uphill and the ground was really rocky. Also you have in your mind, óh my god it´s been ten minutes, i have four days of this´! It got better as i got used to the pace, heat and altitude. The whole way around Fernando, our main guide, told us about the history of the area, pointed out wildlife and plants and made sure we were all ok. Everyone really looked after you, and you felt like you were in it with everyone as everyone was looking out for each other.

We stopped after about 3 hours of walking at a lake. The prters had got there before us and erected a dining tent, a portaloo and a cooking tent. It was amazing! They then served up tea, soup, garlic bread and a lavish main meal. This was then followed by chocolate. Someone had told us we would lose a stone on the Inca trail, we all put weight on we were fed so well! After eating we had a siesta (hard life), filled up our water bottles, and then started off again. We walked uphill for another couple of hours, gaining height and thus getting more breathless, before coming to our first campsite. When we got there we all acted very American, high fiving each other and whooping at our achievement. This was all done very tongue in cheek by all of us, apart from the Americans that is.( honestly)

All our tents were set up, and again there was a food tent, cooking tent and toilet. Postively luxurious! The porters even blew up our mattresses for us girls! We then sorted our things out and had a wet white wash before it got dark and freezing. We were then treated to snacks and tea, and then at 7 we had an amazing dinner with wine and everything. Call this tough?! We all went to bed before ten as we were told we´d be woken up at 4.30am for the toughest day of the whole trek.

That morning we were greeted with a lovely breakfast and Coca tea and given our snacks for the day. We then set off for the mammoth trek. we climbed to 4400 above sealevel at the highest point. I began to struggle a bit just before the peak of the mountain pass. I got very, very breathless and started to panic. i could see the top but even 10 steps was an effort in the sun and altitude. i had a panic attack and just got overcome with emotion for about a minute. One of the guides helped me compose myself and after a few mins i made it to the top. And when i did it was so worth it. We all made it, one girl needed oxygen but that was about it.

After the top we had a 3 hour downhill to camp, which was still very hard going. It{s tough on the knees and the drops are sheer. We were greeted at camp with an amazing dinner and the camp all set up. Again whoops and high fives went on, and this time for real. it was a real achievement, the worst was over. The scenery along the way was all amazing too so that made everything that little less painful.

That night was horrendously cold as we were still fairly high. We all drunk rum and red wine around the fire to warm up and i had to snuggle with Lynn to keep warm even though we had all our clothes on to go to sleep. The next day we were woken at 5 for our breakfast and tea, and were greeted by loads of alpacas in the camp. The tents were covered in snow too, it all looked a bit christmassy. After getting our stuff together westarted the last day of the walk. This was not an easy day, but the weather was quite nice and a lot was down hill. We stopped just before the end of the trek to have our final lunch and say thank you to the porters and guides for all their hard work. They were amazing, and we couldn{t ave asked for better treatment.

We then trekked for a further couple of hours, coming to the end of our adventure. We stayed the night in Agua Calientes, where we enjoyed a lovely shower (bliss) and then went to bed after much needed wine and brownies! We got up at 4am so that we could get in line for the bus to Machu Picchu. It doesn't open until 6am, but they only let a certain amount of people in, and so we had to make sure we were there early.

We all got there for 6am and went straight into Machu Picchu. Fernando, our guide from the trek took us around the ancient site, explaing everything to us for about 2 hours. it was very interesting but all of us were struggling due to the lack of sleep from the past four days!! All i can say is it is truely an amazing place full of energy. The Incas are very clever too!

We then went to get THE photo of Machu picchu, but it was quite misty and te mountain was in the clouds for alot of the pictures. We decided to do a couple of the walks and try and get the picture later.

We did the 45 min hike to the sungate, which was awesome, the view was spectacular from there. We sat and contemplated lifefor a bit, before heading back and getting some much needed coffee. We then got THE photos we had been waiting for, and then some of us did the trek to the Inca bridge. The trek was great, challenging again and there were great views, but the Inca bridge let me down a little. We ended up leaving the site at 3pm and going to meet the other members of our group. It was a great experience and i would recommend it to everyone. The place is just breath taking.

We then took a death train back to Cuzco. It took over 4 hours to go 57km. Ridiculous!