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well, as you can guess by the fact im writing this blog i survived the inca trail... just!!! it seems on this one the gods were against me from the start as the day before i left i developed a nasty chest infection, but not letting that stop me I stocked up on drugs from the chemist and started the big adventure...
Our group were really nice, 8 of us in total, mostly brits. our guide, a girl called sol was also very lovely and knowledgable. The first day started from the famous km 82 with 12km of "peruvian flat". as you can imagine this isnt particularily flat but was ok. half way through the morning though my arms and chest came up in blisters all over. calmly sol informed me that i was allergic to the sun. funny, i thought as ive never been allergic to the sun before, but it was because of the high altitude, so i had to cover all my skin for the rest of the trip. after a delicious lunch (the food was amazing, and carried for us by a team of porters who basically ran the whole way!). After lunch we began the big ascent. We did 700m on that day and it was reallly tough, especially as it poured with rain and i discovered id been sold a dodgy poncho that wasnt water proof! I have to admit this was the low point and i was going very slowly as i was very tired (the first day was very long). however just when i thought i couldnt make it some proters (who had arrived in camp hours earlier) came back down the track to help me and carried some of my stuff and walked with me! It was so lovely and really spurred me on!
On the second day we completed the ascent to dead womans pass, a further 500m taking us to 4200m. At this point altitude sickness was really kicking in, despite chewing lots of coca leaves. its really hard to breath there and I was getting pins and needles in my hands and feet that were also quite blue, and really bad dizzyness! when we reached the top we just had time for a quick celebration before descending 600m to lunch. After lunch was another 400m climb, again made tough be altitude then down another 400m to the camp. The food in the evening was lovely and the group was really fun. unfortunatly by that point cloud had set in (we were in cloud forest, similar to jungle) so we couldnt see much scenerey. On the third day was a big descent of 1100m in 5 hours but we arrived in the campsite early afternoon so had lots of time to rest and recouperate. By this time my legs were a bit b*****ed from all the downhill and i was walking like pegleg!!
On the final night we sang songs with the porters and then got an early night before getting up at 3.30 to start the ascent to the sungate. After an hour and a half of very painfull and hilarious looking walking we reached the sungate to find we couldnt see any of machu picchu due to cloud! luckily we waited a few hours and it cleared. mp was amazing - so huge and well preserved. sol gave us a guided tour and some people climbed winapicchu! it was fantastic! then we headed back to agua callientes then on the train to cusco. so in summary, an amazing experience! I was so glad i did it! but dont ask me if id do it again as the thought of it would probably reduce me to tears!!! lol!
Anyway so now were in Arequipa, a really pretty collonial town. We have been to see the ancient monastery and the mummy of a human sacrifice by the incas found in the active volcanos that overlook the city. quite creepy! We also went on a 2 day trip to the Colca canyon - the deepest canyon in the world, 4300m at its max! we got to see traditional dancing as there was a festival in the village we stayed in, which was funny was sarah was dragged in! then early in the morning we went to watch the condors. We were so lucky as it is not condor season so quite often there are none, but we got a really nice day and were lucky enough to see 7 riding the currents and swooping really close to us. they were huge!
Today I went white water rafting on the rio chilli near arequipa, it was so fantastic as the scenerey here is fantastic - the volcano misti that overlooks the city. there were only two of us and a guide in a tiny boat and it was soooooooooo fun! tonight were catching a night bus to Nazca to see the lines and then to the great dessert dunes if ica and huacacina!
Hope everyones well at home and the british winter isnt too bad!
love
trine
xxxxx
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