After Puno we head to Cuzco, Cuzco is a beautiful city with Inca built stone walls, lots of historical sights to visit, shopping opportunities and plenty of good places to eat. Unfortunately I didnt get to spend much time here as I was leaving my group for a couple of days and heading off in to the Amazon Jungle...

Taking a plane to Puerto Maldonado (a city deep in the lowlands of the Amazon) the first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane was the dramatic change in temperature. It was hot!! Feeling happy about this I met the people I would be spending the next couple of days with. I was with a family of 6 (with 4 young children who had all just done the Inca trail!), the parent´s 2 friends and another lady travelling by herself, plus the two guides Delford and Elvis. To reach the lodge we had to leave Puerto Maldonado by bus and then a boat down the Tambopata River which gave us lots of opportunity to spot wildlife and savour the fact that we were in the Amazon!

I stayed in Tambopata Lodge which was lovely, I had my own room in a small little bungalow which had hot running water!! Much more than expected, the lodge was powered by solar power and there were even lights in the rooms. Luxery! And the food was gorgeous! On the first night we had a talk about the jungle and what animals lived there, I put in my request to see an Anaconda. We then went on a short night walk where I got to see a Tree Boa (made up for the no Anaconda) resting in the trees above our heads, bright green it didnt seem too happy about the torches but it was great seeing it in its natural habitat. We also saw some of the meanest looking ants ever, oh and lots of mosquitos. Having an early night that night (up at 5am the next day) I felt more refreshed than I had in a long time. We were woken early for a hike through the jungle. The Amazon is a very impressive place, its beautiful with some of the biggest trees I have ever seen. On our walk we saw lots of pretty butterflies, birds (it is a bird watchers paradise) and our guide found a tarantula hole. Standing by the hole Elvis and Delford stressed there was to be no talking (assuming this meant no screaming) while they had a stick and are trying to tempt the spider out one of the ladies says ´get behind Liz, she seems good at this sort of thing´... um??... wondering how this sentence had anything to do with me some of the biggest, hairiest legs ever creep out of the hole. Holding my breath the spider decides against coming out and retreats back inside. Phew! After the excitement we got the afternoon off for optional hiking, or swinging in your hammock (which is what I chose... mentally preparing myself for the Lares Trek). After dinner we went on a boat ride down the river spotting Caiman. The stars were amazing and the sounds of the jungle calming. I was sad to leave the jungle the next day, it was a very chilled couple of days.

I arrived back in Cuzco the next afternoon to some of my group informing me in half an hour I would be paragliding. Right, no time for lunch which at that point could have been a good thing as I wasnt sure how the stomach would react to the paragliding. We took a long drive up in to the hills surrounding Cuzco where at the top I decided I was going first figuring the wait would be harder. And oh what a feeling!! Paragliding is amazing!! Such a great experience, we flew over the countryside and with the Andes in the distance it was beautiful. Glad to say my stomach behaved and although landing was a bit tough it was a great rush!

As the Lares and Inca trails were nearing we needed to go and get briefed and meet the rest of our groups. 2 others from my tour group were doing the Lares with me and I was pleased to find the new people were very nice and we all went for dinner after the meeting. Before the Lares and Inca trails started we went to Ollantaytambo for a tour through the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It was good to see some Inca ruins as the Lares trek does not have any and I was missing out on the Inca trail (they only allow a certain number of people on at a time and I was too late).

Waking the next day with nerves we got on the bus on the way to the start of the Lares trail. There were 11 of us in total plus 2 guides, the incredibly fit porters who carried our belongings up the mountains and 2 cooks. We stopped for lunch and then started the hike. The first afternoon was hard work, we did over 5 hours of walking up and down hill but it was a good laugh and we all got on really well. We found the altitude hard work and were glad to reach camp. What amazed us was the porters who left after us, then passed us on the way to the camp and had everything set up by the time we reached the site. They were incredible. Everything was going really well until about 2 in the morning when I decided to get sick, about 5 times in various places around the camp site depending on how far I could make it. I avoided the toilet, which was a hole in the ground surrounded by a tent. Now I have come across some rotten toilets in South America but this was just wrong, especially as I wasnt the only one who was ill... you can imagine.

Anyway sorry to go one about sick and toilets but it effected the trek quite dramatically. The next day - on the hardest day - after having no sleep and with nothing left inside me we started walking again. I have no idea how I made it through the morning, mostly because I have blotted out the painful memories but it was hard bloody work and there was no way I could have done it without superstars Jill, Emma and Marie who walked at my pace and when I was ready to give up kept me going. They were brilliant!! At lunch it started hailing despite being sunny seconds before so in the afternoon we walked for an hour more before stopping early and making camp. One of the guides insisted I got on a horse which although was a bit scary going up those hills was a lifesaver. We slept 4 in a tent so we were extra warm and thankfully that night I got plenty of sleep and recovered.

On the third day we did the highest pass which took us 4500m above sea level, all of us had been quiet all morning until we reached this point. As soon as we did we all broke out in to chatter and smiles and I think the guides were surprised at the change in us. It was only because we knew it was all downhill from here! Reaching the end was a relief but despite getting ill I had a great time! Made better by the people I was with and the beautiful scenery which was like no where I had seen before. We were the only people hiking the trail and apart from meeting the odd local it was like we were the only ones on earth.

In the afternoon we made our way to Aguas Calientes - a town built for tourists, with train tracks running through the centre so you are sat outside a restaurant having a drink or a bite to eat and a train goes past about a metre away from your face. When crossing the road you had to look both ways for trains (not cars) before crossing the train tracks... little at this point surprised us but this was a bit strange. We checked in to the hotel and went to the hot springs, over a Pisco Sour and many congratulations we thought about the people still hiking the Inca trail and I think we were all secretly relieved we were on the Lares trek. The next day was Machu Picchu which I was very excited about so waking up at 4.30am (the earliest morning yet) we got the bus with hundreds of other mad tourists and made our way to the best Inca ruin. It is a huge place with a massive mountain behind it called Wayna Picchu (the one you see in all the pictures). Speaking of which as we were all so pleased with ourselves for finishing one hike we thought we would celebrate by doing another one. So at 7am I found myself climbing Wayna Picchu which had A LOT of very steep steps. Trying not to think about how I was going to get down again I eventually reached the top. Cloudy at first the mist cleared to reveal Machu Picchu in all its glory. It was a lovely view and very worth it!

Somehow making it back down again, myself, Jill and Emma got a little lost. Trying to find our way to the entrance we decided to climb around a wall and jump across to one of the terraces (which was not easy), having made it across without breaking our necks we find we are being whistled at by one of the officials at Machu Picchu, blowing his whistle like a mad man loud enough so everyone can hear... it would appear we weren´t supposed to be in that bit. Oops. Making it back across which was difficult especially as we were still being whistled at manically from across one of the wonders of the modern world we found the right path and met up with the others. This inluded the Inca trail people who had been walking since 3.30am (!) and together we took a guided tour through Machu Picchu which really is an amazing place. Just how these people dealt with the altitude, moved great big stone slabs in to place and climbed all these hills I will never know. In the afternoon we then made our way back to Cuzco for a celebratory night out. We went to a place called Mythology which had salsa music playing until all the hikers poured in at which point the music changed to music from back home which was great, everyone went crazy. Had one of the best nights out and somehow survived being awake 24 hours - go us!

The next morning being a bit of a write off due to little sleep we said goodbye to our fellow Lares people and took a flight to Arequipa. I wish I had had more time in Cuzco as it is such a great place. Arequipa is a town set in to a valley surrounded by sleeping volcanoes and snowy topped mountains. From here we went on the Colca Canyon tour where all being really tired we maybe didnt come across as enthusiastic as we all felt. We took a long drive through the valley ending up with a visit to more hot springs which were even hotter and more Pisco Sour! The next day we got to see more of Colca Canyon including the Condors - these beautiful Peruvian birds.

Back in Arequipa we had more time to explore the city, this morning we went to the museum which is home to a frozen body of a young girl who was sacrificed in the Inca times to the Gods. She was found preserved in one of the nearby volcanoes. It was pretty sad and not very nice to look at.

Tonight we take our last night bus (woo hoo) to Nazca.