So, where to begin- or carry on? Let's start with the INCA TRAIL.

We had our briefing at 7.30 Tuesday 26th night at the Llama Path office, where our guide Santiago and assistant guide Wilbur took us through the trek. And told us the start time for the next morning- meet at 4.30 at Regocijo Square, ready to rock. Out of the 14 of us going, only me and Nick had decided to carry our own stuff, everyone else had hired part of a porter. This didn't mean too much just that we had our own clothes and sleeping bags to take rather than have a porter do it (and at USD $60 each if we had, was a good call!)

We had also decided to move hostels; Home Sweet Home where we had been staying, was lovely but was half way up a mountain and we figured somewhere flat would be called for, especially after hiking 40-odd kms on a high altitude goat track. (Llama path?!). We'd booked into a dorm at the Pariwana hostel, which was a great place.

Anyway after trying for an early night we woke up just before 4, got dressed in super warm clothes and headed down to the square where Wilbur and a couple porters were waiting with hot coca tea. Eventually all the trekkers arrived than a group of over a dozen locals turned up in uniform- our porters! The company bus arrived, everyone jumped on, and it was a brisk 2 hour drive to Ollantaytambo- 'Resting place of Ollantay'- for brekkie.

At the restaurant was a little shop where we bought some coca leaves (yes mum, ultimately somehow they can somehow be turned into cocaine, but as leaves they're just a natural help with high altitude lack of oxygen etc problems- like a reverse Rescue Remedy!). We also each got a funky water bottle carrier you'll see in the photos-awesome handy things. After that it was another drive to Kilometre 82, where you can take the train to Aguas Calientes or, if you are mad like we were, take some happy snaps at the official start of the Camino Inka! (Turns out though, the actual start was back in Cuzco, but nobody knows that or goes from there anyway…) Kilometre 82 doesn't mean it's 82 ks from Machu Picchu, to be honest I can't remember what it means. Anywho, me and Nick were issued our sleeping bags- turns out the straps on our wee backpacks weren't big enough to go round them so we just tied the b*****s on to the sides where they could hang down.

It was maybe around 9.30 or so in the morning by then and after a few group pictures of us the Camino Inka sign, a quick queue at the check point where we all invalidated our passports by getting 'KM 82' stamps (don't tell immigration!), we started off. The path was dusty and with sunshine, it was stinking hot, but for the most part life was looking good. We'd been told that porters would be on the path too and if they were coming past to move to the mountain side of the track. About half an hour into our trek with most of us doing a steady walk, we heard 'PORTER!!' so moved to the side… it was our porters and I kid you not, they ran past us at full speed, each of them carrying a pack the size of a small mountain- mental.

Our lunch break had been pencilled in for around 12.30ish but Santiago was full of information- we stopped at a couple of sites, also at the odd tree, and he reeled out so much info, it was incredible! Also, the track started going up at a fair grade so everyone slowed down a bit. We got into the lunch site finally (turns out the porters were a bit concerned as it was around 2.30 and they'd been expecting us for hours). Lunch was great, soup as entrée, then huge platters of rice, noodles, meats etc. I think we were probably there for about an hour before starting off again. This time the going was rougher, we'd all cooled down over lunch and the track was a lot steeper, and mid afternoon sun in high altitude is rough, me and Nick guzzled water like no one's business throughout the afternoon. Again, about 30 minutes after starting out again, 'PORTER'- our guys were all packed up and off to the campsite to set up for us.

That afternoon blurred for me, I was so hot and the altitude was really getting to me, even more than it had been in Cusco. It was such a huge relief at dusk to stumble into our campsite to find everything set up and cups of hot or cold drinks ready to be drunk. Ha, then for the fun part- the loos. Now, those of you who have travelled in Asia and developing countries probably have a fair idea about the state of some toilets, and in honesty, they weren't as bad as the ones I'd come across in China…thank goodness, as I had a touch of travellers belly- blame it on tiredness and the stress of the day. Enough said.

While I was making the acquaintance of the bathroom facilities Nick was meanwhile sitting down to our 'pre dinner happy hour', which was masses of popcorn, milo, tea, coffee, water, and general good times. Luckily I was there before the popcorn was gone or there would have been trouble. Dinner was great- more soup, then heaps more food I can't remember, plus dessert of something delicious which again, I can't remember. It was maybe 7.30 by the time Santiago gave us a run down for the next day-- it would be the hardest, the first pass had an altitude of over 4200m and would take around 4-5 hours to climb, and around 1.5-2 to get down, then we'd have lunch before hitting the second pass, almost 3500m- steeper than the first one but shorter, maybe 2 hours up and similar down , but that the second day would be the worst and once over it would get easier. With the wake up time set for 5am, we were probably all in bed by just after 8!

The bed rolls would be perfect if you had them on a nice mattress, but on the cold hard ground they weren't fabulous and both Nick and me kept waking up with random stones and shivers until there was a cheery 'Buenas manana, hay agua caliente' by our guys-- a good morning and some hot water. We were all layered up for breakfast (liquidy porridge stuff, milo, coca/mint tea combo plus some kind of cake, jam etc-- good stuff! After a quick cleaning of the teeth (can't let hygiene slack off, even in the middle of the Andes) we set off-- minus the sleeping bags. The day before had been hard going with them, and even though the morning of the second day I'd jury-rigged some ties to rope them onto the tops of our bags they were still weighing in at a couple of kilos each. We had a chat with Santiago & Head Ported Cassiano to see if there was any way there might be a smidgen of space on a couple of porters and if so, would they be willing to carry even just the sleeping bags. Santiago (and us both frankly) were pretty sure Cassiano would say no (rightly, as we had opted to carry our own stuff) but amazingly he said no worries and leave it with him- bloody good going, Llama Path Porters!! We did give him US$20 the next morning to share as needed as a huge thanks to them all.

My god, the second day. If I had had the energy and breath I would have cried I think. We made it to the first stop ok- freezing cold in the shade and out of breath, but alive. One of the girls in the group wasn't doing well, she had been quite sick the day before and was getting worse-- ultimately decided to go back and meet us at Machu Picchu in a couple days. Thankfully it was not quite that bad for me--mentally I was fine but my god, it was so hard to breath and my legs wouldn't stop shaking. Soon after leaving the first stop the sun reached us and within seconds it was steaming hot and everyone was stripping down to t-shirts, sunblock, sunglasses etc. Santiago had said we do today at our own pace--originally I wanted to be in the first half of the group but going up that b**ch of a pass, all I could concentrate on was to get to the top. Put it this way-- I would have to stop every 4 or 5 steps to catch my breath. Nick was doing a hell of a lot better, think he got there maybe half an hour at least before I did. Thanks to Elly, one of the Argentinian girls, I made it (incidentally she's doing the New York Marathon in November-- Good luck!!). At the top we had photos and chocolate before setting down. Down was heaps better than going up, any day of the week, but still very hard going as it was steep.

Ah, one thing I forgot about when we got to lunch and campsites the day before-- the porters all came out and applauded us when we got to them! Same thing happened the whole way through, which I think was a really nice touch. Our lunch site for day 2 was the campsite for some of the other groups-- lucky us had drawn the official short straw of having the longest to go on days 1 & 2, but all of us reckon it's the better as we get the hardest 2 passes out of the way. At lunch on the second day was the 'they're dropping like flies' moment- a couple of the guys hadn't been feeling well so were lying down, then a couple of the guys…and Nick (should probably have felt sorry for him but knew he was fine, just tired). We were all ok after lunch and rest though, and, well, if we didn't exactly power up that second pass, we did get up there in the end. Thankfully for the most part of the day it had been overcast (except of course for the second half of that first killer pass) so at least we didn't have as much heat as the first day to contend with.

Coming towards the end of the second day, there were some steep steps leading up away from the path-- if we wanted we could head up them to some lovely ruins, or keep going along the track as our camp was about 15mins away. Some carried on but many of us crawled up the stairs (almost literally--'steep' was an understatement). I can't remember off the top of my head where we were (it's on the map in my backpack) but they were gorgeous. Stunning views of the mountains and glaciers, and again Santiago brought it to life with how things would have been in the 14-1600s, the Incan Empire era (not that long ago, was it?!). Dusk was really falling as we started down the steps and back along the track towards camp but we made it juuuuuust while there was still light in the sky. Just.

Happy hour again-- popcorn, hot drinks, cold water and talking about the day-- for me it was an exhausted buzz to have knocked off the scary Day 2, and it seemed all of us were feeling it.

The next day would be a sleep in--6.30am wake up call! It was hilarious- I was in bed soon after dinner, maybe 8.30 or 9, rebel me. Woke up part way through the night busting for the loo-- debated getting up in the cold versus just waiting it out... getting up won hands down. Throughout the day I'd had random songs in my head--favourite being Billy Joel's "You're only human" on repeat going up the first pass. Main words I took from that song being about there being times in your life when you'll be feeling like a stumbling fool. Anyway. So, as I was walking back from the toilet I looked down the path we'd come from that day and say something reflecting- probably just a sign on the marker post or something, but suddenly into my head sprung "If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise"- Yup, 'Teddy bears' picnic'. At that point I thought I should probably just go back to bed. When I got into the tent I had a look at my watch-- still half asleep I thought it was almost 6.30, nearly time to wake up (good timing bladder). Turns out the watch was upside down and it was only 11pm. Damn.

The third day was great. I tied our sleeping bags onto our bags-- if you ever are in need, the cord that goes through the hood of your sweatshirt turns out to be quite long. We set off around 7.30ish with ETA at our final lunch/campsite of maybe 3, 4pmish--early! The walk was very interesting, we were coming down into the cloud forest so heaps of new creepy crawlies, butterflies and flowers making an appearance. One of the guys in our group was a biologist so anything Santiago didn't know, Costa Rican Johel probably did.

Of course, the best laid plans don't survive past the first 10 minutes and while we were all eager to get to our last stop for the day there was so much stuff everywhere we wanted to know about that we were a bit behind schedule- bleugh, who cared! As Santi said, it was our trip and we could do as we pleased (where was a porter to carry you up the 1st pass when you needed one?!). The third day involved the third pass, from where we could see Aguas Calientes, the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu mountain. There was our final group photo, with us and the porters all together as one big happy family. Soon after we headed down from that last pass our porters rocked pass, smiles going full strength as they zoomed past us. We'd asked how did they get jobs, did they need special training or what have you-- turns out they need to be from somewhere high altitude (makes huge sense) then once they're 18 or older they can join the porters union and start work.

On the porters- there were many groups doing the trek and I'm happy to say ours were probably some of the best equipped-- there were some who didn't even have proper packs, just everything wrapped up in tarpolines to be carried however they might-- seriously, if you are ever going to do the Inca Trail, Llama Path are excellent and I can first hand confirm they look after their staff. And should give them a pay rise.

We arrived at the final lunch/campsite after spending some time looking down on it from some more ruins. There was a shower available-- piped straight from the mountain so fricking freezing-- I braved it for about 30 seconds total before giving up, getting dry and dressed and going to relax in the sunshine. A bit before dinner we visited the final ruin for the day, Winya Wayna- the 'Forever Young'. There are photos on facebook but again, such a gorgeous site. When we got back to camp for happy hour the Head Chef Carmelo had whipped up a 'Feliz viaje a Machu Picchu' (Happy journey to M.P) cake in celebration of us very nearly finishing the Trail.

Ours was the final campsite before passing the final checkpoint, so there were several groups camping there. The checkpoint opens at 5.30 in the morning and if you're one of the first lucky ones, you get seats..if not, the ground is there. We had a chirpy 3.30am breakfast (Yikes!) before lining up for an hour (just missed out on seats). Nick had a pack of cards with him so time passed quickly. Once we got through the checkpoint it was a one hour march to get to Inti Punka, the Sun Gate, for the sun rise. I hadn't realised the actual location, had it in my head that the Sun gate was somehow at the beginning of M.P-- not quite. It's on a hill overlooking the lost city. When we got there there was already a couple of groups so space was limited but we all got some great shots of the sunlight going down the mountains towards M.P. From the Sun Gate it was about 45 mins downhill (passing some nutters who'd come up from Aguas Calientes on the bus, and were walking up to the Sun Gate. We felt superior.)

On the side-- thanks for still being with me on this! I know it's taken time and we're not even at Machu Picchu yet, let alone updates up till now, almost a week later...but nearly!

So finally, we got to the bottom of the path. Waiting for us was Ula, who'd left us on the second day remember-- feeling a lot better thankfully! We had a good 30 minutes or so all just freaking out at the flush toilets and number of people who were there (dozens, maybe low hundreds…all heading into M.P)before going through the entrance way, and into the City in the Clouds.

To fully get me, you either need to have been at Machu Picchu, or to go there. There was an obvious difference in visitors-- the 'tourists' who had started down in the town and just taken a bus up the top of the hill (a short, 25-30 ride on winding roads) and the 'trekkers', us hard core dusty, smelly pilgrims who had somehow found the guts for 4 days to walk the ancient pathways, even if only for 40-something kilometres.

Incidentally, the record for running from KM82 to Machu Picchu- 2 hours and 43 minutes. Gawd.

Santiago made a distinction about M.P- he never called it a ruin. His reason was the Spanish Conquistadores had never found it, never even knew it existed, so hadn't destroyed it. He also said it was never lost, as local farmers had always known about it; some families were even living there when Hiram Bingham first arrived in 1911. Now it is one of the New Wonders of the World and is incredible- an excellent icing for the cake of the Inca Trail. All I would advise you, if you go there, is to take plenty of water and go early in the morning, as there are usually around 3000 visitors every day so it can get pretty crowded.

I don't really remember the trip from Aguas Calientes back to Cusco- slept through most of it. Back at Pariwana hostel, before anything, was a hot shower, full scrub of hair, body, feet; then dinner (to my slight shame, we had KFC. I blame Nick). We were in bed by probably 9. The next morning the beds were full- hadn't even heard anyone come in, also hadn't heard one drunk girl puking into the rubbish bin beside her bed (got her bed too, turns out. Eww).

CUSCO-PUNO-COPACABANA (Bolivia) and ISLA DEL SOL (also Bolivia) (according to Microsoft Word count, there are 3268 words here. Make that 3273).

Alrighty, I'll just race through the rest of the past few days as nothing quite as epic has happened. We finished the Trail on Saturday, on Sunday had our 7kgs of laundry washed(between the two of us that is ALL we took on the trek, excluding sleeping bags. Wicked). Nick was thrilled when Italy lost and Spain won the EuroCup final, and we bought bus tickets for Monday from Cusco to Puno, on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. The bus took a while, 6 hours, but eventually we got there. Wish we could have stayed less time but no buses were leaving after we arrived. Puno is full of exhaust fumes and people trying to convince you to come into their restaurant. On a positive while walking down the main street Nick saw Isabella, from our Llama path trek! We had a great dinner and decided to meet up in Copacabana the next evening (she was leaving in the morning, us in the afternoon.).

Actually another good thing about Puno is I was finally able to get some cotton thread and material- my little backpack which I'd taken on the Trek had had 2 top seams rip the first day and it had been getting worse. On the way from Puno to Copacabana I'd had time to hem the patch and sew it to the bag-- as I said to Nick and Isabella, it wouldn't look pretty but it would hold!

We got to Copa a bit after 6pm on Tuesday, found a dodgy hostel (if you're ever in Copacabana, do NOT stay at 'Lago Sagrado' hostel…no matter how cheap it seems!). Stayed there for two nights--nothing special but it's the place to leave from if you want to visit the Isla del Sol, Island of the Sun, where the Incans believed the sun rose from each morning. We're on the Isla now, arrived midmorning and found a cute cabin to stay in--are currently pretty damned cold as there is no heating, but plenty of blankets and great view (not so much now, as it's 10.30 at night). Nick's a bit sick, has a cold so is finding it hard to breath, but we're leaving tomorrow morning on the 10.30am ferry back to Copa, to catch the 1330 bus to La Paz. We've got so far 3 nights booked there during which time we'll plan a trip down to the Uyami Salt Plains, also mountain bike the death road. Then exciting news--warmth and summer (and the Northern Hemisphere) is coming! Decided to suck it up, so on Thurs 19th we fly from La Paz up to Guatemala! From there we'll hang around volcanoes, cocktails and islands for a couple months, making our way slowly south back towards Lima. Time is going way to fast though I can't wait to get into warm weather.

OK, close to 3800 words now so if you are still with me- congrats, you're mad, and it's now my bedtime. Good luck to you all, enjoy life, and remember- travel's the only thing you can spend all your money on and end up richer!

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