Right, where was I....oh yeah, the 4th and final day of our trek...

We were woken at 4am, realising that were relatively attached to the pond that we called our tent.� Andy and I weren't overly eager with the idea of waking up.� Nature was calling, so I had dig myself a hole and get on with it - oh how I miss home luxuries.� So we left the camp at 5am, as our guide thought it best to be the 1st group to leave for The Sun Gate�to Machu Picchu.� Still dark, with many more steps to overcome, we made our way.� The forest we walked through was alive with sounds of wildlife.�That, along with the early morning start, kept the group quiet.

About an hour and a half later we reached The Sun Gate.� Unfortunately for us, the clouds were dense and so we couldn't see the Machu Picchu ruins from there.� Apparently, on a clear day, viewing Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate is incredible.� It provides an overview of all the ruins and the sorrounding mountains etc... a veiw which is only seen about 20 days�of the�year.� The architecture at the Sun Gate typifies what the Incas were all about.� Their stonework is somehow perfect, to the millimetre, a fantastic achievement considering the age in which they lived and the size of their buildings.� Maybe that explains why it took 85 years for the Incas to complete only 60% of Machu Picchu.� Their work was interupted due to the invasion by the Spanish - a shame really.

So an hour on from The Sun Gate, we finally reached our destination, the place we'd been treking towards for 4 days.� Was it a dissapointment??? NO WAY.� It was pouring with rain, I was soaked through and freezing cold - but that didn't matter one bit.� Due to being the early group, we got to see the ruins from up high, without multi-coloured panchos invading the place.� The clouds shifted for a while, allowing me to take some good photos.� I felt for the slower members of our group, as the clouds came back, obstructing their view of the ruins in full.

Our tour of the ruins took about 2 hours.� As the Incas never had any form of written language, it's difficult to fully understand the purpose of the ruins they were building.� The only thing the�Andean people�have to thank the Spanish for is the way they recorded some of the historical�periods concerning the Incans, without this, nothing would be known about them.

To celebrate our achievements, we treated ourselves to an afternoon in some hot springs, in an attempt to relieve some of those overworked muscles.� Next came the 24 hour challenge.� Our guide had challenged us to stay awake from 4am that morning, until 4am the following morning.........challenge accepted.

The train journey back to Cuzco provided some great views, with waterfalls a plenty.� From the train, we had our own mini-bus to take us to our hotel.� The 14 of us had a vote........catch up on sleep without our guide knowing (he was staying elsewhere)? or get some beers for the journey?� The latter prevailed.� The music was loud and the singing louder.� 'Wonderwall' by Oasis came on, I'll never forget that, 14 of us singing our hearts out - brilliant stuff...!

A quick 10 minute shower and off we went.� The club wasn't ready for us, our�dance-offs providing entertainment for most.� Hour by hour, I hadn't noticed that the clock had struck 4am - challenge complete, although only 8 of us remained.� One final chant of 'we are the champions' could be heard by most of Cuzco.� All but 3 of us went back to the hotel.� Andy, Jacob and I thought we'd carry on.� Clearly drunk, we were banging on the door of a nightclub demanding that they let us is.� They said they were closed, however (not realising it was about 4.30am) we persisted, telling them that we knew they were open until 3am......silly boys, we just thought they didn't like the look of us, how time flys when you're havin fun...!� We still found another club though, arriving back to our hotel at 5.30, I make that 25.5 hours.....job done!

Our next day was all about taking it easy; reminiscing over last nights incidents and laughing at the unwelcome photos that the girls had taken, trust them ey?� They clearly aren't familiar with the whole 'what goes on tour...' concept.

The following day we all went white water rafting in Cuzco river.� Great fun this was; especially jumping from a suspended bridge into the river, oh and the obligitory overturned raft of course.� This lasted for most of the day.� Naturally tired, we all ordered some food and stayed in for the night.

Almost up to date now...

2 days ago, Andy, Piers, Dan and I decided to do some quad biking.� We travelled to the mid-mountain range to meet or guide.� I had 20 minutes to get used to my quad bike and off we all went, the 4 of us, jumping up ramps and zooming through puddles at speed - wrecking my trainers and bottoms in the process.� This was great fun. Andy stacked his quad and fell into a puddle - hillarious - although I didn't see it as he was behind me.� That evening we went to a footie match (told you I'd get to the macho stuff soon).� The game was between Cuzco & Lima (2nd and 4th in the Puruvian premier league respectively).� What did I make of the match???� Unimpressed...it was like watching girls playing football.� I saw one tackle throughout the game, and the player was sent off...what's that about?� Cuzco won 1-0.� It was at this point that I'd realised I had left my wallet in the taxi on the way to the game...doh.� I Had the equivilent of 100 English Pounds in there, along with my driving licence.� It's not all bad thougth, I'd left my bank cards at the hotel.� At least the friendly taxi driver was a months wages better off; oh well, these things happen.

So yesterday we travelled by bus to Puno, which is the nearest city to Lake Titicaca.� Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, it's 3800m above sea level.� 60% of it belongs to Peru and 40% to Bolivia, although I'm sure the Bolivians would tell you otherwise.� Looking out over the lake, it looked more like a sea, it's 40 miles wide and 85 miles in length.� We took a boat out to look at a few of the Islands on the lake.� The population on some of the Islands are very small, one of them having only 200 inhabitants.

That night we would be participating in a home-stay experience. Andy and I were to stay with a Quechan family.� We met our 'Mama', named Segundina and she took us to her home.� There, we met her husband Felix, and their father.� They have 2children, both of whom are away from home at university in Lima.� Andy and I were just about able to communicate with them via a mix of Quecha and Spanish.� We were taken to the local square - there was a small football pitch there - it felt like home.� The boys on our group formed a team and played against others, winning everytime; a mixture of English grit, Australian spirit and Scandinavian.....something, doing the trick.� Then, some small, petite looking Peruvian lads turned up in their sandals and 1980's style football tops.� They challeged us to a game, first to 4 goals wins, losers buy the beers...!

Our cockiness soon evapurated.� We'd forgotton about the 3800 plus altitute.� We weren't playing against white guys anymore.... We gave our best, but were stuffed 4-0.� True to our word we handed them their prize.� "see you tomorrow" they said......yeah right.� Felix Picked Andy and I up.� It was dark by then, but somehow he knew where he was going.� Segundina had dinner ready for us; the food was great.

I feel it appropriate to talk about Felix and Segundina a little more.� The way they live is 3rd world, yet they're happy.� Their kitchen, where we ate, is nothing more than a 2 x 2 meter mud hut, with a small stove on the floor.� The kitchen had a light and nothing else.� They were very grateful for the fruit we had bought them, as our thankyou gift for having us for the night.� We ate rice, pasta and some local food.� They literally have no luxuries, other than the tea that they insisted we tried.� They farm long hours and work hard, clearly harder than I've ever had to.� They don't dwell on their poverty and there's no 'us and them' culture that I've seen in many other places; they appeared pleased that we were just as interested in them as they were in us.� Soon after dinner, Segundina provided us with some traditional Quechan clothing.

Off we went to a Quechen party.� The the men and women tourists had to wear the traditional clothing that we had been given.� One of the lads in our group (Dan) and I swapped clothing to give us better fits.� Hi clothing looked identical to mine, however our respective 'mama's' soon realised we had swapped and insisted that we chage back.� Apparently they all have different knitting styles which are unique� to their family.� A great night of dancing was had by all.� Segundina took us home.

This morning Felix woke us up for breakfast.� We were treated to pancakes and some other stuff; we couldn{t break through the language barrier to find out what it was.� We where given hats, made by Segundina, and taken to the port to say goodbye.� In all, this was an unexpectedly unusual, but good experience for me.� Feeling hard done by won't come around so often, of that I'm sure.

So onto somemore Islands this afternoon.� We visited some floating Islands....that's right, Islands that are literaly floating on the lake.� They are made from floating soil-like material, with bamboo-like material on top.� They anchor the Islands (which average about 10 families per Island) with rope tied to rocks - facinating stuff.

So that's it for the time being.� We travel to La Paz (Bolivia's capital city) in the morning.�I'll be in touch

Me