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Hi everyone
We have just finished the Machu Picchu Trek in Peru´s Andean Mountains and have both decided it was the highlight of our trip! However, before i get into that we have four days of fun in Santiago to update you on!
The first bit of knews is that we almost earnt ourselves 270 US Dollars by volunteering to fly to Santiago a day later than we were supposed to, although disappointingly in the end they decided they had enough space and we flew as scheduled afterall! We arrived in a swealtering Santiago around lunch time and spent the afternoon at one of the cities many parks before heading out to for a pasta in the borough of Barrio Brasil.
The second day was spent exploring the extremely quaint and unique city of Val Paraiso about 100km north of Santiago. It was a place which symbolised everything we had expected of a South American city with multicoloured houses on mountains which flanked a bustling port. We had a great day there before heading out in the evening to Santiago´s trendier spot ´Bellavista´where we had great night out sat around in the cafes and then for a while in a club! Our first for sometime!
The third day we went to buy some new boots for Beth in Santiago´s equivalent of Meadowhall. Thankfully she found a pair quickly which if you´ve ever been shoe shopping with Beth you will know is a true blessing! We followed that up with a bit of sight seeing, mainly museums and churches and then had a chilled night around our hostel.
Our final day took in a cable car ride up to Santiago´s highest point where a very over priced swimming pool ended up defeating the purpose of going up in the first place, but we made the most of it with a bit of sunbathing and a few walks.
The next day, we flew up to Peru´s capital Lima and flew straight out again to Cusco, which is the base for doing the Inca Trail. Despite prior warning about the effects of the altitude here (3300m), we were both taken aback with our breathlessness sustained heading up a short path to our hostel. We spent the afternoon in a cafe and then ventured out for dinner where prices finally started to live up to what we were expecting and a three course dinner was consumed for a little over 3 pounds!!!! Cusco is a very attractive city with the main square being flanked by cathedrals and really well maintained and because of its isolation in the mountains there is a real sense that the rest of the world is shut out. Lots of people get there and end up staying weeks! However, owing to our schedule, we only spent a day and a half there.
On the first full day we braved the searing sun and made a little tour of our own around the city. We were both keen to get a bit of walking in before our four day trek. The main attractions are here are churches and museums and having seen enough of both we headed over to our pre-departure meeting with the guide for the trail.
This brings me to the Inca Trail Itself -
Following a wake up call of 4.45 am we were whisked away with our packs to meet the rest of the group and our guide, now known as Diamond D but originally named Domingo. We had a quick stop for breakfast and picked up our sticks before setting off on the trek. The first day was a real introduction to the type of landscape we would be traversing over the next 3 days. We spent the day following undulating paths through valleys and forests before settling down to camp at the base of an Andean Mountain. We had been completely shocked by the level of sophistication involved in the whole set up. The porters who carried our gear for the three days each had a pack of over 20kgs, and would cover the distance in a third of the time we would. The food was served in restaurant style with more than one course even at breakfasts!! Our guide, was brilliant in his pacing and really insightful with his knowledge of the flora and fauna, not to mention being a complete joker and the main focus for much of the trip´s banta! We were very fortunate with our group as well; We had an Aussie girl called Nivia who was a great laugh, a English lad called Johnny and a Dutchman called Johan! We all got on really well and immediately found a common sense of humour which kept us going through some of the climbs!
The second day was billed and definitely lived up to being a monster of a day. It began with a 1000m ascent and considering we were already at 3200m, the oxygen for the most part was almost non existent. Nonetheless we made good progress and completed the section pretty quickly! Howeve, neither of us were helped by the fact that we both appeared to have contracted a 24hour bug the previous day, which meant breakfast was not a very realistic option! After lunch we made our way up the to the second pass, another 400m climb and ascent up some of the steepest terrain we´d ever seen! By the time we arrived at camp we were absolutely exhausted and welcomed the continuous supply of black tea (supposedly good for the stomach) provided by the porters. Nivia gave us both something called arsinicum (or something like that-you´ll probably know mum) which helped a lot too.
The third day was the easiest so far and only involved a short climb and then somemore mountain side walking before lunch where the days walking ceased and we all caught up on some vital sleep. In the evening we all made our way to the bar, altho owing to the fact that there was a four o´clock start the next day and we were both still feeling slightly dodge, we both just had one cheeky beverage before hitting the sack.
The fourth day started with a gentle climb towards what is known as the sun gate - a point from which some of the most famous pictures of Machu Picchu are taken. This next bit sounds a bit harsh but it was extremely humerous at the time -so... there were 3 people who had been racing past everyone for the whole trip (in another group - not part of team Hacuchis Matata i hastened to add) and proclaiming how they would get the first hot showers and how easy the first pass had been, when i can assure you it is the hardest 3 hours of waliking i have ever done! Anyways so on the final day they once again go racing past, this time actually running - so at the site of this i felt it was necessary to extract the michael slightly and shout after them "run Forest, run" anyways so they didn´t appear to like that much and shot back some unimpressed looks. It was only later we found out that one of them had passed out on the way up from altitude sickness and exhaustion and they had all missed the view from the sungate as it had become shrouded in fog! Thanks to our guide Domingo´s impeccable timing and advice we strolled through 20 mins later and got some of the best photos of the trip!! Just shows you, as Johnny proudly proclaimed "steady eddy wins the race"!!!!
Back to the actual day itself and following our pictues at the Sun Gate we headed down into Machu Picchu itself. We will try and get some pics up soon so you can see just how amazing this place is. It rests on a mountain side 2500m above sea level and it is inspiring to think of all the Incas carrying the stones up the mountain face etc and building what can realistically be called a city. We spent some time listening to Domingo´s explanations of the history of the sight and taking some more brilliant photos before heading up the mountain which you can see in the background of the photo for this update! This was another cruel climb but the views with which it rewarded you made it all worthwhile. I think anyone who goes there can´t help but be struck by the magnificence of the achievement considering it was built back hundreds of years ago! When we´d finally finished exploring we headed down to the small town of Agustus Calientes (spelt completely wrong but its somewhere near that) andhad lunch with Domingo before parting ways and making our 5 hour journey back to Cusco. We arrived back at the hostel exhausted, but nonetheless fully appreciating how lucky we had been to have such an awe inspiring experience.
Today we have made the 7 hour trip to Puno and quickly recovered our haggling skills in time to secure a bed for the night and a two day one night trip to the islands of lake Titicaca for 20 quid!
Anyways this has been the longest update ever so i´d best be off before you all drift off to sleep.
Hope everyone is well
Lots of love
Rich and Beth xx
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