The start of the trail!!! Scary stuff. We woke up very early to get our bus from Cusco to KM82 stopping briefly in Ollantaytambo for some breakfast. At KM82 we went through the checkpoint and had our passports stamped. We then immediately crossed the bridge (pictured) over the river and began our trail...

The first day, Kim and I both carried our packs and the going was pretty tough with all the weight. The scenery on the climb however was pretty amazing. We could see some of the snow mountains of the Andes way up high in the clouds. That day we climbed upto about the same height as Cusco City (having started lower down in the Sacred Valley).

On arrival into camp we were rewarded with a great view of the mountains as the sun was beginning to set. I unfortunately stripped down to just a t-shirt and a pair of shorts having got so hot on the walk and my body temperature rapidly plummeted making me very ill. I nearly passed out and went very numb all over. Later that night, I was even more ill vommiting and really bad diahorrea. I must have lost a few pounds in weight that night and didn't get to sleep until about 3am with a 6am wakeup call.

Fortunately I managed to get a few hours sleep from then onwards and in the morning, having got rid of all the food I'd eaten the day before I was feeling a bit better. The guides Ruben and Martin were great and were very encouraging so I was able to face Day Two (the "Challenge" as the tour leaflet says!)