Inca trail & Machu Picchu

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Hey all

Hope you are all well. I am now in Machu Picchu town after having spent the last 4 days doing the Inca Trail.

We started at Km 82 (in Ollantaytambo) on Monday and set off for a 12 km walk (in both sunshine and rain) to our campsite for the night. As it was Peru´s national day, some of us decided to check out the local festivies that were going on at the local church. What a sight - we were the only ´gringos´there (hence we stood out like a sore thumb) but the highlight for us was watching a very drunk man trying to steal a donkey.

On Tuesday, we set off for the toughest day of the trek, up to 'Dead Woman's Pass´. While the route was "only" 6km (it sure felt like it was way longer), we had to hike uphill (very steep incline) for about 6 hours through rainforest and chilly windy terrain. Once we got up to the top (4,200m - we started at 3,000m that day), it was then 2 hours downhill (complete with stone steps the whole way) to our next campsite.

Yesterday, just before we had to crawl out of bed at 6.30am, it started pissing down with rain and didn´t stop until after lunchtime. In light of this, I thought it was time that I invested in the latest Inca rain fashion - putting plastic bags between my socks & shoes to stop my feet getting wet. Let´s just say that that was one of the best investments so far... Eventually it stopped raining and we got to enjoy the 16km hike through snow-capped mountains and cloud forests as well as seeing local inca ruins along the way.

It was an early start this morning at 4am, but we wanted to enjoy Machu Picchu before the hordes of tourists turned up in the mid-morning. We ended up racing another group to the ruins and I´m pleased to say that we beat them.... :)

Spent the morning checking out Machu Picchu which was cool but nothing will compare to seeing it for the first time from Sun Gate just as the sun was rising.

Glad I did the trek but it was bloody hard going. Off to get a massage now for my tired legs!

Till next time,
Brooke x

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