Peru - Amazon, Cuzco and Inca Trail

---

So much to update! Loving Peru, we started our time off in Lima met our new group who we will be sharing the next 2 weeks together with. Mixed bunch, few annoying Australians and mostly couples so as usual we are the fly in the ointment.

Spent 3 amazing days in the amazon rainforest. So humid and is adeptly named as rained a lot! We caught little motorised canoes up the river to see parrots and crocodiles. We did a night trek through the forest and saw tarantulas bigger than my hand, I didn't sleep well that night! We slept in little bungalows with no electricity so had to do everything by candlelight, including checking our room thoroughly for any spiders.....

The local drink here is pisco sour, it's made with egg white, lime and I think tequila and it's very strong! Been sinking them back as its only right to immerse oneself in the local customs is it not??!

The Peruvian people eat lots of meat including guinea pig which I have yet to try. They also drink and eat the leaves of the coca plant which is what cocaine is made from, and it's perfectly legal here. They serve it in all the restaurants and cafes, and even in our hotel.

I have purchased some lovely soft alpaca knitwear which came in handy on the inca trail.

We have just returned from completing the inca trail and visiting macchu picchu. It's the hardest physical challenge that I have ever completed. 4 days covering 80km, climbing steep steps at 4200m above sea level is no walk in the park let me tell you! However we had the best group and our guide was amazing. We camped for 3 nights and it reached minus 5 on the second night which was horrendous. Also not washing for 4 days was tough! I was very pleased to be on first outoff my group of 13 to reach the summit, almost an hour ahead of the last person in the group. You could say that I am competitive.... The 3am and 5am starts have almost killed me and my joints ache so much, however seeing the sun rise over macchu picchu on the last day made it all worthwhile. As is only correct we celebrated last night in a big way and I am currently nursing a terrible hangover.

Visiting lake titicaca in the next few days, meanwhile will continue to soak up the culture and the pisco sours in the beautiful city of Cuzco.

---