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Published: November 20th 2007
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So its nearly time to leave Peru and on my reckoning an hour spent in an internet cafe updating this is an hour i won't be tempted to shop - i can't seem to stop buying have no room left in my backpack.........
So we last wrote in Cusco, it feels like a million days ago rather than just over a week, so much has been seen and done that anything before it seems so long ago.
We left Cusco by public buses to travel to the Sacred Valley - and contrary to all expectations the buses weren´t too bad, actually in slightly better state than the 407 to croydon, though that's not saying much .........
I'm probably going to keep saying this about every place in Peru but the landscape is stunning, it is just the most beautiful country ever. We travelled through the sacred valley by bus stopping at various different towns to make connections, at one we were lucky enough to see the front runner of the local marathon crossing the finishing line - 26 miles at altitude in this heat?? and i went on about completing a 10k, totally amazing.
We spent the night
in Ollyatambo before beginning our trek to Macchu Picchu on Sunday morning.
We hiked about 45 km in all over two mountain passes with altitude ranging from 2400m above sea to 3500, through amazing rain forest.
Our first day out we hiked 13 km along what our guide called Peruvian flat - some ups and downs but nothing too taxing. There were also lots of places to buy water so we were well hydrated, which wasn´t always the case. We had 16 porters with us so we only needed to carry our daypacks. This was a luxury and later a necessity!!
The porters set up and broke camp each day, often over taking us on the pass running! They would have the tents and camp set up when we arrived and we would be greeted with bowls of hot water and bars of soap. Tea was served promptly at 5pm in the dining tent, complete with tables, stools, table cloth, cutlery etc.
Lunch and dinner consisted of an appetizer, soup and a main course. The food al along the trail was unbelievable! It was like sitting down in a fancy restaurant three times a
The sacred valley
You can just about make out some inca terraces in the background day.
Day two was 7 km straight up to the top of Dead Women´s Pass. It was really brutal. The last 3ks climbed 500 meters and even with all our training we had to stop to catch our breath ever 10 steps or so. It took nearly five hours to reach the top of the pass. While we were lucky with the weather on the way up - dry but not hot - we weren´t so lucky on the way down. Within minutes of reaching the top the clouds moved in a we were in the middle of a rain and hail storm dressed in shorts and t-shirts, they day before had been so nice we´d decide against carrying a change of clothes. The next 2 ks was straight down the other side of dead woman's pass, with sheer drops and a very steep rocky path to navigate. Reaching the bottom and our campsite for the evening with out falling or getting frostbite was such a relief! I´d carried a bottle of rum up and over dead woman's pass, and while i cursed the extra weight in my bag most of the way boozy coffees were a most
welcome way of warming up.
Day three was our longest day. We hiked 16 km and it took us about 8 hours. The last three hours were all down hill over roughly cut stone steps. The reward at the bottom though was a hot shower and a cold beer. A bar at a campsite - genius!!
Day 4 we were up at 4 am to get to the Sun Gate in time to see the sun come over the mountains. Unfortunately the weather had other plans for us and we were viewing clouds till 8am. When the clouds cleared Machu Picchu was everything we expected and more, it is the most awe inspiring place. Our guide gave us a tour of the ruins, telling us the history and pointing out the different types of rooms, it was magical and he really made the place come alive.
That afternoon myself and two ozzie guys called Mark decided that we hadn´t punished our bodies enough all ready and opted to climb Wayna Picchu mountain that rises over Machu Picchu. The path climbs up the mountain and took us an hour the views were amazing and quite scary
The start
The start of what would turn out to be the most physically demanding thing i´ve ever done. - we were very high balancing on rocks with nothing but our (hopefully) sure footedness to stop us falling over the side. It was well worth the extra effort to climb up there even just for the thrill of doing something dangerous.
Later that day we caught a train and bus back to cusco for a well needed shower and early night. We were all tired, sunburnt and exhausted! but very happy to have done something so amazing.
The next day was a free day in Cusco and whilst laundry was the highest thing on most´s agenda we also managed to fit in some shopping (ok, lots of shopping) and some visits to Cuscos main squares and museums. That night we had a big night out to celebrate finishing the Inca trail and had a very drunken time in the bars of cusco, the most amazing one being the fallen angle. The bar is a fab mix of tacky and well more tack, with cherubs and glitter balls everywhere and tables that were bathtubs with goldfish swimming in them.
Needless to say the next day was spent nursing very large hangovers,
we did this in cusco airport whilst waiting to fly to the amazon (a three hour delay didn´t make the hangovers any easier)
It was beautiful out there. We to Puerto Maldonado. The flight took 25 minutes but to drive the 500 km between the cities takes 18 hours. It is the worst road in Peru. Only the first 10 km are paved, after that it´s mud. From the plane we took a bus to the river where we boarded a boat to head down the Madre de Dios river.
Our lodge was an hour and a half down the river. As we got closer, we were told that we would be going for a hike on Monkey Island before going across the river to the lodge. Monkey Island was fab! We got so close to the monkeys and one ever hitched a ride on our guides shoulder. We caught an amazing sunset from the island and then went over to the lodge.
The lodge is incredible and not at all like we expected. We had our own little house on legs with a flush toilet (this can only truly be appreciated after 4
days on the Inca Trail with squatty toilets), a cold shower (less fun), and a swimming pool.
We were up very early the next day (5am start - urgh!) to go on an 8km hike in the jungle, in wellie boots as at times we were wading through mud up to the knees! Poor nat picked a boot with a hole in so had very wet feet by the end!! We saw two huge Anacondas and a few Camens (little alligators) and millions of butterflies. That afternoon our group chilled out in the lodges beautiful grounds - swimming in the pool and lazing in hammocks on the veranda. It was the perfect end to a hectic two weeks.
See you when i get home xxx
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