Inca Trail and Macchu Picchu

Sorry for the 2m delay but here they are finally!!

Got to Puno and managed to negotiate both leaving Bolivia and entering Peru ok (only 1 armed man shouting at me to come back-all for no reason in the end but made everyone stare!). Had a few hours to kill in the bus station so went on a tour to the floating reed Uros islands which were actually pretty cool, everything is made out of reeds and folks do live there. Very damp though!
Well made it to Cusco after a very long and very bumpy 12 hour alternative route to the blockade, at least we avoided stones being thrown through the bus like some folks but i was squished next to 2 Peruvians the whole way. Finally arrived in Cusco and now had a few days to chill. Started to do some of the touristy sites, loads of Incan ruins here with all there amazing stonework. They are pretty cool although the incas were only 500 years ago but impressive stonework for folks that didnt have the wheel, they moved these massive rocks by hand and with ramps kms and kms!

Unfortunately just as i was starting to sort myself out for my trek i got ill. Cue 2 days of only eating bread and feeling faint after walking 100m (not a good sign for 4 days of hiking!), all culminating in me going for a baked potato the night before and vomiting it back up before leaving the restaurant! Not good when i was leaving next am at 530!

Had a fairly unpleasant bus journey to the start of the trek and forced down a breakfast but once i started walking felt much better. Amazing what a bit of fresh air and exercise will do! Day 1 is the easy(!) day but even so folks were struggling! Had group of 12, kinda found my place as always near the front and we soon settled into the order for the 4 days. Scenery just stunning though, although when u are struggling uphill u dont look at much apart from ur feet! Makes you feel bad when these porters run past you with 20kg held on by bits of string and wearing sandals, and then they clap you when you come into camp for lunch where they have set up tents with tables and tablecloths and steel plates (not so lightweight!). Makes you feel a bit ridiculous! Food was amazing, was soon scoffing down lots, 3 courses for every meal and coca tea coming out your ears.

Is a much better way of camping methinks to trail in to have your tents all set up and dinner served up. No hardships here! Early to bed at 8ish as up at 5 and is pitch black by then. Our 2 guides were Oscar a very enthusiastic mega fit bloke and wee Percy who i hardly ever saw as he was at the back with Judith the english woman. Oscar prattled on so much about the ruins and quite often about the whole history of the incas and peru that quite often i would drift off in the sun while having a wee seat!

Day 2 early start then the Dead Womans Pass to conquer-up from 3000 to 4200m, uphill all the way for 6 hours and the last half is steps-bit of a killer on the old legs! Lunch was an amazing cliffside spot though, good old porters running ahead to claim it for us! Got the ipod on for some motivation near the end but is a great feeling to get to the top. Then a loong wait for everyone to get in- in the end we left before the last (a british woman who im sure had never done any exercise in her life) trailed in. And then we walked down for 700m what we just climbed. I found the downhill ok but most folk were struggling with their knees. Started on the good old cards at night which was surpisingly amusing and one way to entertain 12 people for hours! Was very knackered but hardly slept that night, really frustrating!

Day 3 up at 5 again for the gringo killer- a short flattish section then downhill on 3000 steps! God knows how these incas got all these stones here! Amazing views and several cool ruins on the way-and at the end some amazing terraces where they grew their crops. Last night camping is at Winay Waynu which is 2 hours from Macchu Picchu and they have a bar! The chef Armando pulled out all the stops and baked a birthday cake for one guy-god knows how with a gas cooker (that some poor porter lumps up with a massive gas bottle!).

Day 4 is the last day and up at 345 (yes 345am!) for what looking back seems a bit ridiculous. Quick brekkie and then everyone runs for 10 min to the control gates to get in line for 45 min till they open at 515 and then everyone literally sets off at a run (i know-stupid) but u cant actually pass anyone cos the path is so narrow and sheer cliffs on one side, but even so any stopping for photos and u lose about 50 places. This is the only part that seemed like a cattle trail, up folks backside for 1 hour and everyone trying to beat the sunrise to get to the sungate which is up some killer almost vertical stairs. And then once u are there there is a long wait while everyone gets photos and groups up. Yet again we were one of the first groups up and pretty much the last to leave as we waited on Judith for the group photos! The amusing thing (not so at the time) was that every time she got to the top she was so grumpy and didnt want photos and then stood behind folk so no-one could see her! Made us feel glad we had waited on her! Place is stunning though, first half in shadows and then bright sun (we had perfect weather the whole trip, some sun but bit cloudy for the massive climb on day 2 which was perfect as u would have died in the sun and then amazing weather for machu picchu itself!)

Slow dander down to the city where only 2 of us (me and colm, an irish guy who were the front 2) went to get tickets to climb hyuana picchu, the massive mountain behind the city. Had a 2 hour tour with Oscar first then we literally had to run up the mountain (should take 1-1h30, we were up in 20min, hence my bright red sweaty face!), which was just crazy, steep tiny stairs with a drop of hundreds of metres at the side, people were clinging on to the walls. Cant believe they let people climb it, am sure lots must have fallen and it would be sure death. At the top amazing photos of macchu picchu but the photos dont do it justice of how steep and dangerous it was!

Saw all the cool buildings and temples in the city then had a very well earned ice cream and headed down to Aguas Calientes for lunch with the group. About half of us were staying overnight there (original plan had been to go back the next day and climb hyuana picchu then, but saw it all in 1 day). So nice to sleep in a proper bed and have a hot shower although i got bitten so badly by mozzies at lunch and in the city itself that my legs are now a mess! Went to the hot springs after which thé town is named next day which was nice on the aching calves! The 6 of us hung out for the day and got the train and bus back to Cusco that night and then met up again the next night. Good fun and the irish just cracked me up the whole trail and i now have 3 places to stay in San Fran!

Back in Cusco my appetite has stayed with me and I tucked into lots of peruvian food and had a lovely full body massage for 5 pounds!

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