September 29, 2012 Starting Elevation 3000m (9842ft) 2nd Camp Elevation - Pacaymayu Alto - 3600m (11811ft) Highest Point - Dead Woman's Pass - 4215m (13828ft) Distance Travelled 11kms Well, after a surprisingly decent sleep I awoke to discover that I had NOT shaken whatever was ailing me the night before...popped whatever medication I had and joined the group for breaky, a little concerned to say the least about what was to lay ahead that day (Day 2 is considered the hardest day, with a 1200 meter ascent to the highest point of the trek-Dead Woman's Pass at 4215 meters-followed by a 600 meter descent to our next camp...). Don't recall eating much of anything at breakfast, just a bit of tea and it was off and running...our guide liked to get out early on the trail, ... read more

September 27th, 2012 Elevation 2800m, 9186ft After an amazing time in Puno and Lake Titicaca it was back on a bus and heading to Cusco, launch point of the Sacred Valley and our final destination before the Inca Trail: Ollantaytambo... Took the better part of the day to get from Puno to Cusco, with a stop along the way at the highest elevation of the tour, 4338m (14232ft), hard to believe...it was a brief stop in Cusco, spent a number of days there after the Inca Trail so will talk more about it in a future post...basically arrived, got some laundry together, grabbed a bite to eat and a couple of pints and that was about it... It was this night that we first met our guide for the Inca Trail, David. Seemed very knowledgeable and ... read more

September 23rd, 2012 Elevation 3830m, 12565ft After getting all the formalities out of the way in Lima it was now time to begin the adventures with a quick flight from Lima to Juliaca, and then on to our first stop: Puno! Gateway to Lake Titicaca, we would have three days to explore the region, including visiting the floating reed islands of Uros, the island of Taquile and a homestay with a local family, couldn't wait! Landed in Juliaca to a beautiful day, mindful that this was my first time in altitude and certainly curious as to how I was going to react...I opted not to take any altitude medication, bit of a risk but wanted to see if I could handle it on my own without the aid of pills, and for the most part I ... read more

Oct 20, 2011 Our time was up too soon in Pokhara and it was now back to Kat to hang out for a day and then catch our flight home...normally on these trips we like to splurge and get a really nice place for our last night or two but it just didn't seem right if we didn't go back and see the gang at Hotel Potala, so back to the scene of the crime it was! Haha... Managed to take in the ancient city of Patan upon our return, now a suburb of Kathmandu...same feel as Bhaktapur, but unfortunately by this time we were a little templed out so didn't enjoy it as much, but if you have time it's worth the visit (if you don't have the time I would recommend Bhaktapur over Patan). ... read more

October 12, 2011 ...the mighty Jungle...otherwise known as Chitwan National Park, the next leg of our journey through Nepal... After a long, hot, six hour bus ride from Kat we arrived in the town of Tandi Bazaar where we were to hook up with a shuttle from the Chitwan Jungle Lodge, our destination for the next three days... Being on the UNESCO World Heritage list, Chitwan National Park is one of the more popular destinations in Nepal, and it is certainly worth the visit...at almost a thousand square kilometers, it hosts a variety of flora and fauna, including one-horned rhinos, deer, sloth bears and the elusive and sought after Bengal tiger... Most accommodation is on the fringe of the park in a town called Sauraha, but we opted to spend more and stay at one of ... read more