An incaresting time

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First on the list in Cuzco was shopping, which I haven’t done for 5 months!! There are so many different things to buy and at bargain prices, and seeing as we’re coming to the end of the trip I decided to treat myself and bought a big backpack so I could fill it with loads of new goodies, which I’ve already done ☺ My favourite find was a super soft baby alpaca fur cushion for £5. And I was assured the alpaca is shaved for the fur, rather than killed…

Then we went white water rafting, although the water was far from white. And it was ice cold. It was so much fun though, spending 2 hours paddling furiously down the river through grade 3 and 4 rapids waiting for the guide to shout for you to dive from one side of the boat to the other so that we didn’t capsize as we got engulfed by giant waves and bounced off rocks. Awesome!

Finally we went on a 2-day, 7.5 mile trek to Machu Picchu. Waking up at 5.45am was just the start of the ordeal. About 4 miles of the trek was uphill, on uneven cobbles, on a mountain edge, and when we were going downhill it started to rain, making for some very scary slopes as £4 Primark pumps don’t have the best grip. It also didn’t help that when we reached halfway for lunch the only beverage on sale was beer. After 6 hours of continual walking we arrived at Machu Picchu and it was shut (this was the plan!), so we had the chance to take pictures without hundreds of people dotted all around, before going back the next day to get a tour. Machu Picchu was a lot bigger than I had expected, and the view surrounding it was just as beautiful as the ruins – another wonder of the world down!

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