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Published: June 14th 2010
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Well, we made it to Macchu Picchu with no blisters, but very sore legs & although it was a hard walk we really enjoyed it. Its nearly a month since we started the inca trail & we have been really busy. The trail was great, really beautiful scenery. The hardest day was day 2 when we had to climb up to a high altitude to dead womens pass, thankfully named after the shape of the mountain, rather than statistics!! It was pretty tough going, as the high altitude made it hard to breath but luckily I had my Ipod with me & the lovely tones of lionel helped me out!!! Mark was the first of our group to get to the top which he was very pleased about I was walking on my own when I got to the top but luckily my favourite porter, Benito joined me soon after & we enjoyed some celebratory chocolate. He was the oldest porter at 60 & it was amazing how fit he was. The porters were all amazing, they would set off after us having packed away all the tents & then overtake us soon after & the camp would be all set
up when we arrived, they would even be waiting for us to give us a round of applause when we arrived, it should've been the other way round!! By the 4th day we were ready to ditch the tents & a have a shower. We ahd to get up at 3.30am to make it to the sungate for sun rise. It was worth it, the view of Macchu Picchu was amazing. The day after we finished our reward was picking up our friend Kim at from the airport. It was so lovely seeing a familiar face ( & for me to have a girly friend to talk to!!). She bought us yorkshire tea & curly wurlies which was lovely. After a few days around Cusco we took an overnight bus to Arequipa & then went on a tour to the Colca Canyon. We arrived late morning to see the beautiful sight of the condors flying in the canyon. They are massive & came really close, which was fantastic. Shortly after we started our trek it was then that I found out that the canyon is the second largest in the world, at this point I wondered if the trekking option
had been a good move!! The first day was mainly downhill & I only fell over twice! We stayed in a basic stone walled room which was a bit chilly & I was glad I had my thermals!! The next day we continued walking down into the canyon to an "oasis". Right in the bottom was a lovely swimming pool & area to chill out. It was lovely but unfortuantely all I could focus on was the huge cliff would would have to walk up to get out the canyon in the afternoon. The climb took 3 1/2 hrs of constant steep climbing, it was pretty tough & we were extremely glad when we got to the top. That's enough walking for me now!!! Our next stop was Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world. We stopped briefly to look at the lake & crossed the border into Bolivia, which was much more straightforward than expected. We continued to la Paz, It took us a couple of days to adjust to the high altitude, walking up the stairs you feel like you've got emphysema! We then flew to Rurrenbaque, a town near the jungle. The flight was quite an
experience. It was a 20 seat plane & you had to duck down to walk up the aisle. Landing was even more of an experience on a very short grass runway!! I still think it was a much better option than a 20hr bus ride on the "death road"! We firstly did a 3 hour tour to the wetlands, known as the pampas. The wildlife was incredible, the boat gets so close to the animals. We saw loads of caimans, Capybara & Monkeys. Unfortunately our camp was not so good, it was very much a party place with plenty of beer & loud music until 2am!! We felt like the golden oldies going to bed at 10 with our ear plugs in!!! The next day we went on a hunt for an anaconda through the most disgusting swamp I've ever seen. We were covered in stinky mud by the end & Kim saw a snake move out of the water just near us which was a bit unnerving!! The next day we went fishing for pirhanas & I managed to catch one which was exciting! We then did a 2 day tour of the jungle. It was much more peaceful
there & we managed to sleep despite the bat in our room & big spiders in near proximity! On return we said goodbye to Kim 😞 & flew to Buenos Aires. Last night we took an overnight bus & arrived in Iguazu this morning. We are going to see the famous waterfalls tomorrow & then back to BA which is our last stop!!!
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Thomas
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Jealous!
Hi Jo and Mark I'm glad to see that you're enjoying your last weeks of travelling. I'd love to be able to do all the things you've done. The photos are so beautiful! And the Inca Trail reminds me of my trip to Peru 10 years ago! We didn't do it as a group so it was a lot more chaotic than your hike including an explosion of our cooking stove on the first evening! I hope you enjoy Iguazu, I remember seeing loads of butterflies and getting soaked in a tropical thunderstorm there! Really looking forward to seeing you two soon! Thomas