Machu Pichu

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Last week I didnt upload a blog post, this is due to two reasons. Firstly, we hadnt really acheived much, after an active few weeks in Bolivia we took some time out to chill at Lake Titicaca. Secondly, all three of us had really bad food poisoning and so we spent alot of time hugging the loo, I didnt think that it would make for a great read. We did a tour of the floating islands in Puno, which was really cool. However, we couldnt really get over the fact that we felt guilty that tourism had, in a way, ruined their sense of identity. We were on huge motor boats, people were paying to look into their houses and their livlihood depended on selling jewelery and crafts. They no longer hunted or fished, which was a huge shame. Later that afternoon we went to a big island in the middle of the lake. It was a really cool tour and the inhabitants were still speaking the inca language. The tour finished with a late afternoon lunch, trout, looking over the lake which was an amazing view. The next few days were spent with vomitting and violent dioreah. We skipped through Arequipa because we were too ill and had spent too long in Puno and arrived straight to Cusco. We took an overnight bus which was luxury. We had our own televisions, amazing seats and meals and drinks. It was sufficient enough to make us forget about our illness.The main activity in Cusco is the Inca Jungle Treck, which finishes at Machu Pichu. When we arrived in Cusco, we booked it for the following day and spent the afternoon walking around the city that was once the heart of the Inca empire. With an early start the next morning, 3am, we decided that we would have an early night. That idea didnt last very long because Henry and I found ourselves very drunk in the hostel bar at about 1am, which is when we decided to go to bed. Waking up still drunk and getting in a minibus with a group of 15 strangers was a fun experience to say the least.

I would like to say that I had sobered up by the time we started out mountain biking, but I would be lying. The biking was amazing, we were flying down the mountain overtaking cars, vans, cows and llamas. Ben had a little accident from a Samurai Warrior which resulted in his jacket ripping. He was cycling down with a trail of fluff following his as he went. We reached the bottom after and unhealthy amount of peddelling and stopped to have lunch. Next we were to take on the white water rapids on an inflatable boat. Our tour guide was a bit of a Nazi, I felt like fun wasnt really on his agenda. Of course, that didnt really bother us and we made the most of what we had. The rapids were seriously fun, a few times I thought that I was about to be thrown out and at the realms of the Sacred River. We wound our way to the bottom after about 30 minutes of being bashed and thrown. We got out and played a fun game with our oars on dry land and carried on again.On the home straight I grabbed Ben, who was sitting in front of me, and jumped out of the boat, dragging him out with me. We managed to climb our way back in and couldnt stop laughing.

Our next day was a day trekking through the mountains along a river. It was quite long and we got to the hostel at about 3 in the afternoon. Finally the day of Machu Pichu was upon us. We had to get up at 4am in order to beat everyone else who was taking on the climb. We got down to the start point, which wasn't open, just before 5 and got in line. The trek was very long and very steep, we were going through forest and climbing up and up and up and up and up. It took about an hour till we reached the top completely drenched with sweat. What was very annoying was that people were getting busses and taxis to the top, so although we had worked really hard to reach Machu Pichu there were about 30 people already there. To be honest, the site was big enough to make us feel like the only ones.The ruins were amazing, so well preserved and their architecture was fantastic. Our guide said that it would be almost impossible for humans to build the same site, in such an obscure location, in such a short period of time, with such up to date technology, nowadays. Their building were strikingly solid, simple and symmetrical. After our tour we had booked on to do the Machu Pichu mountain, which was another 2 hours of walking at altitude, in the heat up a very steep mountain. But we managed to get to the top, as a group, and had an amazing view of the site itself. We were lucky enough to have a really amazing group, two English girls (one of who has a boyfriend in our year at Radley and the other went to Headington) two Aussie guys, a Norwegian girl and two English guys. We had so much fun with them and they were one of the reasons I loved Cusco so much. Needless to say that when we got back to Cusco we had a very big night out together as a group, and got very drunk.

So our next stop was Mancora, and I knew there was a surprise booked for me because we had to fly there in order to be on time, but I didn't know what it was. So as we approach Mancora the taxi driver asks us where our hostel is and I replied, turns out I was wrong and the lovely Lucy Perry had booked us into a player hotel. We have the top floor, literally the whole floor, looking down onto the swimming pool and massage rooms. With two beers and a cocktails every day already paid for I can tell I am going to have an amazing time. So thank you very much for that!!! For my actually birthday itself, we went to a hotel outside of town, and swam in the pool, played on the private beach, drank cocktails and generally got a bit loose. The food there was absolutely amazing and Ben did a really kind thing and spoke to the manager about getting me a free birthday pudding. I had a chocolate soufflé, which was amazing. It was so nice to be treated and stay in really nice surroundings and eat like a king for a day, or four. Thank you very much for treating me on my birthday xx

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