The morning of our 4 day Inca trail trek started with our guide arriving to 3 fully packed and ready to go backpacks (mochilas). However they were too heavy and not ready to go at all in his opinion. So the unpacking and after deliberation more unpacking took place until it was finally ok and we joined the group in the mini taxi. We drove to a small village where we stopped at the store to get rubber tips for our trekking poles (only rubber tips are allowed in the park) and some last minute snack supplies. From here it was all systems go, we arrived at the entry check point an hour later with passports and entry tickets in hand. They would not allow one in if the name on the ticket does not match the name in the passport, they are rather strict. After a quick starting photo we were off on our trek.. The view was extraordinary, great big mountains and the river running through the sacred valley below. I again had this surreal feeling of is this really happening.

Day one consisted of around 8 hours walk in rather fair weather, we had around and hours worth of rain towards the end. We camped in site 22, thankfully all the tents were set up by the time we got there and the kitchen was well functioning. Indeed the food on this trip was out of this world. I'm not sure how they managed to conjur up the dishes they did. Daily we had snacks usually popcorn and crackers with hot drinks when we got back and then for dinner always a started, main and desert with tea after. An early night was in order.

Day two started with us being woken up by the porters with a cup of tea in bed at 6am, breakfast at 6:30 and started the day's trek by 7am. Today was the hardest day as it entailed a lot of step climbing as we reached the original Inca trail and seemed to be consistently uphill. It was so beautiful though. I had the stomach bug still and after half day's trek felt horrid. One of the English guys on the trek kindly swopped his bag which was much lighter than mine with me. Not sure if I imagined it but after going through the rainforrest peace and back into the open the surrounding mountains became more mysterious on the way to the summit. We reached the summit at 2400m above sealevel before midday. What a view!! Valley and mountains and thousands of years of history. What goes up must come down. So speadily made our way down to the base camp where again we were treated to a feast.

Day three, up by 5am as we decided to chance getting a camp sight at whina wina which is the closer camp to machu picchu. The park administration decides where each group would camp and for some reason gave us the further away camp which was around 2 hours before Whina Wina and thus 2 hours further from Machipichu. This was a problem if one we wanted to be at the sungate for sunrise and two the 3 of us had booked Whinapicchu too, but they only have an entry slot between 10-11am, which we would have missed. So our guide sent porters ahead and we started up the hill to the ruins and onwards to the top of the hill which showed off a blanket of clouds with an incredible view of the valley. Further down we got to more ruins which seemingly was a military fortress. Onwards through more tropical rainforesty bits to the original camp we would have stayed at where we now only stopped for more of the tasty Peruvian food for lunch.

Down the hill and further on to a further ruin, through a tunnel down more of the original inca trail steps and to amazing terraces which gave an idea of how vast the valley is. Onward to wina whina camp sight where thankfully they found some space and am sure had to bribe a few rangers to stay there. Our last amazing dinner on the Inca trail.

Day four we were woken up by 3:25am and rapidly made our way to the omelet breakfast. The aim was to get a spot on the waiting bench. Regulations of the park do not allow for walking in the dark, so the check point opens at 5:30am and then allows trekkers to go through then only. We got the last spots on the bench. I was greatful as we had the hour and half wait Around 20 mins later there was a massive queue camped out on in a long row sat on the ground.

As soon as the gate opened we were off on a mission and with speed. On the way to the sungate it started raining and by the time we got there around an hour later the view from the sungate was missed filled. We went down lower to the traditional view point of Machu Picchu and after waiting a bit the clouds moved and for a few minutes we had a perfect vantage point of Machu Picchu. Not even 30min lower down we saw it in clear sight...Machu Picchu...wow...so old so big and we were there in person. How incredible! After a two hour tour by our guide, we still didn't see everything, but was time for us to enter Whia whina which we did only minutes before cut off.

It took us less than 30 min trek up the steep hill, steps and through caves to summit this mountain. Once at the top we were mesmerised by the incredible panoramic views which included machu picchu on the side and river in the valley below. We were asked to leave at around 12pm, not sure why they chase people off, but down, our senses satisfied with this amazing encounter with nature.

Once down another adventure awaited. Rona's friend had sent her a mail, clues and map of "a treasure coin" they had planted back in November (its April now). Not hopeful to find anything as there are regular cleaning done by the staff, we attemted it anyway. We got to the exact terrace row as in the picture and then found the stone that it was supposed to be in. Rona looked and felt and there it was, the Machu picchu coin, still in tact after 5 months. What a great ending to an awesome experience.

Down to Aguas Calientes town (meaning hot water), where we met the rest of the group and had lunch with them while waiting for the tourist train. The tourist train we got in the afternoon was one of the most unique tourist trains I've seen. It was specifically designed only for tourist with the roof and walls decorated in modern map drawings and was probably the cleanest train ever. The journey took us half way on the train and the rest by very comfi couch.

The 24 hr challenge...

We decided to arrange and afterparty with our guide and group, but seeing that we only got back at 9:30pm we had to make it a challenge to go out. The objective was to stay out until 3:30am which would make it 24 hrs of being awake. Well, we succeeded and realised that after 4am there's not much going on in Cusco.

The following day our guide kindly in non work capacity took us to a loal restaurant to try heart, a local delicatessen. Surprisingly it was really tender and very tasty.

We went rafting the next day, rapids were about level 2-3, were some good ones, but in general just enjoyable level, nothing too crazy. We also had a zip line, not too exciting 100m slow line. In all it was a great day out.

On the day we were leaving I did ATV quadbike riding outside of Cusco to Maras and Maray sights which were salt planes and terraces that the Inka's used for acclimatizing food groups.

The bus to Nasca was at 6pm, the taxi driver accidentally took us to the airport, but thankfully we got to the terminal and boarded the bus just in time.

We had the best time in Cusco and will happy to go back anytime.