Nearly a year after we had first investigated the trek, and over 6 months after we had paid our deposits, the time had finally come to do The Inca Trail. Though there are many alternative routes to the Inca city ofMachu Picchu, which was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, we were walking the classic 45km trail over 4 days and 3 nights.

There were 16 people in our group and two guides - Alberto and Ramiro, who we met briefly at the orientation the night before the trek. We had an eclectic group from the UK, USA, Spain, Germany, Holland, France, Austria, Ireland & Iceland, but everybody spoke good English.

We also had a team of around 20 Chaskis and 2 chefs that would walk ahead of us carrying all our tents and food for the trip.

Day 1:

We woke up at 5am and got a quick cup of coffee in the hostel before walking over to the local square to be picked up. The bus took a few more minutes picking up the rest of our group, then we began the 90 minute trip to our starting point at theUrubamba river (2800m above sea level), stopping for a quick breakfast along the way.

Once we got to the start of the trail we took a few minutes to sort out our bags. Many of the party had taken up the option up of paying a little extra to have theChaskis carry the bulk of their luggage. Tempting as this was, we decided to scrimp/be hardcore and carried our own stuff. We packed lightly, but we did have to carry spare clothes, sleeping bags and big sleeping mats, which added to the weight. Once everyone was sorted we got a quick group photo at the start, then we were on our way.

The first section of the walk was quite flat and easy going, so everyone spent the majority of the morning chatting to other members of the group and getting to know each other as we walked. We soon came across the ruins of a large fort below us and our guide, Alberto, gave us a little lecture about the history of the site before we carried on walking.

About three hours after we had begun, we arrived at the lunch spot and got our first indication of how hard the Chaskis work. Contrary to the basic conditions we had expected, they had already set up a small camp with a tent for the kitchen and another larger tent with a long table and 20 chairs for lunch. The lunch itself was another pleasant surprise, as we were provided with not one, not two, but three courses of food cooked right on the site. We took an hours rest to let the food settle, then we were on our way again.

The afternoon was a little more difficult than the first, with a few more hills, and the weight of our bags beginning to tell. When we eventually arrived at the camp we found our tents already set up, with some bowls of warm water in front for us to freshen up. We took a few minutes to sort ourselves out before 'happy hour' was announced. This was basically hot drinks, popcorn and biscuits that was served in the food tent before tea. Our evening meal was another huge three courses, and we all sat around chatting for a little while afterwards. Everyone was heading to bed by 8pm though as it was an early start the next day...

Day 2:

We were woken by the Chaskis at 5am and provided with more hot water and towels. After a large breakfast of fruit, porridge and pancakes, we set off on the toughest day of the trek. The first 3 hours was spent endlessly plugging away uphill until we reached the top of 'dead woman's pass', which is 900m above our morning camp, and the highest part of the trail (4200m). It was really tiring, but the guides let you go at your own pace, and everyone in our group was pretty quick anyway so we weren't left waiting for anyone. The weather had been pretty good all morning, but the wind and rain picked up at the summit and everyone was scrambling to put on their coats or ponchos. We had a quick rest, took a group photo, then began the decent down to the lunch spot.

The 600m decent took about an hour and a half, and was a welcome change to the uphill pursuits of the morning. On the way down we spotted a humming bird hovering around. It was really good to see, but proved to be far too small and quick to take a photo of.

As usual, the lunch tent was set up already when we arrived, and we only had to wait a few minutes before the food was ready. We had a short break to refresh our legs, then we began our second ascent of the day.

Though the second climb was shorter than the first, it was just as steep, and our legs were still feeling the effects of the morning. We broke up the walk by stopping at another small ruin, then continued plugging away uphill. We took another rest at the top, then had another downhill section until we reached the most impressive set of ruins yet - A former lookout point that comprised of several different buildings. We spent about half an hour wandering around on our own, then continued on for the final hour to our camp. When we arrived we were given a guard of honour by theChaskis for completing the hardest day. They did this for each person as we arrived in dribs and drabs.

We freshened up, then watched the sunset over the mountains in the distance. The next day was supposed to be the easiest, so we were able to stay up a little later after dinner as we had a lie in the next morning. The guides bought some rum, and one of them even sang a song for us. We stayed up playing cards, then went to bed at the late hour of 10pm.

Day 3:

We were allowed to lie in until 7:30 which was nice, then we had breakfast outside as the weather was fine. Apart from the first hour or so, the majority of the days walk was flat or downhill, which was welcome after the day before. The lactic acid had set in from our first couple of days though, so most people were a little stiff. The morning saw us take in a few nice views an another ruin, before a long 1000m decent down 1500 of the big stairs associated with the Inca Trail. This was agony for our tired legs and Amy's knees, but it wasn't that physically exerting.

After about three hours we reached the tiered ruins of Inipata, which were used as agricultural terraces by the Incas, and was missed by Hiram Bingham when he first walked the trail due to overgrowth. We had another short Inca lesson here, then continued on for twenty minutes until we reached the campsite. Though it was only lunchtime, this was our trekking done for the day. The campsite was much bigger than the others we had stayed in, as everyone gathers here before the walk toMachu Picchu in the morning. We had lunch then took the opportunity to nap for an hour or so in our tent. There was a really big rainbow right outside that took most peoples attention for a while as I'm not sure I'd ever seen a better one.

In the evening we took a really short walk to the ruins of Wiñay Wayna, which were tiered like Inipata, but also had a settlement at the bottom. The guides had told us to bring our torch for the walk back, as it was going to get dark soon, but Amy had recently flushed ours down the toilet. The group spent an hour or so wandering around the ruins alone or in small groups, then everyone filtered back to the camp for tea.

The Chaskis wouldn't be continuing on to Machu Picchu with us in the morning, so we sorted out all the tips, then had a small ceremony as we said our goodbyes. It was another early night, as we had the earliest start yet the next day...

Day 4:

We were woken up at the ungodly hour of 4am in the pouring rain and had breakfast before setting off on the walk to Macchu Picchu. The evening prior, our guide had told us that there were limited tickets to climb Huyana Piichu - the mountain directly behind the city - for better views, and that he would do his best to get some for the group if possible. This caused mild panic in a few members of our group who were determined to get tickets. Not only had some of them been up earlier than 4am, only to find the gates to the trail shut until 5:30, as the guide had said they would be, but as soon as the gates at our campsite opened they were practically running off in front of everyone.

We had decided to stick with the main group and walk, not least because it was so foggy you couldn´t see 20ft in front of you, never-mind down a mountain. At one point we had to negotiate a landslide, and our guide later told us that the land had slipped again shortly after we had passed, causing the trail to close so our timing was lucky. Eventually we reached the famous Sun Gate, where the city first comes into view, but all we could see was a thick fog.

We arrived at Macchu Picchu shortly afterwards, at around 8am, and met up with the rest of the group whilst the rain was heaving down. One of the guys had fallen off the trail when running for tickets, and apparently only his girlfriend and Ramiro (the guide), stopped to help him. We think he may have broken his wrist during the fall. What I found particularly amusing was the fact that there were plenty of tickets left, and Ramiro had got a couple for us. What a big fuss over nothing!

After a short snack break, with the rain easing off, we all headed into the city for Alberto´s guided tour around the more significant sites, such as the temple of the sun, and the famous sundial. There were a lot of tourists wandering about, compared to the deserted sites we had seen on the trail, but the city was big enough that itdidn ´t really seem too crowded.

Once the tour was over we had a couple of hours free time to wander around. The fog was still quite heavy, so we decided against climbingHuayna Picchu, and wandered around the ruins instead. It was really interesting, and we even managed to find a few spots without tourists.

Once we had had our fill of Inca ruins, we headed down to the local town on the bus, where the tour company had put on a buffet for us. The group that climbedHuayna Picchu were nowhere to be seen, but that just meant more for us. Once everyone was accounted for we were given more free time, as the train back to Cuzcowasn´t departing until the evening. Several of us decided to relax in the hot springs, which were ok, then we headed back down for the train.

We slept the whole way back, as we were exhausted after 4 days of early starts and constant walking, but we had a really good time, and it was well worth the year long wait.