We´ve spent three great days hiking the Inca Trail and on the fourth day visiting Machu Pichu.

We staying in Olytambo on Wednesday night which is closer to the start of the Inca Trail (82 kms) than Cusco.

Our first day we had our passport stamped into the Inca Trail and set off with out group of 7 hikers, 2 guides, 1 cook and 9 porters.

The Porters are amazing. They each carry 20 kgs plus 5 kgs of their own equipment for three days. The gear is carried in makeshift packs which may be either plastic sacks with material threaded through for shoulder straps, a gas bottle strapped to their back, a duffle bag (with normal looking straps) or some are lucky enough to have an actual hiking pack. They race up the hills far faster than any of the hikers and then run down all of the mountains.

They leave the camp after us, and reach the next campsite or lunch spot before us with enough time to put up the dining tent and have lunch or tea (dinner) partly cooked and a nice drink ready and waiting for us when we arrive.

Meals were generally three course. Lunch was an appetizer (first day was Avocado with cheese and mayonnise on top), followed by Quenwa or Corn soup, then the mains was normally rice with veges and a vegeterian savoury.

Dinner was an soup, mains then a really nice desert. Breakfast was toast, fruit salad, quenwa porridge followed by a pancake. Generally we have far too much to eat and found it difficult hiking after a large meal.

Our first day we left the checkpoint at about 10am then reached our final campsite by 5pm. We had an hour and a half lunch stop in the middle of the day. Since our group was hiking well our guide (Julio) decided that we could hike up to a later campsite which would make our next day easier.

Second day was Dead Womans Pass (4251 metres) and we had been warned that it was a 4 hour hike to the top and then 2 hours to the bottom of the mountain. As our aim was for us to hike on to a later campsite again (if the guards allowed) we got up at 5am and were hiking by 6.30 after a huge breakfast.

Tony and I reached the top of Dead Womans Pass after 2 hours which we were both pleased with. The mountain seemed to go on and on and the last part was really tough as there was a false pass which made it look like we had reached the top when really we had another 30 minutes hiking to go. Only one person passed us and they stayed at a much closer campsite so set off about the same time we passed their campsite. We waited at the top for the rest of our group, then headed down to the valley below.

Unfortunatly the guard wasn't our tour guide friend so we wern´t allowed to go over the second pass and so the porter pitched campsite at 12 and we had the rest of the afternoon for sleeping/relaxing.

Third day we had to climb the second and third passes (3600 and 3400 metres) and the second pass was the hardest. One of our group wasn't feeling too well so we had lunch at the top of the third pass before heading down to the campsite at the end of the third pass. We were able to see and explore lots of Inca places between the second and third passes.

It is amazing how advanced the Incas were. The Inca is the name of the king, and they built lots of roads connecting a lot of South America and resting places and villages in between.

Our last day was an early start (wakeup was 3.30 am) as we had to be at the front of the queue when the gates opened at 5.30 am for the walk to sungate. We were at the gate at 4.30 and luckily just the first group allowed there so were able to leave first as soon as the gates opened. Tony was first to the Sungate and I was second which was nice to get there and take a few photos before the crowds arrived (45 minutes walking from the checkpoint)

There wasn't much of a view as the fog covered most of the valley, however it did start to clear before we left and we got a glimpse of Machu Picchu and all of the buses heading up to Machu Pichu that would unfortunatly get there before us.

We then walked down to Machu Pichu (leaving our small rock we had carried from the start) and had a tour from Julio of the site.

The fountains and building they had were really advanced, and it was amazing to see the symbolism they had built into the rocks. They believed that you couldn't carve into a rock (part of Pacha Mama or mother earth) unless the rock had naturally fallen away from the earth or it was part of a religious building.

They had carved some of the natural grantie to match the shape of the mountains.

They also believed the three sacred animals (Condor, Puma and Snake) and they build things in three levels which also stand for the Past, Present and Future.

They had houses built as coolstores (on the edge of the rock face where the wind mostly blows) and had also built many terraces to grow crops.

They believe that approx 100 people lived in Machu Pichu as they have found approx 33 dwelling houses. Only the important nobles would have lived in Machu Pichu and it would have been a cultural and political hub.

The Incas (or kings) actually lived in tents and moved around a lot.

They believe Machu Pichu was left empty as a plague came through (most likely from the Spainairds) wiping the entire population out.

It was discovered in 1911 by Herman XXX, who was travelling looking for Inca places and asked some locals if they knew where any were. There was two families living in Machu Pichu and a little boy was the first tour guide who showed Herman around. When Herman came back it took 7 months to clear the site of the overgrowth.

A really enjoyable few days and the Inca Trail is definitely one of my highlights of South America. Its been great to get out hiking again, and a lot of the Inca Trail looked very similar to New Zealan d.