So the election here in Peru has been and gone. For all the excitement, parades and posters it has resulted in no clear winner. All the moderate and reasonable candidates ended up splitting the vote and so the two extremists are due to have a run-off vote in June. Some commentators have said that it is now like a choice between aids and cancer, so understandably the Cusco was rather subdue the morning after the vote. Everything seemed to pass off peacefully though, and since voting had ceased it meant that the pubs could start serving alcohol again. Life was back to normal in Peru once more.

We booked a trip to visit an Inca site called Maras Moray. There were lots of trips to Inca sites that we could have done, but this site seemed the most unique from the photos we'd seen. We thought the tour was to see the ruins and that's it, but instead we got to see two other places as well. The first was a textile village. I'm normally very dubious about these extra visits to villages that tend to happen on ever tour. Normally the visit subsidizes some of the trip for the operator so that the villagers can sell you their handicrafts. This was completely different. We actually got told some interesting information about the whole process of how they make clothes and blankets from wool. Right from the start of when they remove the wool using a shard of broken glass (I'm not sure why a knife isn't used - it'd be far easier), the lady showed us step by step the painstaking process. It was interesting to see how they dyed the clothes using the natural herbs and flowers. The best one was how they make red using a parasite they find on cactuses. They also use the same parasite for lipstick. The lady said it takes about a month to make one blanket and that 12 families live in the village. So I figure that's 12 per month and 144 per year. It amazed me that in the store at the village there must have been at least 500 items for sale. Maybe they weren't ALL handmade then, either that or business was really slow!

We went from there to Maras salt mines. This strange place was hundreds of years old and wasn't what I would class as a mine. Instead it was lots of square allotments built into the side of a mountain. A saltwater spring feeds into each of the hundreds of allotments and deposits salt. The water evaporates in the heat and leaves the salt behind. It was a slave camp during the early stages of Spanish occupation, however now each resident of Moray owns one plot. There are a range of different types of salt produced and each has a different purpose from medicinal to seasoning. We didn't buy any salt.

From there we finally got to Moray Inca Ruins. This site was very unique amongst Inca ruins because it was in fact an Inca laboratory. Moray is a bit like a bowl that has been dug out in between hills. At first look you might think it was some sort of amphitheatre, and indeed in early Spanish times it was used for bull fighting. The original purpose was for testing to see at what temperature different crops grow best. It's easier to understand if you look at the photos but there are about 14 different circular levels, each level is about 7-10 ft deep. The top level is coolest, then each level down the temperature increases by 1 degree. This is due to less wind and more focused sun. The bottom level feels very different from the top. It's all quite clever really. Lots of Inca sites have these different levels for growing crops, however they think that Moray was where they worked out what to grow where. There was lots of symbolism there with the number of platforms having meaning and the shape of the steps winding down having meaning (a snake.) Nowadays lots of people go there for mystical tourism. That's the polite way of saying they go there at night to do weird ceremonies and take drugs. Some people eh! The tour was excellent preparation for the Inca trail. We had seen our first proper Inca site and climbing between levels at Moray was a good workout!

The next couple of days in Cusco we made sure we were fully prepared for the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Torch - check! Toilet roll - check! Hand sanitizer - check! Money - check! Snacks - check! Fitness - errm maybe.

It was an early start on the first day of the trail. We were picked up from our hostel at just before 6am and everyone was quiet on the bus. It was a combination of everyone being tired and probably a bit nervous. It seemed like a good mix of people - everyone seemed normal and sensible. We were introduced to our tour guides - Percy and Raoul (nickname Raoulita because he is tall) and were taken to Ollyamtambu for breakfast. There we bought our walking sticks and coca leaves (to combat altitude sickness and aid circulation) and chatted to a few people. From there it was a short drive to our starting point. We had paid the extra for a porter to carry our overnight bags (our way of supporting the local community - honest!J). The bag could be no more than 6 kg - this included the 3.5 kg of the sleeping bag and roll mat. We still had to carry our day packs. Each porter could carry 3 of these bags and his own stuff as well. The law says he can carry a maximum of 25kg. To put this into context, our big rucksacks that are very heavy with all our things in weigh about 20kg. Before the law came in some were carrying near to 50kg for a lot less wages. The porters are amazing! Some are old men with sandals carrying bags twice their size and they literally run the trail. The Inca trail is about 26 miles in total. It is a 4 day hike. Every year there is a race done by the porters and locals. The record is 3 hours 45 minutes for the whole trek. I can't say it enough, the porters are amazing!

At the start of the trail there is a sign that the group had a photo in front of. Someone commented how strange it was posing with a group of total strangers. At that stage we didn't realize how lucky we were with our group. The first day was the "Easy" day. I was worried by this day - what if I found it hard?!?! I was pleased to see that it was actually an easy pass. Not too much uphill or downhill and plenty of breaks. Percy our guide told us about the flora and fauna and how each one could be used medicinally for a range of ailments. We also saw a couple of Inca sites and got told a lot of history. Percy was like an encyclopedia, he knows so much about the history and could answer any question brilliantly. When we got to the lunch camp all the porters were there and applauded us as we arrived. It was a nice gesture, however I felt like it should have been the other way around since they ran along the trail with much heavier bags, set up a load of tents, set the dining table and cooked lunch. We were given a hot drink when we arrived and shown to the dining tent. There we had a 3 course meal - avocado salad for starter, trout with rice and veg for main and dessert (I can't remember what it was though. It was fantastic food though. We apparently had the best chef on our tour - Eddie. We all questioned why he hadn't opened up a restaurant of his own. Every meal on the trail was different and beautifully cooked and presented. There was so much food you couldn't eat it all. After lunch we walked another few hours and got to our camp site (alt. 3000m) for the evening - a site looking out on snow capped mountains. Yet again it was all set up when we got there and the porters all applauded us when we arrived. On the first day we passed through several villages could buy things from stalls with all manner of treats - snickers, mars bars, twix etc. At the camp site we went to one of the stalls to get some water for the evening. The man who ran the stall told me that beer was also an option. It would have been rude not to! We started to get to know people a bit better that evening. The group of 16 was made up of 6 Americans, 1 Australian, 2 Germans and 7 English people. The ages ranged from mid 20's to mid fifties. No one took over. No one was annoying. Everyone got on well and were similarly opinionated. We couldn't have had a better group. We drank our beers and shared our apprehension of the next day - the "Challenging" day. That evening we were all asleep by 8:30pm.

We were woken on Day Two by Raoulito at 5:40am with a hot drink in our tents. After a quick wash (the bathrooms and toilets were hideous) and breakfast we were on our way. We knew that on Day 2 you walk the same distance as Day 1 however it is all uphill and you go up 1,200m in total. Percy told us how the day was going to work and sure enough we had our first break after 10 minutes for our ticket check. After another 40 minutes we had another break. This time to have a talk about coca leaves. Percy showed us the correct way to chew the leaves and recommended everyone do it. We all tried it. Most of us didn't like it and spat it out within 10 minutes. Not only is it bitter and bad tasting, but the little bits of leaves are difficult to get out of your mouth, so you're still finding bits of coca leaf 30 minutes after you think you've got rid of it all. The next bit of the walk was apparently the toughest bit. Fueled by my 10 minutes chewing the awful leaves and with my music playing (The Rocky soundtrack) I set off up the hill. Luckily I got behind an old porter and followed him step for step. I had heard the porters know the best way up - by zig-zagging and by going up the smallest bit of the steps. Some of the steps are huge so it's a good idea to follow someone who has been doing it a few years. The strategy paid off and without much trouble I was at the next checkpoint ready for my second breakfast. Everyone in our group was doing great. I couldn't say the same about some other groups where some younger and fitter looking people were looking like they were at death's door. After second breakfast we got our last chance to get supplies for the rest of the trek. We bought the essentials - more beer and sweets, and trekked up the rest of the hill. I was struggling towards the top of the hill, however Shil zoomed to the top without stopping. All that Tai Chi must have paid off! As we got to the top, it became really misty so we didn't get much of a view. It also started raining heavily so we had to get our ponchos out. I had a blue one and Shil had a pink one. From the top of the hill it was 600m down hill to our camp site. The problem wasn't our fitness going downhill, it was the slipiness of the smooth stone steps. We both fell over with Shil getting a big graze on her arm and my poncho ruined! We got to camp at 2pm and that was our walking done for the day. I was so relieved the day was completed; I had been dreading the "Challenging" Day and was so happy to have managed it. That afternoon Shil treated her wound (brave girl) and we slept. I didn't have any beer that evening, I was too tired. We did get a glass of Sangria though as a night cap even though no one needed help sleeping. There was an option of a cold shower at the second camp. Percy told us it wasn't cold - it was freezing. We thought we'd give it a miss. In the camp site there was another group from the same tour company. They were very noisy and seemed quite annoying. They were a younger group. It seemed like they put all the older ones in one group and the younger ones in the other, which was absolutely fine by all of us. It was ridiculous, it was after 8:30pm and they were still up chatting loudly. Young folk these days!

Day Three was my 30th birthday. We were woken up a little earlier than the previous day and I opened my cards while drinking my hot chocolate. The third day was supposed to be the "Spectacular" day according to the guide. It certainly was. We walked the furthest distance on that day but it didn't really feel like it. The scenery was stunning. We saw a few Inca sites and were taken to one of the peaks of the trail for an Inca ceremony. Percy our guide was not only very knowledgeable about the Incas and the area, but he was also very spiritually in tune with the area and shared a lot of the same beliefs as the Incas. His grandfather was a healer and so many traditions, including the ceremony were passed down to him. We had to take a rock from the bottom of the mountain to the top and place it on top of 3 coca leaves. We all had to make a wish and Percy played some music on his flute like instrument. It was a beautiful moment. One of the other highlights of the day was our walk before lunch which was through a cloud forest. There is a narrow stone path high up around a mountain and a massive drop at the side. You can see the jungle beneath you and you walk through old Inca tunnels. It was fantastic. We took so many photos of that part. On this day I was wearing my Blackpool FC shirt and educated many people about the wonders of the football club. Raoul was wearing his Chelsea shirt so we had some friendly banter. Some of the porters got a little confused and asked if I actually played for Blackpool. I set them straight and told them what a great team it was in the UK! After lunch it was all down hill - geographically I mean. It was quite tiring because you had to concentrate all the way down for hours, and we were happy to finally get to our camp for the evening. The camp had a bar, restaurant and night club. As soon as I got there I was ready for a beer and a few of us went to the bar to stock up for the evening. Unfortunately they only had a very limited supply of beer and our group got the last ones. There was enough for us though. We had a nice meal and laughed lots that evening - partly due to us all bonding so well, and partly the beer. It was great. At the end of the meal Percy announced it was my birthday (Shil had told him) and they brought out a cake. I had to blow out the 3 matches (they didn't have candles) and cut the cake into 18 pieces - it was tough but some people didn't mind having smaller slices. It was a wonderful day and truly memorable.

On the last day we were woken up at 4am. The idea was that we would queue to get in for 5.30 and get to the Sun Gate for sunrise. Unfortunately it was raining, so Percy decided we should wait until 5:30 so we don't have to wait around in the rain. Luckily the rain stopped and we went very quickly through the last stretch of jungle (about an hour walk) and got to the Sun Gate. Percy told us it was a fairly level walk, he didn't mention the very steep bit at the end! It was amazing though, the mists had cleared enough for us to have a great view of Machu Picchu. We'd made it! After photos and group congratulations we still had a 45 minute walk to the site itself. When we got there it became really misty, leading to Raoul asking Percy "Why Percy? Why is this? Where is Machu Picchu?" We waited for the mist of clear, took photos and checked in at the main gate. After 3 and a bit days in the wilderness and seeing the amazing Machu Picchu (it's huge!) it was a bit of a come down to see the entrance was like that of a theme park, complete with overpriced gift shops and fast food joint. It was also disappointing to see the 3000 tourists arriving with their clean shoes and smelling fresh, but moaning about going up a couple of steps. Percy gave us a 2 hour tour of the site and told us lots of information, however as time went on the site got busier and busier. It was a sacred site to the Incas and we and Percy treated it as such. The 3000 tourists that had arrived treated it as a playground. After the tour we got chance to explore by ourselves however we soon got frustrated. Photos were practically impossible as big groups were blocking the way - some doing gangster poses. We didn't stick around long and made our way to Aguas Callientes where we were to have our last meal together. The town was nice although it was a bit touristy and overpriced. Before our final lunch a group of us went to have a sneaky beer at a cheaper establishment. It was so nice that we all got on so well, we really couldn't have had a better group. A range of ages and nationalities, but all great people. We had our last meal and said our goodbyes to Percy. We saw guides for other groups, and realized how lucky we were with Percy. Knowledgeable, caring, interesting, funny - a perfect guide. After the meal Shil and I went to the hot springs to relax and soothe our aching legs. We then went for more drinks with our group before saying our goodbyes and leaving on the train back to Cusco.

The Inca Trail was better than we could have wished for - a truly unforgettable experience.

We spent one more full day in Cusco and had a really nice meal at a great restaurant that evening to celebrate my birthday. The day after we got the overnight bus to Lima.

D