Waking up in the dark on top of a mountain in a tent was a bizarre experience. We had a feast of a breakfast consisting of porridge, pancakes, bread and warm drinks and set off around 7am to reach the peak of the mountain. The morning hiking was extremely steep uphill, climbing over rocks and trekking through forests up in the clouds. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side and it started to snow making for a cold, wet start to a very long day that unknown to us would only continue to get more treacherous!

At the summit Henry led a small offering ceremony for Pacha Mama "Mother Earth", and we drank some coca tea to warm us up. From here on out it was an extremely steep downhill gradient on highly rocky terrain over rubble and boulders - thank god we had trekking poles. As we started our descent it seemed the the weather only got worse and worse as we were essentially trekking through a snow/sleet/rain shower encased in the clouds! It was definitely mentally challenging to keep going and took so much concentration on where to place my feet in order to not fall or slip. Despite the terrible weather the scenery was still stunning and it felt like I was walking on another planet or in a movie at times, especially when Henry started playing music, like a soundtrack to our struggle! It was definitely going to feel like a huge achievement at the end of the day.

Due to the slippery rocks and Liv's longstanding knee injury it was unsurprising when she fell and injured herself, but luckily it was minor and Henry held her hand all the way down for the rest of the day which was so cute! Henry was really lovely and we got lucky having him as our guide. When it started to feel like we were never going to reach lunch we emerged over a mountain to see a valley below, local villagers and loads of sheep and llamas and a beautiful river flowing through the centre. However, it seemed no matter how far we descended we got no closer and after 7 hours of non-stop hiking everyone was definitely in need of a break.

We finally reached the village and were welcomed by local children who were so so sweet, and I gave out 5 packs of colourising pencils which made me feel good inside as I'd been carrying them around with me since India. It was nice to see how smiley the kids were just from the gift of colouring pencils and lollipops. Lunch was fantastic and well deserved, plus the sun came out so we were able to sit and warm up for a bit which was much appreciated. I really have enjoyed this authentic Peruvian cuisine.

We continued onwards towards our camp site for the night which was another few hours hiking through local villages and breathtaking landscapes, mountains and valleys up in the clouds. We arrived at the hot springs where we would spend the night and since it was already dark we had to wait until morning to really see our surroundings. We had dinner and wine and chatted away for the evening which was a lot of fun and laughs. I went to sleep exhausted from 12 hours of challenging but amazing hiking and excited to swim in the hot springs come morning.