Alright Folks,

Well, we did it and it was easy. We couldn?t understand what all the fuss was about. Somebody also told us that some people suffer from altitude sickness - we were only at 4,200m!!

What?s that, you don?t believe us? To be honest it was quite difficult. Day 1 was meant to be easy but we had no sleep the night before thanks to some bloody dogs barking all night. The only food to sustain us for the day was one pancake, and not a very nice one at that. Nothing like a manky pancake for an 8 hour trek. I (Em) suffered quite a bit but had the charms of Sharlene to keep my spirits up.

Day 2 started with a horrible trek through rain forest with both altitude and humidity taking its toll on us. After lunch we began the highest trek of the trail, Dead Womans Pass, which we didn?t find too difficult. We decided to take it nice and easy and admire the surrounding views rather than the next step in front of us.

It was really amazing being at 4,200m. We were walking in the clouds and enjoying the moisture (the moisture adds more oxygen and cools you down). From there we made a decent to our second camp site. Walking in the clouds also had the added benefit of not letting you see how far you have to trek. The camp site was also in the clouds which made night VERY cold.

Day 3 was not so bad with only a few high passes and a few million steps. We saw yet another Inca site along the way - really interesting!!! At that point we just wanted to see Machu Picchu and have a shower and enjoy a mattress. We got rained on for the first time which brought a cover of mist in so we couldn?t see much other than a few metres in front of us. After lunch it was all down hill. We were told that it was flat - Inca flat. To you and me that means loads and loads of uneven steps. I had the pleasure of falling off the side of a few and nearlt loosing my stick. I did however, mess up my leg and my hair. It was so embarrassing, my hair was a state and no mirror in sight to fix it!!

Enter Night 3 (nearly there, thanks for reading this far) we got to experience the most disgusting shower in the world. Not only was the water tapped straight from the Arctic but the basin was full of used water. It was quite an act to balance on the ledge on the basin cleaning yourself with one hand and holding the door closed with other. In case you might think that the shower was in a private place it was right on top of the path to the camp site. The last thing I wanted was the door to fly open and the world to see the effects of the cold water.

Day 4 started at 4am. The final trek to Machu Picchu was not too bad. We got to the Sun Gate to see NOTHING but mist. We decided that after 3 days of s*** we could wait a bit and I guess the Inca Gods liked our determination and lifted the cloud cover long enough for us to take a few pics and enjoy 30 seconds of a good view. From there we made our way to, you guessed it, Machu Picchu. Got there took some pics, paid an extortionate amount for a drink, started a tour, left the tour, got bored, and went into town to buy some food.

All in all we enjoyed our time and were very impressed by the Porters, not so much by the Guides. We were very happy with our walking boot purchases (not one blister after four days of hard trekking). If you are thinking of it make sure you do a lot of cardio work before hand. God, I don?t think I can write anymore.

Until next time, Em & S.