After a ridiculously short sleep we all got ourselves downstairs for our pick up time of 5:20am... over an hour of waiting (while I could have been in bed) later our bus finally arrived and we set off towards Ollantayambo. It took 2 hours to arrive at the rather striking town nestled in a valley with incan ruins on the mountainsides. Here we had breakfast and met our guides David and Janet, and the rest of our group - 16 in total: Fellow Brits Paul (from Cheltenham, who had the pleasure of sitting by Mum during the bus ride), and father and daughter Keith and Beth from ooop north (although Beth now lives in Toronto); Dominic who is a typical German / bond villain in a black t-shirt, army trousers and aviators and the most competitive hiker in the group... choice quotes include ¨I have my own internal rhythm and can´t walk slower¨ and when David assured us the Chaskis would be at our lunch stop before us, Dominic replied ¨we´ll see about that¨; Tia from Brisbane who outdid us on the first day having turned up without any sleep, still drunk and with facepaint still on her face; Stephen and Bron from Sydney - hiking the trail at the grand age of 66; Costa and Rebecca - also from Sydney but on their honeymoon and generally fine until Rebecca took it upon herself to distribute the spare pancakes away from me on the last morning; Ben and Chrissy from Montreal; and Kevin and Cecilia - a paramedic couple from Colorado who displeased us for a number of reasons... for me it was when Kevin wouldn´t let Cecilia use a porter to carry her bag, so she arrived hours later than everyone else because she was struggling with the hike so much, for Alex it was when Kevin then went ahead and left Cecilia behind because he ´couldn´t walk that slow´, and for Mum it was when Kevin tipped all 21 porters only 20 soles total. At least 3 of these people were hiking in jeans, and more than 3 (of the fastest) smoked!

After breakfast we drove a further 45 minutes to the inventively named town of ´Kilometre 82´, on the way enduring countless standoffs with other minibuses on the return journey - at one point on of the drivers even got out of his bus rather than reverse. One thing we can say though, is that people know the widths of theirs vehicles in Peru! At KM 82 the chaskis loaded up and (literally) ran off, leaving the group to sidle behind them along the first stretch of the Inca Trail. The first day of the hike is termed ´easy´ and is unpaved as the Incas removed the path to protect against the conquistadors. We walked from 10:30am to 2:30pm in very hot and sunny weather. On the way we saw the really stunning Patallaqta Qentimarka Incan ruins in the valley below - I knew the trail took us to other Incan ruins aside from macchu Picchu, but I didn´t expect them to be so good! We stopped for lunch in a corral at a small village and found that the Chaskis had erected a full on dining tent with one large table, stools, a tablecloth, metal cutlery and napkins. The food was really good throughout the 4 days, but the best part of this meal was when david asked us what our team name was going to be. Noone answered, but Alex had been brainstorming during the bus ride. I felt that her (brilliant) suggestion should be put forward, so announced ´Nice to Picchu´ to the group. To my surprise I was faced with totally blank and awkward looks - did they not get it?! Just when things were getting awkward, out of nowhere Stephen contributed to the conversation with ¨or how about ´nice to meet you´¨. With this level of insight Alex and I decided to leave them to finding their own team name, which seemed to be making a word from the first letters of each of our nationalities... so that´s Gacab then?! Great.

On the 1.5 hour hike to the campsite Paul walked with us and said ¨was it me, or did Stephen say ´Nice to meet you´?¨. We all had a good laugh about the whole episode. We arrived at the campsite around 5:20pm and claimed our tents. The three of us went to the little, local shop to buy more water and were reminded that today was the Day of the Living (tomorrow being the Day of the Dead) and therefore a fiesta for the local people. The entire village were in a little round hut getting drunk on beer. As we waited by the shop two men fell out of the round hut in a brawl. It continued a little while until one of the women got involved and grabbed the main offender by his ear and slapped him around the face a few times. The whole thing was ridiculous, funny and a little disturbing. We managed to find another shop to pay 12 soles for a bottle of water (they cost 3 in Cuzco!!) and then investigated the toilets... 2 out of 3 were unthinkable. The 3rd was passable.

The three of us sat in mine and Alex´s tent - nice and cozy. Dinner was around 7pm where the team decided on the name Team Team (Totally Exhausted Approaching Macchu (Picchu)). Guess it could have been worse?! Bed at 8:30 - I slept incredibly.

Day 103 - At 5:20am we were woken up with coca tea in bed. We packed up, had a good breakfast and headed off for the ´challenging´day of the Inca Trail around 7am. So a full 5 hours walking uphill at our own pace, meeting every 1.5 hours with the rest of the group. Alex, Mum and I walked together, always in order... Mum first, me in the middle and Alex bringing up the rear.

At the first stop David suddenly said ¨hey guys, do you want to make your face numb by chewing coca leaves with quinoa root?¨!! Of course we accepted, and it really worked! Apparently local people use it for tooth problems.

As the uphill started to take its toll, and we were faced with more steps, I took some of Mum´s stuff in my bag to help her along - the pace was slower than my normal pace and with all the stopportunities it was no big trouble. At the second stop we enjoyed a second breakfast (my favourite meal of any day) put together by the chaskis. David had some concerns whether they would make it there in time since they celebrated the day of the Living last night too - fairly evident by their steady, sweating pace today - they were taking almost as many stops as we were!

After the second stop the going got harder as the thinning air from altitude became more and more evident. It started raining as we approached Dead Woman´s pass (4200m above sea level and the highest point of the whole trek), but that was better than sun. From the pass it was downhill for 1.5 hours. Eventually the rain and clouds cleared and we had views of the valley with the next campsite at the bottom (and unfortunately a glimpse of tomorrow´s incline up the other side). We took it slowly, trying to time it so that we arrived just in time for lunch, rather than waiting at the campsite for everyone else to show up. We particularly enjoyed following one girl, named the Pink and Purple Poncho Person, who had one walking stick longer than the other, and was so awkward that everytime we came to pass her, all of a sudden her poles would sprawl out to fill the path!

After a demanding day we arrived in our campsite at 2:45pm, with 15 minutes until lunch - perfect timing! We had the afternoon free, but since it had started raining again Paul, Alex, Dominic and I played cards in the dining tent while the Chaskis watched us. It was actually really fun. They served us hot drinks at 5pm and then Mum emerged from her nap (she was exhausted) to play. Dinner was at 7pm, and poor Cecilia had only just arrived at the campsite in time to join us. By 8:30 I was flagging, so filled my water bottle up with hot waterm stuck it in my sleeping bag and went to bed. Despite that, both Alex and I were so cold we are fairly certain we didn´t sleep all night.

Day 104 - 5:20am start again, but this time it was after zero sleep. As if things couldn´t get worse I dropped my clean knickers on the floor of the toilet, rendering them unusable. At the least the sun was shining - today is the ´unforgettable´ day of the trail. The first 2 hours were steep uphill to the second pass, on the way visitng the Runkuraqay Incan ruins. Despite the bright start, by the time we reached the top of the pass the clouds had rolled in and things were getting damper and wetter thoughout the day. I had an al fresco toilet break by the lake and struggled to find any privacy with hikers above, below and all around me!

After the pass we walked further to Sayaqmarka, providing views of Qonchamarka (which Mum later saw Dominic running through it at speed, aviators on face) - all set amongst beautiful, lush cloud forest. Mum encountered a very awful American woman who screeched at her from in front to keep back in case she fell on her. She later queue-jumped for the toilets - nasty lady. Lunch was a bit further and the best yet - ceviche followed by stuffed peppers that were so spicy noone else could eat them!

The trail was fairly easy after lunch and Paul by now had given up with the frontrunners and joined sub-team´Nice to Picchu´, although then declared he was going to make a sub-sub-team called ´Nice to Meet You´! Soon enough it started pouring with rain as we made our way down the ´gringo killers´- something like 3000 steps downhill. A load of other, mostly-European hiking groups barged past us to the extent that we just stood aside and let them go by. In the end there were the 6 Brits (Beth and Keith also hated the barging) at the back, walking in the pouring rain and having a really nice time!

We got to show Paul the Pink and Purple Poncho Person (who is actually a really nice Dutch girl) and also kept encountering a slow, elderly British woman, who had to be caught at least 3 times by Keith as she doddered down the mountain. We didn´t get to see much of the ´unforgettable´ views, but now and again the clouds would clear and we´d get a fleeting view of the Urubamba River, Macchu Picchu mountain and Aguas Calientes town in the valley - it was almost more exciting than if it had been clear. The afternoon dragged as we walked down towards our campsite... Mum dressed in full waterproofs, but Alex and I soaked through to our knickers. We arrived at the fork where you could either take the chaski shortcut or continue to Intipata ruins. Despite others the decision was unanimous - we didn´t come on the Inca Trail to take shortcuts! The ruins looked impressive even with water running down the steps!

We finally arrived at the campsite and changed into dry clothes while the chaskis thrust hot drinks into our hands. Before dinner Alex and I asked David for our roll mats, and he asked the chaskis to get bedding for the ´Señoritas lindas´, to which we both laughed... he didn´t know we spoke spanish! It means pretty women. With an hour until dinner we sat in our tent and sorted out tips for the chaskis while Cecilia arrived in camp to a reward. It was a little bit awkward sitting in a tent with my Mum while groaning emanated from the tent next door (don´t they know that tents make noises louder?!). Mum said that she must be getting changed.... sure Mum. One topic of hiking conversation was discussing whether the two paramedics were a couple or just colleagues, so at least it cleared that up!

We had our final dinner (still raining by the way) and Kevin turned up without Cecilia. Alex asked where she was, and he explained that she was not feeling up to dinner. I take my hat off to Alex´s ability to keep a straight face, but I broke down in giggles.

Day 105 - A good sleep thank God, but no where near long enough - the chaskis woke us up at 3:30am and turfed us out of our tents in such a fashion that I ended up leaving my thermal trousers behind... a heavy loss since I´ve had them since my first trip in 2008 and they were PERFECT. It was pitch black and (still) pouring with rain. It seemed as though the chaskis had given up, as breakfast was smaller than normal and was supposed to last us until 2pm - that´s 10.5 hours!!!! We left the campsite and waited at the checkpoint until it opened at 5:30am. The reason we were up so early is for the chaskis to pack up and catch their train home, which I am happy to do except that now I am picturing a little chaski scampering around the Andes in my thermal trousers.

Once the gate opened it was already light and the rain had eased. I had aquired a poncho from one of the chaskis (but don´t think for a second it offsets my trousers) which helped keep me dry for the 1.5 hour march to the Sun Gate. The views of the clouds in amongst the mountains were fantastic, but the whole affair felt very rushed as we competed with the other groups to get to our destination first. When we arrived at the Sun gate we didn´t even know it - we were confronted with a full view of white cloud. Brilliant. But as we waited, slowly the clouds started to move and inch by inch we got our first view of Macchu Picchu across the mountain. Ben took this rainy moment to propose to Chrissy, which was very sweet but overshadowed all the attention Alex was getting with her very angry-looking bite on her leg. People seemed to forget that Macchu Picchu was just over there!

We walked another 30 minutes to the ruins and took a group photo in front of clouds, of where Macchu Picchu was supposed to be. Another group was there and things got a bit heated as countless Americans kept asking Mum and I to move for their photos... noone actually seemed to be looking at the thing we came to see. Mum had a lot of enjoyment asking one of them to move when we took a photo as payback. Once again the clouds cleared and I was amazed at how big and perfectly set Macchu Picchu was - it actually exceeded my expectations, despite the weather.

We had to walk down to the entry gate to check our walking sticks and large bags (I struck a deal with Paul that he would carry my bag if he put his poncho in it), use the toilets (luxury!) and buy a very overpriced, victory snickers. Then David gave us a tour of the temple area of Macchu Picchu and during that time the sun came out and gave us a perfect, clear view of the ruins and huge mountains surrounding them. Finally! Following the tour Paul, Alex, Mum and I (or sub-team Nice to Picchu) toured the site for a few hours, including a walk to the Inca Bridge, which seemed to enable an Incan path along a huge, sheer cliff.

We caught a bus down to Aguas Calientes along the switchback road. The town has no cars and is set up entirely for tourists, but it does have a railway line running right down the main street, which is kind of cool. We met the rest of the group in a restaurant and enjoyed pizza, chips and beer! After saying goodbye to Team Team, it seemed time to get Mum to bed (she had had a caiprinha), so checked in in Terrazas de Incas and when objecting that they were giving us a two-bed room for the price of a triple, ended up getting two rooms! One of the guys in reception started chatting to us, and when he heard we were english he asked if we had cried to Adele too. Apparently he has cried to Adele a lot. We all took an amazing hot shower and were in bed by 7pm... ready for ANOTHER early start tomorrow!

Day 106 - Lucky we had two rooms as Mum became ill in the night, but despite it she was ready to go back to Macchu Picchu at 6am this morning. As if a 4 day hike wasn´t enough for us, today we were going to climb Wayna Picchu - that steep mountain behind the ruins that looks a bit like Sugarloaf in Rio. We were very lucky, as the weather was clear by 7am... lucky we didn´t try this yesterday.

We took the bus up the switchback road and crossed through the ruins to queue the other side for the climb. Only 200 people can get permits to ascend between 7 and 8am, and a further 200 between 10 and 11am). It was a steep scramble to the top, and soon into it I took Mum´s water off her bag and started pushing her up by her backpack... eventually I took her bag completely and carried it on top of mine! Between her bad stomach and Alex´s cold, I was pretty impressed they even made it to the top. It was without doubt worth it - incredible views of Macchu Picchu, plus it´s own ruins to explore. At the top we encountered a fantastic group of gay latinos, a hilarious mob of Japanese and our next nasty American woman. This woman made a huge fuss about how long we were taking to take a photo at one viewpoint and as she walked off I said that I had a right mind to push that woman off the cliff. Unfortunately she heard and sarcastically said ¨funny¨... I wasn´t joking.

We had a second breakfast at the top and then made the descent back down, meeting the next lot of visitors on their way up (including Keth and Beth). With Macchu Picchu officially nailed, we headed back down to town and for a well-earned lunch. Alex and I struggled to finish our 4 course set dinner before time to catch our train back to Ollantaytambo.

I bought a coffee at the station and Mum gave me my seat ticket - an event that went completely unregistered in my brain. When we went to board the train Mum and Alex climbed aboard, but they stopped me because they had only given two tickets. I couldn´t understand, and when Alex told me I had the ticket, I was certain she was wrong. As things became more stressful, the attendent took my passport to print another ticket, and in the meantime I put my coffee on the floor, but then my water bottle fell out of my bag onto the coffee. It was still just about in one piece, so I went for a swig and spilled it all down my jumper. Then I found my ticket in my pocket, and so presented it to the attendent when he returned from the ticket office... all covered in coffee.

Aboard the train we were all sat separately, and I was by a nice group of Aussies. I was settling back to enjoy a quiet journey through the valley, with great views from the glass ceiling... all of a sudden a loud voiceover came on and lots of music, and then one of the attendents - dressed in a ´traditional fiesta outfit´ and mask came dancing down the aisle. As if it couldn´t get any worse, he then tried to make me get up and dance with him! I squashed myself harder against the poor Australian next to me and was just about to give in when he moved on to Alex, who also refused... don´t they know we´re British!!! Just when we thought it was over, the remainder of the attendents then had to do a fashion show of alpaca goods up and down the aisle. Alex came out of the toilet at the wrong time and was asked to model a poncho, which, again, she refused! Despite the ridiculousness of the train journey, we did pass Kilometre 82 and were able to see how far we had walked... I think we all felt proud of ourselves.

We arrived at Ollantaytambo and were confronted with the loudest ever New Zealand girl who we had encountered a couple of times on the trail. The four of us joined a minibus that drove very sensibly back to Cuzco. I feigned travel sickness while Alex was left talking to the nonstop chatterbox!

It was raining when we arrived in Cuzco of course, and as we happened to pass right outside the door of our hotel, we got out and were reunited with our room once again. Alex and I braved the rain once more to return our rented walking poles and buy some replacement thermals. We then sorted our belongings, trying desperately to dry all of our wet clothes. We couldn´t face going any further than the hotel restaurant for dinner - we may be english, but this was a bit much rain even for us!