Buenos dias from sunny, sunny Arequipa! I'm enjoying being back near the coast again and away from the cold mountains...a week of sunshine to send me off before I go home. So this is probably going to be THE Inca trail blog as I have lots to write about how I actually survived the epic journey.

Before setting off for the Inca trail we had a stopover in a small town called Ollantaytambo. The town had its own mini Inca ruins but it was obvious that it was mainly used as the place to get kitted out and ready for the Inca trail. There were loads of tourist groups there buying supplies just in case we never saw civilisation again. So after a night of restless sleep we were woken up bright and early on Monday morning and I had the worst butterflies ever! I had been thinking, talking and dreaming about the Inca trail over the last couple of weeks and the time had finally come to attempt it. After getting our passports stamped and posing for photos at the main entrance we set off for an easy walk to two small Inca ruin sites. We had a lunch break in between too which was yummy despite being cooked and served in tents…this was definately luxury camping. To be honest the first day all went past in a big blur of anxiousness and excitement. By half three in the afternoon we were tucked up in our tents with hot chocolate and bowls of hot water for our feet! Surprisingly for me day one had been a piece of cake. However......we'd all been warned that day two was the hardest part of the trail as we had to hike up a pass aptly named "Dead Woman's Pass". The Dead Woman's Pass is the highest point on the Inca trail - 4200 metres (or 13650 feet) above sea level. Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) we had talked to about the trail beforehand had said that this day was the worst, it involved a steep climb upwards for 4 or 5 hours and then a steep climb down for another 2 hours. Again we woke up mighty early and set off at around 6 in the morning. A few of us had named ourselves “The Snail Trail” and we vowed to keep together for the hard climb upwards for much needed bouts of moral support. We even set ourselves an aim of reaching the top of the pass by around midday. The climb upwards was tough and had to resort to my Ipod for motivation at points. As you get higher and higher the weather also gets worse so I was pretty wet, cold and tired by the time I reached the top. The snail trail team had climbed it in a record time though and we were all at the top of the pass by 10.30 a.m. It felt sooooooo good to have reached the top in good time - we were all in good spirits and skipped down the other side of the pass! Day two was done and we reached camp dead on 12. Now, because we had all been so worried about day two, day three hadn’t even registered in our minds as a problem but for me day three was a KILLER! Although probably not as hard as day two’s hike it was so challenging because a) I had no energy left b) we walked non-stop ALL DAY and c) all my positivity had been left at the top of the mountain on day two! Each and every one of us in the group had their best and their worst day and this was definitely my worst. I just wasn’t as focused as the previous two days and really struggled along. But I did make it, maybe not in record time but I made it eventually back to camp. And then suddenly it was last day! As if we hadn’t had enough early wake up calls this morning we were woken up at 3.30 a.m so we could get to the entrance of the last part of the trail before everyone else. As you can imagine I was totally and utterly exhausted and managed the last part of the trail completely on auto pilot…I don’t think I even bothered to look at the scenery on the way to Machu Picchu, I just wanted to get there!! And I did and it was brilliant!! The whole site was covered by clouds at first but we were the very first hiking group to get to the site so we just sat on the side of the trail and waited for the cloud to clear without any other tourists in sight. Of course, this didn’t last long and there were lots and lots and lots of people there by the time we’d walked to the bottom. Machu Picchu itself was fascinating and well worth the pain! It was probably on a par with my Taj Mahal moment, seeing the Inca ruins for the first time was just as magical.

We were all on such a high after we finished the trail that the last couple of days back in the non camping/hiking real world have been a bit of a come down. I’ve also been sick, first with a cold and then proper bluuuuuuuurgh sickness. So typical to get sick in my last week of travels! Anyway, I’ve got three places left on my itinerary, Nazca, Pisco and Lima and then home….see you on Friday for the LAST blog!