We arrived in Cusco around 10am. so we had the rest of the day for sightseeing and there is a lot to see in this lovely city.Beautiful cathedrals,Ive never seen so much cedar wood and 22 carat gold,what interested me most was the integration of the different religions in the statues,Inca,Catholic and the pre Inca times.The city sits at a fairly high altitude and is built on hills so anywhere we went we were huffing and puffing

Our guide up the Inca trail is a girl,her name is Mary Lou,from southern Peru,she is lovely and full of encouragement.One of the girls in our group is recovering from a muscle injury so she has decided not to do the walk as she has another three months travelling to do,she is going to get the train and bus up with our GAP leader and meet us at the top.That leaves five of us walking,one girl is ages with Alison and the rest are 26 to 30,got a lot of young blood to keep up with!!!

Our second test of fitness was a trek to Ollantaytambo,it is higher again,we trekked into the mountains and visited some pre Inca sites,the way they farmed on terraces is amazing.We also visited the GAP weaving project,the village is in the sacred valley,the weaving they produce is beautiful,having a rucksack really limits ones shopping.GAP sponsored a few of the women to teach weaving and set up their community so they can continue to live in their villages,their partners are farmers and boost their income by portering on the Inca Trail.

We stopped for lunch at an oasis of a place,it was Elva's birthday(she is from New Zealand) so we had a little birthday lunch for her and cake,that's all I needed before climbing.We then went on a serious climb to Inca remains in Ollantaytambo,I was light in the head and puffing but the legs worked alright.We spent the night here in a lovely wee hostel and prepared for the next day.

The maximum the porters are allowed to carry is 7Kg.we were issued with a holdall and everything had to go in it,sleeping bag the lot,I was glad I had my own wee junior as it didn't weigh half as much as the ones the others had hired.I hired two sticks,which were to be my life savers,especially on day two,I also hired an inflatable mattress,thinking it would be like the ones we had at home,it was no thicker than my pilates mat but it added a thermal layer.My day pack had hat,gloves,camera,binnoculars etc.it was easy carrying.We had a cook,a head porter and eleven porters for five of us and our guide,you should have seen what they were carrying,gas cylinders the lot.There were a few control stations on the way and the porters loads were all weighed.They are certainly looked after.

What lovely people they are,we were introduced to everyone before dinner on the first night and we had to introduce ourselves,I was the oldest of the whole group,what a feeling that was,I was determined nobody was going to have to cart me back down,actually you are sent back on a donkey!!.even worse We met with another GAP group in our hotel before we left they were from Canada,one lady was 78 years old and she was with her son and had done a lot of walking in Scotland,she loved my G.G.W.cap but I wasn't parting with that for anything,it was my lucky mascot,penguin came too to keep me company.