4 days and 3 nights.

From kilometre 82 to the Sacred City.

A breath taking view soon after dawn when the cloud finally lifted, allowing us our first, and long awaited glimpse of the remains below.

It was a very atmosphereic trek taking in jungle, high mountain passes (4000m plus) and cloud forest. We had every different type of weather (well, it is the rainy season here), visits to so many temples, defensive positions and Inca stores along the way. We admired orchids, growing as commonly as English dandilions. There was a real feeling of walking in the footsteps of the Incas as most of the path was original, just restored due to erosion. We marvelled at how they built the trail in such inhospitable surroundings. Other ancient civilisations of course used slaves, but our local guide proudly told us that the Incas were an exception to this.

The trail used to reach Cusco so would have taken significantly longer to walk back then. When the Spanish arrived and sacked Cusco the Incas fled towards the mountains and Machu Picchu. They destroyed the trail behind them, and the jungle soon hid any signs to casual eyes, saving the rest of the trail and Machu Picchu from destruction.

We booked through a company ironically called the SAS. The couple we played monopoly with in Canada recommended them, so although they coludn´t fix the weather, we could be confident of non leaky tents and good food. This worked way beyond our expectations. The company were so well organised, and treated all us backpackers to a new level of luxary! Porters carried all the provisions, tents, stoves and a large mess tent, table and 16 small stools so we had real comfort during our meal each night, and for our 3 course lunches during the walking day.

Every fine meal was also followed by by coca tea from the famous coca leaves of the area. According to the locals they help with all manner of complaints including altitude sickness, head ache, diahorea, and also constipation!! The leaves are a key crop for the area, but this causes frequent political problems with the USA, Chilie and Argentina, where the leaves are illegal. I confess to being a big tea drinker, but give me Yorkshire Tea any day!

In our group there were 16 clients, 21 porters and 2 guides. The porters used to carry 45 kg per day, but the regulations changed 3 years ago, so the maximum load is now 20 kg. The loads were still large and in cumbersome sizes for the small track, but at least now not so heavy. The group itself was a great mix, and we were pleased to meet 2 New Yorkers in their final months of training. It seems that oher countries encourage time abroad during medical school. They chose Peru rather than Etheopia because they wanted to do the trail, and have spent a month in the slums of Lima studying TB - still very prevalent here. We also met 2 great 'gap year girls'. Most of our fellow travellers seem to be in their mid 20's or 30's, and we´d decided that all the students were in Thailand. Not so! Soph is on a genuine gap year, with a place waiting at Uni for September. She´d started her travels working on a ranch in Argentina, with a plan to join others in Thailand later. However, Latin America really grabbed her, and she now plans to stay here until the money runs out. Maude is having a ´university of life´ experience. Now 21, she is travelling and learning to cook, and still enjoying the ´gap year´she started after leaving school. They were both super, full of life, energy and giggles - very refreshing for the rest of us, aged from 19 to 58....

The area around Cusco seems newly prosperous, and is now attracting wealthy tourists rather than just the more adventurous ones. There was a real problem of terrorism in the area and truck loads of people were leaving, heading to the urban sprawl of Lima. Then, a new President took over. President Fujimori left a lasting legacy in the Cusco region by standing up to the terrorists and not giving in to their demands. Now the area is relatively safe, and the locals have more confidence to set up new businesses and capitalise on the popularity of the trail. Every year the popularity of the trail grows, and with each year the prices rise, but the tourists keep coming!