We booked ourselves onto a luxurious 16 hour bus journey from Ica to our next destination - Cusco. The seats recline to nearly 180 degrees and are wide enough to jiggle around and get in some good sleep, which is essential when we are travelling overnight. We opted for one of the largest hostel chains in South America, Loki, which is renowned for its party atmosphere. We figured that we had 5 nights before we were leaving for the Inca trail and it would be a great opportunity to meet new people and let lose for a few days. After climbing a flight of a bout 100 steps to get to the hostel, we were glad to be taken to a clean dorm room with enormous beds, great views and a spotless private bathroom.

The hostel was the base for our 5 days and nights in Cusco. The communal area is a huge bar with long benches and couches, a pool table, ping pong table and a large square lawn dotted with hammocks and umbrella'd wooden tables and chairs - a perfect setting to park for a day of reading, card playing, eating (the bar serves amazing meals all day) and mingling. There are planned activities for every day and night like Wii tournaments, Karaoke evenings, Pub Quizzes, drinking games and barbecues, there is always great laid back music playing during the day and more lively tunes thumping all night and the large screen TVs around the bar area play all the big live sporting events or just episodes of comedy sitcoms or movies during the afternoons. All of this (and the fact that you would have to walk up over a hundred stairs to get back to the hostel), makes it difficult to leave!!

We participated in the pub quiz on our second night. Our team consisted of Jeff and I, an Australian guy we had met in Huacachina (Nick), A Swedish Engineer (Thomas), our dorm mate - a Columbian born Australian (Sergio) and a young American guy who had spent the last few months volunteering at schools around the world (Jason). We formed a formidable team and managed to come in tie with 2 other teams after a round of Geography questions (Did you know that the Mexican flag has the image of an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth?), a round of general knowledge questions (Did you know that a Farrier is a person who fits horses' shoes?) and a round of identifying classic TV theme songs. The winner eventually had to be determined with a drinking game and unfortunately our drinking skills did not compare to our brain power and we lost out on free drinks and Loki shirts by a 3 second margin!!!

We did venture out on a few occasions to roam around the city of Cusco which has so much to offer. We stumbled around the maze like streets and the Plaza de Armas which is a large square in the centre of the town decorated with fountains and immaculately manicured lawns and ate at some good and really bad restaurants. One of the more eccentric ones we went to was for dinner with Nick and Thomas - Fallen Angel was decorated with obscure artworks and sculptures, the two bathrooms were decorated as heaven and hell, our table was a bath filled with water and fish tank accessories, covered with a glass slab and the menu consisted of main meals of Steak with chocolate and chilli sauce. That interesting dinner was followed by night at a bar listening to a live Peruvian Led Zepplin cover band whose lead singer sported long Ozzy-Osbourne hair, accentuated with an impossible-to-disguise bald patch that was on show every time he did a typical heavy rock head swing.

On our third day, Jeff decided that he was going to take the plunge and bungee jump! We headed off to the 'action arena' with our friend Thomas from Sweden where the 4th highest bungee in the world loomed over us 122m overhead. They lay Jeff on the ground and tied the bungee rope around his ankles - no sign of nerves yet!! He was then elevated to the jumping height in an orange cage that crawled up at a snail's pace. I can only imagine what was going through his mind for the 7 minute ride up to the top. At the apex, the cage door was slid open and Jeff was told to shuffle to the edge - nerves have set in now!! 5,4,3,2,1 - an artful jump into the air, a gut-wrenching scream, a 4 second free fall and then (Thank G-d) the spring of the rope in action jerking him back up 3 more times before he finally settled, dangling in the air like a bat before being lowered to the ground and to SAFETY! One more thing to tick off the bucket list... I however live vicariously through my wild spirited boyfriend!

One of our afternoons was dedicated to philanthropic purposes - The Loki hostel rallies together a bunch of volunteers every second day to spend the afternoon at a nearby school in Cusco. The school is attended by kids of all ages whose parents work/drink all day and who need a haven to spend time with other children in a safe environment with a major goal of learning to speak English. We were welcomed with heart warming hugs and greetings from the kids. I thought it would be tough to teach English to someone if you cant speak their language but with the aid of paper and pencils and their thirst for knowledge, it was easy. We would draw pictures of butterflies, body parts, flowers, suns, moons, clouds and animals and tell them the word in English and make them repeat it to memory. Jeff brought along his hacky-sacks that he had bought in Bolivia and they went down a treat with the boys - he would throw three of them in the air and they all scrambled to be the catchers. They all had so much energy - the biggest mistake we made was swinging of of the kids around because for the rest of the day, Jeff and I were human jungle gyms with the children nagging to be lifted, swung around and piggy backed. The day was draining but so rewarding. It has made us so excited for Cambodia where we intend on volunteering for 2 weeks at a school similar to this one.

The day before our trek began, we took the day to get ourselves ready mentally and physically. This meant running around Cusco, stocking up on insect repellent and sun screen, strategically packing our day packs, organising walking sticks and - of course - carbo-loading!!! We were picked up by our tour company, Peru Treks from the hostel at 6:00am. We had a 1.5hour bus ride to get to a town within the Sacred Valley, Ollaytaytambo, where we had a quick breakfast and then on to the starting point of the trek - KM82. The first few hours of the trek were easy - gradual hills and declines - which gave us the opportunity to chat with the rest of the group. Pat - an Australian guy who was in Peru to celebrate his Peruvian grandmother's 100th birthday, Shannon and Beth - an Australian couple at the beginning of a 3 month trip around Samerica, David and Regina - an Irish couple, Fredrick and Suzy - a Swedish couple living in London, Nick - a Canadian fire-fighter and Chris and Brianna - an American couple on a trip to celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary. We couldn't have asked for a better group.

We were greeted at our first lunch stop by a ready-set-up lunch tent and a gourmet 4 course lunch. While we were strolling down the path, our porters had sprinted ahead of us to get everything ready, which was a constant throughout the trip. They would always leave after us, after packing up our camp/meal sites, run passed us on the path with 25kg on each of their backs and arrive before us with enough time to have every set up when we arrived - These guys were machines! The food they managed to cook up on a portable gas stove was just incredible - We were treated to tasty soups at every meal, pancakes at breakfast, flambéed bananas for dessert, pizza slices for starters and even a iced cake on the final night. Needless to say... we did not go hungry!

Back on the trail after lunch, we were forced to pull out our ponchos and rain coats. There had been a light drizzle on route to lunch but as we got into the dining tent, the heavens opened up in earnest. Luckily, it didn't last too long and the rest of the first day was spent in perfect weather conditions. We walked along the stoned path surrounded by endless hills in the foreground and great mountains in the background. There were too many photo opportunities to count throughout the trip and our guide, Frank, made it his second job to get the best group shots. Our first day ended at a camp site set up at the base of a daunting mountain that would be our second days challenge. Our first night in the tent brought back memories of our first meeting at Bnei Akiva camp. It had been along time since either of us had snuggled into sleeping bags, on a ground mat in a tent - very cosy but not the most comfortable.

Day 2 has been something I have been dreading for a long time on account of the many stories we had heard from other travellers to the effect that it was impossibly difficult! So with much trepidation we set off and by some miracle I didn't stall Jeff to the back of the pack. In fact it was FANTASTIC! The scenery throughout the long haul up was breathtaking and when we finally reached the top of Dead Women's pass, 4200m high, the sense of accomplishment and the remarkable view made the aches in our calves and thighs just melt away. But what comes up must go down... the next 2 hours of the day were dedicated to the treacherous descent. We didn't count them, but there must have been well over 5000 stairs. We were greatly aided by our walking sticks as some of the steps were very steep and many were slippery and crooked. We eventually made it to our second camp-site well ahead of schedule but just as the rain began. We spent the afternoon chatting with the rest of the group and napping in the tent while the rain poured down.

Day 3 is known as the long day... We were up as usual at 5:30 and on the trail by 7:00. We passed 3 separate Inca ruins. Frank, our guide explained that every 10km of the trail, a military site was established. These were used as bases for the messengers who would have to run in a relay from one site to another along the path with important information for the Inca King. The first 2.5hours was all uphill - very strenuous. At the top, Jeff and I collected a few rocks, stacked them into a tower and each made a wish on them as is tradition. Towards the end of the day, Jeff and I got separated from the group and spent close to 2 hours on the trail alone - just us, the incredible views, oh, and a 1.5m SNAKE. It crossed the path right in front of Jeff s feet, spent some time on the side of the trail before slithering back across the path. Jeff managed to get a video of it and our guide identified it as a Belt snake - a non venomous specimen that gets its name from the tail whipping it inflicts on its threateners. The camp-site on our third night had a bar area - well appreciated but well over priced!! Our group toasted our completion of the 3rd day over a few beers and were then treated to our final dinner which was finished off with a delicious, iced cake (An amazing feet seeing as though the cook only has a gas burner at his disposal!).

It rained all night. Our luck continued though, as as we were woken at 4:30am it just stopped. We queued to begin the 2.5hours and final trek to the Sun gate. The trail was not difficult - lots of small hills and declines - but it was very slippery so we took it slow and soaked in the last few views along the path. By the time we reached the Sun gate there were hordes of people, waiting to catch a glimpse of Machu Pichu through the thick fog that covered it. Yet again luck was with us as the clouds just parted as we reached our group and we caught our first glimpse of this hidden city.

Machu Pichu is a hidden city in the mountains. It was only rediscovered in 1911, which for its size, is quite remarkable. We were hoping that the clouds would roll on as we approached the city but they didn't. Frank took us around the city on a 2 hour tour in our ponchos and raincoats. He explained that the city was split into 3 sections - One section was dedicated to religion. The Incas built a temple called the sun temple. It is named this as on the winter solstice, the light of the sun would shine directly though the window and cast a light on the large ceremonial stone inside the building. This temple is in the most part intact because its base is an enormous rock that has protected it from damage from earthquakes over the years. The second and largest section is the university. The city was inhabited by the intellectuals. Here they studied politics, economics and administration. The third section was for agriculture. The Incas constructed levelled terraces with an ingenious irrigation system - each of these levels was ideal for a different crop because of the individual micro climates created by the irrigation, altitude and wind. The city has lasted through centuries of earthquakes because of the Inca's precise construction methods using ten degress of inclanation.

A few of us had managed to get tickets to climb Huanu Pichu, the large mountain that looms over Machu Pichu. After our tour we were deliberating over whether to venture up in the rain, cloud and wind. We did it anyway though Jeff and I only got half way up. The path is made up of the steepest and most narrow of steps with nothing but a rope to hold onto to avoid the vast drop right next to them. Jeff's fear of heights eventually forced us to turn back but not before getting in one picture of Machu Pichu in the minute the clouds dispersed. We wondered through the huge cloud covered city for 30minutes longer and then got onto the bus towards Aguas Caliente, where we were meeting the rest of the group for a final lunch. The guys that had made it to the top of Huanu Pichu arrived 40minutes after us and announced that Shannon had proposed to Beth at the top! He had been planning it for ages and had to keep the diamond ring hidden from her throughout the trek. Jeff and I spent the rest of the afternoon at a small restaurant, killing time until our train back to Cusco that evening, playing klabberjas. We reached the Loki hostel in Cusco that night at around 11:30 after a 1.5 hour train journey and another 1.5 hours on a bus. Needless to say we crashed - by then we had been up for 19hours, many of which had been spent trekking and walking.

We decided to stay in Cusco for one extra night after that so that we could meet up with the group in town for a celebratory drink. We met at Paddy's, an Irish pub just off the Plaza de Armas. We left when the place was closing - a testament to how well our group got on. The next day, we treated ourselves to one hour full body massages (Jeff's first) for the whopping cost of the equivalent of R50 each! Worth every cent!!! We were prepared for our 22hour bus ride to Lima.

We checked into a stylish hostel called the Gallery house in Miraflores. It was more like a hotel than a hostel, with its beautifully decorated dining and living area and its granite topped kitchen. We spent our days there walking through the many markets, Miraflores district and along the boadwalk overlooking the Pacific. We found a cinema playing an English version of Harry Potter and I jumped at the opportunity to see it on the big screen - it did not disappoint. We ventured on the second afternoon to the famous black market in Lima. We were amazed at the sheer size and quantity of stalls - row after row of shoe stalls, electronics stalls and clothes stalls. We then went to 'Las Aguas' a park dotted with the most elaborate water fountains. We walked through the park until the sun set. We found a cosy bench in front of the main fountain - a long pool base spraying water in different intensities and with changing lighting in time to classical music. We thought that was the main event until the fountain burst into a thin mist and laser projected a 20minute show onto it depicting the different Peruvian dance styles. The picture was so clear, it was like watching a TV screen - difficult to describe but truly spectacular.

Our last 3 days in South America were spent in Santiago Chile. Our time there was very relaxed on account of two things - 1) We were spent and needed time to recuperate and appreciate the last 3 months and 2) the city is dam expensive and we had a budget to stick to. We spent our days in the different parks in the Providencia area, playing cards and reading and chilling at our hostel watching TV and cooking.

So the first half of our journey has ended. South America has filled us with so many amazing memories and once in a lifetime experiences - the Favela tour in Rio, Devil's throat in Iguacu Falls, biking the Chico circuit in Bariloche, climbing a volcano in Pucon, watching whales jump out of the sea in Puerto Madryn, the silver mine tour in Potosi, the amazing 4 days on the salt flats, our week in the Amazon, surviving the most dangerous road in the world, Sand boarding in Huacachina and of course the Inca trail and Machu Pichu. And so many fantastic new friends - Drinking in Lapa with Paul and Sophie, travelling through Argentina with Jeff and Ramona, sharing our Salt flat experience with Ted and Sarah, hiking Isla Del Sol with Andy and Laurie and bonding with our Inca Trail group.. We can only hope that the next half lives up to this beautiful continent.