Day 1 - Sacred Valley

So the next morning came and time for our 2 day tour to Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. The coach was outside prompt at 8.30am ready to pick us up. As we got on a women showed us what we was doing over the course of the next 2 days which gave us the hump a little as she told us that we would have to pay another $25 (£15) on top of the $200 (£123) we have already paid to enter Sacred Valley. We thought this was all included.

On the way to the Sacred Valley we stopped off at a couple of tiny villages in the middle of no where which was selling products which they make themselves to earn a living. e.g. bracelets, scarfs, gloves, keyrings and even showed us how they find there silver that they found under the grounds and make loads of different products such as rings, bracelets, necklaces which was fascinating. As you can tell by the pictures there were Lama's around, which we got a couple of snaps with. Parents and children dressed up in funny looking costumes.

As we approached Sacred Valley Matt and I had doubts about going in, but thought you only going to be here once so lets go for it. We lined up ready to pay not knowing they only accept cash and we had our credit cards so we couldn't go in anyway, so we just chilled out for an hour admiring the views hoping they would pick us up on the way back through like they said.

We got back on the bus and headed to a town called Ollantaytambo where we were stopping for lunch. It was an all you can eat buffet, foods such as chicken pork, lamb, chips, salad, vegetable and plus you were allowed as much desert as you wanted as well which was jelly, custard and bits of cake which were nice.

After lunch it was time to visit yet another little village for a little wonder, so me and Matt went straight to a bar for a couple of beers because every village was the same and started to get a bit boring. As we were in the place where the train station was we had about 4 hours to wait for our train to a town called Agues Calientes where our hostel for the night was. So we grabbed our bags off the coach where we left them and went to another little restraunt/bar. By this time a bloke called George who was from Equador joined us as he was with our group and getting the same train. We saw a little Business card saying ´English Bar´ and plus it was only a 5 minute walk. We arrived at the pub with no lights on and a big pile of dirt out the front, so straight away we thought it had been closed down, then the lights went on and a bloke come to the door offering us in. We went into have a look and it weren't much of a English pub. Didnt really recognise any of the lager or ales, so we just stuck to the local beer which was called Cusquena. After about 3 big bottles each plus the 2 we had earlier we could start feeling it get to our head, plus it was time for the train so we headed off about 7pm to the train station for our 2 hour ride to Aguas Calientes. A women would be standing waiting for us to take us to the hostel. By the time we arrived we were absolutly shattered, we got into our rooms which were 2 double beds and were the comfiest so far ready for a early get up for Machu Picchu..

Day 2 - Machu Picchu

4.45am the alarm went off and I was up, had a shower while Matt stayed in bed until 5.30am. After we both were ready we met up with George outside our room at 6am ready to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu. We didnt have to meet the tour guide until 7.45am but George wanted to see the sunrise. So off we went to catch the bus opposite our Hostel for a 25 minute drive up the moutain to the top, only to find out that the receptionist at our Hostel in Cusco forgot to give us our bus tickets. So we had to pay $15.50 (£10) return hoping that she would give us our money back when we got back to Cusco.

By the time we got to the top I was feeling quite light headed and sick because of the very bumpy bus ride. After an hour I was fine. We had a little trek up some rocks quite high up, George looked like he had just jumped out the shower, sweating and heavy breathing. Matt and me were fine as we are athletes. We took some snaps of the sunrise which was awesome! Then headed back down to find the the group that we were meant to be touring with, but couldnt manage to see them so we done our own thing by walking round taking snaps and taking in the amazing views. It got to about 11am and the 3 of us started to get hungry as we had no breakfast and been up 6 hours, so we went back on the bus, you should of saw Matts face on the way down as we were so close to the edge and he was next to the window. I kept giving him a shove and he was pooping himself.

When we got to the bottom we found a little restraunt and had a spot of lunch, me and Matty had a chicken sandwich that didn't really agree with my bowels, which weren't good as we had a long trip back to Cusco. After we was just chilling for a bit as we had to wait until 6.45pm for our train back. We then had a little nose round the town which was really nice, market stalls, restraunts etc. We noticed a little shop that had Internet services so we had a couple of hours in there updating our blog, uploading pictures and talking to friends/family back home.

When it was time for the train we went and grabbed George who went back to the Hostel a bit earlier and made our way to the train station. the train ride felt like ages to get back to Cusco. Then a bloke was waiting for our group to collect together and get the coach/bus back to our hostels. The bus was horrible and cramped and it didn't help that the women in front of us had her chair back, but we thought its only an hours drive so won't be too bad. 2 hours and a bit later we arrived feeling rough from the ride. Worst bus journey we had been on. Got back to the Hostel about 11pm ready to hit the sack. We collected our belonging that we left there and headed to a different room than before but it was bigger which was good, 2 double beds, bigger bathroom, lovely jubbly! Then went to bed.

Now click BACK on Cusco to hear about our last day there...