Happy Fathers Day to our Dads - all three of you xxx

Congratulations to Sarah and Mark Tibbutt on your wedding. Glad we got to speak to you, looking forward to seeing some pictures xxxx

13/6/09

Cuzco

We attended the briefing for the Inca Trail this morning and we were given duffel bags to put our gear in - only allowed 7 kilos so travelling light for a change !!!
We are setting off early tomorrow to start the trek so we have a day to get last minute things and relax. There is a bar in Cuzco called The Real McCoy which famously serves food from home for travellers and we all went for a full English breakfast after last nights excesses !! Huge plate of fried potatoes, bacon, sausage ,eggs and imported British beans-delicious!!!
Then we got a dose of history and culture at the Inca Museum of Cuzco.Not up to the same standard of the museum in Sipan but lots of pretty good artefacts . Martin would have really loved it. We rushed back to the Real McCoys to see England being beaten by Argentina in the rugby and Phil had a fill of Roast beef dinner sandwich !!
When we returned to the hostel our laundry which we needed for the Inca Trail was missing and we had a mad dash round the town looking for anyone in our group to find it. Luckily one of the other girls had got it but the bag we are using for laundry was missing so we had to visit the laundry to collect it. The laundry was a walk out of town into a dark building which opened into an old colonial courtyard..really pretty for a place for washing smalls !!
We ate a bargain meal in a local resturant next to our hostel before heading back to pack and get an early night.

14/6/09

Inca Trail Day 1

We were collected from the hostel at 5.30am to drive through to Ollantaytambo, a small Andean town from where you can see an Inca ruin of terraces and some buildings. It was very impressive and well preserved and we were excited to see the other ruins we will see on the way to the main event of Machu Picchu ! In Ollantaytambo we bought Coca leaves which you are advised to eat on the trail as they help the symptoms of altitude and fatigue. We all bought plenty.
We then drove further on to km82 where the trek begins. We had group photos and used the last clean facilities before setting off. At a checkpoint we had our passports stamped and then crossed a suspension bridge to join the trail. The trail followed the Rio Urubamba for a couple of hours and Geriston (sounds like Jason) our guide showed us lots of plants etc along the way. Before lunch we stopped to look out over another Inca ruin called Llaqtapata (Yactapata) which was an Inca administration centre built up above terraces. Before it was discovered it was completely covered in trees and jungle. It is being cleaned and restored now and looked really impressive from our elevated view. Loads of photos later we headed over the river to get lunch.
The porter team had arrived and were erecting a kitchen and dining tent before they put out bowls of water for us to wash with ... all mod cons for us!!
We had tomato soup and pasta all served with garnishes and neatly folded napkins..very posh.
We trekked further on along the Rio Kusichaca to our first camp for the night at Wayllabamba (3100m). The porters had put up our tents and were getting tea and popcorn ready for us and we all bought beers from a local lady to celebrate our first day !!! Two of our group went AWOL and turned up 2 hours later after they´d taken a wrong turn amazingly it wasn´t Liz.
Only 7kms today so pretty easy going but tomorrow is the toughest day.
Oh and yet again Phil had a fish dinner ... hes a changed man!!!

15/6/9 Inca Trail Day 2

We were up early woken by the porters delivering Coca tea before a breakfast . After breakfast Geriston introduced the porters and they all stood and told us their names, how old they were and how long they had portered for. The oldest was 57 and the youngest 18 . We all introduced ourselves the same and we all clapped the youngest and oldest from the porters and our group. Esta our team mountain goat is 72 but runs up the slopes as she is so fit and active...brilliant.
Geriston told us how to use the Coca leaves we had bought which entailed wrapping the bitter leaves round a lump of ash and chewing it. If you dont spit them out quickly like
Phil they make your mouth numb and then are supposed to make you ready for the long trek ahead. However we decided you just got distracted by the vile taste and didnt think about your knackeredness !!!
We started walking at 7am towards Warmiwanuscca which is "dead womans pass" . So called because the top of the pass looks like a woman lying down, we all assumed it must relate to the killer hill we had to climb, all steps and really knackering but we all made it in good time. The pass is 4200m high and the views at the top of the Andes were breathtaking. Despite one of our group having a broken foot, three having knee problems, a couple of unfits, a couple of altitude problems and 72 year old Esta we all made it but we saw an American women being piggy backed up by a porter because she was tired!!!! Phil shouted " hope your leaving a good tip !"
The route to the campsite at Pacaymayu was a steep downhill down hundreds of steep Inca steps which were really knee crunching...ouch!!!
When we arrived to camp we were all pretty tired and crashed out until our lunch was served and then we all relaxed. The campsite was supposed to be the coldest on the trail
but we were cosy in our sleeping bags despite temps of -7!!
The night sky was amazing with millions of stars as the air was so clear. We all crashed into bed before 9

16/6/9 Inca trail day 3

Today is the longest trek day and in Geristons words an " amazing, memorable, fantastic" day. We were woken at 5.30 with Coca tea and ate breakfast before setting off for a 45 minute trek uphill to Runkuraqay which is a religious Inca site and rest stop for Incas on their way to Machu Picchu. Geriston explained the history of the site and we continued up to pass two mountain lakes where Andean deer feed in the early hours.
We stopped walking at the second pass (3950m) where again we had spectacular views of the Andes and the snow capped Cordillera Vilcabamba.
We rested a while and left wishes under Coca leaves as is the tradition due to the importance of the mountains in the Inca culture.
We walked on to Sayacmarca and left our bags before climbing more steps to see the ruin which was a checkpoint for the Inca trail. A forest covered Inca trail can just be seen from there. Within the ruin complex is a temple with 6 windows through which the sun passes on the solstace on the hour every hour....wow!!!
We crossed a valley for lunch before setting off for the afternoons trekking to our final campsite.
We walked through cloud forest and through a carved Inca tunnel and arrived at the third pass(3670m) where there is a view of another ruin called Puyupatamarca.
We visited the ruin which had ceremonial baths which water flowed through. After the ruin we had to trek down 500 inca steps, another bone crunching, towards our camp at Winaywayna. We took the option of walking through another Inca ruin of terraces but there were really steep steps again...bloody Incas!!!
We arrived back at camp for hot tea and popcorn . Tha promised hot showers were luke warm so we all stayed stinky...nice!!
After a lovely dinner we all grouped together to thank the team for their help and we gave out tips. Geriston then pulled out the two porters who were on their first trek for a baptism which consisted of having raw eggs smashed on their heads. The other porters and us were in stitches.
Phil was asked to take a look at one of the porters legs as he had been kicked by a horse and one by one the others came up for a consultation. Dr Phils clinic was open!!!

17/6/9 Inca Trail Day 4 Machu
Picchu

We awoke really early so we could be in the checkpoint queue by 5am. It was still dark and we all had our torches to light the way. We were all poised to race to Intipunku ( the sun gate )before the sunrise but our group was near tyhe back of the queue. We elbowed our way through the big queue of people and arrived at the sun gate in good time. Through the sungate we got our first view of the city of Machu Picchu which was every bit as amazing as we were expecting and much bigger. It is spread over 9kms and the archeologists are finding more all the time. It was a really bright and sunny day as the whole trek had been and we spent a couple of hours being shown round by Geriston. He showed us the royal tomb, the botannical gardens, the terraces, the sundial and the main square before leaving us to explore some more. National Geographic were filming a documentary in the main square and we kept being told to be quiet and sometimes it wasn´t even Liz!!!

Phil climbed the big peak you can see in the pictures called Wayna Picchu. It is a shear cliff face to climb via more stairs which Liz couldn´t face. Phil got up there in half an hour and stayed mesmerized by the view for over an hour before coming back down. Apparently many people fall and some have died climbing up to the top so maybe Liz made the right choice, clumsy as she is!!!

We all travelled to the town of Aguas Calientes below Macchu Picchu by bus on a long windy road with lots of tight switchbacks. There was an option to walk down but funnily enough noone chose that option. After some food we boarded the train back to Cuzco. Liz fell asleep almost immediately but Phil was set to complete the 24 hour challenge which is staying up for 24hours on the day of the trek to Machu Picchu when you wake up really early with no sleep. He had his eyes shut a few times but made it back yo Cuzco with no sleep.

We arrived back to Cuzco at 10.30 and went to meet Geriston at 11.30 after a well needed wash and brush up. We all met in a bar with a huge open fire and had a few drinks. The warm fire didn´t help Phils 24 hour challenge. Geriston then took us to a local club called Las Vegas which was absolutely banging with salsa music and the dance floor was packed with really great dancers. After a few hours we headed back to anotyher club called Mythology where Liz said goodnight and headed back to the hostel but Phil carried on until his challenge was completed before crashing into bed.

18/6/9 Cuzco

After a lazy hungover start we all went for a huge English breakfast in a local bar with the tag line "a taste of home" The plates were massive and we could barely move when we had finished.In the streets there was a festival of Corpus Christi underway with hundreds of dancing groups dressed in traditonal costumes were performing an array of dances and song. The town was teaming ith people and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Phil was looking a bit overgrown so we found a hair dresser...not a barber, to give him a cut. He asked for his usual number one but she was having none of it and proceeded to spend almost an hour on his hair!!! At one stage he was looking like he had a toupee but in the end after using a cut throat razor round his ears and chin he looked brand new!!!

Phil got his boots shoe shined and we watched more of the parade and took photos before making a few phone calls home.

We spent the evening in a lovely quiet bar we had found which had the most chilled atmosphere before some of the others found us and we went out for some dinner before bed.

Tomorrow we are due to travel to La Paz the capital of Bolivia, but the road we need to take has road blocks and a bridge has been damaged so that only cars can get across it. It means we will have to take a detour around a huge area that will take three days and we will have to bush camp!!! That means no running water for three days!!! None of us wants to do it and it means we have to miss three days of the itinerary but theres nothing we can do. Brendan the driver will let us know tomorrow

19/6/9 Cuzco again !!

Oh dear, we will have to wait until tomorrow to set off as the roads are really bad again. Cuzco is pretty good fun though so its not so bad but the next three days will be crap so we are all having as relaxing a day as possible to get ready for it.

Will write again if we ever make it to La Paz xxxx