After breakfast and being formally introduced to the Chaskis the following morning, we began our challenging ascent. Anne and I agreed that for this section, we would walk at our own paces, as conquering this peak and getting through the day was the main objective.

However, after arriving at the lunch checkpoint before Anne I felt slightly guilty, so I dropped off my bag, picked up two Powerades from one of the stalls - the last shops before we got to Machu Picchu - and then went back down to help her.

Being the true Finn that she is though, she refused any assistance with the bag carrying as this would be considered cheating. I therefore just offered the sports drink and morale support for the last hundred metres or so.

After lunch, we edged towards the 4,000 metre mark. Although I had followed Freddy's advice in chewing coca leaves, drinking coca tea and all the other necessary precautions, the altitude hit me; just like it had in Bolivia.

That all-too-familiar feeling grew in my stomach, but with the nearest toilets back at the lunch spot, I had no option but to try and find a bush on the mountain side. Unfortunately for me, this meant scrambling up and up to try and find some cover, but no matter how high I climbed, Chaskis and the hordes of trekkers from all angles had a clear view of me. In the end, I managed to find some privacy behind a relatively large shrub and made my way back to the path.

But in a few more hundred yards, it all happened again, only this time I was able to duck into a bush closer to the path but more concealed.

Needless to say, all the additional sapping of energy took its toll as we trundled up to the summit and both Anne and I felt drained as we finally stood on top of our Everest.

The walk down to the camp was slow but a welcome change from the constant uphill and just like on the first night, we were asleep by around 9pm.

Despite Freddy warning us that the third day was the worst of them all, Anne and I suddenly had found our pace and in similar circumstances to the last day of the Routeburn Trek in New Zealand, we just powered through the ups and downs, navigated past the precarious ridges and only took breaks to admire the ever increasing archaeological sites that we came across, all of which were stunning in their own way. We were one of the first few to reach the camp.

As the next morning we were arriving at Machu Picchu, this was to be the last night with the Chaskis too and it was customary to present them with their tip at this point. It became evident that this was the case, as they became all the more attentive as we arrived: taking off our bags for us and preparing the insides our tents for a start; something they hadn't done on the first two nights.

When it came to the discussion of the tip after dinner, Anne and I paid the maximum recommended amount for both the Chaskis and the chef. This was simply because we were astounded with the efforts of the former and the food that the latter provided was amazing - we'd eaten better on this trip than we had at any other point in South America.

Click here for part three.