Hi!

I have had a very busy few days! First I hiked the Inca Trail (or should it be called trial?), then I went to the Amazon basin and stayed in the jungle.

Before we started the Inca Trail we had a short tour of the Sacred Valley which was very nice. There are loads of Inca ruins around this area so we got to see alot of them.

Then on Sunday morning we started out on the Inca Trial. My group of 11 had about 16 porters (each carrying about 25 kilos), 2 cooks (who made excellent food, especiaqlly considering they were using a camping stove) and 2 guides (Javier and Gato) to help us survive the trek!! Day 1 was fine - although we were at over 3000m the path was fairly flat. Day 2 was extremely hard. We walked for 5 hours up hill to an altitude of about 4300m!! I was knackered by the time I reached the top - I could only walk about 40 steps before I had to have a rest!! Day 3 was also hard as we were walking up and down hills (not as high as the day before) for about 8 hours! On the final day we got up at 4 am so that we could arrive in Machu Picchu nice and early. The others in my group virtually ran all the way (it was a bit rude really as they were almost pushing people out of the way on a very narrow path), but I walked behind taking lots of photos.

Machu Picchu was well worth the hike! It is a really big complex with lots inside to see - houses, temples, sundials, astonomical viewing points etc. We spent a good few hours wandering around before heading off to the nearby town for some lunch and to catch the train back to Cusco.

The next day I left the rest of the group behind and flew to the Amazon basin, so that I could spend 2 nights in the jungle! It was fantastic!! I ended up being the only person at the lodge, so I had my own personal guide, cook, housekeeper, boat driver and waiter!!! Now thats what I call service!

When I arrived my guide took me on a quick tour of the city, then we got a boat up to the lodge. Over the 2/3 days I saw loads of cool stuff including alligators, tarantulas, a squirrel, parrots, macaws, giant otters, squirrel monkies, turtles and lots of interesting trees and plants. My guide called Elder was great, he knew loads of stuff about the jungle (and it didn't hurt that he was very good looking!). He also took me fishing, you will never guess what I caught??????? Two pyranha fish!! They have a strong bite on them - Elder put a folded leaf in their mouth and they choped straight through it. However, unlike in James Bond apparently in real life they would only bite humans if you were already bleeding somewhere.

Me, Elder, and Robin (the waiter who is trying to learn English) went on a small trek down river stopping off at some farms to try out the fruit. I have never seen such big oranges and lemons. Also the papaya came in lots of different shapes! I also got to try Brazil nuts, which are also grown in Peru and therefore locally know as Peru nuts. All in all I had a great couple of days (even if I didn't sleep too well last night as the jungle noises kept me awake - actually a rat or something got into my room as when I woke up I found that a banana I had leftover from the previous day's lunch was half eaten on the floor!!).

Now I am back in Cusco. I have just been to the local market to stock up on alpca and lama products e.g. gloves, hats, and scarfs (people should expect these for Christmas!!). Tommorrow I travel to Puno by bus. It will take 8 hours , but at least I can catch up on my sleep.

All the best,

Louise xxx.