We were woken at 4am, to make sure we were one of the first groups to reach the check point that opened at 5.30am. Once we had been checked through, it was a sprint - Bobby was on a mission - to the Sun Gate to get a view of Machu Picchu at first light. The climb up was pretty tiring, a vertical flight of 50 steps, especially when you are bloody jogging it! But when we got to the top of Intipunku (The Sun Gate), we forgot all our aching muscles, as this was our...

We woke up at 5am on the third day and after breakfast the two of us set out before the rest of the group (think Bobby felt sorry for us after being so behind on the second day). So off we trotted up the first steep climb to the ruins of Runkuracay, which was a small circular ruin, and it was great as we were the only two people there - turns out that it pays off to be slow! We then carried on up to the second pass, Abra de Runkuracay at 4000m, to wait for the...

We were woken up at 5.30am with Coca tea in bed - hows that for 5* service! The coca tea woke us up, not surprisingly as we later found out the leaves are used to make cocaine! But the Peruvians drink it to help with altitude sickness - so when in Rome, or Peru, and all that! After yet another huge meal at breakfast of pancakes, porridge and fruit salad we set off on our second day. This was supposedly the hardest day of the trek but Bobby assured us that it ...

We tried to have an early night, before the trek, but we were too excited so our 4am wake up felt far too early! We were picked up from our hotel at 5.45am and we began our 2 hour bus ride to KM 82, stopping for breakfast at Ollantaytambo (in the sacred valley), which was a lovely little village completely surrounded by mountains. When we arrived at the start of the trek we had to pass the checkpoint, as only 500 people are allowed into the national park per da...