Woke up late. Compared to the last few days that is. We had booked into the same, very nice, hotel that we stayed in before leaving on the trek, and they'd told us the night before we could stay beyond check out time. We took full advantage of their generosity and awarded ourselves a luxurious lie-in. Eventually we headed out and, despite mild aching in the legs, managed to resist the frequently appearing massage touts in favour of a Lonely Planet recommended ca...

Another great wakeup call with hot drinks in tent. This morning's walk was downhill to lower altitude so felt better. We passed lots of children on the way, and women popped up selling gloves and other textiles. It had been mentioned that we might see children asking for sweets and we should instead stock up on pens etc to give them to use in school. Sunny and warm during the day :) The porters and cooks each day packed up the camp after we left and we were alwa...

We were woken before 6am by 2 porters at the tent with hot water and our choice of hot drinks to be passed into the tent. This is again 5 star camping and the hot chocolate with extra sugar tasted amazing! Breakfast was great with a hot sweet porrage drink, and pancakes etc yum. The first part of the walking was easier as a more gentle slope up to some farmhouses were were were shown farming tools and into the house (in return for 1 sole each - about 25p) and it...

We were collected about 6am and the first part of our tour was a long coach ride higher into the mountains with a stop to stock up on things we might need like walking poles, water and breakfast in the market. The views from the bus were amazing. By lunch time we were at the start of the trek where the horses and llamas were loaded with luggage for the trek and lunch was cooked for us in a tent (soup then loads of pasta). We knew the trek would be hard right awa...

My turn to feel rough with the altitude today as horrid pain in head! I now know why all the travel info suggests a few days to get used to the altitude before going on a trek! Drinking lots of Coca tea (which looks like bay leaves in hot water) which is the traditional remedy and walking slowly. Starting to feel better! Matt is better today just as the guys in the hotel said he would be, but we are both taking it easy. Walked into town (slowly) and got some alp...