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 always rapidly overtaken by the group of horses and horsemen guiding them on with our bag and tents etc. Really putting us to shame by actually jogging, when we found walking a struggle! (One porter was 68!)

The plans from now on changed as a farmers strike was on and the train to Machu picchu would not run as it should. The farmers were apparently going to throw stones at anyone working that day and breaking the strike! Hence once in the valley we had a 7 hour minibus ride to a town closer to Machu picchu for an alternative route. The lower altitude meant we all felt better.

Anyone would think a bus ride that long would be dull but not this one! We came across the first strike block with stones in the road, so the guide got out and chatted to the locals before rapidly removing the stones and taking the 2 minibuses on a shortcut to avoid more blocks (we were 2 groups together now). It was then we realised what a great company we had booked with as the guide were going out of their way to get us through. The short cut involved 2 wooden bridges where we had to get out to reduce the weight! The first was bad but the second was really scary and the guides spent a while looking at the bridge before we all walked across (carrying daysack with passport, in case lost to the river). The first minibus got across ok with just driver in but the second was bigger and in the final stetch when the front wheels where on land the planks under the back wheels cracked. The guides and other minibus driver then took planks from the other end of the bridge and wedged under the wheels to get the bus across to a huge cheer!! Back on the main road we stopped to let the locals know that the bridge was damaged.

We had not passed the stike yet though, and the guides had to get out again to talk to the locals and remove more stones to let us past. We went past the grumpy looking locals as quickly as possible (the guides had to run along side the bus as they did not want to stop until past).

The next part of the journey was through the mountains and the views were amazing (huge rainbow over mountains after a rain shower), but some scary narrow mountain side roads.

The guides then found us a place to stay in an alternative town (Santa Theresa) where we met some other trekkers, who had been with a much cheaper tour (less then half the price of ours), and had been abandoned by their guides as soon as they knew about the strike! The tips for our guides and bus driver grew!

H