We returned from Puno after a short three days in order to begin our biggest event in Peru, hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu! However, before I begin I must refer back to one of my other blogs to say that we did try the guinea pig or "cuy" and it actually was good even though I do not think that I could eat again because I kept thinking back to my pet guinea pig as a child. Anyway, upon returning to Cuzco we went to our travel agency (Peruvian Highland Trek...don't use them) to assure that our requested change for our train tickets back to Cuzco from Machu Picchu had been made. We then made reservations to stay at the Inkaterra Hotel the day after the trek in order to rest up and go visit Machu Picchu more casually and clean the second day. Afterwards, we packed up and went to sleep in order to rise for our 6:30 am departure to make it out to the trail.The first day was beautiful, and we took a bus to Ollyantaytambo to pick up some last supplies before heading out to Kilometer 82 where the trek begins. We also met our guide Mauro in this town. Unfortunately, I was feeling quite sick from the vast temperature swings of the area and also Puno, so I was struggling with some nasal and stomach problems...not the best way to begin a four day, pretty intense hike. Anyway, we arrived at the beginning and were told that the porters and cooks did not bring the right documents or equipment, but that they would get it and catch up to us. Then my ticket was actually issued as a porter ticket, so we had some problems with the control. After settling that, we began hiking. The first day of hiking was not hard and was quite nice following the Urubamba River. We were also able to see some more Inca Ruins along the way. When we arrived at the lunch spot, the porters had not caught up, and we had to use the equipment of other groups (Ian and I were wishing they would have let us carry our own food and equipment). This set us back a lot, and we had to hike a good portion in the dark to make it to the first campsite. Fortunately, the guide got everything worked out then, and we did not have any other problems till the very end.We woke up the second day to a good bit of rain, but it cleared before we finished our enormous breakfast with pancakes, cereal, porridge, toast, and others. I couldn't believe the amount of food, but I appreciated it once we got on the hike. This day was by far the hardest day and we ascended to over 4200 meters or over 12,000 feet to Dead Woman's Pass. It was hard but making it to the top felt like quite an accomplishment, and Ian and I made the last ascent in a very fast 40 minutes. The day seemed hard, but we arrived at camp early and spent the rest of the day staying out of the rain.The third day was cloudy and misty all day, and we had two other mountain passes to make it through. However, this day did not seem as hard because it was not a continual ascent. We also changed climates on this day and moved from the colder mountain climate to the warmer jungle climate. Upon reaching the third pass, we could see Machu Picchu Mountain and the views were stunning. We also reached the last Inca Ruin before Machu Picchu at the top of the mountain and then faced a 1 ½ hour descent to our last camp. Ian and I then bet the guide a beer that we could beat him down with a bit of a head start, and I made it down in 40 minutes with Ian not far behind,but Ian was barely caught at the top of the camp. Even so, they thought we had set a record and gave us the title of "Chaskis" or Inca Runners.On the final day, we arose at 4:30am, and it was quite cold. However, we wanted to make it to the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu at sunrise. This trek, while only being 2 hours, actually seemed more difficult than I had thought, but we made it to the Sun Gate only to see that Machu Picchu was covered in fog. That was the beginning of our disappointment for the final day because shortly after our agency called to tell us that they had not changed our train tickets and we would have to return. This was a problem because our hotel was non-refundable, and our parents had pitched in to help us stay there. All in all, we lost around $500 because there were no other train tickets available and we had already paid for many other things. It also rained most of the day at Machu Picchu, so we did not get to experience it as we had wanted. On the other hand, even though we had lost our excitement and enthusiasm the site was still a tremendous experience to walk around and observe. Neither words nor pictures could describe the awe that Machu Picchu carries.We unfortunately had to return to Cuzco with a bad taste in our mouths, and the entire next day that we should have been in Machu Picchu, we spent at the tourist police agency trying to recover our lost money from the travel agency due to their incompetency. I am not sure if we will recover any of it, but the family we were staying with is friends with the head of the tourist police so I am hoping for the best. After leaving the tourist police, we hopped on another over-night bust to Arequipa and am now at the brim of the Colca Canyon (the world's deepest canyon).