Buenos tardes amigos. So we survived four days (Saturday to Tuesday) of gruelling uphill, downhill and Peruvian flat! We hiked 50km altogether, reaching an elevation of 4,200m at Dead Woman's Pass on day two. Day one was pretty easy and we got to catch the Peru World Cup game with the locals. We saw a guy run past us up the hill with a table on his back and when we reached his house, we realised it was for a small TV to go on outside with the football on. Who knew his little antenna would pick TV up on the Inca Trail! Another thing that was pretty shocking is what the Peruvians have to do for money. We had porters to carry our stuff, and some of them had bags weighing up to 40kg and they'd chip past us (making us feel stupid for moaning!). You can tell it's such hard work for them, and they're just farmers trying to earn some money for their families during the winter season.

We were so lucky with our group - there were six of us altogether - us two, two Danes and two Swedes. They were so friendly and we got on really well, sharing travel tips etc.

Day two was the hardest. Four solid hours of uphill trekking (Inca steps that were like two foot high if not more) followed by steep downhill for a few hours. Another thing to mention is how thin the air was - the altitude made it so hard to breath normally, let alone throwing in the exercise. The views at Dead Woman's Pass were incredible. Mountains all around. Due to the elevation it was the coldest night we had (down to minus figures). So we slept in thermals, a few layers of clothes in our thermal sleeping bags and were still too cold. Every morning we'd be woken up by our porters yelling "hola amigos buenos dias" and tapping out tents, offering us coca tea (which apparently helps with altitude sickness and interestingly, is what cocaine is made from). On days two and three we were woken up at 5.30am when it was still dark, had breakfast in the dining tent and that got on our way.

Day three was not so hard but definitely the longest - about 10 hours in total. And when our guide told us that it would be flat, we quickly learnt that he meant Peruvian flat - it was still up and down like a wave so very tough on your feet and knees. There was a lot more history on day three as we explored three different inca sites along the trail. We leant a lot - about the Andean cross, the symbols of the Incas and the importance of the condor, puma and snake. Some of the sites were nearly as impressive as he big finale. Oh we also forgot to mention, the food was incredible the whole trip - the Peruvians certainly know how to make things tasty!

On day four we woke up at 3am to join the queue for the first check point at 3.30am. It opened at 5.30am so we had a long cold wait... But before we knew it, we were through and had an hour trek up to the sun gate (including the "gringo killer", a set of stairs that you literally had to climb up on all fours). At the sun gate we had our first view of Machu Picchu and we waited there to watch the sun hit it at around 7.30am. Our guide then showed us around for two hours, teaching us the importance of certain temples and how they built Machu Picchu.

The whole inca trail was so amazing. It was tough but is an experience we will never forget, and makes you appreciate so much. It was really special and we recommend that everyone should do it!

Three best things - views, our group and the food.

Three worst things - toilets (squat), no shower for four days and watching the porters struggle with our stuff.

Fun fact - if you say Machu "Pee-chu" it means little dick. It should be pronounced "pic-chu" but the Peruvians say it so fast that most gringos say it wrong.

Today we've just chilled around Cusco, but we had lunch at the Mercado Central de San Pedro which was pretty cool. Can't complain with two tasty mains for around £6.

Tomorrow we're flying to Puerto Maldonado where we start our three day Amazon rainforest tour.

Max and Steph x