I did warn that as I relaxed more my blogs might become less frequent. I arrived in Cusco, home of The Incas, on June 7th to prepare for the Lares Trek. Cusco is a beautifully preserved ancient city with many claims to fame,not least the highest Irish owned bar in the world. As spiritual home to The Incas it is a worthy centre for what was an amazing civilisation, many of whose traditions live today despite its turbulent and difficult history. The Lares Trek is a less well-known alternative to The Inca Trail but like its much better-known sister also ends in Machu Picchu. It is not quite as long at 25 miles but a harder trek which takes you to 4800 metres. The joy is that it is much less commercialised. I went with a company called Lama Path ( thanks for the recommendation Sue )who were fabulous and enjoyed four days of trekking and camping with James our guide and five staff including a world-class chef, porters and our trusty mules. Completing the entourage were two dogs who followed us every step of the way and a great group of fellow trekkers from Germany, Switzerland and the UK. I could not have wished for better companions.
The joy of this trek is that you rarely see other tourists and pass through indigenous villages where the locals still speak Quechua, dress the way they have always done, barter and rely on mules and lamas to make a living.
The extremes of temperature in one day were like nothing I have ever experienced but the bitterly cold nights were compensated for by amazing food cooked in a tiny part of our 'dining room' tent.
The highlight was, of course, seeing the 'lost city' at 7am on the final day. I then
left my group and climbed Machu Picchu Mountain on my own from where the views at 3082 metres were mind blowing. A tiring but amazing trip.