Shortly after arriving in Cusco and meeting up with Charlotte and Kieran (origninally met in Venezuella) who we knew were there already, we started looking for our tour to Machu Picchu. It didn´t take long to find out that the Inca Trail was fully booked for the next couple of weeks due to it having been closed for maintainence during February. We booked an alternative, the Inca Jungle trek which takes a different route and ends up after three days in Aguas Calientes which is the town in the valley below Machu Picchu with the fourth day to climb to the ruins.

The first day involved taking a bus through the Sacred Valley where Inca ruins are to be seen everywhere and being dropped at a high point. From there we jumped on some ¨mountain bikes¨ (no gear change, chain falling off, buckled wheels etc...) and cruised downhill for the afternoon, finishing up at a hostel for the night. The next day we started walking up river and mountain with beautiful views of both. The path was varied, much of it right on the edge of steep hills with nerve shattering drops down to the river below. Part of the way was along remaining paths built by the Incas with their trade mark stone steps constantly up and down.

One Austrailian girl in our group had to be taken back because it turned out she was afraid of heights and hadn´t realised there would be any involved (!) The recent rains had caused several land and mud slides which made the going that bit more challenging, not to mention muddy as you can see in the photos. It was a long day of walking and our aim was to reach Santa Theresa´s hot springs in time for a well deserved dip. In order to reach them however we had to cross the river, and the only way of doing this was by 2-3 person, open, man powered cable car. We were propelled across the river, holding tight and wondering what the health and safety executives of Europe would think. We eventually arrived at the hot springs which were wonderful. We stayed a couple of hours before taking the option of a bus the 20 minutes to the town and the hostel instead of the hours up hill walk in the dark after getting clean and having relaxed muscles option.

The next day we were promised an easy days walking. The morning was a steady uphill climb on a dirt road until we met with the rail track which we walked along for about 3 hours and led us to Aguas Calientes. It turns out that walking along railway tracks isn't as romantic as it seems in the movies, it´s actually pretty tedious, however we did receive our first glimpse up at Machu Picchu, looking impossibly far up from where we were. Arriving in Aguas Calientes it´s clear that the place wouldn´t exist if not for the hordes of tourists passing through to visit the famous Inca ruins. It´s full of over priced hotels, hostals, restaurants, shops and not much else.

The fourth morning was an early start to make the hour-ish long walk up the steps to Machu Picchu before it opened at 6.00. Some of our group chose to take the bus up to the entrance, the first of which leaves at 5.30 but we decided to earn our arrival the hard way and started climbing. As we approached the top we heard the first bus arriving a ran the final stretch to make sure we got there before the lazy people, it just didn´t seem fair somehow for them to get there first when we had made all the effort!

Our first glimpse down at the ruins from the entrance didn´t fail to impress. It was quite surreal looking at a physical version of a view so well photographed. After the obligatory photographing session we had a two hour tour around the main sights within the ruins. Our guide was excelent, answering in depth question and explaining facts about the Incas and the city as well as theories and legend, being sure not to mix them up. An ability we have found a rare treat in a tour guide. After the tour we decided to walk up Wayna Picchu, the peak you can see behind the ruins in our main photo. It is also covered in Inca ruins, steps up as well as stone tiers on impossibly steep slopes. It had stunning views from the top and although the clouds and rain were coming in it cleared while we were at the top long enough to appreciate them. An extra slog down the other side took us to some caves which were used by the Incas in the worship of the moon. By then we were completely shattered, so the long walk around and back up to Machu Picchu was tedious as the rain and cloud had obscured all views by this point.

The four of us decided it would be best to head back down as the weather didn´t look to be improving. The bus seemed like a good option and we all agreed at this point that we had earned the ride. That was until we found out that it was $6 US each to take the 15min journey down. Four weary looking souls went trudging off down the road...

Included in our tour was the return journey to Cusco, and we had tickets for the train as far as Ollyantambo where we were taken by ¨collectivo¨ minivan the rest of the 3 hour way. The train ride was amusing, complete with a ¨traditional¨ dance show by a man in a full mask who pranced up and down and leered at the passengers. (Paul and I slid as far as we could into our seat and pretended to be asleep!) This was followed by a fashion show with the train staff parading up and down wearing various alpaca wool articles to loud music. All of which was available for purchase, of course.

I expected our collectivo ride to be pretty uneventful in compareson. However, we were surprised to hear a small puppy whineing behind us, and located the poor thing wedged in between some luggage in the hatch back. I reached back and had it ride on my lap instead. I soon discoved the reason it was banished to the boot when it sprayed its loose bowel contents over my lap, stopped whineing, and promtly fell asleep. Must have been quite a relief, poor thing!