Hi All,

Ok, I know it has been a while since my last blog update but after having an amazing time doing rainforest conservation in the Ecuadorian Amazon the next step in my trip was Peru! So for the last 2 weeks I have been travelling around Peru and this is a fantastic country. I arrived in Lima and I met the rest of the team that I will be doing the trek with and going to Machu Picchu with. They were, Edgar (our guide), Elliott (from New Zealand), Charlotte, James and Tim (from the UK) and Nikki (from South Africa).

We were informed that due to the recent land-slides in Peru, the Inca Trail was still closed so we will be trekking the Lares Trek, but there was a possibility that we may see Machu Picchu on the day it reopens, so everyone was excited to hear this.
After spending the night in Lima, we went straight to Nasca (500m above sea level), where we saw the Nasca Lines in a small 8 seater plane that took us directly over each of the Nasca Lines. These were incredible and to see them from an aerial perspective was fantastic as it allowed us to see the complete structures. We also had a chance to see the Chauchilla Cemetery and Pottery Workshops which use the same techniques as the Incas to product Peruvian pottery and we also had a chance to see the Pachamanca Ceremony where our evening meal was cooked in the same way that the Incas cooked theirs by using hot stones underground and placing the food, wrapped in leaves on these hot stones and digging up the food after a few hours. The ceremony was fascinating and the food was delicious! I have to I think it was the best food that I have eaten in Peru!
After the meal, we took a night bus to Arequipa (2300m above sea level) where we explored the city and visited the Santa Catalina Convent and Juanita Museum where one of the Incan Mummies is being researched and is on display. Arequipa is also surrounded by several volcanoes and it was an amazing sight to see these volcanoes from the viewing towers.

We then took a night bus to Cusco where we explored the city and prepared all of our kit for the Lares Trek. Once this was done there was the option to go white water rafting and most of us went for it! It was class 3 to 4+ rapids and we had an amazing time! We had Freddy, our guide, and he was excellent along with Elliott, Charlotte, James, Nikki and myself in the raft. We were on the rapids for around 2 hours before breaking for a snack and then we were back on again for a further 2 hours! It was great! The sections of white water were pretty long so after about an hour in, by the end of each section, we could barely lift our paddles, it was so gruelling! But profound joy followed each rapid as the sheer exhilaration of making it through gave energy to cheers and paddle slaps! At one time when Freddy shouted, ‘High side right!’, we were a bit slow to respond and instead of riding the wave it tipped the raft enough to throw Nikki and myself off the raft into the rapids! Now that was unexpected. I popped up just next to the raft, still with paddle in hand to see Freddy grab Nikki by the lifejacket and lift her into the raft. Then the next thing I know, Charlotte is grabbing my lifejacket and has hauled me back into the raft!! Once we were both back in, there was no respite, we were handed back our paddles and we had to immediately start rowing as we still were in the main part of the rapids! I gotta say, I was still a bit disorientated and my timing for the rowing was all off but we made it through and it was exhilarating! I was still shaking from the adrenaline even after coming out of that part of the rapids! Awesome!! My waterproof camera even managed to stay with me during this fall! We were all buzzing after this and the next set of rapids seemed to fly by! Next thing we know is that Freddy is saying we have one more rapid left and we super paddled towards it literally sprinting all the way through it, trying not to get tipped or hit any rocks. After a while the paddling slowed as everyone was feeling the burn and strain in their arms but we all hung in there and we shot out of the final rapids! Whoo Hoo!

Next was lunch time so we all helped to get the raft out of the water and then Freddy suggested jumping off the bridge where lunch was being set up! All the guys were up for it so we sprinted to the top of the bridge and....... JUMPED!!!! I even managed to put on the Michael Jackson glove right before I jumped! It was awesome! We got more air time that we expected with the bridge being 8-9 meters but the current was intense and we had to immediately swim to the bank as soon as we entered the water. What a blast and what a great way to end the white water rafting.

Next day was the start of the Lares Trek! Whoo Hoo! We all packed our kit the night before so we were all ready to go at 7am. As we were nearing one of the start points, the officials there told us that there had been some land slides just that morning on parts of the trek and this particular start point was not safe to trek up. This was a shame, but our guides new a different route up so we took this and the views were spectacular. The altitude was effecting us all, but not too badly so I was still able to run up parts of the slopes but I was indeed out of breath once I stopped. The weather was varied on our first day. It began with rain, as you can probably tell from the photos with us all wearing brightly coloured ponchos, but then around lunch time, it cleared up so the sun was shining. Everyone was happy with this! But as we neared our camp for the first night, it began to rain heavily so, by the time we arrived there, we were pretty soaked! We had a some time to sort our tents out before dinner so we quickly sorted all our bags and put everything in the tents to keep it all dry. Dinner was surprisingly good with warm vegetable soup and bread after which we all headed to sleep.

That night was probably one of the worst nights I have ever had. I knew it was gonna be a cold night so I wrapped up warm with thermals and jumpers which was fine but after laying down to sleep I found it very difficult to breath and as the night progressed I was feeling more and more tired and breathing was not getting any better. On top of that, as it was so cold, the cold air that I was breathing was making me cough more frequently. I thought it would just pass after a while but after a few hours it did not get any better. I managed about 1.5 hours sleep that night and the next morning I felt terrible! I felt really weak and it took my 30mins to pack my bag! After which I was exhausted! I tried to eat some breakfast but I could not stomach any food and when we started walking I felt phenomenally weak and tired and I could barely put one foot in front of the other. It got to a point where Edgar and the trek guides Johan and Pedro told me that it would be best if I rode on one of the horses the porters use so that I could take some time to recover and then carry on trekking so he got the horse and I have to say it helped a lot but I was so weak that I could barely hang onto the saddle, I know, it sounds pretty bad, but I am not exaggerating. It got to a point where I almost fell off the horse a few times, even though it was so uncomfortable, but I after I had some biscuits and water I felt a bit better so I tried walking for a bit but after about 30mins I was feeling pretty weak and going so slow that our guide advised that I get back on the horse. I have to say it was pretty frustrating not to be able to walk on this part of the Lares trek but I never thought I would be so affected by altitude sickness. The good news was that I made it up to the top of the mountain alternating between walking and riding the horse, Whoo Hoo!! But it was tough and a big thanks to Edgar and one of the porters Torebedo (who was only 13 years old and was the son of the head porter), who helped guide us up and I have to also give a huge thanks to the horse who carried me because without their help I don’t think I would have made it up.
At the top it was amazing. We were around 4500m high at the peak and the views were breath taking. It was pretty cold though so after a few photos we headed down. As we started to head down, I started to feel a little better but I was still alternating between walking and riding in the horse. The trail was pretty steep at times and being on the back of the horse was pretty scary at times. After about an hour of descending we reached the lunch site where I managed to drink some coffee and rest on a ground sheet for about 1.5 hours until the rest of the group arrived at the lunch site.

It was great to see them and I was feeling slightly better so after a bite to eat we headed out on our decent to our next camp site. As I had some rest I left a little ahead of the main group with Edgar so that they could catch us up later in the trail. I was able to trek down for a few hours even though it was a struggle we even managed to help out some farmers plough their potato fields and I thought I would be ok for the rest of the trek but after about 3 hours they had to get the horse again for me as I could barely walk in a straight line. We managed to get to the camp site around 7pm and I have to say I was exhausted! I never thought I would feel this bad. After some dinner and some warm drinks, I started to feel better and we ended the day with the guides swapping stories of their adventures in Peru around the camp fire which were great to hear.
The next morning it was another early start, but I have to say that I was much better. I had a reasonable nights sleep and it was great to be able to walk without it being a struggle. It is amazing what you take for granted and when you are not able to do these things it makes you appreciate them even more when you are able to do them again. The rest of the group were great and they helped so much and I was able to trek to the final destination. It was still pretty tough going but I we all did it. Whoop! Whoop!
We ended the trek with a group meal and thanked all the guides and helpers with us by presenting them with gifts. It was great to see their smiling faces and there were a few tears too.

After saying our goodbyes to everyone our group went to a hostel and got freshened up and had our first shower in 3 days which felt great! We then grabbed some dinner and an early night.

The next day we took the train up to Aguas Calientes. The first time the train was running since the land slides in January. The views were amazing but we also saw some of the devastation caused by the land slides and the reparations that are still underway. Once we arrived to Aquas Calientes, we checked into our hostel but I have to say, walking around the town was like walking around a ghost town. There was hardly anyone there and not many stores or restaurants were open as this was the first day there was any transport to the town. We managed to find a restaurant that was open but there was only one chef and one waiter so some of us helped them out in the kitchen preparing the food and cleaning the items which was good fun. The weather today was pretty rainy so there was not a lot of activities that we could do and the queue for tickets into Machu Picchu was huge! It was a good thing that we already had ours booked. Our plan was to be one of the first people up to Machu Picchu when it first opened on 1st April 2010 (tomorrow) so we were going to be leaving around 4am to hike up the trail to Machu Picchu to get there before everyone else.

We got up at 3.30am the next day and a few members of our group, Tim, Matt and Tom had already left to be the first up. The rest of the group were ready to go at 4am and one look outside the door made us all put our waterproof ponchos on as it was pouring with rain! With our head torches and waterproofs on, we headed out to Machu Picchu in the dark and rain! I gotta say it was all up hill! After about 30mins I had to take off my jacket and fleece as I was so hot. So in just some shorts, t-shirt and poncho I carried on trekking up the mountain to Machu Picchu! Damn but there were a lot of steps and about half way up I really started to struggle! It was the after-effects of the altitude sickness that I had had so I was still not 100% and I really felt it, but we all pushed on in the rain and we made it to the top! As we got to the gates into Machu Picchu, we saw the guys that left before us and there was one person not from our group that managed to get to the gates first but it was a great job from the group to be one of the first people to get to the gates. They opened the gates at 6am so we had to wait in the rain for a while and it was freezing! When they opened the gates, I was the 7th person through the gates into Machu Picchu...Whoop!! Whoop!! There were local Peruvian TV cameras to record the moment as well as Peruvian radio stations there as well. It was a big event, the reopening of Machu Picchu after around 3 months.

My first glimpse of Machu Picchu took my breath away. Even though there was alot of the ruins covered by clouds, you could see and feel the sheer energy of the place. It was incredible! As we waited for our guide to arrive to show and explain to us the history behind the ruins, I took a moment to change into my dry fleece. You have to understand that we were all soaked to the bone with the trek up to Machu Picchu and when we arrived we had a fair amount of waiting to do before they let us in and at that height the wind really does hit you so we were all properly freezing and there was no let up on the rain! As the morning progressed and the sun rose, it cleared some of the clouds covering Machu Picchu and so our view of the ruins got better, however as we were all so wet and cold, it was amazing to see how pale we all became towards the end of the tour and some of us could not stop shivering. Machu Picchu was an amazing site to behold and it was incredible to see first hand what was built by the Incas so long ago in such an inhospitable area. Truly phenomenal!
After a few hours we had a bus arranged to take us back to Aguas Calientes where we caught the train back down through the mountains. This is where we saw Suzan Sarandon. She had just got off the train at Aguas Calientes and was heading towards Machu Picchu, just as we were leaving there. I have to say there were a few paparazzi and a small crowd around her but we managed to catch a glimpse of her as she was only about 10 meters away from where we passed. If she looked our way then she would have seen a soaked and half frozen group rushing to catch the train which would have been funny. After the train we got a mini bus to Cusco. After arriving back at the same hostel in Cusco, we got our rooms and then went out for dinner and recapped our experiences over the last few days on the Lares Trek and Machu Picchu and we had some pretty cool stories to tell!
The next day was our last day and it was also Easter Friday so the Easter Festivities were progressing in Cusco. Visiting the Cathedrals and Churches at this time was a great experience and there was even a procession where they carried a statue of Jesus and the Virgin Mary through the whole town and it was as if the whole town came out to be part of the procession. It was amazing to see and be a part of this! In the evening our group went out for our final dinner which was really good fun, even though it was a bit sad as it was our last day together but we all had some great experiences to share and our guide, Edgar really was the star of this trip! We gave him a mini award ceremony at the end of the meal just to thank him for everything he had done for us during this trip as he was a legend to us all when we were struggling at points and he was so much fun!
After that, it was an early night for me as my flight was leaving the next day so I had to get all my bags packed and sorted but I had a phenomenal time in Peru, even with the altitude sickness, and this country and its people surprised me so much with their warmth and hospitality that I hope to come back one day and do the Inca Trail.

Peru Rocks!!

So onto my next project which is the Central America Ethical Trail and Rainforest and Marine Conservation in Costa Rica. Whoop! Whoop!

See you all later!

Best Wishes and a Happy Easter!

Prashant