We were up at a very nice 5am the following morning to weigh our bags and store anything we wouldn't be taking with us. We took a bus from Cusco to a small Tambo (resting place) situated about five minutes from the start of the trail. Here we bought wooden hiking sticks and a large bag of cocoa leaves, to help us with the nose bleeds of course! We jumped on another bus to the first checkpoint, showed our passports and started the trail. The first day was considered our "training day" and we covered 11 kms and hiked to 3200 metres above sea level. Most of the trek was enjoyable and the scenery was, of course, stunning. The squat toilets were not. The group before had obviously been poorly but were a rubbish aim! Pulling your trousers down whilst holding them up isn't easy and I don't have the best balance. The rest I'll leave to your imagination! Lunch on day one was fantastic, and needed after the first 5 hours of hiking. Afterwards, we hiked for a further 4 hours, over the Urubamba river and reached our first campsite at 4pm, just in time for afternoon tea, which consisted of hot drinks popcorn and crackers. In the words of Eddie Murphy, they were the best damned crackers I'd ever had! The wonderful porters had already set up camp by the time we arrived and our tents were all positioned, worryingly close, on a cliff edge. Again, the view was amazing. After dinner I attempted to use the make shift toilet (sandpit) but the spiders and mosquitos had set up a rather comfy home there, and I thought it a bit rude to intrude! We were alseep by 8pm and slept until 4.30am when the porters woke us with a hot cup of cocoa tea.
Our guide, Edu, explained that today would be the hardest day and my heart sank as he described the terrain that we would have to cross. The hike was predominantly uphill, on orginal Inca rocks and stones and would take us atleast 5 hours to reach our first peak known as Dead Womans' Pass. The name itself will tell you a story. Edu warned of the cliff edges and drop offs, encouraged us to take an extra two litres of water and would not let us set out until we were covered in insect repellent. Along the trek he warned us of the poisonous species of spider, snake and frog we were likely to come across. All of a sudden, a fortnight in Spain seemed like heaven. We hiked through lunch on the second day as we knew if we stopped we wouldn't start again. Edu, was right, it was hard, very hard. I don't think I could describe the intensity of the hike, the physical and mental toll it takes is unimaginable and heartbreaking. There were two occasions when I really believed I couldn't go on, but a cocoa leaf or two soon changed my mind and I began the uphill struggle all over again. Equally, however, I couln't begin to explain the feeling of elation and pride I felt when I reached Dead Womans' Pass. At over 4200 metres above sea level I had climbed over 1000 metres in less than 5 hours. We celebrated with a cup of rum and took in the enormity of what we had achieved while we waited for the rest of the group. Edu, soon had us up and ready to start again and showed us the route that would take us to our next campsite. Unbelievably it was a DOWNWARD hike of approximately 1000 metres! Never before have I thought I would be capable of murder, but if Edu didn't have the map I'd have pushed him off that mountain!
Strangely, downhill proved harder than up and by the time we reached camp most people were suffering. I skipped tea and slept until dinner. I was too tired to be hungry at dinner time but ate for the energy and returned to bed as soon as I could.
Day three was undoubtably the most enjoyable day of the entire hike. Although we were covering more distance than the last two days the hike was mostly flat and the entire trail was 100% original Incan. It as beautiful, daunting and exciting all at once. I couldn't keep the butterflies at bay when the trail took us to where the mountain range meets the rainforest, and I found myself trekking through a humid and dark jungle full of life. We had lunch and continued the trek onto camp where we found the bar! We enjoyed a cold beer at a viewpoint which overlooked four andean mountain passes and we were able to follow the same trail we had walked that day. It was truly jaw dropping to see how far we had come. We all chipped in and bought each of the porters a beer and they told us about their families and how long they had worked on the trek. It was a long conversation as they didn't speak English and I, along with a couple of others, did our best at translating. The jobs these men do is utterly terrifying and admirable and I'm sure they missed their families immensly. On the last day we were woken at 3.30am so we could get to the checkpoint early enough to avoid the queue. We trekked uphill for 2 hours before reaching the infamous monkey steps; a set of original Inca steps so steep you have to cling on with your fingertips and crawl up them! It was worth it though, at the top was the sungate and our first view of Macchu Picchu! Out of sheer exhaustion, the tears came. I had blisters on top of blisters, a twisted ankle, swollen feet, a strained groin muscle, splinters in my hands, bleeding lips and sunburn. But, I had done it and no amount of pain could take away the glorious feeling of achievement.
I won't go into details but those who know me can imagine the language when I was told it would be another 40 minute hike down to the site itself! I got there though, under a cloud of profanities and to my amazement it was the most serene place I've ever encountered. Sure, there were your usual tree huggers and stone lovers but I had a sense of tranquility just being there. In hindsight I could have been delirious!
We walked around Macchu Picchu for about an hour and simply because our legs didn't work anymore, we grabbed the next bus to Aguas Calientes, a small town in the valleys, where we had to catch our train back to Cusco. After lots of waiting, two train rides and a bus ride we got back to our hotel and I jumped straight into the shower. I went to bed and slept for 12 hours without interuption, glad to be back in a bed but sad to be back in a world without the simplicity of the Andes.

Thought of the Day: Never believe ANYONE who tells you you're nearly there!