Ok so my second day i sepnt in cusco was a lovely and chilled one. Had to do lots of shopping to prepare for my next day. (spent way to much money but my next event was worth it). In the eve i met the people on my tour and wnet out for dinner at an english pub and had pie and chips i was in heaven!!!!!

I love Cusco however, the one thing i find hard is the beggers. I constantly have young children walking up to me and asking for money. (these children have holes in their clothes and shoes). Howveer, you cant give any money to them as then yor just have loads of people round you. it is heart breaking. Being in cusco is hard due to the altitude sickness and takes a few days to get used to it. You spend most of your time walking round in a daze.

Ok the next day was an early start of 6 o{clock. as i was starting a 4 day hike of the Inca Trail.When i woke up i was soooooo nervous as i had never done a hike before in my life and i was spending 4 days hiking. It was quite difficult to know what to pack as you were only allowed to take 5Kg with you as the porters carried it up. The first day was quite easy. We took about 3 hours drive from Cusco to the start of our hike. As i got to start i bumped into two people i spent time with in nz so that was quite exciting. We walked for about 4 hours which was fairly flat and easy until we reached our first set of inca Ruins called Patallacta. however, we were unable to go into it as they are being restored. We carried on alking for bout 2 more hours and reached our camp site called wayllabamba. This was beautiful and situated in the mountains and around some incaruins. In the eve we had the porters to cook our meals. which was delious!!!! The porters are amazng. they carry 20 kg on their back everyday and complete the inca trail with us.

Day 2 was possibly one of the hardest days of my life. We headed off at 7 am in the morning and i found the 1st 10 mins hard let alone the rest of the day. We walked 7 km but started at 3,100m above sea level and ended up 4,200m above sea level. The highest point was dead womens pass!!!!!! at one point i thought i was going to pass out as it was constantly strdight up. In my photos you will see i have a walking pole. I never realised how good they actually were.This was such a hard day. until you experience it you will never understand how challenging it is!!!!!!!!

Day 3 i woke up aching all over and unable to move. but aware i have to walk 17km (mostly down hill!!!!!)Today was he most beautiful day of the walk. we started off in mountains heading up hill. which jus felt like yest!!!!Here we vistied Rukuracy, qochapate, Sayaqmaka (which is a well perserved inca ruins. We walked through mountains, inca ruins and rainforests. It was just beautiful. In the evening we had a party with the porters to say thank you for what they have done. However, i got nominated to say a speech in spanish to them to say thank you.!!!!!!!! was not impressed. The party was not a late one as we had to get up at 3 the next day!!!
day 4 was soooooooo wamazing but ver very very hard work. my knees are very sore from all the hiking and ended up in tears during my walk. As the pain was so intense.after about 2 hours we arrived at sunrise gates where we first saw Machu Picchu. It was breath taking and was so worth the 3 day hike and the pain. You see it in pictures bu in real life it is beautiful. Throughout the hike we ahve been really lucky as the weather has been sooooo good and have had no rain. But as we walked down towards the ruins it started to rain. but i still loved it. It rained for about 2 hours and then became very hot and sunny. I loved every minute of my time there and was sad to leave.

this hike is one that when you are doing it it is so hard. but when you look back at what ou have achieved you become very proud of yourself. Although i am in pain at the mo. i think it is worth it!!!!!
anyway hope you are all ok
meXXX