We arrived very early in Arequipa around 6am and got a taxi to our hostel. Our beds weren't ready til check in time at 12 so we sat in the common area and after about an hour we were allowed into a lounge where Eddy had a nap and I caught up on the news at home. Whilst Eddy was napping people starting getting up so I sat in the kitchen with a group from the hostel and ate some breakfast with them whilst swapping travel stories. After a while Eddy woke up and ate ...

Today was our recovery day! Unable to sleep I got up at 730 for a shower and then sat on the computers waiting for browny to get up! After breakfast we got a taxi down to the bus station and booked our bus for tonight to Araquipa. Then we headed back to the centre and went and had a much deserved massage! For some reason the power went in the place and so we only had half of the massage and had to go back later when the power returned! We grabbed some lunch and ...

Machu Picchu day! We woke up at 3:30am and ate a small breakfast before setting off to queue at the checkpoint which opened at 5:30am. The idea of this was to get to a part of the trail called the Sun Gate where you can first see Machu Picchu at sunrise. However, we did not manage to make it for sunrise and it was a very misty morning. Eddy and I had been held up at the checkpoint as there was something wrong with our guide's paperwork but we sped along and manag...

Today was my favourite day of the trek so far! Another 530 wake up and we were off after breakfast. The day began with an uphill climb which I was dreading but today I managed to get in a much better rhythm and the altitude didn't seem to be affecting me as much! Browny was flying up to the top but the rest of us stuck pretty much together in order to reach the first pass of the day. On the way up there was an inca site which Herber talked to us about and said it...

Today was the hardest day as we had to climb 800-900m up a steep mountain. To get to camp we then had to climb pretty much all the way down on the other side. Despite how hard it was we all had a really good day. Eddy and another person in the group called Kai struggled with altitude sickness. Whilst sorting through many different drugs Eddy had a tablet that helped for a little while. Luckily for me I had no problems with altitude sickness. At the first stop me ...