New Year's Eve - we are in Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, our first stop in Peru. We had a nice dinner, and I tried alpaca this time it's much tastier then llama ; ) Saw in 2013 in one of the plazas surrounded by fireworks, so really lovely.

New Year's Day and we are off to stay on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. We caught rickshaws to the port and bought gifts of flour, rice, sugar etc for our host families. En route to our home for the night we visited the floating Uros reed islands. These are as imagined, layers and layers of reeds, then little reed huts built on top. Really quite strange, but people actually live on them. A 3 hour boat trip later, we arrived at Amantani island. We were split in to small groups and introduced to our host for the night. She led us across the island to her house where 6 of us were to spend the night. It was very rustic and had an outdoor toilet across the vegetable garden. After having a hearty lunch of homemade soup and a stew, we walked to the town square. We had by chance picked the best time to come, as the whole island was there celebrating New Year. There were bands playing, and endless streams of colourful dancers circling the square. Some of met a crazy Peruvian called Marcella, who soon had us dancing with the locals and then taking part in a ritual to Patcha Mamma. This involved a few of us holding 3 coca leaves up and blowing on them and closing our eyes. Then we had to chew the leaves, now as these had just been pulled randomly from Marcella's pockets, we all put them in our mouths and then as soon as she looked away we spat them out. Yeah we were tough I know!!

A filling evening meal followed, and then it was dancing time. Yes that's right me dancing. Actually not only dancing, but being dressed up in the local traditional clothes. The photos (when I can upload them) will prove quite how lovely I looked with a skirt on over my trousers and hiking boots. It was definitely a good look, but dancing at 4000m is a very tiring business especially when your host has tightened your sash to dangerous levels....

Next step on this crazy adventure is the Inca Trail. We got to Cusco early evening in time for the briefing, and to order walking poles, and some extra comfy sleeping mats. Next morning we were up early and drove to KM 82 the start of the trail. The first day was only around 4 and a half hours of walking and we set up camp at Huayllabamba. Didn't have a great nights sleep as I was on a slope and my sleeping mat kept sliding down the tent with me on it. Day 2 was the tough one, we started walking at 7.30am. The group gradually spread out, and I was around the back of the middle. It was a gruelling uphill grind, up hundreds of rough strewn rock steps. It was a case of get your head down and just keep going, the altitude is hard work as you you are not getting enough oxygen in. I ended up for quite a long stretch on my own, so Harry Potter came to the rescue. Stephen Fry's voice washed over me as I plodded along, and I reached Dead Woman's pass at around 12.30. I actually had a slight girly eye watering moment that I had made it and celebrated with a piece of chocolate and some Kendall mint cake! Then it was downhill for an hour and a half to camp, if anything this was worse as all the steps down were deeper than my natural step so the walking poles were a god send.

The camp this time was by a small river, and getting to the toilets was a hike in itself. I thought I had prepared my thighs by squatting over all the disgusting full height road side toilets over the past weeks, but these were different. All the Inca Trail toilets are squat toilets i.e. a hole in the ground with footprints moulded into the porcelain. Putting it not very politely, holding a low squat when you have been walking for hours is not easy. Well getting down is not too bad - its getting back up again without letting any part of your body touch the walls or floor that's the hard part!!

Day 3 was not too horrendous but still hard work. We had our only real rain (it hammered it down) at the top of the pass, so I got the chance to wear my rather fetching lime green poncho which covered my backpack as well. Luckily the rain passed quickly, and we made it to Winay Wayna, our last stop.

Day 4 this is it, what all the hard work has been for. We were woken up at 3.30 and were in the queue for the checkpoint by 4.45am. Once the checkpoint opened at 5.30 we walked to the Sun Gate, where we got our first view of Machu Picchu. It was a little misty, but really great. We carried on walking for another hour and finally got there. It is the most incredible place and the scale of it just does not come across in photos. We had a guided tour for a couple of hours, but by then most of us were really flagging. Whenthe guide had finshed we caught a bus to Aguas Calientes, the local town where we were due to have lunch. Nicole and I arrived at around 11.45 and immediately noticed a massage sign. Hmmm... could we? Yep of course we could - we peeled our 4 day unwashed bodies out of our smelly sweaty clothes, and lay down on the comfiest beds ever. I did actually nearly cry when they got to my calves, but it had to be the most needed and desereved massage I had ever had. Putting our dirty clothes back on over our now oily sweaty bodies was not the most pleasant, but did we care - not one little bit!

Inca Trail done - am I glad I did it? Yes. Would I do it again? Not on your life ; )