13th December

We were up by 5:30am, all the hiking would start stupid early. We left the hostel and it's comfy beds, proper toilets and hot water behind. We headed for km82, the official starting point of The Inca Trail. It's 82km away from Cusco and 45km from Macchu Picchu. There are 3 routes to the famous Inca city. The shortest is around 10km and follows the river all the way. The Inca's traveled this way when rushed or on business. The 2nd is our route, a 45km (30 mile) hike varying in altitude between 2700m & 4215m above sea level. The 3rd and final way is the pussies way out. Take the train straight to Macchu Picchu. c*** .

The first day was pretty easy going, no massive hills, little bit of rain but never for long. Spent a lot of time getting to know others in our group. We made it to our first camp around 3pm, the porters had already arrived and long since set up camp. 21 porters and 2 cooks looking after 16 people. The mountains surrounding the camp were amazing, from 5000m up they'd become snow covered providing a great backdrop for a beer or two, handily a local woman was selling some fresh out of a bucket for very reasonable amounts. After dinner a few of us played Uno for a while and then headed to bed by about 8 as the next day was gonna be one sonofab****

December 14th My body clock has something against Peruvian time so getting up at 5;30am wasn't a issue for me. One of the guides woke us up with the offer of Cocoa tea, made from the leaves of the same plant used to make Cocaine or Coca Cola, it helps you deal with the altitude change. We had omelette's for breakfast which is a damn good meal to start the day on, especially when your half way up a hill in the middle of nowhere. We were gonna be hiking as high as 14000ft today and it looked like a vertical climb most the way. There would be no lunch stop today, but we should arrive in camp by 3pm....hmmm tummy not happy with that. Straight from camp we were climbing up, up and more up. The views were amazing and on the frequent stops the trail forced you to take you had ample time to admire it. Most of the climbs were aided (or hindered) by 500 year old steps as high as your knee and constant switchbacks. Jen's only got little legs and the altitude gave her some pretty bad chest pains, that coupled with the exhaustion meant we took it pretty easy (slow). The porters pack up camp as soon as you leave & soon you make way for them to jog past you up the hill. Carrying up to 25kg on their back, including things such as gas canisters the same size as used to run a caravan. Very demotivating as you struggle on with your 5 kilos. We made it to the top of 'Dead Womans Pass' at around 2pm, by the time you've climbed the 4215m the view is less interesting but the massive sense of achievement is sweet. We'd climbed the toughest part of the trail and from here on in it wouldn't be as bad. Thank God! A few of the group were ahead of us and all clapped us in as we arrived. Words can't express how hard this climb is. Step after step after step. Your Calves and Hamstrings burning, the sun beats down far hotter than it should during the rainy season, although I was grateful for this or each step would have been a waterfall. The walk doesn't even out after this though, it's just a straight drop down in steps easily as big as on the other side. Jen jogged down these whilst I struggled with the years of bad knees I've built up, bmxing and football don't make for easy going. The campsite was good an a massive relief to finally get to. That night the skies were so clear that you could see more stars than I've ever seen before. After such a hard day, bit's like that help a lot.

December 15th I'd asked Viktor (our guide), which was his favourite day and he said the 3rd day of hiking was the nicest. We'd hike right through the cloud forest of the Amazon edges today. We started with the usual 5;30 am wake up, quick breakfast and then a 45 minute hike to our first Inca site. The Inca's used this small lodge for a nights rest if they weren't mental enough to do it all in one day. It acted as a temple as well and the Inca's could eat or use whatever they needed for one night before starting their trail again. We had another sharp climb back to 4000m from the 3700m we'd camped at.After that peak which we arrived at by 9;30am we had a descent to another much larger Inca site that was again used as a checkpoint. In the normal Inca style it was built onto the mountain high above a valley. After Viktor had spent some time talking to us about the different areas of it we headed on to the section of the trail called 'The Gringo Killer' Really steep steps dripping in water on a thin path that the porters raced along. They jog past you in their sandals not caring at all. Mental. The hike took us well into the jungle and got easier. Most of this section was just bumpy bits and would be thrown between a mixture of shade under the tunnel of canopies or edges of the mountain where the trees would break and you'd be given yet more breathtaking sights. Definitely my favourite part. By 1pm we arrived at our lunch stop, the porters had been there for 3 hours already!!!!! Most of them were playing football!!! From here we could see Macchu Picchu mountain which is the higher peak in the background of everyones pictures. It was downhill all the way to camp and me & Scott managed to recite nearly all of the Anchorman script, the laughter made the walk fly by and it was another of my favourite parts. We arrived in camp around about 4pm, everyone had been keen to get here due to a combination of the night before Macchu Picchu and that a university had some buildings adjoined to the campsite with modern facilities. I.e, hot showers, massages and most importantly a bar! The girls enjoyed the hot showers for a couple of quid each whilst me, Scott & Gordon indulged in a few beers. That night was gonna be a very early one as tomorrow morning we would set off between 3;30 and 4am. Over dinner a Canadian guy call Paul took great pleasure in telling Jenny she play with the jam, named Fanny for some strange reason, he said again 'play with your fanny' I decided it best to tell him whilst fanny means bum in America and Canada, here it means something completely different. Instant embarrassment. There was also some tea called 'anis' I declined to try it.

December 16th Shortly after going to sleep it had started to rain. After 3 full days of hiking I was woken up to the sound of rain! I was gutted! All my thoughts of Macchu Picchu had involved sunshine! We packed up for the final time and headed to the breakfast tent at around 3;45am. At this time of day there isn't much light anywhere let alone the top of a mountain high in the Andes. By the time we'd finished our light breakfast the rain had stopped, epic relief! Everyone trudged along about 500m before we got to a checkpoint. The government have strict allowances on how many people can hike the Inca trail per day so there are several checkpoints along the way. This checkpoint didn't open till 5;30am so for an hour an half all the groups line up there to establish there stake in the queue to the finish. We were the 2nd group to get there which meant with all likelihood we'd be the second group to Macchu Picchu. From the checkpoint it's a 5km walk to the sungate where you get the first views of the Inca City. Everyones full of excitement so your pretty much jogging it. By this point your pretty bored of views of mountains across valleys so that doesn't slow you down either. The Sungate is 2km above Macchu Picchu and was used for defence purposes, If enemies were coming a watcher would signal and the non confrontational people that they were, they'd scatter into the jungle. The Sungate is also at the top of about 50 steep steps that make you resort to hands and knees. Climbing them wasn't too bad though as you knew the other side would be well worth it. Or Not. As we climbed over the top all we could see was just a massive valley filled with cloud! GUTTED! We sat and munched snacks, rehydrated and generally felt a little deflated. Then in the space of a minute the clouds cleared and below ourselves we could see the the great expanse of the Inca city that had been our goal for days of trekking. Everyone spent a few frantic moments taking pictures as it clouded over again. We headed down the final 2km and when we reached our destination, guess what? Yup, more clouds! I felt destroyed. I'd wanted to do this for years! I couldn't stand the idea of having worked so god damn hard to get here and get pictures of nothing. I WANT MY DAMN CLICHED PICTURE! Eventually after an hour of sitting around the sun pushed through an cleared most of the clouds meaning we'd get a few misty pictures which looked ace. By this time the whole group had arrived so we walked on down to the checkpoint to officially enter Macchu Picchu. We got our passports stamped & used toilets with seats for the first time in days. Much better than squatting over a hall in a cubicle. The sun was really starting to beat down by this point and the clouds had completely cleared as all the wimps arrived by train. We spent a couple of hours walking round the ruins seeing various temples and sundials that were used to tell the date and the season. There were also the parts that proved it was abandoned at little notice. The Inca's quarried from the middle of the city to avoid bringing 5 tonne rocks up the sheer slopes either side. The rocks were all abandoned mid calving an many buildings were in the process of being built also. The journey back to Cusco was half on train along the lazy people route and half on bus. Most people slept at the opportunity and I joined them. That evening most the group went out for an Indian before parting ways. It's awkward goodbyes because you've shared great moments but most you will never see again. Me, Jen, Scott, Jenny and Gordon all went out for a few more drinks an toasted our success with happy hour cocktails!