Machu Picchu and the trek

Now siting on a bus the trek seems pretty straight forward but it was a pretty tough 4 days. The first day was about 6 hours of walking with frequent breaks an a yummy lunch, not too many up hills or down hills. Now the second day was definitely the hardest. 11 hours door to door, 10 hours straight walking and an hour for lunch and breaks. Steep uphills and steep down hills killed your quads and then your calfs, finally we arrived at the campsite where is poured with rain all night but it was a super cosy tent and we all managed to get some sleep :) the third day was very straight forward 5 hours of flat walking, lots of chatter with Lauren and Heidi because we could actually talk without dying for oxygen. We headed to some hot springs later that evening which relieved our aching muscles and whipped some of the sweat off our tired bodies, crashed into my tent exhausted, ready for the final day to begin. Instead of walking in the morning we instead took ziplines across a valley, the first two simply straight sitting up and then the next 3 were really fun, upside down, flat on my back and then my favourite was super man, lying on my stomach flying 250 feet above a river valley. Then after lunch we walked the final 3 hours to Agua Caliente, the town in the foothills of Machu Picchu mountain. We got into our hostel and showered properly for the first time in 4 days with hot water and soap, it was a beautiful feeling. 

After a yummy dinner I feel fast asleep in a solo room, which was so nice to have a room to myself. 

The crew

The next morning at 4am we got up to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu. We got to see the sunrise but only through the rolling fog over the temples and ruins. It was cold, rainy and misty. I really enjoyed myself because I could really imagine the Inca's living in Machu Picchu within the clouds above everything. The temples and stone work was amazing, the stones were laid so close together and so neatly cut it was hard to imagine how they managed to create such beautiful constructions without any modern day tools. You couldn't even slide a knife in between the stones of the sun temple as it was so evenly constructed, the time and energy given to the temples was a way to show the gods that they were cared about. Such a fascinating history to learn about and think about especially as it is only 500 years old, so actually quite modern when it comes to ancient civilisations. 

After getting completely soaked in the rain we decided to head down back to Agua Caliente to warm up before our trip home to Cusco, where we celebrated our last night with Lauren.

When the clouds cleared (credit to Henny) 

Now I am travelling on the bus sitting next to Evvy watching weird Spanish movies on the communal television. We are travelling from Lima to Mancora in the north of Peru, Lima was interesting. Very busy, dirty and loud. I chilled at the mall wth Heidi and Horatio attempting to shop for basic things but was too tired to navigate the busy South American mall so we decided to eat some wok and head back to the hostel where we chilled before the rest of them went to the water fountains. And coincidently I bumped into my Belgian friend from Ushuaia. So strange to be in the same hostel with him again but it was great to see him and a good reminder of why I love travelling, especially alone as you meet so many incredible people. 

I'll write soon and sorry about lack of photos, they are all on my camera which I can't download until March. Xx

Besitos

Xx