4th December

Puno - Floating reed islands

Visited the Uros people of the floating reed islands. The Uros began their unusal floating existence centuries ago in an effort to isolate themselves from the Colla and Inca tribes. Today about 300 families live on the islands. The totora reeds that grow in the shallows of the lake are used for making everything from the islands themselves to the model boats the islanders sell. We were also encouraged to see how tasty the reeds were. I could not believe it when I turned to see Adam with a big mouthful of reed and Titicaca lake water, just as his stomach was settling down! Couple of observations from our visit. If the Uros people eat fish and reeds, why are the women as wide as they are tall? (must be something to do with the altitude). Also, were they really solar panels hidden around the back of those reed houses?

We were reunited with our group on the reed islands after their night homestay with local hill tribe people. Sadly I was unable to join them due to altitude sickness! There was certainly some mixed feedback from the group, some questioning the general hygene, particularly as the livestock peed on the kitchen floor during dinner time.

Puno to Cuzco

Travelled for six or so hours and arrived in Cusco at 9.30pm. The city has a tranquil feel due to the fact that honking horns is illegal. Thank goodness, enjoyed a peaceful nights sleep.

Cuzco is the continent´s oldest continuously inhabited city and it is steeped in history, tradition and legend. We learnt how the Spanish, yet again trashed the place, nicked all the gold and realised that it was quite sensible to use the Inca´s sturdy brick work as foundations for their numerous churches.

The Sacred Valley of the Incas
Adam and I set off on a bus crammed full of Peruvians for our tour of the sacred valley. The scenery itself was breath taking and there are a huge number Inca sites throughout the valley. We visited Ollantaytambo, Pisac and Chinchero. Whist admiring the sun temples, mountain-side terracing, and shadows cast in sacred fountains of Ollantaytambo, we observed a film crew, and who strutted out of the market full of apaca sweaters, but Jamie Theakston. He had a fag hanging out of his mouth and looked in a bit of a mood! Sort of ruined the tranquility of the moment.

The Inca Trail
Were collected at 6am for our transfer to the start of the Inca trail. Not quite knowing what was in store, we clutched our immodium, comedy ponchos and bags loaded with a maximum of 7kg worth of possessions.

Our guide Nanci, a local girl from Cusco, was a lively character with a very cheeky laugh. We set off at Kilometer 82 (as they train travels) at 9am, all wearing far too many clothes. Within 5 minutes we were striping off layers as the sun shone down on us. This Inca trail is easy we all thought (for the first flat-pathed hour or so).

The Inca Trail is a 40 km (25 mile) hike, with 3 high passes, one of which reaches an elevation of 4,200 m (13,776 ft). The trail is often steep and paths are uneven (still in pretty good condition considering the Incas were not really planning for the thousands of tourists that pound the trail every year).

Without going into boring detail, a few points of interest from the trek:

Day 2 of the trek was most grueling as we climbed for 5 hours to reach the summit of Warmiwanusca (or Dead Womens pass). I may have been a dead women myself, if it were not for the magical coca. I was so paranoid about getting altitude sickness again, that I packed my cheeks full of the stuff, and with the fabulous West Life tune filling my head, was flying without wings, and was first to reach the summit. Shame about the next 4 hours downhill which I hobbled downhill thanks to knackered old lady knees.

Photo - Group at top of Dead Womens Pass

Camp - on arrival at our lunch sites or over night camping spots, we were amazed by the luxurious set up. We were greeted by applauding porters (who had walked the trail in flip flops, carrying 25kg back packs and done so in half the time we had). We had a three course lunch and dinner - the best quality grub of the trip so far, all local and very tasty. Our tents were erected and a hot water wash bowl awaited us.

In case of emergency - The only way down the trail is on the back of a mountain rescue donkey.

Facilities - Not one to grumble, but the only good thing you could say about the loos were that they flushed (most of the time). Combine tummy troubles, camping and squatting toilets by torch light - ummmm.

Wild life on route included humming birds, andean falcons and butterflies galore.

Above - camp site in the clouds, day 2

Below - breakfast, early day 3

Best views - We were lucky to reach the City Above the Clouds on a clear day.

The final push - We awoke very early, 4.00am on day 4 for our final hike to Machu Picchu. What should have been a calm, easy trek turned into an adrenelin filled race to the sun gate. We were camped close to the final check point, and it became evident that all groups of campers wanted to be first to the sun gate. Our guide took full advantage of our small sized group and camping position and got our group to pole position at the checkpoint. We waited there for 30 minutes or so as hundreds of people queued behind us. We set off at a cracking pace, with Christine (the German police officer, shouting ´COME ON´up front and her brother at the rear shouting, ´ZEY ARE COMING´which set us off squealing and jogging. We were sadly caught by a few very aggressive, very fit poeple that managed to pass without tripping over my stick that accidently blocked the path. We were however the first group of the day to reach the sun gate and as we wheezed up the final staircase, soaked in sweat, we were very happy to get our first view of Machu Picchu. A fantastic experience!!