After reading both LH738’s and Jailer’s reports of their times in Peru, I thought that I would add my own experiences there in the early part of April. After my last feeble attempt at a trip report, covering Thailand in parts (which never made it past halfway), I thought that I'd do this in one piece - which means that it's looooong .
*change of plan* - after comments in my 'how long is too loooong' thread, I'll post this in about 6 parts - I've only completed the first four, so it gives me an incentive to hurry up with the later bits.

Before I start, two cautionary notes:
- This report is going to be more about the place itself than the flights - on account of the fact that a BA transatlantic flight in Y is substantially less interesting than the Nazca lines !
- While we met many interesting people (although no Yaley hotties ) I will refrain from passing comment on any of them - I just couldn't stand all the follow-up messages saying things like 'Hey, us Yanks are not loud and overbearing' or 'Vot do you mean, ve do too have a sense of humour'.

Myself and Mrs Stewie Mac had been wanting to take a trip to Peru for years, and nearly went for it for our honeymoon last year, but decided that we'd probably need something rather more relaxing (and went to Thailand instead), but finally resolved to go in April 2003. After spending some time looking at organised tours (with the likes of jla) and deciding that they were not only too restrictive, but also rather expensive, we decided to organise everything ourselves, using only our trusty 'footprint' guidebook and the web. For once, the good people on this site were not a mine of information (see a couple of my posts in the South America forum in Travel, sadly unanswered), but I found a very good site for hotels and general info on Peru and Bolivia here.

We had around two and a half weeks for the trip, but wanted to fit a *lot* in, so we booked everything (internal flight, hotels, train, tours) up from the UK by e-mail before we left - we could unquestionably have saved money by sorting things out in Peru, but we were concerned that we only had one 'free' day in Cuzco on the whole trip, and didn't really want to either 'waste' time in sorting things on the ground, or risk getting behind the schedule if timings didn't fit. Okay then, on with the show:

April 2
BA 207 LHR-MIA, seat: somewhere down the back.....
Tickets were booked on-line at aa.com (for no apparent reason, around Ł50 each cheaper than ba.com), and our first and surnames had been transposed, so were unable to get our BAEC numbers attached to book in on-line; however, used telephone checkin the night before, and utilised the 'Customer Services' desk in T3 as a 'fast bag drop', thereby skipping the lengthy queue - a promising start. Although our onwards flight to Peru on AA was booked separately, our bags were interlined through to Lima without problem. The plane was pretty full (only two middle seats free in the main Y cabin, one of which was fortunately next to us ) - usual BA longhaul Y, so decent food, drink (London Pride !) and IFE, and mediocre space. Arrived on time in MIA, and quickly through immigration. Checked in for our MIA-LIM flight, and then, following some good advice from the AA forum, went up to the pool deck in the airport hotel and sat out in the fresh air for an hour or so.
AA 917 MIA-LIM, seats 14 B/C
First time on AA since about '92, and the extra space is really TERRIFIC ! Sadly the rest of the experience was underwhelming, and I *really* don't like having to pay $5 for a beer - so we snoozed for most of the way. Again, landed more-or-less on time, picked up bags up and went through customs - each person (or group of people) going through presses a big button to generate a light: green means 'go', red means 'come this way while I put on the rubber gloves'. Probably a deal more scientific (and effective) than anything the TSA are doing .
We had booked 2 nights at the Hotel Antigua in Miraflores, and their driver was waiting for us - a short journey across town, and we were asleep before midnight.

April 3
Our only day in Lima, and we really should have done/seen loads of things, but frankly didn't have the energy. Took a taxi to the Museo de Oro, which is apparently the number one attraction in Lima, although personally I found it rather samey, with the exception of the 6 inch man with his 8 inch willy (see if that gets through the draconian censorship) - quite remarkable ! I actually found the Museo de Armas upstairs more to my taste (they have a matched presentation pair of broomhandled Mausers given by Waffenfabrik Mauser to the Argentinean President in 1910 - cool !). Then back to Miraflores via the bus station (booking tickets to Paracas and then onto Nazca) to have a walk by the Pacific. Both still knackered, so early night.

tomorrow you get Pisco Sours and the Nazca Lines !

You are off and running. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Me too - I did Bolivia and Peru last year myself so may add just a comment or two :-)

April 4
Up early for our 7.30am bus to Paracas - a great way to travel in Peru, we used Ormeno's Royal Class service. Nice new bus, secure luggage storage, snacks and videos. Interesting trip down the Panamerican Highway, admiring all the beachclubs to the south of Lima (abandoned on this Friday morning). A sign indicating that Arequipa (our ultimate destination in the bus) was 1,016 km (about 650 miles in real numbers) from Lima brought home just how big a country Peru is - Lima-Arequipa is not even half of Peru, and would pretty neatly cover Britain from Lands End to John o' Groats ! We arrived at the Hotel Paracas just as the sun broke through the low cloud at 11ish - sadly the Northerly wind which blows most of the day was carrying a rather unpleasant smell from the nearby fish factories, which would continue until the wind shifted direction at around 4pm. We went out for a quick lunch - about a pound of ceviche mixto cost $4 at the 'Cevicheria Jack and Jill' - very tasty ! The afternoon was spent relaxing in the sun, and swimming in the pool - the Pacific didn't look that warm (or clean), so we decided to postpone our first swim in it until later in the year, in Mexico.
*** Top Tip - the hotel bar makes lousy Pisco Sours.

April 5
Another early start for a boat trip out to the Ballestas Islands - 'the poor man's Gallapagos'. Not having yet been to the real thing, we can only listen awe-struck to the seasoned travellers relating tales of seals chasing them down beaches like puppies - however, after an hour's delay while the mist clears, the seals, penguins and sea-birds we see are impressive enough for me (sorry, I'm not a twitcher, so they were all sea-birds to me...). More lazing by the pool (it's the only one we'll see all holiday, so we're taking advantage) before picking up our 4pm bus down to Nazca. The driver has obviously driven this route a few times, since there's a lengthy delay before the video starts (Deep Impact - what a load of cr*p !), but it finishes about 2 minutes before our arrival ! We find our way to our pre-booked hotel, then go next door to the Bar Kanada to check e-mail and have a snack.
*** Top Tip - the bar Kanada makes excellent Pisco Sours !

April 6
Up early for our flight over the Nazca lines, after a terrible nights sleep - Hotel Alegria was the cheapest on our trip ($25) but also by a far greater margin, the worst, and probably the only one to which we wouldn't return.
AeroIca, no flight number; seats 3 and 4 (out of 4 !), Cessna 182
We waited for about 40 minutes in the 'lounge', which was the reception area of the Hotel Suisse, across the main road from the airstrip, watching a video about the lines (for UK residents, it was a very old 'Horizon' programme). We were then taken out to the 'gate', which was exactly that - a gate from the path by the road onto AeroIca's apron, where we had another 20 minute wait. After a few minutes, a couple of nice ladies came up to take our 'airport tax', of 2 soles (about $0.60) each. We were then waved onto the plane, instructed to buckle in, and don headsets so the pilot could point out the lines properly. Noticed that the altimeter was showing about 1,900 ft above sea level, which tied in with our guidebook giving Nazca as being about 600-some metres asl. After a couple of false starts, the pilot got the engine running, checked the instruments, and then we were off ! Probably the shortest taxi possible (straight ahead for 20 yards and then a sharp right) put us onto the main (only !) runway, and the pilot just opened up the throttles for a rolling take-off ! 30 seconds later we had reached cruising altitude (about 300 ft above ground level) and were heading across the desert, as the pilot said something about 'the whale on the right'. I peered out of the window (muttering thanks that Mrs Stewie Mac had made me buy some prescription sunglasses for the trip) but could only see a few vague lines in the dirt below. Feeling a terrible sense of anti-climax, I squinted hard and made out some vague 'big fishy' shape, and pondered briefly how it's possible to fool some of the people all of the time
And then about twenty seconds later the actual whale came into view, and it was clearly a whale !! Yippee - my faith in Maria Reiche and documentary film-making restored in a split-second . The next twenty minutes were a series of incredibly steep banks (something like what you get under a ram-air square chute, for the sky-divers out there) punctuating great views of all of the designs and patterns that make up the lines. Fantastic !
To complete the trip report, we landed extremely smoothly (how come the smoothest landings are either in a 747 or a Cessna ???), and taxied quickly back to the AeroIca apron (straight back down the runway :eek . Great flight !
We then went for a short tour out to a cemetery, which had a number of (restored) open graves, with mummified remains; as the temperature climbed, our guide explained that the Atacama desert in Northern Chile extends up into Peru - basically the coastal strip of Peru south of Lima (a strip of land around 1000 km long, and anywhere from a few km to a couple of hundred km wide) is the same desert, and has seen 'no significant rainfall since the last Ice Age'. We learnt lots of interesting facts about how the Nazcan civilization (one of the many pre-Incan civilizations which existed in Peru, and which no-on ever hears about) mummified people, of which the most startling was that after removing the main internal organs (and pulling the brain out through the severed neck !) the whole body was 'put over a low heat to dry it out' ! Cue images of a very large fire set to Gas Mark 1 !!
Back to Nazca, and we have until 10pm until our overnight bus to Arequipa... fortunately, the Hotel Nazca Lines allows non-guests to use their pool for $4.50, so we get an unexpected, unplanned but very welcome second afternoon by the pool . More Pisco Sours at Bar Kanada, and onto the bus only an hour late.

April 7
We arrive in Arequipa about 7am, after a pretty good nights sleep (Ormeno's Royal Class Sleeper Seats are about the equivalent of old-style biz class - around 45" pitch, good recline, but no IFE or champagne ), and grab a cab to our hotel. A very pleasant day spent wandering around Arequipa, a very pleasant city, and a visit to the Santa Catalina Convent. Until about 25 years ago, this was closed to visitors, but as the numbers of nuns dwindled, about three-quarters has been opened up. It could be a little village in Southern Spain, even down to the alleys running through it, all named after Spanish cities. If you like pastries, then partake here, where they are excellent (look out for the 'pastillerias') - we could find nothing similar in Cuzco.

Next up: Cruz del Condor and Cuzco...

Great reports so far. Waiting for the next installments.

Looking forward to your Cuzco installment. Enjoyed very much when I was in Peru last summer and also spent time in Lima, and 4 days hiking the Inca trail. I hopped from LIM to CUZ via Tans-Peru. If I knew how to post a link, I wrote a trip report (see archives) on that experience "fruit cake at 35,000 feet". Interested to compare experiences.

April 8
Up early (noting any pattern here ) for a two day trip to the Colca Canyon to see condors. For this part of the trip, we had booked a 'tour' - transport in a small van to/from Chivay (about 4 hours each way) and then Cruz del Condor, with accommodation at the Colca Lodge. This trip featured some of those people who I'm not going to talk about, which means that I'm not going to say too much about the busride ! On the way, however, we stopped at the high pass at 4,850 m (that's just over 16,000ft !!), and it started snowing !! Got to the lodge in mid-afternoon, and it was really great - a very simple place, in keeping with its environment (so no tv, fax, newspapers, etc), but with fantastic thermal springs. In fact we chose the lodge over the simpler (and cheaper) places in Chivay because it had its own thermal spring, and we spent about 2 hours in them after dinner, watching the stars and listening to the Rio Colca - bliss

April 9
Quick breakfast and on the road by 6.30am, for the hour-and-a-bit trip to Cruz del Condor. When we got there, there was probably around a hundred folk there already - quite surprising ! Over the course of an hour or so, we saw half a dozen of these incredible birds (the largest in the world, with a wingspan of up to 14 feet) soaring backwards and forwards across our front on the thermals that rise up the cliffs of the Colca Canyon, the second deepest in the world (3,400 m deep at its deepest, although not much over 1,000 m deep where we were watching). FYI, the deepest canyon in the world is the Cotahuasi, another few hundred miles into the Andes, which is IIRC 3,700m deep. As the air warmed more, the condors disappeared off to the coast to search for food (mostly carrion), and we headed back to Arequipa. The road was about evenly split between paved and packed dirt, and the incredibly dry and hot conditions made it dusty beyond anything I've experienced in Europe - worse even than the Masai Mara in the dry (apologies for the obscure reference, but it's the second dustiest thing that I can think of ). In addition, as we lost altitude on the way back down to Arequipa (from 4,850 to about 2,400 m asl), the driver kept stopping to check the tyres - slightly disconcerting as he was slaloming down switchback roads with sheer drops at 60mph + ! We made it home safely however, with just time for a nightcap in the beautiful Plaza de Armas, before an early night.

April 10
A taxi picked us up at 6am, getting us to the airport in plenty of time for our 7.55am LANperu flight to Cuzco (LP91 if anyone cares). We had actually checked with the LANperu office the night before, since there was a general strike today in Peru, in protest at American-inspired government pressure to stop coca production in Peru. Later in the trip, on the Inca trail, we would get an idea of how important coca leaf is to the Peruvian people (and the other Andean peoples too), but for the moment we were just concerned about missing our flight. On our return from the Colca Canyon the day before, we had seen rocks and oil drums forming ineffective roadblocks on the main roads, and had deliberately given ourselves extra time to reach the airport, just in case, but as it turned out we had a very swift ride. Check-in was easy and efficient, and our BAEC numbers appeared on our boarding passes (we had entered them when booking on-line) - sadly I have just noticed that these O class flights are ineligible for mileage (so what's new, I hear the BAEC members asking ). Our flight was originating in Lima, then stopping at Arequipa and Cuzco before returning back to Lima (as was the Aerocontinente flight which was timed within 10 minutes of the LANperu flight - glad that we were on the shiny A320 rather than the rather tatty looking B737...). Boarding was on-time and involved a pleasant walk across the apron to the stairs (using both front and back doors). Interior pretty standard for a new 'oneworld' plane - legroom more BA than AA, but perfectly adequate for this 35 minute flight. The safety briefing was done on video, using rather badly-animated CGI characters (looking surprisingly like the mutant-David-Beckham-type bloke that my company has started using in our own literature - we worry about our designer sometimes ), and taxi and takeoff were prompt and smooth. No food served, but refreshments served (pre-poured) from a tray - typically Peruvian choice of water, orange juice, mate de coca or Inca Kola ! Wonderful views of the Andes, with jagged, snow-covered peaks sticking out above the clouds. A smooth landing into Cuzco, grab the bags and at our hostal by 9.30.
We take a stroll around downtown Cuzco, dodging the postcard / painting / cigarette / jumper sellers and restaurant and tour touts in the Plaza de Armas - it's obvious that we've arrived in Gringotown, South America. Having finally arrived in the home of the Incas, I treat myself to a bottle of Inka Kola, and am immediately returned to my childhood - the taste is instantly familiar to anyone who was brought up on Barr's Ice Cream Soda. Not that the taste is the same, but the artificial sweet/dry balance is as evocative of my schooldays as Proust's madelaines were to him. We drop into United Mice, the tour operators with whom we have booked our Inca Trail trip (I liked the name, okay ) to confirm timings and pay - everything is fine, but it turns out that due to some people having to change plans because of the general strike, we will now be joining a group of 14 people all travelling from La Paz to Quito with this company. While we're slightly concerned about how we'll fit in with an established group, we are pleased to hear that they are on the 'comfortable' version of the trip; the only immediate effect of this is that porters will carry our sleeping bags (they will be carrying all of the main groups kit, and the operator is keen that we don't stand out as only having paid for the 'simple' trip). We go to a restaurant recommended by the Footprint guide, but it's a very gringo place, and we wonder if the guides tend to recommend only gringo places, or if they become gringo places because they appear in the guides (feel free to join in with this discussion) - either way, we resolve to try to 'get off the beaten path' for the rest of the trip.

April 11
Woohoo - it's not an early start !! Not up until about 9am this morning, with a quiet-ish, 'acclimatisation' day planned. We had decided to have a preparatory walk around the ruins to the North of Cuzco (Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara, and Sacsayhuaman), but rather than paying $10 each for a guided tour, we were going the cheapo route - a 2 soles bus ride up to Tambo Machay, and then walking back down via the ruins to Cuzco. Amazing Inca construction, with huge blocks of stone, weighing up to 300 tons, fitted together with incredible precision. The 7 or so mile walk goes very easily, but unlike tomorrow, it's all downhill ! We drop off our sleeping bags at United Mice and have dinner of lomo saltado and beer at the small restaurant opposite the police station - it seems to be their staff canteen, and with the number of guns being carried by grumpy-looking men, we hope that no crazy people decide to try a 'Pulp Fiction' stylee hold-up !

Next: the Inca Trail begins...

Inka Cola Everytime I see someone write about it I shudder. The only "bad" memory I have from Peru (OK, maybe too much Pisco Sour, also).

The soda reminded me of an evil brew of Mountain Dew and Bubble Gum!

I did my Inca Trail with United Mice .... did you have Cesar for a tour guide ? I was also on an ecounter trip, as it happens. If you are going to do a tour in a place like this, I can highly recommend them.

spookily enough, we did have Cesar as a guide - found it very amusing that the Encounter briefing notes mentioned that he 'had a tendency to get bored if the group had insufficient single females' !

Ozzie, you should post how the trail compares to your trip, when it's up (probably in two or three parts, as it's quite long).

Wonderful descriptions, Stewie Mac.
I'm looking forward to the next parts - especially the Inca Trail which I did as Inca Rail.

April 12
The return of the early start - a 4am pick-up for the start of el Camino Inka ! Onto a bus already half-full of porters (for this trip, we have 16 tourists, 2 guides, and 23 porters !), which makes various stops on the way to Ollantaytambo to collect the remainder. At Olly the porters leave us and join their loads on a truck to the trailhead at km 82, and we are joined by the Encounter group which spent the evening at a hostal here. They seem a reasonably friendly bunch - as friendly as you'd expect, given that it's still only 6.15 am, and it's drizzling - but we're still wary as to how we'll get along over the next three days. As the bus takes us to km 82, the senior guide, Cesar, tries to raise everyone's spirits, but it's clear that a few of the guys maybe had a few too many spirits of their own last night ! Nevertheless, we are soon at the trailhead, and after an obligatory team photoshoot under the sign saying 'El Kamino Inka' (the two guides juggling a hi-tech assortment of film and digital cameras) and a passport and ticket check (my passport now bears a stamp for 'Sanctuario Machupicchu') we cross the Urubamba river and begin the trail proper.
The first few miles of the trail are fairly gentle, rising and falling slightly as we follow the southern bank of the river, and we make good progress, stopping only briefly to hear how coca leaf features prominently in Andean society, and to learn how to wrap it around a catalyst and chew it - while this clearly has an effect (in the remaining silver mines in Bolivia, the workers can manage 36 hour shifts without food by continuous coca leaf chewing ), it just gives me a numb cheek, and I only try it a couple of times. As we turn South, away from the river, the path remains gentle, but the rising and falling becomes rising and rising - soon we are a couple of hundred metres above the Urubamba, and we can see the first ruins of the trail on the valley floor. Llactapata, a series of agricultural terraces with a few houses, was probably a food source for Machu Picchu - it is remarkably well-preserved, and would only need re-roofing to be inhabitable (the Incas used thatch for roofing, which was replaced every six months or so - we have left the dry desert conditions of the coast and entered cloud forest, and it is easy to see how vegetation would rot quickly). The clouds finally clear, and the sun quickly heats up the air - we are glad that the trail is still gentle, and I am concerned how I will cope if the sun shines for the long slog up to the high pass on the second day. However, as we approach our lunch stop at Huayllabamba, it is a beautiful day, and we enjoy the sight of the butterflies and black bees floating around the flowers, and some people are lucky enough to see some of the 200+ species of hummingbirds which can be seen on the trail. Our lunch spot is marked by two big red tents, one the cook tent, and one the dining tent - we will soon come to welcome the sight of these, as they are the first things erected at each of our stops. The kettle has boiled, and we are all soon sitting in the sun drinking mate and (on our part) getting to know our companions. But the sky is clouding over, and as lunch is served, the drizzle which greeted us at dawn returns. We retire to the dining tent, and tuck into soup followed by pasta, which turns out to be the standard lunchtime fare. After a post-prandial cuppa, it is time to set off again, and there is much deliberating over the wearing (or not) of waterproofs - the weather is the definition of 'dreech', and several of us (me included) decide that skin (and a t-shirt) is sufficiently waterproof for it. After a mile or so, passing through the 'village' of Huayllabamba itself (probably a dozen small houses), the path begins to climb, first gradually but then inexorably steepening. This is the start of the climb up to the high pass of Warmiwanusqa, an ascent of 1,200 m in 7.5 km (that's about 4,000 ft in 5 miles, for our majority audience ). Cesar wants us to camp tonight at Llulluchapampa, about two-thirds of the way up to the pass - it shifts the whole physical emphasis of the trek (making the first day the hard one) since the 'traditional' first campsite is near where we have had lunch, but we will reap the benefits over the next two days - we leave behind almost all of the three or four hundred other tourists (with their accompanying hundreds of porters) and have the trail to ourselves until we reach the hostel at Winay Wayna. The path settles into a steep upward climb, and fairly quickly I'm suffering ... we're still only at about 3,200 m, but suddenly it doesn't feel like we've acclimatised at all ! For the next two and a bit hours, there's about 30yds of flat path (which brings shouts of 'Yeah ! It's flat !'), and one hell of a lot of steps. [We later learn than this part of the trail is not original, and has been mostly constructed in the last thirty or so years - most of the steps are slightly too high to be comfortable (maybe 16" or so), and are slightly too wide to be easily taken in a single stride. Later on the trail, we will use original Incan steps, which are much better designed, with alternate steps sloping different ways, so you can take a big step up at one end, a small step up at the other, and a medium size step in the middle. It doesn't sound like a big difference, but after a few hundred, you start to get real grateful !] I've had some problems with my left patellar tendon, and the physio has warned that this is likely to hurt, so I'm trying to lead with my right leg the whole time. It's certainly helping my left tendon, but after 800m climbing one-legged, my right quad is aching and shaking. The group is well spread out (Cesar had very sensibly advised everyone to take their own pace - it would be hard to get lost on the trail) so Mrs Mac and I are pretty much on our own, trying to work out how far we've come (and how far we've got to go) from the sparse description of the trail given in the footprint guide. We get to a point which, by my reckoning, is about two-thirds of the way, and it's taken us well over two hours... the thought of another hour of this is gloomy, so we stop for some water and a consolatory Mini Creme Egg (we shopped for some trail snacks in the UK before we left - Mrs Mac picked up dates, raisins and granola bars, while I grabbed chocolate... I've done enough hiking to know what you need at these times ). Setting off again, we walk maybe 100 yards, round a bend, and there's the two red tents ! We've made it to Llulluchapampa, our tent has already been put up, and the tea's on - suddenly everything is great again. Half an hour later we have sorted out our kit, changed into dry clothes, and are sitting in the chow tent drinking mate and munching on popcorn. After a filling dinner of soup and fish 'n' chips (one of the bonuses of the 'comfortable' trip was better food !) we retire for an early night. Sadly the low cloud we have had since lunch is still with us, so no chance to admire the stars.

off to france now for a long weekend, so you'll have to wait until wednesday for the rest of the Inca Trail ... sorry

April 13
Awoken at around 6.30 by a 'knock' on the tent, and an enquiry of 'tea, mate or chocolate' - I don't get that at home . We do the 'two-people-and-a-load-of-damp-kit-in-a-small-tent' thing for fifteen minutes, and emerge blinking into a dry but grey morning. Breakfast is already under way - 'porridge' with apple and banana in it, or pancakes with what looks like maple syrup, but turns out to be more like treacle. More tea, and we fill water bottles with boiled water for the day. As we're eating, the porters are breaking camp - all the small tents are down, and the first porters are on their way to the lunch stop to stake our claim on the best patch (another unexpected bonus of being the first group on the trail - we get the best spots at the crowded sites, which pays dividends at Winay Wayna). By around 7.45, we're all ready to go - it's another couple of k, and another five or six hundred metres up, to Warmiwanusqa, dead woman's pass. I take off my dry kit and put my damp tshirt from yesterday back on (I'll be sweating like a pig in ten minutes time, and I want to keep *one* t-shirt dry for the evenings), and we head off. The group splits up in a similar fashion to yesterday, with the Icelandic footy players and the keen walkers up the front, and the rest of spread out varying distances to the rear. Actually, it's not too bad this morning - the knowledge that we're already two-thirds of the way up the climb, and the better weather, both keep spirits up, so while it's hurting, we're able to smile and appreciate the scenery. In fact, it's amazing the difference that the weather makes - although it's overcast this morning, it's clear and bright at our level, and we can look back down the valley, and across to the distant Andes, as the patchy clouds drift by (if you're confused about the fact that I've given overcast, clear and cloudy as simultaneous weather conditions, then tough - this is cloud forest, and that's just how the weather is !!!). Soon after starting, we get passed by a few porters from another group - they are the advance lunch party for one of the groups, and they're motoring ! One of the things that everyone comments on on the trail is the porters; they're carrying pretty big loads (we're all particularly impressed by the guys carrying the big blue Calor Gas cylinders) and practically *running* up the hills, wearing sandals and making $10 a day ! They really deserve the tips they get, but on the last night, when we're sorting tips out, we're advised not to tip too much - if portering becomes too attractive an option due to big tips, there are concerns that too many men will abandon farming and throw the economy out of whack.
Around 9am, we see the top of the pass, where half of the group are already waiting for us, when we're passed by the first member of the following group - he's made good time from Huayllabamba, and although it's obvious that he's in good shape, he's looking pretty whacked. He's also slightly pissed off, since he'd been trying to be the first person at the top, and hadn't realised that there was a whole group with a 4km head start ! We're at the top a few minutes later, and have some celebratory chocolate before putting on fleeces - the breeze up here chills you pretty fast. Cesar has asked us all to wait at the top, as he has a 'special' present for us, so we spend a few minutes taking the 'reached-the-high-point-and-here's-the-photo-to-prove-it' shots while the last few arrive, with him. He gathers us all around for our 'special present', and then gives us all a well-done hug ! There's laughs all around, which quickly turn to cheers as he then pulls a bottle of 'Scotch' out of his rucksack. He pours the first shot onto the ground as thanks to pachamama (mother earth, one of the two entities worshipped by the Andean people, along with the sun, whose quechan name I forget), then passes the glass around the circle. Let me tell you, the nearest that 'whisky' had been to Scotland was when I drank it, but it still tasted pretty good ! Cesar then pulled a bagful of lollipops out of his rucksack (like the Tardis, that thing was), and never have I heard a group of adults (or even kids, for that matter) get so excited over a handful of lollies ! The lollies are passed around, and by now everyone's ready to move off again - the lone scout from a following group has now been joined by a few more, and it's getting busy up here. Also, the grey drizzle from the previous evening has returned, and the view has closed in to a few tens of metres - we feel sorry for all those who've just spent 3 hours walking up from the bottom, to be greeted with this. We head off down the other side of the pass towards our lunch stop, some 1,000 m below - this is the bit that I really haven't been looking forward to (I know, the grammar is terrible but I'm in full flow now...), as I'm really concerned about the impact on my left knee. It turns out that it's steps for a lot of the way, and so I try to run down them, keeping my knees soft on impact. It seems to do the trick, but it means a lot of work for my quads again, and the right one is still tired from the ascent - I have to stop every few minutes, and towards the bottom, my legs are trembling so much I'm finding it difficult to stand. But soon I get to the campsite area by the Pacamayo River, and I head towards the big red tent; sadly, however, it's not our big red tent, so it takes me a few minutes to find our group. It's here that we start to realise how popular the trail is, even in April, which is pretty near the lowest of the low season - it seems that every flat bit of ground around here is sprouting tents, as more and more porters arrive. In fact, by the time we're sitting down to lunch (soup and pasta, again, in huge quantities) we see some small tents going up, and realise that some groups will be camping here tonight. At first, we find this incredible (it's only about 12.15, for goodness sake), but then we think about it - for many people, that trip up to the top of Warmiwanusqa will have taken them four hours, and will have effectively finished them for the day - after the punishing descent, they won't want to go any further. However, as more and more tents appear, we are very glad that we put ourselves through the pain yesterday. By about 1.30, we're off again, to have a look at the ruins of Runkuracay, which are thankfully only a mile or so away, across the valley floor. As we look at the ruins, we start to realise how the Inca Trail works as an introduction to Machu Picchu - over the course of the three days, you see a progression of more and more impressive Incan sites, so that while Runkuracay was more 'wow' than Llactapata, sitting here now a fortnight later, I'm completely unable to remember anything about it. It's almost as if the later views of MP, Winay Wayna and Intipata have overloaded that part of my mind which remembers 'ancient civilization info', and Runkuracay has had to be erased. Still, we spend about 40 minutes there, so it must have been pretty cool at the time . Sadly, it's now started raining properly, and as we head off up to the second pass (another 500 m climb), the cloud closes right in, and the views disappear. It's not cold, however, so I don't bother putting on a waterproof, and within half an hour, we're up at the top. It's really miserable now, with viz down to just a few metres, so we don't hang around on the top, but head down the other side, towards the ruins of Sayacmarca. This bit of the trail is original, and the steps are much more comfortable - there's also a couple of places where the Incans have carved tunnels through rock outcrops, which doesn't sound very exciting, but they're twenty or thirty foot tunnels, sloping down at >45 degrees, all done with hand tools - jeepers ! It doesn't take us long to get down to Sayacmarca, but the weather hasn't improved, so we don't hang around, and we head off sharpish for our next campsite, only a couple of k further along. Once again, by the time we arrive all the tents are up and the tea's on - this is the way to go camping ! We quickly dive into our tent to sort out our sleeping mats/bags, and I change into some dry clothes, before heading for the chow tent and having some of Cesar's special drink (which seems to be double strength hot chocolate with extra sugar and a large shot of 'Scotch') - it goes down a treat . Mrs Mac had claimed that she could smell popcorn as we arrived into camp, and sure enough, a couple of big bowls arrive as we sip our drinks; everything is looking *pretty* fine right about now ! After another tasty and filling tea, everyone is sitting around sipping their tea, and I decide it's time to bring out the miniature of Te Beag I've been carrying around Peru (it's a very tasty malt from the Western Isles) - unfortunately, there's only boiling water for tea available, and I've got too used to taking my Scotch with a splash of water to take it neat, so it goes back into the rucksack for another night. By 9pm, everyone's heading for bed - sadly, another cloudy, star-free night.

tomorrow, we should reach Machu Picchu (must get typing...)

Thanks Mac!

Awoken with hot chocolate again this morning - we could get used to this quite quickly ! Unzipping the tent reveals a decent amount of blue above and between the clouds, and we get out in double-quick time in case it disappears. We're camped on the South-East side of the valley, so the sun hasn't reached us yet (it's still before seven), but it's lighting up the snow-capped mountains opposite and in the distance, and the view is fantastic, with the peaks bracketed by the blue sky above and the grey-white cloud below. It seems that we might actually be able to see some of the great views today. We tuck into porridge and tea, while the porters break camp, and we're ready to go before eight. Today is going to be an easy day - just one more ridge to cross (and it's only a few hundred metres climb) before the long descent down to Winay Wayna, more than 1,000 metres below, where we will camp for the night. The trail here is easy - a gentle up-slope which we hardly notice after the first day's exertion, and we're taking it very gently, stopping to (literally) smell the flowers, as Cesar points out a few of the 200 + species of orchid which grow in the Machu Picchu National Park. The weather has closed in again, so while we can see some blue sky directly above, we are walking in cloud, and we can't see the wonderful views which should be on our left. This also means that we reach the third and final pass with a sense of anti-climax; unable to see the lie of the land, we just reach a point where the trail stops going up and starts going down, and that's it - downhill from here to Machu Picchu ! Just the other side of the pass we reach Phuyupatamarca, the cloud town, another impressive set of ruins. This really does feel like a town (or at least a village) - we spend some time wandering around the dwellings and admiring the way that the Incans collected and channelled water - they were very aware of its importance, and in all the sites we see, there are pools, fountains and conduits. Sadly the ever-present cloud stops us from admiring the views, and we soon head off down-hill; we've found out that there's beer for sale at Winay Wayna ! As we descend below three thousand metres, the cloud burns off, and the sun appears; within minutes, people are stripping off fleeces and jumpers as the temperature climbs. We can see Machu Picchu mountain in front of us, with the ruins themselves just the other side, and finally we get some idea of how it fits into the local geography. We're traversing the steep Southern side of the Urubamba valley, and the river itself is off to our right, still a thousand metres below. We can see in front of us, a few hundred metres down, the terracing of Intipata, the sun place, and directly below us, but still out of sight, is more terracing (and the beer-supplying hostel) at Winay Wayna. Looking back up the trail, we can just make out the ruins of Phuyupatamarca, and all around us rise up the peaks of the Andes. We're torn between sadness that the weather hid all this from us for the first two days, and gratitude that it kept the temperature down - we're walking downhill here, but it must be well over 30 in the sun (that's high 80s), and we're cooking . But almost before we know it we're at Intipata, and we spend half an hour admiring the effort that must have gone into making the dozens of terraces which cover the hillside, before heading back down the last miles or so to the hostel and campground at Winay Wayna (the terracing of Winay Wayna itself is another half-mile or so around the hillside, but Cesar wants to go and see it this afternoon, when it's cooler). The hostel area at Winay Wayna comprises a couple of main buildings, containing the hostel, bar/restaurant and showers/toilet block, surrounded by a number of 'terraces' - unlike the Inca versions, though, these are just cleared flat areas on the hillside, more like wide paths than proper terraces. By the time we arrive, at about noon, every terrace is filled with tents, as the dozen or twenty groups who have completed the full Inca trail are joined by more groups who have walked up to Winay Wayna from the railway, in order to join the walk up to Intipunku, the Sun Gate, to watch dawn over Machu Picchu. Thankfully our porters have made good use of our head start, and we have an excellent camp spot, at the end of a terrace next to the path to Machu Picchu. Before we reach there, though, we pass a small hut selling cigarettes and beer, and most of us stop and take the chance to have a pre-prandial cold one - we feel that we've earned it . After hanging up damp clothes to dry in the sun, it's time for lunch (another gargantuan meal of pasta), and then people snooze, sunbathe or write up journals for an hour or two, as the campsite fills up around us. By four o'clock, when we head off to visit the terraces, there must be hundreds and hundreds of people here - by a long shot, it's the least pleasant aspect of the trail, and we thank our lucky stars that we put the work in on the first day.
*** Top Tip - if you ever do the Inca Trail, persuade your guide / group to keep going on the first day and camp up at Llulluchapampa !
The terraces themselves are incredible - about thirty terraces, each around 5 feet high, built into a concave bowl in the valley side, and are maybe 400 yard across. We took a few photos, but none of them give any idea of how steeply the terracing slopes - it was decided that the word for the day was 'vertiginous' ! The terraces are on a western slope, to face the rising sun, so we're in shadow by now, but like this morning, the sun is catching the peaks opposite us, and illuminating the nearly full moon which has just risen. It's quite a place, with the still of the evening being broken only by the sound of crazy Icelandic guys having a race down and up the terraces (fyi, always have your money on Hal !). The group drifts back to the campsite in ones and twos, but I sit here for half an hour or so. Judging by the number of people at the campsite, and the number at the terraces over the hour or so I'm there, a lot of people don't bother going to see them... maybe they just came to see Machu Picchu, but it's definitely their loss For me, Winay Wayna has a power that MP doesn't, probably because it gives you peace.
I get back to camp around 6.30, just in time for the last of the popcorn, and the start of supper - tonight, it's baby condor and chips (well, that's what they told us !). After supper, we give tips to the porters and cooks, and then everyone heads off to the bar for a couple of beers. There's much talk tonight of doing '24 hours' then next day - wake-up tea is at 4am, ready to move out at 4.50am ('German time !' says Cesar), to be at the checkpoint for 5am when it opens. Therefore, the '24 hours' refers to staying in the bar in Cuzco until 4 am the following morning - we'll see After an hour or so of increasing international understanding through sharing drinking games (I sit quietly, sipping my malt ), and watching the 'dancing' in the bar, we head for bed.

this afternoon, Machu Picchu ! (promise )