Hello all,
Back from the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. It was absolutely fantastic, a lovely group of 11 people, not to mention the 14 porters, one cook, his wife, and two guides! These days you have to do the trail with a tour, as it is sooo touristy. The porters however outnumbered the 'hikers', each of them running half the time carrying up to 35kg. Felt wierd walking along the track and having to stop because there was just too many damn people. Despite that, once I learnt to deal with this fact, the trail was unbelievably beautiful and interesting. The scenery over the 3 days walk was so impressive and there were archaelogical sites all along which provided a welcome break from the really difficult walking. I took an appropriate number of photos to match the great time I had. Come the final morning, we all got up at 340 in the morning, packed up, breakfasted (fruit salad and pancakes! I love the walking here!) and walked the 45 minutes to the sun gate to watch the sunrise over Machu Picchu. I was the first person there out of hundreds which nearly killed me, but was worth it for the brief moment I had to look over the city in peace. Cool! The ruins themselves were amazing, such a beautiful setting. Spent hours wandering round and climbing the peaks nearby, getting away from the sweaty old europeans! Anyway, for some reason I always get onto the internet when I need to go to the loo, so must go. Hope all are well and will write again soon. Off to Lake Titicaca tomorrow...
Love Hannah