Sam and E-J's Adventure

Awaking at 5am, we headed for the airport. We were all set for a one hour flight to join our tour at 9:30, but arriving at the airport, were informed that due to bad weather and previous delays we would not be flying until 12.30. Slightly frustrated, we headed back to La Paz for our free pancake breakfast and rearranged our tour for the following day.

We were back at the aiport at 11.30 with a second attempt to catch our flight and were then informed that it had now been delayed until 2pm. At 2pm we were greeted with the news that we would leave at 3pm. With the small airport full of raucous Israelis, fatigue setting in from yesterday´s bike ride and an unnecessary early start, we were tempted to sack it all off and head back to La Paz!

Finally, we boarded the plane and set off at 3.30. The cramped plane, along with 20 shouting and singing Israelis didn´t fill us with the greatest confidence, especially as E-J was struggling to find us two seats together! Once in the air we both relaxed and EJ took in the views.

On arriving into Rurrenabaque, we landed smoothly onto the grass landing strip surrounded by thick Amazon forest. We quickly passed through the customs hut and set off for the town of Rurrenbaque ready for an early night in preparation for our tour the next day.

On exploring the town, full of dusty, red roads and mopeds or motorbikes coming in all directions, we realised that there was not a lot to do here except drink! We ended up sharing a few drinks with a couple of French lads who had recently finished working in Cumbria, much to Sam´s delight! E-J began to worry about what lay ahead as they revealed their stories about their recent trip into the Pampas and how one of them had ended up with a frog on his face!

We settled down for an early night but that was abruptly stopped when what sounded like half of Tel Aviv decided to have a party along the corridor of our hotel from 12am until about 5am. This sent the red mist over Sam, who ended up shouting at them to be quiet in a very impolite way!

The next morning Sam was in his usual pre-tour mood; grumpy about the thought of sharing a few days with people he may not like. After a good breakfast we were relieved to find an enjoyable group of three Irish girls and an Australian couple.

The first part of the tour was a 3 hour drive in a rather small jeep along the dusty tracks to the town of Beni, which was on the edge of the National Park. The ride was incredibly bumpy and every so offer rocks and pebbles would fly up at the Jeep, adding a level of worry that if they flew through the windows they might do some serious damage to one of our heads! After Lunch we set off on a three hour boat trip down the Beni. This was incredibly relaxing and as we lay back in our seats, drifting down the river, we took in the sights of turtles, alligators, caiman, monkeys and the amazing surroundings with the sun beating down on us at 35 degrees.

We arrived at our camp which was a few wooden rooms built together on stilts (though the river was a good 5m below the riverbank) and quickly dropped our bags in the dormitory. We then set off for a well deserved beer at the Pink Dolphin Bar and watched the sun go down, sipping our amazingly chilled beers. After seeing the sunset we set off down the river (with a bit of difficulty getting back into the boat in the pitch black and after a few beers) and spotted the fire flies fly in the sky and the glow of alligator and caiman eyes´ floating in the river.

The next day was again full of heat and humidity. We started the morning with a trip to a local Anaconda field and started trekking through thick mud and sludge. E-J quickly realised that this was a another rather daunting challenge for her, where style was out the window and gum boots were a necessity! As we walked through the muddy sludge the stench of sagnent water was unbearable and the heat and humidity seem to enhance it. A couple of times we would get our boots stuck and with a slight panic, manage to release them. E-J had also managed to find a pair of gum boots with a massive whole in one of them, so that each time she walked she could feel the sludgy water squelching around in her socks. There was also a point where the swamp got so deep that everyone had to trek knee high in watery sludge, apart from Sam who had, had the smart idea of trapezing his way along a thin piece of fencing, which crossed the field. Occassially we would worry as our guide wandered off into the pampas in a desperate search for anacondas, leaving us to fend for ourselves. However, we weren´t as unlucky as another group who were trekking at the same time as us. Their guide literally left them stranded. Two of them had got slightly lost and managed to walk into a hornets nest! They eventually joined our group to there relief!

After walking two kilometres through the stinky field we finally returned to our boat without seeing a single Anaconda (much to E-J´s relief!), However we did managed to come across this:

After a good meal and a siesta we woke up our guide (who was a lazy little lad) and spent the afternoon Pirhana fishing. Sam's fly fishing technique looked rather spectacular and he thought it was only a matter of seconds before he managed to catch a big one and much to Sam's annoyance E-J soon managed to catch two! Sam on the other hand was still struggling, the last of the group not to catch one, but finally, much to his relief managed to catch a couple within seconds of each other and was incredibly proud of himself!

After feeling rather pleased with ourselves we all enjoyed a beer and settled into a lovely evening meal before an early night, with the idea of waking to see the sunrise. Sadly we woke to torrential rain so missed the sunrise. After the weather started to clear, we took in the amazing sights for the last time and much to E-J´s pleasure spotted a few pink dolphins under an overcast sky before heading back.

On the way back, we passed the oldest alligator in the river who is known by the name Pedro. Much to our amazement he also answers to it. Slightly skeptical, we tested this by waiting for the alligator to swim away before we called him again and watched him return. Our guide them greated him with his usual pat on the nose, treating Pedro like some kind of friendly dog...

On heading back to Rurrenabaque the journey was a testing one with the weather turning the brown dirt tracks into mud baths. Our driver was exhausted by the end of the day and 20 minutes before arriving into Rurrenabaque this was demonstrated as he pulled out of the petrol station in to another car! Fortunately, everyone was fine (though a little shaken up) and via a short de-tour to the police station we finally arrived back into Rurrenabaque. We spent the night enjoying a few beers in a local bar, re-living our great experience.

The next day we enjoyed a morning in Rurrenabaque in the unbearable heat before enjoyed a relaxed flight back to La Paz. We were lucky to get our flight, as again there had been some delays due to weather and we both were ready to escape the jungle after the mosquitos had seriously attacked Sam´s back and E-J´s bottom!

Sam Comments: On the flight in I thought my time was up, 20 Israelis, Ej and I and I couldn´t see the airport. After feeling relieved it was brilliant, Pirhana fishing was fantastic, would love to have stayed longer but the hole in my mosquito net did n`t help !!

E-J Comments: Rurrenabaque is an amazing and chilled out place and being so close to the wild life in the Pampas is such a humbling experience, although I am pleased I didn´t know about the seriously dangerous tarantula outside our dormitory until after we left!

After crossing the Peruvian/Bolivian border we arrived into Cocacabana. Unimpressed with the place we stayed there for one night and then head on to the capital, La Paz.

La Paz is 3600m above sea level and with it being set in a valley, we found ourselves constantly walking up and down steep streets, feeling incredibly breathless!

Our first night in La Paz was pretty uneventful and despite the fact that we enjoy each other´s company, we felt we needed some more people to add some more fun to our nights. The next day we moved to a much more upbeat hostel called Adventure Brew Hostel, which had this brilliant deal of as many pancakes as you can eat in the morning and a free beer in the evening! We took full advantage of both. That day was our day of chores and we spent most of it organising the famous bike ride, known as ´The Most Dangerous Road in the World!' for the following day and a three day jungle tour in Rurrenabaque for the day after. Pleased with accomplishing both and Sam managing to buy a Rolex for three pounds, we decided that we would have a chilled out evening, ready for the bike ride the next day. However, when E-J entered the bar for her free beer she was suddenly overcome with excitement to find Angie one of the Australian´s from the Inca trail, having a beer there too. Within minutes Sam, E-J, Angie and her boyfriend Dave were in full flow of conversation and excitement to see each other again and decided to make a night of it!

After a great meal, we headed to a place where we could hear booming music coming out from the windows and thinking this would be a happening place to go, entered the doors. When we reached the top of the stairs we were confronted with a mass of Bolivians celebrating their Saturday night. The place seemed to almost stop and stare at us four gringos and feeling the pressure we meekly bought a couple of beers and stood in the corner of the large room, terrifyed to cause any animosity. Five minutes later a group of partying Bolivians, beckoned us over to join them and before we knew it we were all in the full swing of Bolivian love, being bought an abundence of rounds of rum and coke and all toasting `La Paz, number 1´and `Salut Bolivia!´ Both Angie and E-J also found themselves being constantly asked to dance by one Bolivian after another until they were both totally warn out. Finallly, at 3am we managed to drag ourselves away from the place after many hugs and kisses goodbye and mutual love and appreciation. Angie and E-J had managed to be reasonably sensible with their consumption of alcohol, but both Sam and Dave were staggering back after too many drinks with the locals including one particular chap by the name of Fidel Castro Rodriguez!

The next day, E-J with difficulty manage to awake Sam at 6am and we both staggered to the bike shop to start the tour of ´The Most Dangerous Road in the World'. E-J was only really tired from the night before, but Sam was definitely struggling with blood shot eyes and the constant need to rehydrate himself with water. The first part of the tour consisted of us driving for two hours to begin the bike ride. This was a good time for Sam to sober up as best he could!

The group who were doing the tour consisted of three incredibly agile Norwegians (who we had actually met previously during the Inca Trail) and a Scottish son and father who were fanatic mountain bikers. It was at this point, that E-J started to question her abilities, what with being the only girl in the group and with a load of sporty, competitive men.

The first part of the bike ride was pretty straight forward cycling, or should be say free wheeling down a tarmac road as fast as you could go. There was the occassional truck or car that passed us, but nothing to make us worry and we had the knowledge that there was a guide at the front and at the back and a minibus constantly following the group.

It was when we got to the check point that things seemed to change. Sam, who had (for the first time) been in charge of the wallet containing the only credit card we could use, had somehow managed to misplace it. After several angry words from E-J and the guides kindly suggesting to drive back up to the top of the road and search the whole track, Sam then discovered that it had not fallen out of his pocket, but was on the floor in the minibus. The next hurdle was when E-J realised that the actual Death Road was on gravel and not tarmac. Having never ridden over gravel before, this came as a little shock to her as she found her wheels flying in all directions. One of the guides then advised her that she should go slowly if she had little experience of this terrain as the road was incredibly dangerous (funnily enough) and falling off the edge of this steep cliff could be fatal. This was when it dawned on E-J that she had not actually ridden a bike since she was fifteen years old, and before that not much more, so that her abilities as a cyclist were probably similar to that of a six year old and as she started to descend down the steep, rock filled, precarious road, she started to plead to the above 'Please don´t let me die, please don´t let me die..!'.

Sam on the other hand, realising that his abilities were way above E-J´s, had left her with the back guide and was flying down the cliff right behind the front guide. A couple of times, he found that his back wheel would swirl out of control as he hit a rock or two and he would then question the strength of his insurance but other than that he was having a whale of a time!

E-J, not only was hating every minute of this 4 hour, 65km ride, but was in absolute agony, as she seemed to bump over every single rock along the way. Several times the guide at the back, seeing her pain, would suggest that she get into the minibus, but being as stubborn as ever she was determined to complete the ride, no matter how much pain she went through. What hadn´t helped E-J´s confidence was that within the first ten minutes of the actual gravel part of the Death Road, three girls had fallen off their bikes, hurting themselves badly, including one poor girl who had broken her femur!

The boys were incredibly patient with E-J, stopping for forty minutes or so to let her catch up with them, before they all shot off again. Finally we reached the end of the ride and all the boys were pumping with adrenaline while E-J was just relieved to be alive! We had a lunch in the beautiful town on Coroico before heading back to La Paz. By the time we reached La Paz, E-J had developed the movements similar to that of a decrepid eighty year old and would let out a little yelp each time she had to sit down. Sam was just exhausted after a late and alcoholic night before and an exhilarating day.

When we finally reached the hostel, we had a take away Pizza and an early night in preparation for our early start to the Jungle then next day.

Sam´s comments: Amazing, great time in the bar, Bike ride was fantastic, defintely do it again! However, was concerned with E-J constantly swearing at me when she reached the bottom!!

E-J´s comments: I absolutely hated Death Road and had I known there had been a death in March from someone falling off the edge, I would not have stupidly done it! Also for the next two days I felt like I had the bike seat permanently stuck to my bottom! I really hope that our next tour is more enjoyable, but I am pleased to say I completed it, though I won´t be riding a bike again for a VERY long time!

Having arrived in Puno, E-J was still struggling form the Inca trail and was in need of some well earned sleep! With the local annual fiesta occuring that week and the relentless street processions occurring, Puno didn´t seem like the best place to be!

Having found accommodation we battled our way through the street processions and hundreds of people to book a two day island tour to the Uros Islands (the Floating Islands) the Amantani Island (where we stay with a local family) and the Taquille island.

The night before our tour we enjoyed a good meal. Sam tucked into some juicy Alpaca meat, concerned that this may be the last good meal he ate for 48 hours!

Rising in the early morning, we headed for the Puno docks and boarded are 16 man boat. The Uros Islands were our first stop and after a pleasant 30 minute trip, E-J took in the Floating Island, whilst Sam rested his eyes!

We also took one of the local´s reed boats across to another floating island. Sam found all of this very unpleasant and commercial, what with being crammed on a tiny boat with sixteen other tourists and the fact that the boat was called Titanic..., but E-J seemed to love every minute!

We then boarded the boat for another 3 hour journey until we reached the Amantani Island. Although it felt very far away, it was only 30 kilometres, but the rough boat journey over seemed to make it take forever! By lunch time we had found our destination and were introduced to our hosts for the evening, Patrick and Anastasia. Our slight concern was that they spoke little spanish (though neither did we) so there would be a lot of communication via gesture and hand movement... Their main language was Quechua, which can only be described as sounding very similar to the language of Donald Duck!

When we arrived at their farm, we quickly helped peel potatos, which were to be used for lunch. At this point we were slightly concerned about the purple patched potatos as we really didn´t fancy an uncomfortable night with very limited bathroom facilities! For lunch, we had potato soup, followed by rice, meat in bread crumbs and potatos, which was more than enough carbs!

In the afternoon we met with our guide again and were told about the area and the history of the families who lived on the island.

As the sun came down, E-J climbed up 1000 feet to the point of 4200m above sea level to catch a beautiful sunset. Whilst Sam enjoyed a rather breathless game of football with the locals.

In the evening (after E-J had discovered she had seriously scorched her face in the sun, with the stupid lack of sun block) we sat in our hosts kitchen/bedroom and enjoyed a meal of (once again) potato soup, rice, chicken and potatos! After the evening meal we were quickly changed into the local, authentic dress and headed for the town hall for some local dancing!

We were quickly excorted onto the dance floor by our hosts and to the sounds of a local band. Being swung around in a huge group can only be described as a Peruvian conga and with the aid of a few beers this continued into the night, until we were completely worn out by 11pm. We both slept extremely well that night!

In the morning there was just enough time for a quick pancake breakfast before saying our goodbyes and heading back onto the boat. An hour later we arrived onto the Island of Taquille. Taquille is an incredibly honest place where there is no crime, so no one locks their houses and there are no police. Also, it is common for the locals to be married before 20 and if the girls exceed this age they are looked upon as a bit of a spinster! After a stroll around the island and taking in the beautiful surroundings we enjoyed a lovely, fresh trout lunch.

We then had a 4 hour boat trip back to Puno and by the time we arrived back we were both absolutely shattered and enjoyed a quiet night in, watching terrible Peruvian television!

Sams Comments: Fantastic trip, great family, only problem was the frenchman who took offense to one of my mistimed football tackles!

EJ Comments: I really enjoyed the experience but a skeptical side of me can´t help thinking that maybe it is all a bit of a tourist scam and the Amantani people don´t actually live in this basic accommodation that they entertain us in, but have a large pad behind this with all the modern compliances and possibly even a plasma screen! This may also explain why they kept leaving the room whenever they had to get something...

Day 1
At 5:25 am we were greated by our guide, Puma at our hostel. From here we got on the bus to see the sixteen people we would be spending the next four days with, and then sat in silence along with the rest of the group until we reached Ollantaytambo where we would be having breakfast before beginning the trail.

After the breakfast and almost at the beginning of the trail our bus suddenly broke down and we were stranded on the side of the road for a good 40 minutes. This allowed us time to get to know the group and realise that we had a guide who was incredibly passionate about his job and teaching the past to his fellow travellers. The group was a mixture of ages, people from England, America, Canada, South Africa and Australia. Immediately we sussed out the rotten eggs, a couple who seemed to complain about everything before the tour had even begun, as well as interrupting everyone mid sentence and laughing in Sam´s face when Sam politely asked the man if he had been to Cape Town much. But refusing to allow them to taint our experiences of the Inca Trail we kept positive and excited about what lay ahead. E-J´s only concern was for the hygiene of the loos for the next four days!

After Sam politely declined the offer of Marijuana at the start, we eased into the first day. We were incredibly lucky with the weather as there was beaming sunshine when really it should be the wet season. We started at 2600m and ascended to 3000m. There were a couple of up and down hills but nothing to really challenge us. The only challenge Sam experienced, was when we reached the first set of ruins and he was unable to stay awake during the guide´s enthusiastic explanation about their history. Despite thinking he´d got away with it by wearing his dark sunglasses as he lay sprawled on the grown, everyone in the group noticed!

After a three hour hike, we reached the destination where we were to have lunch and as explained in the guide, the porters had erected a tent to fit sixteen people for lunch and the cook had prepared an amazing three course meal. We then continued our hike for another two and half hours, feeling rather full after such an indulgent quantity of food. At around Five thirty we reached our camp site Wayllabanba and were shown to our already erected tents, which E-J was very pleased to see, where clean, big and bug free.

That night we were treated to another filling three course meal and Sam alone decided to have a beer with this. The rain began to pour and we began to worry that this might be what the rest of the trip would be like, so decided to get an early start ready for our 5am wake up the next morning.

Day 2
We were woken up by the porters and a cup of coca tea at 5am and relieved to see that the sun was shinning outside. After a quick and delicious three course meal we packed our belongings together and began the walk, which we knew was going to be the hardest of all four days. The first part of the walk was relatively pleasant as we walked through the beautiful landscape and over a couple of small streams. As we reached the first meeting point, the lady from the unpleasant couple was struggling terribly (having caught some bug overnight) and Sam being the gentleman that he was offered to take her bag for her. E-J, although realsing this was the right thing to do, was a little concerned that this now meant she would have to carry a load of stuff, but refusing to allow any bad feeling to ruin the day, kept a smile on her face.

It was only two hours later when we were in the middle of the first hard section, that E-J´s affections for Sam weren´t as loving as usual. Seeing Sam bouncing up the steps with absolutely no effort as she struggled to pull herself up, slowly step by step only seemed to frustrate her, especially since she had be so concerned about him and his asthma at the beginning. As he would continually, loving ask 'How are you doing? Do you want a rest?¨, E-J would bite back with the comments, ' I´m fine, stop patronising me!'. When we finally reached Dead Woman´s Pass at 4200m, she was incredibly apologetic for her earlier trantums at Sam and tried to justify, that it was a good test of the relatonship!

At the Dead Woman´s Pass as the group were all reunited together our guide performed a ceremony on the top of the mountain thanking Pacha Mumma (Mother Earth) for the wonderful weather she had given us so far and hoping for more. We all then toasted each other with a shot of Sambuca and the guide played a little tune on his flute.

After this, the next part of the day was a 2 to 3 hour descent down to the camp site, Pacamayo. We were all in need of a beer and when arriving there were informed that this would have to wait until tomorrow´s campsite. Sam was not best pleased with this!

We then had a delicious tea followed by a three course meal a couple of hours later. It´s true what people say about the Inca trail, you really do end up putting on weight!

Day 3
The next day we awoke, all a bit stiff but excited to be only a day away from Machu Picchu. This was to be the longest trek of 15 km, but also we were to walk through the most beautiful sights. The first part of the day was a steep ascent up to some Inca ruins, which were once used as a look out point for the Inca´s. After this the majority of the rest of the day was flat or down stairs, ending with what is know as the Gringo killer as the stairs descend a 1000m. E-J found this day the most pleasant as we passed through waterfalls, caves and the most unbelievable scenery. Sadly however, these pictures can only be captured in our heads and the battery on the camera was starting to run out, and we wanted to make sure we had it for Machu Picchu.

When we finally reached the campsite we made our way to the Inca ruins, Winay Wayna, just next to it. Our guide explained that these were his favourite and it was fasinating to see how the Inca´s so appreciated the Mountains shape and would literally shape their city to the natural curves of the mountains.

After a small talk from our guide we headed to the bar at the campsite for a quick beer or two before having our final three course meal. We then headed back to the bar for a few more drinks, to ensure we slept well.

Sam could have easily been on a drinking mission, but E-J and her words of wisdom reminded him that we would be getting up at 3:45am the next day so by 10pm we retreated to bed.

Day 4
Woken at 3:45am in the pitch black, we managed to gather our things together and rush a quick breakfast before heading to the gates for the final part of the trek. Desperate to be the first to get to the starting point, we all literally ran down to the gates and with great excitment descovered that we would be the first to start the one hour trek to the Sungates. However, this also meant we had to wait a good forty minutes before the gates would open. When we finally set off, we could see queues and queues of groups behind us and we felt the pressure to stay in front. Somehow E-J found herself at the front of the group behind the guide and feeling the responsibility of keeping the group first tried to keep a steady pace, striding to the gates. As our trek began, a few sneaky characters started to overtake us and before we knew it we were practically running to the Sungates. After forty-five minutes and a steep ascent up the final steps we finally arrived at our destination. Excited and exhausted to finally be one of the first to reach the first point that you see Machu Picchu we were confronted with a mass of white cloud! Bloody typical..! We spent 10 minutes resting and gaining our breath before we started to descend down to Machu Picchu and to the famour point where all the photos are taken. Forty minutes later we had arrived at our destination, dirty, hot and tired but as we stood there the clouds began to part and the most impressive, mesmersing sight of Machu Picchu began to reveal itself. The clouds around it seemed to give it a more dramatic effect and seeing it properly for the first time was everything and more we had hoped for.

We then made our way through Machu Picchu with the guide, with explanations about the Sun Temple, the way the rocks were made and the bedrooms of the priests and other details.

Seven of our group, not exhausted enough decided to walk up Wanya Picchu, which is the big mountain at the back of Machu Picchu. The ascent was suppose to take an hour and when walking up we realised how steep and precarious some of the steps were. Sam, having been very patient with E-J throughout the entire Inca Trail, always keeping behind her and offering kind words of support, decided to take this opportunity to challenge himself, so raced up to the top with some fellow Inca trail trekkers. Twenty minutes later, he sat on the rocks on the very top waiting for E-J to arrive another forty minutes later.

The view from the top was spectacular and looking down at Machu Picchu it seemed so small. What was so amazing about Wanya Picchu was when you reached the top, you were literally balancing on a couple of rocks with a very steep drop, and what added to the slight fear factor was the fact that the space at the top was relatively small and yet more and more people were coming up and pushing their way past others!

Below is the view of Machu Picchu from the top of Wanya Picchu.

After descending Wanya Picchu Sam headed to the cafe at the bottom while E-J determined to get her perfect postcard picture of Machu Picchu, climbed up to the look out place again to take the photo of what is at the top of this entry.

We then all got a bus down to Agua Caliente where we had a quick lunch followed by goodbyes and thank yous to the guide. We then caught a 4 hour train back to Cusco (which seemed to take forever!) and finally arrived back at our hotel at 10pm at night absolutely shattered!

Sam´s Comments: Waiting to start the last day, had the air of waiting for Willy Wonker opening his choclate factory, everyone was far too excited! Racing up Wanya Piccu was definetly a mad piece of exercise but great fun!!

E-J´s Comments: This has been an amazing experience which will stay with me forever. I just need to learn to control my tongue, when Sam tries to offer encourging words of advice!

We caught a night bus from Arequipa to Cusco and arriving in Cusco in the early hours of the morning we headed to our prebooked hostel and went to sleep for the first few hours of the morning.

Once awake we decided to explore Cusco. Sam was much more awake from the power nap, but E-J seemed to be more spaced out than ever, which she thought was due to the altitude. As we had five days in Cusco before the Inca trail we decided to take the first day easy. We walked the streets finding a better and cheaper hostel to stay in and looked into a couple of possible tours as well as getting the final details from our tour company about the Inca Trail.

The following day, E-J started to feel really ill and with the most excruciating stomach cramps had to return to the hostel and spend the rest of the day in bed with a fever. Sam on the other hand felt fine and with his first time to explore somewhere alone spent the rest of the day shopping for bargains and wandering the streets.

Being a Saturday, we had hoped to party in Cusco, but with E-J sick in bed we resorted to an early night.

The next day we took a tour of the Sacred Valley which began with a one hour bus trip to Pisac Market followed by a quick excursion of the ruins, a quick stop at Urubamba for lunch, then onto the ruins of Ollantaytambo and finally to Chinchero market.

On arriving in Pisac market we were overwhelmed by the commercial style of it and after a brief walk through it, were pleased to be back on the bus. We then reached Pisac Ruins and began to walk to the top of them. It was during the walk that E-J realised that she was still not 100%, with the colour draining from her face and her lips turning white, Sam realised that there was definitely something wrong. Running to the guide for help, the guide simply turned to Sam and said, it´s ok, we´ll go back down in 10 minutes. Realising that the guide was pretty useless Sam returned to E-J, reassuring her and getting her to drink water, so that she was able to gain her full consciousness again. Slowly returning back to the bus.

On the way to Chinchero market, we saw the most spectacular views of the Andes and moutainous landscape. We then arrived at Chinchero, to barter a few good buys. This market was very impressive and is known for being a traditional and authentic place. After picking up a few bargins we headed back to Cusco to enjoy a traditional Peruvian meal.

The next day we had a lazy day around Cusco, preparing ourselves for the Inca Trail. We also bumped into a few friend that we had met recently and arranged to go for a meal and a few drinks together. The "happy hour" was exploited excessively!

The next day was the day before the Inca Trail, so we decided to go for a big English breakfast. This had nothing to do with the beers consumed the night before. Usually, when we´re abroad the last thing you want to do is eat the same old food you eat everyday in England, but having been away over a month now, nothing was better than a good, old traditional, English fry up!

After that, the rest of the day was again, low key and after another enjoyable evening with Tobias and Lou, we prepared ourselves for the 5:20 call the following morning for the Inca Trail.

Sam´s Comments: Cusco was beautiful, with great food. However locals only speak to you to sell you something!

E-J´s Comments: I´ve enjoyed the colonial style of Cusco, but haven´t enjoyed the way that it has become so commercial. Within every three minutes someone runs up to you trying to sell you something and after the sixth person it gets a but much. I´m sure that, the fact that I have been bed bound has not also helped my opinions, but hopefully the Inca Trail is going to be an unforgettable experience.