Arriving, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu (Leg 1)

Hello from Tarapoto, Peru where its a balmy 32 degrees! There are peacocks wandering around the grounds of our hotel, a huge pool which is currently calling my name and these crazy motorcycle rickshaw taxis waiting to take us into town.

The adventure has so far been brill. Were loving out Salomon clothes – we are the best dressed backpackers on the road.

We arived in Lima (capital of Peru) in the wee hours of Saturday morning thanks to a staggering display of incompetence by Air Iberia. Our flight from Madrid to Lima left without us so we were rerouted to Venezuela before landing in Lima 6 hours late. Highlights of the debacle were when Air Iberia said to us “your bags will probably be lost” and then borading a plane where we were assigned seats that did not actually exist. Oh, those crazy Spaniards.

After a very refreshing 3 hours sleep and a cold shower we caught a cab through the crazy streets of Lima and saw utes packed 1.5m high with potatoes and passengers sitting on the top, countless 5 person cars with 8 people sandwhiched in and beggars on every corner. Back at the airport we jumped on another plane to Cusco – the old capital of the Inca empire.

We met our Inca trail guide “Big Willy” and begun the 45km Inca Trail hike to the Inca City of Machu Picchu. It was spread over 4 days – which is not a lot of distance to cover over that time frame – but it was at high altitudes and was all up and down. One day we climbed over 2000m to a high of 4215m. It was tough and phyiscally exhausting but was one of the most incredible experiences of our lives. The views from the tops of the mountains we climbed, walking through clouds because you are so high, seeing so many Inca ruins, passing locals on the trail etc all made the trek amazing.

The final day saw us rise at 3:50am to begin the final hike to Machu Picchu – an Inca city that once had 1000 people but was abandoned about 100 years prior to the Spanish invasion and forgotten about until 1911 when an American explorer stumbled accross it (and looted all items of value from it). The final day was wet and very cloudy so we could not see Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate (a place high up in the mountain beside the ruins). After a half hour hike from the Sun Gate to MP the clouds parted and the lost city was revealed. We then spent a few hours exploring MP.

We also saw a Lama!

We then rewarded ourselves with a trip to some thermal spas and a night at the Savoy in Cusco.

As I mentioned before, we are staying at Tarapoto and Luara is now sitting beside me after a dip in the pool... Tomorrow, we are white water rafting... Its a tough life.

Will update again when we can.

Team Amazonia