SURVIVED

OK so we have survived our trip into the Amazon jungle and the Inca Trail.  We are very smelly, sore and ready for a long massage!

The couple of days we spent in the jungle were interesting and we both had a really good time. Our trip to the lodge was one something similar to this photo - http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/assets/0711/0000/0180/boat_on_amazon_mid.jpg
We saw a lot of animals and had a good time, including a tarantula which was pretty exciting.

We then left and headed off on to begin our Inca Trail.  We both the most amazing time and both pushed beyond our limits to complete the 48km trail. Keep in mind when I mention distance and times that these are not walking on flat stretches, a lot of ups and downs, slippery steps and uneven paths.

The first day is considered the easy day.  Only a 13km walk in 5 hours.  It is actually a reasonably easy walk.  We only climbed 300m (from 2400 to 2700m above sea level). Camp One was at Wayllabamba.  Feeling fairly positive after day one, some small ruins on the way.

Day Two is the challenging day.  Not only is it long, but the hardest physical day and also no ruins to speak of so it is a full day of hiking, without much stopping.11km in 6 hours today, today we hit our highest peak 4250m above seal level and then back down to 3800m for camp..  Today turned a little worse for wear about 20 minutes from camp I rolled my right ankle fairly badly.  Of course when you in the middle of nowhere, there are no icepacks - so my icepack was to sit with it in the river.  Funnily enough it was so so cold it was probably better than an icepack.  It had swelled up that night and badly in the morning, but the solution - strap it and walk another 16km!

Day Three is described as the unforgettable day, it is the longest day (16km) and as I mentioned a fairly slow day with a sore ankle.  It took about 8 hours, which I was kind of happy with.  today we dropped back down to 2700m above sea level and it really is unforgettable there are a number of ruins on the way and you start to get the feel of the knowledge of the Incas and start to prepare for the final day!

The last day was really great, we awoke at 3:30am and headed to the checkpoint which opened at 5:30.  We were the first group there and when we finally got through the checkpoint we were the first group to get ot the sun gate and also to the fabled city of Machu Picchu.  All in all our arrival was slightly anti-climatic, the morning was very cloudy.  However in hindsight it's wuite funny looking at our photos as the day improved massively (we got sunburnt) and we were able to get some great photos and have a really nice look around.  It is amazing that the Spaniards never found Machu Picchu and destroyed it and we are so lucky to have been able to visit it.

We are both very sore and tired from the walk.  To add to the adventure, trains got cancelled due to a landslide so we couldn't get back, eventually sorted and we got back 12 hours later than expected.

The porters and chef were amazing they carry 20-25kg and almost run the trek.  I struggled to carry my day pack and they beat by at least an hour every day. Our oldest porter was 60.

We had 2 boys (sons of the chef) comeon the trek with us.  They are 9 and 11 years old, they looked like they had done the trek 100s of times, but it was actually their first time.  They too were incredible how quickly they did it.

Still having a really great time.  We are spending a couple of days in Cuzco (The Incan capital) and then fly to Brazil on Thursday.  We are flying to Sao Paulo and are making our way up to Rio for Carnival.