The next morning we were due to leave for a visit to some Islands for an overnight homestay. Unfortunately Andrew had hurt his back earlier in the week & that morning he collapsed on the floor while getting out of bed.....hmmmm, not a good sign....so, no Island visit & homestay for us. Instead we spent a couple of days in Puno while Andrew got better & I found the best cake in town!
When everyone else got back from the islands, Charlotte & I decided to dye our hair, so off to the supermarket we went to buy a couple of packet dyes. Then it was back to the hotel where we became hairdresser extraordinaires!! Well, we managed to get most of the dye on our hair & not on the walls, floor or towels & everyone was happy.
Our new do's were debuted at a local restaurant that had great mexican but they didn't cope that well with such a big group cos when we ordered 4 large jugs of Sangria they nervously mentioned that "they are 14 Solas each!"....which is about $4!!
The next stop on the Peru trail was Cusco. Cusco is the starting off point for most people who come to Peru to trek the famous Inca trail....& coincidentally that is why we were there too! We all gathered around like nervous kids on the first day of school for the pre-departure meeting with our guide Julio Cesar. He proceeded to explain to us what we could expect over the coming days & we proceeded to become terrified! Julio is such a character, his english is funny & he loved to tell dirty jokes.....which were mostly lost in translation but he laughed so hard it was difficult not to join in.
For the Inca Trail each person is allowed one duffle bag, containing up to 5kgs, which is carried by the porters. Anything above the 5kgs you have to carry yourself so it was a long night spent packing the bag, running it to reception to weigh it, running back to the room to unload.....(hmmmm, I can get away with 1 t-shirt for 4 days with no showers right???)......& repeat! Eventually we got there & then it was time for bed.....for a very restless night sleep!
The Inca Trail is 4 days but before we started we had a day excursion to the Sacred Valley via Sexy Woman....I mean Sacsayhuaman! Sacred Valley was a small taste of what was to come at Machu Picchu but at least it was a chance to do some climbing at altitude....where it was discovered that chances are, we are all gonna have heart attacks & die!!
On the way to the Sacred Valley we stopped off at a small animal shelter where we saw the freakiest looking dogs ever! They are of the local Peruvian variety & they are hairless except for a mohawk & some fuzz on the end of their tails. There were also some really cute cats & a couple of giant, disgusting condors who came swooping down over our heads during feeding time.
We stopped for lunch at Pisac, which also included a quick power-shop around the local markets....where I resisted buying more knitwear....only because I knew I would have to carry it for the next 4 days!! After a night in Ollantaytambo it was time to start the trek..............4 days of madness!!
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