Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu

So here we are in Peru, and have been for the last ten days. Been rather slack on the blog front, mainly because we've spent most of that time in the Andean cloud forest looking at various Incan ruins. We just about survived our 5 day trek to Machu Picchu, although walking around has been a little bit difficult since then. It was well worth the sore legs though. We met up with the charming Mr Leneghan in Cuzco on May 6th. It's the base for most people doing treks to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, a very pretty place with lots of interesting things to see and do and is therefore full of millions of tourists. There are more tat shops there than I have ever seen in my life, as well as incredible numbers of locals trying to sell you everything from finger puppets to photos of themselves with baby llamas. The upside of all this tourism is that they have an English style pub called The Cross Keys where Lenny and Sam were able to look at the football memorabilia on the walls while drinking pints of IPA and Abbot Ale. Tragically I don't think English ale travels that kind of distance very well as it didn't seem to have agreed with Sam the following day. Luckily the local brew, Cuzqueña, is jolly nice so he was able to drink that instead. Phew.

We started our epic journey to Machu Picchu on Tuesday 8th, an easy first day of gentle climbing which lulled us into a false sense of security before the rather nasty but spectacular 11 hour grind on the second day. We had to cross the 4600 metre Salkantay mountain pass: Salkantay is a very beautiful snowy peak which nobody has ever managed to get to the top of. I am not at all surprised. Fortunately we had managed to acquire a little bottle of something claiming to be Scotch whisky and calling itself "Clan McGregor", so a tot of that gave us a much needed boost at the head of the pass. After a freezing lunch at a delightful spot called Huachtapata (meaning the cold windy place in Quechua) we trotted off downhill into the start of the cloud forest. As it got warmer the snow turned to mud and, in order to preserve his trusty trainers from irreparable damage in the drink, Sam executed some very impressive gymnastic leaps across the boggiest bits much to the admiration of our fellow trekkers. I just sloshed on through, not having the necessary energy for jumping of any kind by that stage. Fortunately for us the tour agency sent along three chefs/porters as well as our guide so we were supremely well fed throughout with very hearty portions of surprisingly good food.

Hello! Sam, here. Pip pip, and all that. Hard act to follow, isn´t she? And definitely NOT "spawn" of ANY KIND WHATSOEVER. Hum. So, day 3, hmmm.....let me see. Well, day 3 was a a bit of a slog through the cloud forest, mainly downhill which is a bit tough on the old knees. It was hot too, so we wandered along, soaking up the scenery in a trance. Well I did, anyway. It is my default mode, after all. It was only 6 hours of walking in total but the campsite was very welcome when it hove into view and we spent a few hours soaking feet, sipping beer and groaning whilst our feast was prepared.

Now I come to the darkest part of this adventure. On the morning of Day 4 was an "optional trek," 3 hours up a very steep hill, 3 hours down. Now, most of you will know and respect Elizabeth so it grieves me to tell you that she spectacularly wimped out. Being a gallant sort of chap I sadly had no choice but to stay with her, tragically missing out on the 6 hour pre lunch slog. Fortunately, Ed was able to go in our place and very sweaty and tired he looked when he joined us for lunch. Even though I couldn´t go, it really was very gratifying to see him looking so thoroughly exhausted. Then we struggled along the train tracks for a few hours (playing 20 Questions, can you guess who was the best at it? Can you? Can you? Who do you think it was? Uh huh. Me) and ended up at the town of Aguas Calientes, the nearest bit of civilisation to Macchu Picchu itself. There we were booked into the hostel, where after much violence of language and manner from Elizabeth, we finally managed to coax them into providing us with hot water. And the next day, Machu Picchu.

What can one say about Machu Picchu then? Well, my first feeling was that I wished I´d had Machu Picchu leggo as a small boy. Or that I had visited it. Well, as you know, it was a large Incan city probably dating from the mid 15th century and only discovered by westerners in 1911. That´s the history. It is a spectacular place, as much for the completeness, intricacy and variety of the ruins as for the abolutely breathtaking setting. It is surrounded on all sides by steep, forested mountains which, along with the city, dramatically reveal themselves as the early morning fog rolls off and evaporates. It really is one of the most glorious sights imaginable. And we spent a good few hours, pre tourist-rush, just gawping at it. I think I´ll have to leave it there for MP, and direct you to the photos, which I am in the process of uploading. It´s probably the most visited "tourist attraction" in South America, but I would not have missed it for the world.

Right. Then we went home, slept for about 4 years and, after a night in the pub with a couple of jolly Irish who were on our trek, we went for a trot around the Sacred Valley where there were many more ruins which, after Machu Picchu and the events of the night before, did not manage to stimulate me at all. Beautiful valley though. Now, we´re in Arequipa and in about 30 mins we will all biff off to the French bakery for buns, crepes and nice coffee. Don´t worry though, we´re still eating lots of local food - lots of delicious Alpaca, Guinea Pig and Ceviche yet to come. Right, that´ll do. Hope you are all well, we´re marvellous. Lots of love, Sam and Elizabeth XXX.