Estrellita Cusco

... we could all do the climb!<br><br>The rest of the group finished the tour of Machu Picchu and then had time to discover the site before heading down by bus to the town of Aguas Caliente for lunch together. But the four of us decided instead to hike up the steepest mountain path ever (much steeper than any day on the Inca Trail!), this is AFTER doing three other days of heavy hiking. Yeah, I know, great idea! Not only that, but it started raining quite heavily and by the ...

... our 18KG allowance. By the time we reached the 1st camp, the tents were already waiting for us. Being friendly girls we decided to use the single tent as a dressing room &amp; cosy up in the 3-man tent.<br><br>If we thought the sanitary conditions of the Spanish Schoool were bad, they seemed like pure luxury to the filthy squat toilets which we had to endure, armed with torch light &amp; toilet roll, for the next 3 days.<br><br>Being mindful of an early morning start ...

... from the pass, I talked to one of the porters and decided to leave my backpack and try to charge on ahead to the pass, take some photos, and return to have tea with the group, then go back up with everyone else. I took off, half speed-walking, half jogging up the trail; when I reached what had looked like the pass from Llulluchapampa, I turned a corner of the trail only to see that it continued upwards and that I was only about 2/3 the way there. Because I didn't want to end up holding ...

... to house the virgins of the sun. Another, the one I like, is that it was a kind of Incan centre parcs. A holiday camp for the rich and important. The incas abandoned it with the arrival of the Spanish conquestadors and it remained only in the knowledge of the surrounding farming families, until Hiram Bingham an American was led there in 1911. Unfortunately he took all the artifacts they found back to Yale, and that is where they remain!<br><br>Anyway, we ...

After a sleepless night (damn partying brits in our dorm) its up at 5am to drive to the start of the trek. There have been cancellations in our group, so its just us, Loz and Kassia with guide Raul and 10 porters. TEN!!! And a professional chef well trained in the art of presentation and the carved cucumber parrot garnish. Despite this abundance of porters, we have to carry our own sleeping bag and mattress. On the first day my bag weighs in at 12.5 kg and Bevan's at 9kg - so on ...

... and ice, as the air was too thin to support vegetation. We witnessed an avalanche from a far away mountain top and said an ancient Inca prayer to Salkantay using cocoa leaves and a rock. We were then instructed to descend with our guide as the exposure to the high altitude would soon become a problem. The next few days wore on with more breathtaking scenery, seemingly impossible terrain and plenty of good food. <br> The one thing that surprised me ...