Hostal El Santuario Aguas Calientes

... the 6kg per person duffel bag limit for the porter, and each porter can only carry a maximum of 25kg). Each day only 500 people are allowed to start the Inca Trail. Those 500 people include all the porters, cooks, guides and tourists. So all up there are only about 200 or so tourists doing the hike. It is also required for everyone to have an authorized guide for the trail. Our trail guide is Efrain and we have an assistant guide called Enrique (Kiki) who ...

... br>They said it was the most physically challenging thing they had ever done, very very difficult, but worth it of course. The first night in rained and they only got a couple hours of sleep. So they were tired for the 2nd day which is the hardest and uphill the whole time. Barry got what i had apparently and had no energy, its amazing made it! Nancy gave us a 2 hour tour around the whole site, it was really interesting, but everyone ...

... to Ollantaytambo on time, there would be no refund for the tickets of course. We rushed to the hotel, tickets in hand, where Christie had just finished packing two small bags and we grabbed the nearest taxi down to where the collectivos were. Another option we determined was to take a taxi which was slightly dearer but much faster than the collectivo. We were able to negotiate a taxi fare of 40 soles for the four of us and explained our haste to the driver, he wasted no ...

Packing up the tent at Chaullay was a sad moment--the ground was soft and warm, the mules grazed happily nearby and chickens and turkeys did their respective things all over the place. Mollie and I made breakfast of yogurt and granola and our spirits were up, though her blisters had a harder time going through the day, due to steep uphill climbs followed by long, rocky descents, and even the gorgeous ...

... at Machu Picchu some 2 1/2 hours later, I was swaying, I was trying not to pass out, Dee had been by myside all the way and I will forever be grateful for that. I could see the buses and I knew that all I needed to do was get to the rest of the group, I don't know how I managed it but I found the last piece of energy and got to the bus stop, I passed group members but cannot remember seeing them, I was in pieces, I could not stop crying, I just wanted to ...

... up for tourists so if its not a shop trying to sell you an alpaca jumper then its a restaurant with an owner shoving the menu under your nose. There were a few posh hotels geared up for those with a few $ (or soles) but G and I found a reasonably priced and clean hostal for the few hours sleep that we were going to have as we had a 3.30am alarm call to ensure that we were one of the first through the gates. After an hour of deciding whether to buy the family alpaca ...

... 42 dollars/person<br><br>After all was said and done, we were tacked onto a group run by Joel Figueroa, a 26-year-old proprietor of his own agency, called Best Andes Travel www.bestandestravel.com. I thought Joel did a great job taking care of his chartered group and also incorporating us into the mix. The pace was grueling, and while we tried to avoid this from the get-go, there was no real alternative. In the end I sold him the tent we'd ...

... commentary from the hiking group on this one, which I will refrain from posting here!<br><br>Our trail winds along the Urubamba river in the valley between smaller Andean peaks. It is quite beautiful, and as this is the tail end of the dry season, the vegetation is not a lush as it probably is during rainy season, and the trail is dry and dusty.<br><br>After 4 or 5 hours we arrive at our campsite, a place called Wayllabamba ...

... and the wings? I suspect this is just another ruse by the guides to confuse stupid tourists. <br><br>You will be disappointed to hear that we took the bus back down to the town of Aguas Calientes for lunch. But by this time no one fancied another slog down the mountain for over an hour when there was a perfectly good bus available. This was the official end of the trek and we celebrated with a visit to the hot springs where our tired and smelly bodies were bathed in beautifully hot water direct from the centre of the Earth.

... explain in a bit, we stop at a small laguna called Soirococha, for lunch. At the foot of our last climb to the pass next to Salkantay. Amazing lunch of soup followed by chicken and new potatoes in tomato with rice, then no time to digest, it´s onwards and upwards.<br><br>After walking 4 hours up, and I mean straight up, we reach the highest pass (4,650m). Certainly the highest Phil and I have ever been. Absolutely stunning views of Humantay and Salkantay ...