Ninos del Arco Isis Urubamba

... tight squeeze for backpackers carrying 25L packs on their back!<br><br>Finally, we reach the outskirts of Machu Picchu, and the view is stunning - the city is truly breathtaking. Built in the 1500s, and rediscovered only in 1911, it is a beautiful, mammoth collection of purpose built sonte buildings that seem to cling to the mountaintop. The views of the surrounding valleys and mountains is amazing - and just the other side of one range is the Amazon ...

... day. And the program of that day was just as it was made for us! We only walked about 4 hours through the jungle and enjoyed the taste of the exotic vegetation by eating delicious wild berries. Afterwards, we were able to relax our sore muscles at the thermal bath at Santa Theresa. It was probably the best hot springs of Peru, surrounded by mountains and waterfalls! It had two big pools with very clean and warm water; and also one bath which had the size ...

... sat down for our second 3 course meal of the day. Maybe I´m finding it hard because I´m becoming fatter than when I started? Until tomorrow..<br><br>Day 2- <br><br>4;30am- I wake up with a rock in my side, my hip feels like it need replacing and I´m dying for a ****. Nicki comes with me to wait outside and I laugh to myself as the big plop sounds and I let out an involuntary ****. There´s one of our porters waiting outside with a bucket of water to flush the hole ...

... 8217;t do to have too much imagination; one of the Aussie girls was convinced there was some large animal prowling outside her tent and dare not venture outside for fear of being eaten.<br><br>The second day is the hardest. We had to climb over the highest pass on the trail and descend into the high jungle on the other side. After a lunch break, we had to climb over another pass almost as high as the first before descending into cloud and mosquitoes. <br><br>The first pass is known as ...

We were picked up at our hostel at 6am and joined the rest of our group on a bus journey to the start of our trek, KM 82. There were 16 of us in total and 2 guides Marcelo &amp; Will. We also had 22 porters who carried the tents, food and everything else except our roll mats and sleeping bags. We stopped to eat breakfast at a small resturant next to the start of the trek and then proceeded to the checkpoint, where ...

... walk by walls made of stones that are essentially cubes that the Incas carved hundreds of years ago and think "they can't build walls that are this perfect nowadays - how in the world did the Incas do it back then"?<br><br>The market was next and it was just as fun but much less work. All of the local artisans and craftspeople set up booths to sell their wares which mainly consist of alpaca textiles like sweaters, wall hangings, rugs, scarves, hats, gloves, etc ...

... area, and that attracts some thirsty people. I&#8217;m learning when and how to protect my time here. Believe it or not, there are not many people here that are actually here&#8230; most of them are somewhere else, trying to find themselves, heal something, fix something. Sometimes it gets overwhelming. Not sure why people think I can fix them&#8230; I still don&#8217;t know what really drove me out here, besides feeling a need to go. But there has been some pretty great ...

... thin air and made our introductions. The bikes looked immaculate resting on foam mats, the chain rings glistening in the morning sun. Later we found out, among other things he is the Peru distributer of a wax based bike lubricant, which is obviously very effective. We had some issue of payment. We wanted to pay in dollars which in itself was fine but our money was too ratty. Mike explained that Peruvian banks reject even slightly worn dollars. Jess ...

... on a website. When we got back to the hostel the old lady running it wanted to show us her restaurant so we walked there with her assuming that we would just be looking in case we wanted to return and eat another time. When we got there she sat us down and offered us dinner. It was an awkward situation and too difficult to say no so we ate a very expensive and small dinner. It was entertaining though. Her husband was very nice and ...

... and ramp, no cars, but it was a main thoroughfare for the locals so there was a lot to see. After we sat there so long we also decided to have dinner there which I think we all enjoyed.<br><br>Jim and I decided to make an early run back up to Machu Picchu the next morning, but the girls seemed to feel sleeping in and shopping might be a better plan. Jim and I agreed to meet at 0500 to catch the first bus up unless it was raining, in which case we would also stay in bed.<br>