Roca Fuerte Hotel Urubamba

... womwn, Anna, Patricia, Tatiana and Monica, then we picked up two French Canadians, father and son, Serge and Daniel, then a Peruvian couple,Pily and Christian from Lima, along with Renata a Brazilian girl. We then drove for about 2 and a half hours to the Starting point just outside a town called Allayantayambo (great name). We trecked for about 3-4 hours until we made camp in a field somewhere in Peru ... A doddle !!! <br ...

... and it is well with the additional journey!<br><br>Arriving at our campsite close to 5pm, we do our best to tidy up and get dry clothes. It has now rained fairly steady for the past hour. As if camping were not inconvenient enough, it is cold, wet and we are dirty. Thankfully, there is a restaurant at this campsite, and the bulk of our group decides to head over for a cerveza before dinner. Over a few toast we compare bathroom horror stories- mine being ...

... humid green rain forest, I was amazed with just how diverse this area of the world was.<br><br>We all made our way across the bridge to the first check point, we were told that we had 2 1/2 hours to make it up to the next check point, a task that should not be a problem. It soon became apparent that the humid weather, the steep path and the heat would make this part of the trek very difficult, the entire group felt the burn as we climbed higher and higher, we ...

... cooling coud forest that looks a bit like the erie wood from The Princess Bride we settle down in the green wonder tent for an enormous feast of carbohydrates. I´m pretty much sure I can smell dinner cooking from my pits even before they begin. I haven´t washed in four days now, but at least my hands are clean before dinner. The porters are introduced with a lively applause from all and I feel humbled by their presence, These guys have made our life a luxury ...

... of this magical place. It made you want to linger and enjoy the changing light show as the sun rose to reveal more and more of the glorious scenery. <br><br>The good news about this day was that the trail was mostly downhill from here. We started at 3,600m (11,700ft) and would finish at 2,000m (6,500ft). It seemed an excellent option before we began walking because it would give my poor lungs a bit of a rest but going downhill for the next 8 hours was not to be so easy on the knees and ...

... br>The chef was awesome. Her name was Xaviera and her English was excellent. She is Peruvian but lived in Florida for the last seven years while she went to culinary school and then worked at a Mariott. She just moved back to Peru and we were her first students since she has been back. All in all, if you like cooking it was a great 5 hours or so.<br><br>Tonight we will most likely stay in since we have tons of leftovers from earlier and we are leaving tomorrow. I'm ...

... morning.<br><br>The guidebooks were correct - the airport area is fairly run down and poor. Lots of people, lots of life and vibrancy, but the buildings and roads have not been maintained and it doesn't look very safe. The hotel was decent enough, but very loud. Luckily we were extremely tired and fell asleep despite the racket. We did manage to get to the hotel restaurant before sleeping and had the same food we normally order in American Peruvian restaurants ...

... to explore WITH our guide, not on our own. Haha! Well it was too late to join them then, so we continued our own exploration of the temple on the side of the ruins that we were heading toward. We didn´t even get all the way to the verrrry top because it is off limits.<br><br>Nervous about time, we headed back down to the market and looked around for our bus. We didn´t see the bus or our group, so we decided to walk around a bit because they were ...

I´ve finally been able to upload the photos I have been accumulating since I left Cairns on 6 November last year. Most will be self-explanatory, however here is a summary of what you will find: Vistas from the Canadian Rockies; Hikes with Simon, Claudia and Bianca - and my local friends Patti and Ilona - to Pisaq, Ollantaytambo, the salt ...

... is supposed to have some kind of aphrodesiac affect. How very disturbing . . . Look out for me back in Cairns early in February. I am accelerating my Spanish lessons with the view to leaving Peru on 31 January, then travelling more-or-less directly home with overnight stops in Rome and Hong Kong. Six months overseas in less than a year is probably my limit - even the travel bug is not immortal. Wishing everyone a happy new year. Tony