La Quinta Eco Hotel Urubamba

... was still concerned at this point about my walking pace and had taken place in front of me so that I could not go any faster than her. We arrived at some very steep steps, apprently the record for climbing them was 9 seconds, Ruth wanted to challenge this and ran up the steps in 12 seconds, very impressive and a great distraction from how I was feeling, I took my turn at climbing the steps and must have achieved a record breaking 60 seconds.<br><br>Finally we ...

... changes from excitement, elation and amazement at our collective achievement for the day, to solemn and drawn faces as we tire. We do manage to get a few hands of poker in before abandoning the mess tent to the porters who will make it their home for the night.<br><br>The plan is to continue our poker night in our tent, but this is shelved after our neighbours - a couple of Kiwis named Aaron and Fraser- discover a couple of ...

... for food and a well earned ice cold beer got the better of me. I was also running out of space on my meory card by this point and it was timne to say farewell to all to magical city. <br><br>Sure, we didn´t have sunshine and a picture perfect clear view, and we never climbed Wayna Picchu, the mountain behind, but the magical city has left an imprint on my soul that will be tattooed in my life forever. A life long dream has been accomplished..<br><br><br><br><br>

... T shirt in sweat but the rest of the group, of whom I had only lost 2, all looked extremely fresh. How could that be? Old age must have finally caught up with me. It was still dark and we were in cloud so we congratulated ourselves for arriving the previous day, for our first sight of the city, because there was no way that the city could have been seen from high up at the Sun Gate this morning.<br><br> We got our Huayna Picchu tickets and by 6.00am, when the site opened, there were ...

When asked do you want to take the bus up to machu picchu or walk from our final campsite, we bravely responded walk! as this was no time for shortcuts. The alarm clock went at 3am and we set off in the dark, fully equipped with other people´s torch lights and a snickers. Essentially this stroll takes you up about a thousand steps, and should take no longer than an hour and you leave early to beat the lazy tikes who get the bus, so you can ...

... so the Incas were quite rich. Anyway, Amy and I hiked through all of these salt pans and down the mountainside to the bottom where our driver was waiting. Much of the hike was actually on salt trails - hardened salt next to the pools.<br><br>Next we were off to Ollantaytambo, which is most famous for being the departure point for Machu Picchu. Anyone going there must catch a train in this small village. Amy and I will be headed there in a couple of days to do just that, but today we ...

... salespeople = 32! We tried grilled guinea pig (we should have gone for the more expensive roasted version), which wasn't really all that great, and my impression of it being stringy from 10 years ago was no different now, plus this time there was a rather unsavory smell. Angela was completely put off, plus my impressions of a dead guinea pig didn't really help her much either!<br><br>We were going to leave Cusco the next day, but not ...

... are both in the Rio Urubamba valley, so to get from one to the other you drive up through the river valley. The scenery is amazing, with mountains and rock canyons rising above you. Urubamba is quite spread out and there is not a lot here but it is OK to get out and look around. The scenery here is not as good as Pisac. We had overnight rain again last night. Peru is great it only ever rains at night. Being up in the mountains I for so ...

... something to think about. Today was mostly spent at the local markets stocking up on my fruit and veg supplies, but unfortunately also seeing the animals in the markets. They were immobilised the whole time, and I saw sheep with their legs tied together stacked up like blankets, and waiting to be loaded into trailers. It is not all good here in Peru. I am within cycling distance of Machu Picchu, and the long ...

... to finish the shower without too much screaming. The next morning the host attempted to change the price on us but Erin did a great job of arguing and we packed our stuff and only paid the amount we originally agreed upon. We met a lady on the street who said she had a hostel at her house so we went with her. The place looked decent and the price was right so we left our stuff and headed for church. We attended Mision America ...