I used to be told at work in my performance management meetings how good for me it was to be pushed out of my comfort zone to which I always replied that I was quite happy there thank you very much! Well, these last few days have definitely pushed us out of that comfortable place and down the other side of a mountain. Having said that, we had an amazing time on the Inca Trail despite Callum getting really sick with food poisoning the first night (worst possible time as the hardest day was the one to follow and I’ve really no idea how he managed it) and me having altitude sickness on day 3 which totally floored me too for 24 hours. Physically, it was undoubtedly the hardest thing we have ever done but the views and the experience was amazing.

Despite being on our own trek, we spoke to many interesting people on the way, most younger but some other oldies too. The camaraderie and generosity of the people we met was was wonderful with people sharing coca leaves, inhalers to open lungs as well as gummy sweets. The organisation of Alpaca Expeditions was great; we had a guide, Sergio, super chef, Ronnie, and 7 porters who carried 25kg on their backs along the trail past us everyday to set up camp for lunch, take it down , go past us again to set up camp again and make dinner. The wildlife wasn’t something we’d considered but in addition to the quite fantastic ruins, we spotted many humming birds, snakes, a wasp paralysed a tarantula to lay eggs inside it, so many butterflies and orchids. We were really glad to have booked a night in a hotel at the end of the trek before the rest of our tour of Machu Picchu and the climb up Huaynu Picchu. Best bed and shower ever! We had though this would be the hardest part but to actually both feel well it was a bit of a breeze😂. Hopefully, the pictures illustrate a little of our experience.