Machu Picchu

Hola, 

                 So Jess and I did the Inca Jungle Trek- which is 4 days, 3 nights with food/accommodation included. We were supposed to have been picked up at 8:30am however our tour forgot us and had to turn around - but it all worked out in the end. 

The first day was a bike ride down the side of the mountain with views like below picture. Really fun for the first half an hour until it started to pour down rain- which made it more 'I want to get back in the bus and look at the views.'

The second day was a trek up to Saint Teresa which was 8 hours, and not nearly as hard as the Colca Canyon last day. We had a range of different breaks, one of which was a store that sold natural made chocolate with honey for 5/s. During the hike our guild told us a range of different facts about the jungle, which plants used for what, what foods can be found and how often the coca leaf plants get harvested, also he told us how they make cocaine from them. 

We tried pure coco bean, termites, avocado, tomato, trumpet tea, mandarin and some edible flowers.

At the end of the hike, we got to relax in the hot springs for an hour and then we all played cards and crashed. 

The third day hike was boring, 3 hours straight path to Aquas Caliente- however our group broke it up by going to swim under the bridge for an hour. The hostel we got to was a dorm, and so the others in the tour group complained as that wasn't what was promised - we ended up getting a private bathroom/bedroom combo. 

You can take a bus up to Machu Picchu, however we all decided to walk up which was hard but not any harder than the previous walks. It was Election Day in Peru so we luckily only had 700 people instead of the usual 3500+. 

Honestly, it was so amazing. It really is one of the most amazing sights- just the sheer volume and mass, how they managed to build it with such precision and have it stand for so long untouched. 

Jess had a tour guild contact in Cusco who we met there and he was telling us it might actually close in the next 5-10 years as every month it drops 1cm due to the volume of traffic. 

Sorry for lack of posts, Peru has been amazing. We stayed in Cusco for 2 weeks because we loved the hostel and people we met. Currently in La Paz, Bolivia with Jess and then Arby, Craig, Sheldon, Nina, Sydney and Evan who we met at the hostel in Cusco and have the same travel plans for a while. 

I'll be leaving Jess in a month because I want to go up north to Ecuador / Columbia and she wants to do Argentina. 

Thanks for the emails, will try keep you more posted. Staying safe, getting kind of decent at Spanish. 

Miss you 

xx