Iguazu Falls

After Salta, Lyds and I took a 24 hour busride across the country to the town of Iguazu. This little town is in the northeast corner of the country where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina's borders all meet at the river Iguazu. The big draw for us here was a visit to the magnificent Iguazu Falls (or Cataratas del Iguazu in Espanol).

The falls divide the upper and lower Iguazu and consist of about 275 falls in total, varying in heights, up to around 80 metres. Two thirds of the falls are on the Argentinian side which worked well for us, because that's where we were !!

I have to say, the Argentinans have done a superb job with the amount of trails, paths and walkways around the falls. You can get suprisingly close to the falls at a number of spots and are able to admire them from many different angles. Close to the falls there are also very few touristy type buildings (such as kiosks, shops etc.) that would clutter the view. It really makes you feel as though you are truly in the wilderness seeing how these falls probably looked like when they were first discovered. It contrasts significanly with the Niagra Falls, which although on their own are impressive, they are ruined by the surrounding tacky hotels, roads and even Casinos on both the Canadian and US sides.

We got lucky and had a superb weather day which didn't hurt. We ended up spending almost the whole day visitng the falls and even taking in a quick little speedboat road which got very up close and personal with the falls, resulting in a couple of extremely wet Vargos !!

All in a great day as the photos below will attest to.

If you can´t see them properly than click on the link here - Iguazu Falls

Quick sidenote: While here we picked up our Brazilian Visa. We had heard that if you apply at the Brazilian embassy in Buenos Airies, or other cities you can expect to wait two days and are required to show all sorts of information such as ... proof that you have a ticket out of Brazil (not something you want to buy without a visa), yellow fever shots, sufficient money to support yourself(including bank statements), passport photos blah, blah, blah.

Not so in Iguazu. We had to fill in a form, get a passport photo and one hour later we had our Visa....that was it !!! The guy at the desk was so helpful he basically filled in half our form for us.

Next stop...Rio !!

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile & Salta, Argentina

Our salt flat tour came to an end in the cute little town of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, just over the border from Bolivia. Even though San Pedro is quite a little tourist hub with all the Salt flat tours beginning & ending here, we hit a snag on arrival to discover that there were only two buses a week leaving for our next destination (Salta,Argentina). As a result Doug and I were forced to spend 5 days catching up on some much needed R&R in the beautiful, sunny desert...yes life is sooo hard. The delay however, did allow us to meet up again for the 3rd time with our friends Anthea and Scott, who had been on a Salt flats tour as well, two days behind ours.

We made the most of our time in San Pedro enjoying some delicious Chilean food and wine. A fine change from the fare offered in Bolivia. We also took in a couple of great little tours. We had heard good things about a star gazing tour offered by a Parisian man, Alain (an engineer in astronomy), who has a number of large telescopes in his backyard and together with his wife, held educational tours. We were thrilled to see that on our chosen night there wasn´t a cloud in the sky, and almost a perfectly full moon. Great for looking at the nights sky....or though we had thought. Obviously, the darker the sky, the better the viewing. Not great for seeing the hundreds of thousands of stars in our Universe, but perfect for taking some superb full moon photos through one of the telescopes. Despite the bright moon, we still saw a ton and we returned from the tour feeling quite a lot more educated in the world of astronomy.

One fact that was particularly humorous to me as the only Canadian in our group of four (Anthea and Scott are also from Oz), was when Alain described how different countries called various constellations by different names. While other world countries might name certain star constellations things like....¨Scorpius¨ and ¨Canis Major¨, the Australian names are....¨The saucepan¨ and ¨The shopping trolley¨. Very creative. Doug was especially proud, claiming that the Aussie way makes it a lot easier for everyone to appreciate and actually see the patterns (instead of pretending they can) as they are all so obvious. Nice one.

The next tour we did was to the nearby `Valley of the moon´. This was a fascinating place in the nearby desert with numberous stone and sand formations created through the centuries by ancient lakes, rivers and wind giving it an extraordinary color and texture, similar to the surface of the moon. The four of us were able to sit at the top of a sand dune in the valley as the sun went down and witness the incredible change of colors that came through the different rock formations as the light changed. Stunning.

Here are some photos from our time in San Pedro and Salta...

As always, click here if you can´t see the album San Pedro&Salta

Our next stop was Salta, Argentina where the four of us spent a glorious three days eating juicy steaks and drinking beautiful bottles of wine. Any extra pounds shed during our Macchu Piccu trek were more than made up for in our time in Salta. Great week or so with Scott and Anthea whom we look forward to catching up with again in the beautiful Buenos Aires.

The Salars de Uyuni- Bolivia

After our quick jaunt in Sucre it was off to Uyuni. We had heard so many good things about the 3 day, 2 night 4wd tours from Southern Bolivia into Northern Chile that we just had to check it out for ourselves. The bus ride itself from Sucre to Uyuni was surprisingly an incredible 7 hour ride that featured a beautiful desert plain; small gorges and valleys; colourful and interesting rock formations; and an absolute ton of Llamas....or Alpacas (we still can´t tell the difference).

Before we got to Uyuni, we had already decided on our preferred hotel and tour company - Colque. Wouldn´t you know it, the second we got off the bus we were approached by an agent from Colque tours who immediately launched into her spiel about why they were the best, etc. etc... Well, Lyds and I were quickly on the same page and performed the usual ¨not interested/maybe we´ll check out some other companies first¨ act. It worked nicely and we soon got the agent to lower the standard tour price and pay for half of our hotel cost in Uyuni that night as well !!

The next morning at breakfast we met a great Isreali couple (Yeho and Ira) who just so happened to be going with Colque as well. The company continued to bend over backward for us in the morning, letting us choose our group and the driver we wanted to go with....we were offered the young fun driver (Elias) or the old and apparently boring one....hmmm tough choice !!

At 11am, together with two more Isreali girls - Mayan and Prital, we were off. First stop out of town was the large and eerie train cemetary....basically just a collection old rusty trains, but a great place for a few photos.

Then we were quickly out into the Salar de Uyuni...the World´s largest Salt Flat. The Salt flats are incredible and in no time, it´s white salt as far as the eye can see. On the standard tour they certainly pack in a lot of sites to visit. On day one, we visited the small town of Colchani (a salt processing village), a Hotel made of Salt in the middle of nowhere and had lunch at the Cacti covered Island of Incahuasi (also called Fish Island). We had a 2 hour break after lunch to go crazy and take a bunch of photos on the Salt Flats. Mayan and Prital had come armed with a bunch of props that allowed us to have a lot of fun out there and if you check out the gallery below you´ll see why.

At night we ended up in the tiny town of Chuvica. Colque actually owns their own hotel there, which was suprising nice. So while we were treated to a night of great food, hot showers and comfy beds, we watched other tour operators arriving into the village and heading off to their very, very basic mud shack accomodations.

The next day included hours of driving through an incredibly vast desert. We visited a number of interesting Lagunas of different colours (depending on the minerals at their base), saw numerous Volcanos, saw a ¨Rock tree¨ and quite a lot of Flamingos !!

Day 3 was an early 4am start in order to see sunset rise over the Sol de Manana geysers...a truely beuatiful site (again check out the pics below!!!). Despite the sub zero morning temperatures, Lyds and I enjoyed a great dip at our next stop...the Laguna Polques hot springs where the water temperature was a balmy 33 degrees. After a trip to the Laguna Verde and Laguna Blanca we had a nice brekkie and then took a short trip to the Chilean border where our tour ended.

All in all, it was a fast, furious but incredible 3 day tour. We are now chilling in the Oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. There´s only 3 buses a week to our next destination (Salta in Argentina), so we are just going to enjoy the 30+ heat and top uo the tan for a few days !!

Here´s a slideshow if our amazing trip....


If you can´t see them properly than click on the link here - SalarsDeUyuni

A quick trip to Sucre, Bolivia

Wanting to break up our trip between La Paz to Uyuni, we decided to do a quick stop over in Sucre. Located in the heart of Bolivia, Sucre is a beautiful little colonial city and apparently known as the “Jewel of South America¨. I don´t know if we would have called it that ourselves, but it certainly was a nice clean little town. A pleasant break from the hustle and bustle of busy, crazy, polluted La Paz.

We took some leisurely strolls through the old town part of the city, which is a collection of well-conserved buildings from the 18th and 19th century. It was of little surprise to us to find out that Sucre is yet another in a line of UNESCO World Heritage Sites that we have visited.

We decided to only spend a day and a half there but we still took the time to go on a unique little tour....Just on the outskirts of Sucre are a large collection of Dinosaur Tracks (called - Cal Orck’o). They were discovered in an active limestone quarry in 1994 and I´m pretty sure that the Sucre government began building a tourist site there about a month later !!

I have to admit though, it was impressive...this site is reportedly the largest collection of dinosaur tracks in the world with the footprints belonging to a staggering variety of dinosaurs (over 330 species) !!

Unfortunately to protect the tracks we weren´t allowed to get very close, so to ensure that us tourists don´t get completely bored just staring at a large wall, in the surrounding park area they have constructed a number of life sized dinosaurs who walked the tracks. Some were massive and quite impressive.

A great little sidetrack before heading off to Uyuni the next morning bright and early !!

Here´s a little slideshow of our time in Sucre....

If you can´t see them properly than click on the link here - Sucre

World´s Most Dangerous Road - La Paz, Bolivia

I am happy to be sitting safely at a computer as I write this blog entry...our biking adventure down the Bolivian Death Road, or Road of Death, or World´s Most Dangerous road...take your pick!

Now having my kneecap chipped off in a biking accident when I was younger doesn´t exactly make me the most avid biker, so you can imagine the research and planning that brought Doug and I to the top of the Bolivian Andes at 4,700 meters on a rainy Thursday morning - ready for a 6 hour downhill plunge!

After some great references we settled on a company called Downhill Madness, who in our opinion had the safest and most top-of-the-line bikes (Rocky Mountain Bikes - Canadian made...all the better) and equipment, with full head and body gear to prep us for the trip. All geared up, it was hard not to feel confident as we readied ourselves for the Death Road.

Starting high at La Cumbre peak, the steep and bumpy La Paz-to-Coroico road plunges down almost 3,600 meters on its spectacular 64-km path to the lush, sub-tropical Yungas and the sleepy town of Coroico. The narr... occasionally very narrow...track hugs the walls of the sheer valley as it snakes its way beneath waterfalls and rocky overhangs.

At the top, our guides Marc and Roberto distributed our mountain bikes, got us to do a few quick circles to familiarize ourselves with the equipment, gave us some quick words of advice...and we were off.

Though our bikes had 12 gears, Marc directed us to ignore them and "Get into high gear and leave it there." Almost immediately, we were able to appreciate the wisdom of this advice. Pulled by gravity, we flew downhill over the beautifully smooth tarmac. Even riders like myself, who haven't ridden in years, were reaching tear-streaming speeds of almost 70km/hr with virtually no effort at all.

With Marc in front, Roberto behind, and our support crew of Alberto and Phillipe in the minivan & accompanying truck, we felt fully supported and comfortable to go at whatever speed we deemed appropriate. Doug, our friend Mariem, and myself seemed to be among the faster group (Yes Doug, you were first the entiretime) and so the group naturally divided into those who were comfortable going a bit faster, and those who liked to trail behind....sometimes WAY behind.

At first, we encountered almost no traffic, and for several glorious kilometers, we raced along at what we are sure is top speed. After 15km of effortless downhill gliding, slowing only occasionally to wipe the rain from our eyes and sunglasses, we shot through a tunnel and emerged at the Unduavi checkpoint where the hard part began, two lonnnnng uphill stretches. Marc admited that although fully acclimatized with hundreds of trips under his belt, he still struggles on the climbs. "At over 3,000 meters, there just isn't enough oxygen," he explained... I agreed!

After about 20km, the pavement ended and a gravel track began...the beginning of the World´s Most Dangerous road. Before we began we were careful to take a moment to look out at a gorgeous Valley...or so we were told it was, as our group of 12 stared longingly out at a huge wall of FOG.

Unfortunately the weather was not with us on our chosen day. We were warned that the first two hours would be rainy and cold, but that it would soon clear up to some magnificent views...and heat. Unfortunately not for us. Marc however made us all feel much better as we looked out at nothingness and he said: "Well in all the time I have been doing this run I have never seen it this bad...hopefully it will clear up further down the mountain."

That turned out to be the first of many such statements. By the fourth hour we had all came to terms with the fact that our day was "special", and only we would ride from tip to valley in miserable weather. It did eventually clear up which was nice...unfortunately not until the ultimate hour. It sure was nice to feel the heat slowly dry up our soaking feet and clothing at the end of the day.

Anyway, as we began the "official" death road part of our trip, Marc gave us some final words of advice on how to survive. He told us that on this section of the road normal Bolivian rules of passing don't apply. Normally, vehicles pass on the left. Not here though. On this section, the vehicle with the driver's seat closest to the edge passes on the left. The reason: the driver on the left can best see how close his tires are to an extremly large death plunge. Mark told us to ride our bikes on the left-hand tire track. This, he claimed, would put us a good meter or so from the edge. "Don't go closer to the edge unless something comes the other way," he told us in all seriousness.

"No way," I thought to myself. "I'm riding on the right, and if anything comes the other way, I'll squeeze up against the rock face." My reasoning seemed sane enough: I can scrape myself off the rock wall, but if anything goes wrong on the left side... it would be curtains!!

The road is bascially a steep downhill run almost the whole way. Travelling on loose gravel made the road significantly more hazardous, and we all made a noticeable change to our speed, taking the turns and narrow sections verrry cautiously.

Countless times I actually thought it fortunate that we had such bad visibility. My resoning;
A) We could not see over the edge of the cliff to the intimidating valley below
and...
B) I would not have been able to see anything anyways, as my focus was so intent on the bike & the path ahead (The glass is always half full with the Vargos)

Even though the weather wasn´t fantastic, we did manage to see some amazing sites and experience some once in a lifetime adventures..ie: riding through waterfalls and over rivers. We all finished feeling exhilarated and proud of ourselves...not to mention intact.

For those of you who have never heard of the World´s Most Dangerous road, and certainly why it is named so...Yungas (it´s official name) is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon Forest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. Due to the extreme dropoffs up to 2,000 feet, single-lane width, and lack of guardrails, the road can be extremely dangerous. Further still, rain and fog can make visibility precarious, the road surface muddy, and loosen rocks from the hillsides above. On July 23rd, 1984, a bus veered off the Yungas Road and into a canyon, killing more than 100 passengers in what is said to be Bolivia's worst road accident. It has since been dubbed ¨The World´s most dangerous road¨.

There is now a replacement road for all cars to use which makes the old road much safer and mainly a tourist biking path. There is no denying that this road is dangerous and the stories we heard along the way certainly back that up, however I want to stress to anyone considering doing the trek (and my mother who´s blood pressure I know spiked when she heard we had done it) that it is indeed safe for those who are careful, controlled, and are willing to pay a bit extra for better equipment.

Doug and I enjoyed every minute of the day....as I am sure these photos & videos will attest to. (especially if you forget the rain and fog, and imagine big smiles beneath our helmets!

If you can´t see them properly than click on the link here - World´s most dangerous road

Copacabana & Lake Titicaca- Bolivia

With just weeks left in our tour, Doug and I decided not to waste any time after our Machu Picchu trip and got straight on a night bus to Copacabana, Bolivia with our friend Mariem. Copacabana is a little town on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca (Titi-Puma, Kaka-rock), one of the World´s highest lakes (at around 3,800m).

After a quick and easy border crossing, we arrived in Copacabana at about 9am in the morning and quickly booked a little afternoon boat tour to the nearby Isla del Sol for that afternoon. The tour itself consisted of a 1.5hr boat crossing of Lake Titicaca, followed by an hour or so tour of Isla del Sol. One of our first stops on the tour was a natural three-spring fountain where the locals believe that if you drink from the appropriate stream you can be granted love, health, or youth. We all quickly sipped from the fountain of youth, with an extra swallow from the fountain of love for Mariem. Not being in the least bit superstitious, it was still nice to drink some crisp spring water after hiking up about 500 stairs to the fountain.

The tour itself was quick and full of interesting stories of the Inka people who once lived there, and the agriculture and lifestyle of the locals at present.

We were back in Copacabana by 6pm, in time to enjoy a nice meal of trout (Lake Titicaca is known for it), enjoyed some live local music, and hit bed early for some much needed catch-up sleep. A nice little stop over on the way into La Paz.

Here´s some pictures from our visit...

If you can´t see them properly than click on the link here - Copacobana

Machu Picchu

So after 4 seriously long days of trekking we still had a bit more to reach our goal....the mighty Machu Picchu ¨the Lost City of the Incas¨.

From the nearby town of Agua Calientes, there are two ways up to the ruins of Machu Picchu - a) The easy half hour bus ride (with the first bus going up at around 5.40am); or b) the hard way, involving a 45-60 minute hike straight up from the valley floor. This method allows you to leave whenever you want in the morning in order to beat the first bus and get into Machu Picchu first when it opens at 6am. Well, we of course were the ¨winners¨ group so there was no other choice than the hike for us.

Our wake up call at 3.30am would have normally been painful, but our excitement levels were high. After a quick brekkie, we headed out into the dark at around 4.30am. The pace was brisk as we were all determined to be the first people up there. At over 2,000metres above sea level and the fact that the hike involved about 1,000 steps straight up....it was tough. For those in Vancouver...imagine the Grouse Grind, but a little steeper, but thankfully a little shorter. Despite 4 days of muscle pain, I put it aside to surge away from our group, determined to get up there first (no surprises there). Things were looking good all the way up to the 3/4 mark when I started to see a flashlight below me getting closer and closer with each step I took. Turns out it was Rob from our group. He quickly left me in his shadow as he flew past me to take the line honours. Bugger! He´s a consistent Triathaloner back in the US, so I took some solice in that, and the fact that we´d both smoked the ¨45-60 minute¨walk in just a tick over 30 minutes!! We were officially No.4 and No.5 to the peak. We found out that the 3 guys in front left a good 30 minutes before us.... so we felt pretty good about that. Lyds cruised in soon after and was also pretty stoked with her time!

As the 6am opening time arrived, our whole group had conquered the mountain, were well rested and ready to get inside. Despite the fact that it was rainy season AND our guide for the day had warned us the night before that it had been raining every morning for the past 2 weeks, we were blessed with an incredible day. As the sun began to rise we could see a tonne of blue sky determined to poke through the rising clouds.

This is when things got a bit controversial. Our guide ¨Micheal Angelo¨ (supposed real name), had told us the night before that he would be on the first bus up. No problems....except that he lied. Shame MA, shame. So there we stood, painfully at the gates as 3 busloads of lazy buggers waltzed into Machu Picchu ahead of us before our guide finally showed up on bus number 4. THEN he informed us that he was waiting for some more people to join our group before we started, so it would be a little bit longer. Grrrrrrrrr. As a couple more buses came and poured out more tourists ahead of us, old Micky Angel wisely assessed that there was some tension building up in the group and made an alternative arrangement to just meet us inside later. Wise decision mate.....so we were off.

Another short (and super fast) climb inside and we reached the ¨Watchtower¨ which gives the classic photo view of Machu Picchu. To say we were all awestruck as we stood gazing down would be an understatement. Conditions were ideal. All week I was talking about wanting a photo that wasn´t perfectly clear and sunny but had a few clouds drifting past to maintain a bit of an eery feeling....Well HELLO, I could not have scripted it better. With the sun rising through the clouds, a crisp chill in the air, the 'serenity' was amazing. Mikey was quick to coin the phrase ¨it´s impossible to take a bad photo¨ today, and he was right. As we stood there madly snapping away, the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we really got to see Machu Picchu in all its glory.

...and wouldn´t you know it, 30 minutes later when our guide finally arrived to start the tour, the clouds had come back and you could barely see the ruins....Classic. We felt a little (only a little) sad for those doing the offical Inca Tour (shorter, easier, more expensive) who generally don´t cruise into Machu Picchu until around 7.30am. By then the clouds had well and truely taken over.

The 2 hour tour we had was fantastic and very informative. MA knew his stuff and gave us lots of great little tibits of information along the way. He certainly had no love lost for the American Explorer Hiram Bingham who re-discovered Machu Picchu in 1911. Bingham ¨borrowed¨about 5,000 artifacts for Yale Uni of which very few have yet to be returned. After our tour our climbing wasn´t over yet. We headed over to the other side of the ruinds for another 30 minute climb up Hyuana Picchu. This mountain gives the opposite view of the ruins and from a greater height - Spectacular !!

By midday the rain began to roll in, we were all well and truly stuffed, tired and hungry. So after a fantastically long morning we headed back down to Aguas Calientes for a huge buffet lunch, some well deserved bevvies and a little rest before our train ride back to Cuzco. Overall an amazing climax to what was no doubt the highlight of our 9 months of travelling to date.

Here is an album of our trip to Machu Picchu.

If you can´t see them properly than click on the link here - Machu Picchu

Cuzco and the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu

Being on the road for nearly 9 months now, Doug and I have seen and experienced many incredible things. Machu Picchu for us however was one of the most anticipated adventures of our trip. We were not disappointed!

We arrived in Cuzco hoping for a few days of R&R to acclimatize to the altitude before our long trek to the ancient Inca ruins. R&R proved to be a bit difficult however as Cuzco became a reunion of sorts for us and we met up with friends from our past travels... Anthea and Scott from our Belize boat cruise, and Mariem from our time at the orphanage. For three days we ate, drank, and caught up on what we had all been up to the past four months. Great to see such familiar faces!

In true Doug&Lydia style we of course did not book our Machu Picchu trek ahead of time, and were genuinely shocked when we found out the Inca trail was full for the month. Que pasa con eso? After a bit of research, we were happy to learn though that our 2nd best (but still very good option) the Salkantay (i.e: Savage Mountain) Trek was available. Good friends Matty, Pumps, Bobby and Jules had done the same trek 2 years ago and had given in glowing reports. We booked through the same company they used, and were stoked to find out that it was less than half the price on the Inca Trail !! This despite the fact that that trek itself is a day longer and nearly double the distance in walking and difficulty (at least that is what we like to tell ourselves). Good times!

The first morning of our trek we were picked up at our hostel at 4:30am and dropped at a local bus station where we were introduced to our travel buddies for the week. Our group was a good mix with Bevan and Donna from New Zealand, Ken and Rob from the States, and Mike and Mikey from Oz. (Colombians Richard and Lorena joined us the following day). Our guide Wilson was great and kept us entertained throughout the week with his attempts at Aussie slang (that he´d obviously picked up from many tours with Aussies) and bizarre riddles.

After a crowded local 3 hour chicken bus ride to our starting point Mollepata, we enjoyed a quick breakfast before setting off for our first of five days of hiking. We were all in great spirits as we got to know each other. The walk was all the better as we all seemed to be well matched in our speed and fitness levels. Overall, the first day was tough with some steep uphill climbs, however the views more than made up for it. By lunch time we were all pretty tired, but after a great pasta lunch we set out again for another 4-5 hours of hiking. By about 5:30pm we strolled into our first camp site Soraypampa (3850 mts above sea level). As the sun went down, it wasn´t long before the temperature had dropped to -10C. Not a very warm night, and unfortunately when the rain started, not a very dry one either. Luckily Doug and I only had damp feet, while some of the boys enjoyed little sleep as the puddles multiplied on their tent floor.

The next day we woke to a beautiful clear day with a fresh blanket of snow on the surrounding mountains. At around 7:30am we set out on what was to be the most challenging day of our trek. With freezing weather & thinning air, we had a 3 hour climb straight up to the (4600mts) pass between Salkantay and its brother mountain Huamantay. It was extremely tough and we all breathed a big (and deep) sigh of relief when we finally reached the top having climbed 1,100 metres.

Feeling proud of ourselves and knowing the worst was over, we continued our hike down the mountain to where our lunch was being served. That is when it started to rain. Being told by Wilson that we only had an hour more before lunch we pushed our way from one mountain to another at a very good pace. It soon became obvious however that there are two types of time on Salkantay..."real time" and "Wilson time". 2.5 hours later we arrived at our lunch site freezing and famished. Needless to say our lunch that day was hardly tasted as we gulped it down with barely a breath.

We reached our campsite (Chaullay 2920 mts) that night around 6pm, a beautiful valley and much warmer given we were close to the cloud forest jungle. After roughly 10 hours of walking, and approx 18 km (1,100m up and 1,700m down) we relaxed with a few beers and a hot meal.

The third day began with a 6 hour walk through the jungle, following the sacred river until we reached a cute little community town of Wiñaypoq'o, where we stopped for lunch. This was to be the easiest day as far as the hiking was concerned. After lunch we all climbed aboard a local bus and headed to Santa Teresa (1650 mts), a two hour bus ride away and where we were to set up camp. That night was a celebration of sorts as the hardest days were over, and we partook in a special meal and plenty of vino tinto.

Early on the fourth day we awoke to a beautiful sunny day and began our 7 hour hike with a cable crossing "Oroya" over the local river. Quite the adrenaline rush as we piled into a little basket three at a time and were sent flying over the raging river below. Needless to say we all crossed safely, and were happy to resume the rest of the journey on foot. This last full day of hiking was mainly spent on a windy mountainous road, followed by 3 or 4 hours hike along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes (the village at the base of Machu Picchu) our destination for the night.

Tired and sore we headed straight to the hot springs of Aguas Calientes where we eased our aching muscles with a very hot natural bath and a very cold beer. A superb and relaxing end to 4 days of solid hiking. It is here that we also met up with our friend Mariem who was going to join us for the last day of our tour...Machu Picchu - One of the new 7 wonders of the world!!!!

Here is the fantastic photos of our great trek....

If you can´t see them properly than click on the link here - Cuzco and the Salkantay Trek