Coca tea, lemon drops and that little place called Machu Picchu - Peru

Ahh Peru, the home of brightly coloured market stalls, the mighty Machu Picchu, enough archeological sites to fill any itinerary, and to our surprise, even a place for a spot of surfing by the beach.

Our Peru trip started in the seaside surfers paradise of Máncora, a small town situated on the northwest coast of Peru. An impromptu flight meant we had a couple of days free (which otherwise would have been spent on buses), we chose to spend this soaking up some sun and sea, and a wise choice it was. Most of our time here was spent on the beach or on a surfboard, with the odd break to eat some locally caught fish or a bowl of cereal and some doritos for tea - although we're having a great time, we're still on a budget, and when Stefan gets the conversion rate of GBP to Peruvian Sols wrong, the 'cheap' surfing lesson we thought we had, meant we had to scrimp on dinner... It's not all plain sailing! Although not as cheap as first thought, the surfing here was amazing. The first day we continued trying to catch a wave after our instructors had left us to fend for ourselves. As the sun dropped over the horizon it was another 'pinch me' moment, sitting on a board just off the shore watching the sunset with nothing but the sound of the waves crashing, absolutely mesmerising. After two days of relaxing in Máncora it was time to head too Cusco.

I've been excited about Cusco since we decided to travel South America, I have a few family members which have been and have raved about it ever since. My mum has been banging on about the markets and the beautiful table cloths they sell since she got home over 6 years ago, her only regret? Only buying one. I didn't understand how tablecloths could provide such excitement, but then we arrived. Every street in Cusco is full of small shops and markets full of brightly coloured goods - blankets, trousers, bags, jumpers, and of course, the highly sought after tablecloth - we managed to haggle them down to a good price and pick up some goodies to take home, our first souvenir purchase!

There's a lot of sightseeing to do in Cusco, plenty of museums and archaeological sites, beautiful squares to sit and read a book (or write a blog). We didn't do as much of these as we would have liked too, but one thing we've learnt so far is that we can't fit everything in to our itinerary. As much as we love to see the sites, we also love to get a feel for the place we're staying in, meet some locals and try some traditional food. One site we did see is Cristo Blanco, this is like a mini Christ the redeemer which overlooks the whole of Cusco, a sea of orange tiled roofs. On the other side is a view of the Inka site Seqseyhumaan, or as a taxi driver told us off for saying - sexy woman. It's a fair walk up to Cristo Blanco and I don't want to down play the steepness, I know we've spoken about this in other places but once again, the altitude strikes! The only difference is in Cusco they have a remedy - coca leaves. You can chew on them or drink them in tea. A big mug of coca tea is quite the treat on an evening when Cusco becomes antarctic like, the alpaca jumpers from the markets are a definite must!

Machu Picchu:

Before leaving the UK we were keen to have our Machu Picchu trek booked and paid for, it was a weight off our mind when we knew we had a four day tour sorted to take us to this spectacular place. We booked via TourRadar on to the Inca Jungle Trail trip, four days of adventure, trekking and luckily, meeting some great people. Here's the breakdown of the tour;

Day 1 - The mini van picked us up at 6:50am in the main square in Cusco. An early start ready to head to the mountains for the first stop in Ollantaytambo, from here we drove up through the hills to reach nearly 5000m. The first activity was mountain biking. We cycled our way down through the Andes mountains, crossing streams and passing villages on the way. Next we made our way to our first nights accommodation in Santa Maria, followed by the afternoon activity of White Water Rafting on the Urumbamba river, the instructor told us the water level was relatively low, so we had grade 2+ rapids, perfect for our group of rafters, and perfect it was. We got smashed by the waves, jumped off rocks and basked in the scenery along the way. Such a good start to what would be a fantastic four days.

Day 2 - Today was a day of trekking the Inca trails. We started with an uphill climb to Monkey House, a building in the middle of a forest where the tours stop to learn about and taste some local delicacies. Paulo (our tour guide), explained about the local flora and fauna, we tried Peruvian chocolate, snake tequila, corn juice and had a go at crushing some coffee beans which would soon be roasted. After some fun dressing up and face painting we continued upward to one of the best view points on this trail, from here we see where the river carves itself through the rocks, and how the Inca trials run for miles along the sides of mountains. After some food and frozen pineapple juice along the way (delicious) we made it to the river crossing. They use the term 'cable car' to call what I can only describe as an enlarged shopping basket, two people at a time, it takes you over the river, not sure about safety but it was definitely fun! We heard that one guide had told his group you have a 50% chance of making it to the other side in the cart, think it may have been a slight exaggeration but you get the jist. We arrived to Santa Teresa and made our way to the hot springs to soothe any aches and pains, a couple of strong Pisco Sours also helped. The great thing about these tours is the people you meet, we were lucky to be put with the hilariously Irish gang of Laura, Mark and Vivienne. An evening of wine, beer and the worst game of bullsh*t ever, and day two was over.

Day 3 - Ziplining! If you ever feel a little fragile in the morning, we can assure you that a good cure is to suspend yourself upside down over a 250m drop, definitely blew away any cobwebs! After an adventurous morning we made our way to Hydroelectrica to walk the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, after 2 hours of we were so ready to stop, Stefan had a sock mishap the day before which left him with bleeding blisters, so a quiet afternoon was appreciated. Our lemon drop sweet were essential for morale today! Early to bed, we slept soundly, dreaming of the 4:15am alarm to hike up to Machu Picchu.

Day 4 - 4:15am - that annoying iPhone alarm goes off, the normal urge to snooze and go back to bed is nonexistent, today we are seeing one of the seven wonders of the world and we are raring to go, that is until we realise we've misplaced our tickets. Swear words are thrown, the blame game is in full force, and panic ensues, but lucky us they were on reception! A slightly stressful start to the day, but we make our way in the dark to hike up to the entrance to MP. On the way the smug tourists who have taken the bus up pass us multiple times, but there's nothing like hiking up through the trees as the sun rises, or at least that's what we kept telling ourselves. "We've earned this" was a common phrase as we reached the top. We met our tour guide who gave us the history of Machu Picchu, which is actually pretty unknown, we toured the buildings and the main viewing points. As Stefan's feet hadn't suffered enough, one last hike up to the Sun Gate was in order, from here you understand the blissfulness of this place, a town situated at the top of a mountain, sitting amongst bushes and wildlife, it seems odd to think how civilisation can survive up here, but utterly amazing that it can. As we sit here writing this blog, we're trying to put in to words how to express the feeling of experiencing Machu Picchu, and we're struggling. I think that conveys it well, it can't be put in to words, it's indescribable.

This tour was one of the best things we've done, not on this trip, but ever. Good adventures and great people is what makes us want to continue travelling.

One of the seven wonders of the world, I wonder how many more we'll find...

S&J