Had another 6am wake up with tea! Breakfast was porridge, spring onion & ham omlette and toast! At 7:15, we headed uphill along some very steep steps (the Inca's had a thing about steps!!). We were in the Cloud Forest and there was a white blanket covering the valley. It was quite humid here but because of the altitude, it was cold.
We walked through some Inca tunnels, cut into the rock. They were quite small (as the Incans were 1.3 to 1.6m tall) and we had to duck! This part of Peru has over 350 types of orchid so Mauro was pointing them out to us!
We passed the ruins of Phuyupatamarca (the 'town above the clouds'). The Incan's used to stop here and wash to clense themselves before they would arrive at Machu Picchu and meet their gods. We then spent the next hour and a half climbing down. I was glad of my stick as the rocks were slippery. To pass the time, Mauro kept giving us riddles to answer, which was good fun! We also had a lesson on orchids (we managed to find 9 types on our walk)!
We arrived at our campsite at 11am (we only had to walk 10km today!) We headed to the main building and had the luxury of a hot shower!! We got back and had lunch - ham & mushroom pizza, minestrone soup and chicken curry, pasta and rice!
That afteroon, we took a stroll to the nearby ruins of Wiñaywayna or 'The Temple of the Rainbow' - an Incan Temple with a settlement below it. Mauro explained to use the several meanings behind the Incan Cross and how numerology is important for them.
Back at the campsite, we were called for dinner. It is Diane's birthday tomorrow so Carlos appeared with a massive birthday cake that he'd made that afternoon (with no proper cooker)!! We were very impressed! We then had dinner - corn soup, chinese rice, potaotes, lamb with mint, beef with vegetables in a wine sauce and sweet & sour bread! Desert was a purple corn desert with caramel and apple. They followed it up with sangria!
As it was our last night, we had a ceremony with the porters. They re-introduced themselves and said that it had been a pleasure being porters for us. We also thanked them for their amazing efforts and wonderful food. We told them that they were the best porters because they managed to get to the campsites before other porters and get us the best place in the campsite! They sang a song and danced with some of us. We then sang them a song - a 4 part harmony of In The Jungle, that we'd practised early at the Temple of the Rainbow! We also gave them a tip as they'd done such a wonderful job of looking after us! We all shock hands then went to bed!
We walked through some Inca tunnels, cut into the rock. They were quite small (as the Incans were 1.3 to 1.6m tall) and we had to duck! This part of Peru has over 350 types of orchid so Mauro was pointing them out to us!We passed the ruins of Phuyupatamarca (the 'town above the clouds'). The Incan's used to stop here and wash to clense themselves before they would arrive at Machu Picchu and meet their gods. We then spent the next hour and a half climbing down. I was glad of my stick as the rocks were slippery. To pass the time, Mauro kept giving us riddles to answer, which was good fun! We also had a lesson on orchids (we managed to find 9 types on our walk)!
We arrived at our campsite at 11am (we only had to walk 10km today!) We headed to the main building and had the luxury of a hot shower!! We got back and had lunch - ham & mushroom pizza, minestrone soup and chicken curry, pasta and rice!
That afteroon, we took a stroll to the nearby ruins of Wiñaywayna or 'The Temple of the Rainbow' - an Incan Temple with a settlement below it. Mauro explained to use the several meanings behind the Incan Cross and how numerology is important for them.
Back at the campsite, we were called for dinner. It is Diane's birthday tomorrow so Carlos appeared with a massive birthday cake that he'd made that afternoon (with no proper cooker)!! We were very impressed! We then had dinner - corn soup, chinese rice, potaotes, lamb with mint, beef with vegetables in a wine sauce and sweet & sour bread! Desert was a purple corn desert with caramel and apple. They followed it up with sangria!As it was our last night, we had a ceremony with the porters. They re-introduced themselves and said that it had been a pleasure being porters for us. We also thanked them for their amazing efforts and wonderful food. We told them that they were the best porters because they managed to get to the campsites before other porters and get us the best place in the campsite! They sang a song and danced with some of us. We then sang them a song - a 4 part harmony of In The Jungle, that we'd practised early at the Temple of the Rainbow! We also gave them a tip as they'd done such a wonderful job of looking after us! We all shock hands then went to bed!
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