Around half the world in 180 days: Spitting llamas and Inca chess

We are currently in Cusco enjoying a game of Inca chess (with Inca vs conquistadors of course) and a cup of tea after finishing the Salkantay Trek yesterday, with a background noise of fireworks which are used day and night here. It was a four day hike from Mollepata, southwest of Cusco, to Machu Picchu, with a day there before returning to Cusco.

We left Cusco at 5am on the first day and arrived in Mollepata for breakfast, meeting the other three clients and our guide, Saul, more commonly known as 'Cocaman' due to his tendency to chew large amounts of coca leaves. He is the grandson of a local shaman and his first language is Quechua, the Inca language, not Spanish. He explained the ceremony for the first coca leaves of the day, involving waving them like an ascending condor and repeating the names of local mountains. After that he offered us the option of taking a 'car' up the hill and then walking to a lake or just walking up the road. We chose the former and then learned what he meant by 'car'. After 40 minutes standing in the back of a flat deck truck up a rough road we disembarked and started walking, soon getting the first sight of the snow covered Humatay mountain. The walk up was hot and dusty but the view was amazing - 'just wait until you see Salkantay' Cocaman said. A good lunch was followed by a good lie down at our campsite at 3800m, then it was off to the lake (the name of which was too hard to remember). The walk was tough up to the lake at 4200m. Cocaman deliberately made us think it was closer than it was to make us decide to go, and we were glad he did. The lake was amazing with a full spectrum of colours, surrounded by the massive face of Humantay. We got there just as the sun was going down; other groups weren't so lucky and missed the colours. When the sun went down the temperature went from hot to cold (the only two temperature settings in the Andes) so we rushed back to camp for dinner. The meals prepared by the cook, Victoriano, were outstanding, and probably the some of the best food we've had on our trip, all immaculately presented despite the basic cooking facilities. In the evening we soaked up the view of Salkantay mountain in the dusk glow and then retired to our tent.

We were woken early on day two with the customary cups of hot coca tea, and after breakfast we were off up the valley towards Abra Salkantay (Salkantay Pass). The first part was fairly flat and straightforward, but then the going became steep, and once we passed 4400m very slow going, stopping for breath every few minutes. We were passed by numerous mule trains carrying all our and other groups camping and cooking gear across. Some mules we strangely woolly - perhaps a naughty encounter between a horse and a llama?! After walking for four hours we finally reached the pass at 4643m. The hard climb was rewarded by great views and the fatigue suddenly disappeared. The rest of the day was downhill to camp in a much less secluded campsite, complete with drunken English tourists and roosters.

Day three was a mostly flat walk through the forest. The temperature was set to 'hot' this day and it was quite hard work, made worse by aches from the climb the previous day and Dave's man-flu. After lunch, a 'car' took us to the next camp - this time it was a 10 seat minivan packed with 21 people and about a tonne of gear on the roof. We eventually made it to camp and enjoyed the usual spectacular dinner, getting to sleep to the sound of YMCA on repeat on a huge sound system.

Breakfast on day four included a large iced sponge cake (of course) then we took a properly loaded bus to the hydroelectric station, from where it was a pleasant 3 hour walk along the railway line around Machu Picchu to stay in a hotel (with shower!!) in Aguas Calientes.

The last day we got an early bus to get to Machu Picchu at just after 6am. Cocaman lost his usual composure when someone overslept, resulting in him losing our bus tickets - not a problem but he was very embarrassed! At Machu Picchu we had a tour from our illustrious guide, which in typical style was more about the links between Inca and modern Quechua culture. This was much more interesting than someone just reeling off facts about the buildings there, as other guides seemed to be doing. He explained how the old religion is still well practised in the area, before rushing off to his daughter's birthday party. The youngest member of our group asked our gude to make the llamas spit on demand; Sarah discovered they did indeed spit when she was narrowly missed by a loud projectile! We wandered around Machu Picchu and walked up to the Sun Gate, joining loads of other people sitting up there for over an hour taking in the awesome view of the area and ruins. We enjoyed looking around and the landscape was truly spectacular, but we weren't overwhelmed by the ruins. From Aguas Calientes we got a very very slow train almost to Cusco, but track work meant another hour and a half on a bus. The trek was awesome, but it was also nice to be back in Cusco.