Day 3 - Machu Picchu

Today was our relaxed day before we tackle Machu Picchu. Breakfast wasn't until 8am so we had a lie in which would have been amazing had some marching bands not started practising at 5:30am. I mean seriously, these things follow us everywhere!

Our morning activity was zip lining which we were both looking forward to. Only 4 of the group braved this though, us, Lukas and the 47 year old Chilean lady. We were very impressed especially as her son and daughter in law sat this one out!

There were 5 zip lines in total and a bridge that you had to walk across. The first zip line was the 'practice' one as it was one of the shortest. We watched the people in front of us whizz down at super fast speeds and started to get a little nervous. It was really fun though! The second zip line was longer so you had to go across in pairs so that you didn't get stuck in the middle. I was in front so had to hold my arms out to help slow us down whilst Simon had to be the brake which meant he had to put one of his hands on the wire behind us to help slow us down (we had very thick gloves on). Now the third one was the scariest of all. People had mentioned that you had to go upside down on one of them however I hadn't really thought about what upside down actually meant until I saw someone in front of us going down looking like they were hanging from their feet! I was thinking that there is no way that I am going to do that! I manned up and did it though. The scariest bit is when they flip you in the first place before they send you down the line. When you get in the middle though you relax and enjoy it. It felt like it was really long too as you couldn't see where you were going. When I reached the other side, the guy ninja flipped me over on to my feet which was very impressive!

Before the forth zip line we had to tackle the bridge which is Simons worst nightmare! There were huge gaps between the wooden slats and it was pretty wobbly! He manned up though and walked across. In the middle, the photographer stops you and asks you to pose for pictures, taking your hands off and sitting down. Simon politely told the man that there was no way on this planet that he was taking his hands off and clung on for dear life! The go pro footage most definitely needs to be censored!

For the forth zip line the guide asked for someone to go first. It looked relatively short in comparison to the other ones and I was stood near him so I volunteered. I was harnessed in and ready to go when he said 'spinning' and spun me round and pushed me off! I was not expecting that!

The fifth and final zip line was called the big daddy and the longest one yet. Our harnesses were taken off and turned around as we were doing the superman on this one so suspended from our backs! It was a bit scary to start with but was definitely my favourite.

Our activity for the afternoon was a relatively short 3 hour hike so we jumped in the mini bus and headed off to the starting point. We only had 40 minutes of hiking (of which only 7 were uphill although it was very steep!) before we would be stopping for lunch which was good. En route we stopped off at an Incan sundial that also doubled up as a sacrifice table, of which there is apparently one exactly the same directly East on Machu Picchu. From here we could also catch our first glimpse of Machu Picchu in the distance.

After lunch we walked alongside the train tracks which was really pretty, catching glimpses of Machu Picchu every now and then. Eventually we arrived in Aguas Calientes which would be our home for the night. For 5 soles (£1.20) you could pay for your bag to be sent to the hostel via taxi so that you didn't have to carry it which me and Si obviously did! We had to wait another hour or so for our bag to arrive so we went for a wander around the town to pick up some snacks for the next day as the tour wouldn't be providing anymore food. When our bags arrived I took what may have been the best shower ever! Unlike the rest of our Machu Picchu trip it was consistently hot and powerful! My body was feeling very sore so it was amazing!

We went out for dinner in the evening which was very nice and JC handed out our Machu Picchu tickets and briefed us on how things were going to work for our final day.Read more