Ayacucho

We did the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu the last time we were here, and knew we weren't going to do it again so instead we decided to hike to the 'new' Machu Picchu, or Choquequirao as its known. This was just a small matter of descending 1,500m to the valley floor and then climbing 1,500m up the other side, and then the same back again!

We set off with high hopes and heavy backpacks, and soon realised this was going to be tougher than expected. The trail was really rough and loose rock, and there was little let up in the steep gradient. After a long 3 hours we reached the 'beach', but we carried on over the bridge so we didn't have the whole climb tge next day. The next 2 hours were really tough with no shade from the intense sun or the insessant sand flies. We were more than happy to stop at the first camp site, and enjoyed a refreshing shower and basked in the afternoon sun.

It rained overnight, and my 25 year old tent has seen better days but we just about stayed dry. This did delay our start a little but after another couple of hours we reached the village of Marampata, which was about the same height as we started. We set up our tent and after a quick lunch carried on up the hill to visit the lost city. Another 90 minutes later we finally reached the ceremonial plaza, and I could do little more than collapse in a heap!

After a bit of a rest I'd regained my strength and we explored the rest of the site and incredibly we were tge only people there! The highlight was the amazing llama terraces, with their 24 llamas embedded in the terrace walls on the most incredibly steep valley wall. It was so steep it was difficult to walk on the the trail down to them, so it was an incredible feat of engineering. I wish we had a little more time but we needed to get back for our cold shower before the sun set, so back we trudged to the village after a very long day in the saddle.

Unsurprisingly going down was a lot easier! Our legs we tired but our packs were much lighter so we dropped back down to the beach and headed another hour or so up the other side to another nice camping area. In the morning we demolished the last few hours of climbing and were soon on our way in Elvis back up the bumpy road.

Hot showers were desperately needed and we found the most incredible place to camp at a school for disabled kids run by a Belgium lady. The funds from camping help support this great place, and we had a fantastic place to recouperate with the most jaw dropping views of glacier covered mountains. I figure we deserved a few days of R&R, and treating ourselves to the super tasty bakery café in town.Read more