Once in a lifetime (Part One)

After spending a day playing volleyball and eating traditional cuisine with a community in the Sacred Valley, and an evening getting nervous and eating great veggie burgers at the simply wonderful Hearts Cafe in Ollyantambo, we were ready for the highlight of our South American trip - the famous Inca Trail to Machu Pichu. In a world first (well, sort of), we've documented the whole shebang on video for you. Techincal limitations mean you might want to whack the volume up, or put your headphones in...

Here I am, right at the start of the 42 km trek:

Six hours later, after some relatively easy-going but tiring trekking, we arrived at our first base camp. The amazing porters - who carry all food, equipment, tents and heaven knows what else - had ran past us some time ago, and set up camp for us. Here´s Louise:

Day Two of the trail is the day that, by general agreement, sorts out the wheat from the chaff. Whatever anyone may tell you (and that means you, Kate and Andy Edmunds), it´s tough. Especially in serious wind, rain and hail. Utterly knackered and in our tent at the end of a long day, here are my - not particularly well formed - thoughts:

Day three is, in every imaginable way, utterly astounding. Every corner throws up another Kodak Moment, every twist another view to die for. Here´s a suitably tongue-tied me after a few hours hike, and a night of sleep interrupted by my latest dream about Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie:

Arriving at our final camp of the trek, within spitting distance of Machu Pichu, was quite a moment. Here, Louise explains why:

Next day was Machu Pichu. We could hardly wait...

TTFN

Luke and Louise

xx