Once in a lifetime (Part Two)

The night before the final push to Machu Pichu, and the excitement was building at camp. I was so exhausted and anxious, I paid four quid for a Coke and a Snickers.

We also figured that our loyal reader(s) might get a bit sick of our bits to camera. As a result, we extended the same courtesy - and lavish production values - to a few of our travelling companions. As such we give you, without further ado, Dave ´I´m a bloody natural at this´ Davies. Apologies to those hardy souls who didn't make the cut - it was purely a matter of bandwidth. We´ll get them up at some point, if only because Lou´s such a pro with the questions...

Next up is our favourite clip - Louise speaking to amazing porter and all-round top bloke, Rufino. Not only does he do a job that would make most men cry tears of blood and fury, but he´s also a natural on camera. Here you go:

After a short and fitfull sleep, we rose at 3am to get to the front of the queue for the final burst to Machu Pichu. Here I am, getting all Blair Witch for your benefit:

After finally getting to the sacred city, we were both so delighted, knackered and in need of sugar that we totally forgot to do a video. We were also keen to take a shed load of photos before the train loads of fat Americans, with stupid hats and even stupider questions, arrived to spoil it all. So here´s Louise a few hours after we arrived:

And that was that - there was nothing more to say. Of course, that didn´t stop us trying. So here´s Louise and I in our first, and quite possibly only, ever joint piece to camera. I´m doing the slightly less patronising Richard, Lou´s rocking a more sober Judy. Suffice to say, it´s an utter sodding shambles. Thanks to Jen for capturing it all for posterity.

And there goes our first foray into the world of video blogging. Hope you enjoyed it - it took long enough to upload...

See you in Bolivia,

Luke and Louise

xxx



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