The Inca Trail

I had a fantastic last few weeks in Peru. Cusco was a brilliant town to explore with stunning buildings on the main square; huge churches and cathedrals made out of red stone. The city was founded by the Incas and there is a lot of evidence of this in the buildings and walls, it was really a fascinating place to just walk around.

Cusco is in an area of Peru called the Sacred Valley which has lots of other towns and villages linked to the Incas. I visited a small town there called Pisac, the local market was big with lots of different produce; people were selling everything from wool dye, vegetables, arts and crafts, to jewelry. So many sights and smells!

The Inca Trail itself lasted 4 days and 3 nights. It was pretty hard going, you walk about 26 miles in 3 days and you are very high up so it is hard to get your breath. It is so high you are walking in the clouds sometimes! The trail has lots of steep steps up and down which had been built by the Incas, carved out of the stone in the ground. It is a beautiful trek, with waterfalls and lots of lush green trees.

There were 15 people in my group and they were all great people. You eat breakfast in the morning, then walk many miles, stop for a big lunch then walk more miles to the campsite where you have dinner. At night you sleep in tents. These very strong Peruvian men carry all the tents and food etc from one place to another each day, they are incredible!

On the morning of the 4th day you wake very early, 4am, and walk the last few miles to the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu. It is truly amazing, a wee city built in the mountains. The Incas lived there over 500 years ago, when their civilisation fell Machu Picchu became covered by grass and trees. In 1911 it was re-discovered by an American called Bingham and now many people go every day to see it. It is a wonderful experience to explore all the buildings made in stone and think about the people who built them and lived there so many years ago.

After the trek I travelled to the capital of Peru, Lima, which is a huge city. I was there very briefly before I flew to Panama which is a country in Central America. It is very different here, the weather is hot and it is not such a historical country as Peru or Bolivia but the people are very friendly. It has the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Caribbean on the other. The country grows a lot of bananas and also coffee. I will now start travelling through Central America to Mexico, where there are also a lot of historical ruins but this time built by the Mayan civilisation. I am sure there will be lots to see along the way!