Thursday 30thSeptember - Machu Picchu - At last!

Up at 4am. Very little sleep because it was freezing. Woke up to a covering of frost everywhere including tent. Said goodbye to our porters, cooks and horsemen and set off for what seemed like a leasurely 3.5 hr trek (after the last two days) down to Yanahuara where we were re-united with Charlotte who had fully recovered and made our way to Ollantayambo train station and a luxury train ride to Aguas Calientes and the last leg to Machu Picchu - Yet another boiling hot morning!

Machu Picchu - at last - what an amazing sight and what an incredable journey.

I can honestly say that this has been the most gruelling and amazing experience imaginable and following the dramas of past few days we had to leave the Machu Picchu site quicker and earlier than planned as a thunder storm broke overhead!

Would I do it again? - No!! (Well possibly - if I was 30 years younger)

Am I glad that I did it? Yes - I wouldn't have missed it for the world !!!

The whole journey from the day I made the decision to take up the challenge until the Trek itself has been amazing with the support, sponsorship and good wishes I have received from everyone and meeting my inspiring fellow trekkers. I have raised with your generosity £4,025 and collectively our party had raised a total of £186,000 for our various charities as of last week.

And Machu Picchu? - All I can say is Wow!!!!

Wednesday 29th September - Hiking up Hatun Paso Mountain

Up at 4.30am for a 7 am start to learn that Charlotte one of our leaders was suffering quite severely from altitude sickness and was to be taken back down to a lower altitude to recover. It was to be a long day as we still had 2 hrs to make up from previous day's events plus today's Trek. Another very tough trek and soon found myself struggling as before. Concern soon arose because of storm clouds gathering at the pass and a few of us agreed to ride horses to speed up progress. It seemed like a good idea but was very scary and my mule had a mind of his own and I got separated from other riders when we stopped to put on warmer clothes to deal with dropping temperature, so I rejoined walkers. Two of our party then collapsed within 10 minutes of each other from exhaustion, and whilst doctors were tending to them it started to hail and get very cold. Because of casualties the group was split into two with faster walkers going on ahead and slower walkers (which incuded me) remaining to follow on with casualties who now needed the horses as heavy cloud descended over us creating a very serious situation. We made our way forward slowly and eventually made it through the pass at 4,600 meters (15,180 ft) where the porters were waiting with hot coca tea which they had made at base camp and run up the mountain with - unbelievable !! We could hardly see each other for a while and then the mist magically cleared revealing a beautiful lake in the valley below. By the time we reached camp we had been trekking for 9.5 hrs (excluding lunch and other stops) we were exhausted and frozen as we went to bed on the coldest night yet.

Tuesday 28th September - Day 2 cont'd Lares Trail & an encounter with celebs!

Finally we begin our Trek proper and everyone is raring to go, when we encounter party of celebs trekking same route as us today. Another scorching hot morning climbing to 4,200 meters (13,860 ft) and after only 15 minutes I started to struggle. It was so hard to breath with all the exertion, but I wasn't the only one and everyone was encouraging and supporting each other as we slogged on stopping regularly to catch our breath and muster the energy to move forward. This was so much harder than I could possibly have imagined! The descent after lunch was easier on the breathing front but quite challenging underfoot. Arrived at camp at 3,900 meters (12,870 ft) after trekking for 6.5 hrs (excluding lunch & breaks).

Tuesday 28th September - Day 2 of Trek & A Hairy Bus Ride!

Up at 2 am - awoken by cooks with Coca tea and popcorn - amazing room service! It had rained during the night and a number of people woke up foating in water (I fortunately was not one of them)3 am start as the road that was closed yesterday was only open through the night and we had to get through the pass before it closed again at 7.30 am. This was the scariest drive on an unlit uneven rocky muddy road that was extremely narrow in places - not to mention the hairpin bends! We had to get off the bus a number of times to enable the bus driver to drive safely over the rocks in the road. I have never been so scared or pleased to see daylight!

Monday September 27th - Day 1 of Trek

Breakfast at 8 am and feeling acclimatised after a good night's sleep. At morning briefing advised that day's plans had changed. Because of road closure we couldn't reach beginning of Trek. Another red hot day. Drove to Moray to see ancient greenhouse circles, then on to unplanned camp site in Sacred Valley at Calco and a 3 hr Trek locally. Very basic facilities! but good food provided by camp cooks. Nice and warm in sleeping bag but didn't sleep too well!

Sunday 26th September - Acclimatisation Day

After an 11 hr flight to Sao Paulo and 4 hr flight to Lima we were up at 2 am (Trek ready) to fly 1 hr to Cusco. 44 of us in party including two leaders, 2 doctors and Skyline rep. We started our 3 hr acclimatisation trek at 3,400 meters (11,200 ft) in red hot sunshine and it wasn't long before I started to feel the effects of the altitude with nausea and a pounding headache! Alpacca on the menu for lunch. During lunch we were all invited to share our stories and motivation for making this trip - very humbling and extremely moving. I only just made it back, the walk wasn't difficult but I struggled because I felt so ill!