Today we covered old ground, back to Ollantaytambo from Cusco to get the train to Agus Calientes , the closest “town” or point to Machu Picchu. From there it’s a 25 min bus ride up to the site ..

In recent years it’s been highly regulated, the number of visitors allowed each day is capped. You have to do a certain time and you have to do all that timing your arrival and departure with the trains which can often get full. Put simply it’s a logistical challenge, but as we are with Intrepid it’s all taken care of. They’ve got us here in a lovely hotel and we will get up early in the morning, and our “leader” will coordinate everything for us. Love it.

But first we have to get here, another stunning clear day with incredible mountain views. And we arrived. Ushered through seamlessly to a waiting room and then it started.

The first clue was a band playing on the platform. Ok. So be it. Probably a busker I’m thinking and then the train arrives.

So on we get, plush seats, all very organised, and we are off.

It’s important to note here that the scenery is absolutely stunning. Next level stunning. Snow capped mountains, glaciers, a stunning river on one side, your passing farmers , live stock , wait , is that a waterfall coming off a glacier. I mean it’s that next level. So they’re well ahead of your average train journey.. but things were only getting started.

Firstly we are all presented with a wee herb bouquet, rosemary , sage and some local herbs.

And then the “included” food cart arrives , bespoke cookies, iced tea anyone ? Let me give you some chocolate while I’m here.

Why thank you, wait what are we passing now, was that another waterfall? How can I be focused on a cookie with such splendour going by ?

And lo and behold , there is an Incan blessing with coco leaves..

This bit was a bit performative for my liking , but still interesting enough. Followed by being spritzed with something that resembled poppers near the end.

So that must be it right .. no.

Off to the open cart for the band who are hitting their stride and yes there is dancing too

All in all it was the most surprising train trip I have ever taken. All up about 1hour 40 minutes of sensory overload.

We arrived, checked into our hotel ( best yet on tour by long way) and we went for a walk to explore this tiny town hemmed in by soaring mountains ..

Here’s the view from the hotel

It’s an odd town. Welcoming in thousands each day for maximum of one night , then the next load come in. Packed with souvenir shops , eateries and bars. In this absolutely stunning environment.

And of course this is all preparation for one of this trips highlights which will be Machu Picchu in about seven- eight hours time. So I’m going to post this and get some sleep. Excited! Bit of a bucket list item this one.

Gosh this is all becoming a bit of a blur.

Today in Cusco a walking tour of some of the Inca Sites was arranged. About 8km , mostly downhill. It’s kinda hard to get your head around how this was all constructed..

But before we left I decided to find a local supermarket, and I stumbled on a local market. God I love those finds. This was no disappointment…

Then it was off up into the hills where we saw a variety of sites starting with Tsmbomachay , a ceremonial site followed by Pukapukara ( sounds rather Māori right?) pukapukara was a lookout zone.. getting great views in all directions, handy for warnings of unwanted visitors!

It was quite a walk about 8km all up and while it was not hot, the sun is very strong and I did miss a few spots with the sunscreen. Back to the hotel- and dinner before hitting the hay… gosh only half way through this particular tour and it’s full on! But would I have ever been able to do this independently. Highly unlikely!

I should probably apologise in advance for typos etc, eventually I’ll edit and get this printed as a photo book.. but writing this on my phone is not that easy! But I’m getting there and staying on top! For now at least.

Half our tour group have decided to walk the Inca trail. 4 days , 3 nights ending at Machu Picchu. It’s pretty tough walking at altitude, at times over 4000m while porters will carry your 5kg bag and you only need your daypack. And while it’s highly organised, wasn’t really going to be part of this trip.

So, while the others got ready to go on the trail I decided to take a relatively short hike up to see some Inca ruins in Ollantaytambo , the town we were staying and to head up to the ruins. I went with a couple of others as David is struggling with the altitude.

Started well. Lamas in the garden as we went to breakfast and the clouds had cleared so we could see the glaciers. Great signs.

The Inca empire hit its peak in the 15th century, ollantaytambo was a central town for an Incan emperor who made the town a stronghold against the Spanish invaders. But in the meantime they created some pretty impressive bits of architecture…. The sun temple being one of them. It’s stunning, and mind boggling as to how these were constructed, the engineering involved, the precision, and yet archeologists cannot explain how they are where they are, no tools have been found. Yet they are still here. And they are indeed incredible! They have established connections to the sun, with certain shadows happening on Solstice days. And the construction was added to in the defence against the Spanish invaders. So there is construction on construction.

It was pretty tough we started at normal pace but very quickly ran out of breath. So we had to slow down , right down. Just could not get enough air in. But we got there.

We decided to continue up and go to the peak to see the top Inca Watana, a place of ritual, but also apparently a place of potential punishment or sacrifice. Magnificent views.

With the hikers dispatched. The rest of us were on a bus back to Cusco with the obligatory stops on the way.

Then we stopped at a sanctuary for Condor rehabilitation. Another unexpected highlight.. we had first seen this on the show LongvWat to with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman. It’s a community based rehab centre looking like it’s doing its best on a shoestring with animals no one else will take in.

It was a short flight from our jungle experience to Cusco and we arrived around 11am.

Cusco sits at an altitude of 3400m so the air is thinner and we both noticed it almost immediately! It affects different people in different ways, for me it was like a head cold pressure headache and very sore eyes , a few hours in I was seeing blue spots! For David headache , shortness of breath, lethargy and headaches. Thankfully we had medication and started on it immediately. But I’m not sure it made a huge difference!

Checked in, and it was off on a short orientation tour and some lunch. This is where being part of Intrepid is amazing, no thinking just follow the instructions, you arrive at the hotel and your check in details have been pre populated, it’s been 4 days now, so leave your laundry and it will be back to you tonight. Honestly that stuff saves hours and a lot of stress.

It’s a very buzzy place Cusco, lots of tourists and locals and the Christmas buzz is definitely here. But the altitude was getting to us , so we left the group and got a taxi back to the hotel to rest( again having the guide arrange this, sort payment in minutes is priceless) .

Dinner and a night tour was great. I was distracted with some work stuff so headed back to the hotel and tried ( unsuccessfully) to sleep. Another altitude sickness symptom!

Next day we headed out to an Indigenous women’s cooperative. I’m always a bit cautious about these things , locals becoming the attractions in their local costumes. But those reservations quickly disappeared… we had driven 90 minutes to their home , and it was clear we were being hosted but some pretty incredible women. They welcomed us with song and a flower necklace . They each introduced themselves, then got each one of us to stand and do the same. I loved this as I was really wanting to mihi to them too…

For the next few hours they showed us elements of their daily lives, how they clipped, cleaned, dyed, spun and then wove their fibres. An incredibly labour intensive process, it was fascinating…all natural dyes, all hand spun and a shawl would take 4 months to complete working 4 hours a day.

Using cochineal Beatles that live on cactus , crushing them and thrn adding other minerals and ingredients they could change the colours.

These women set this up 8 years ago and Intrepid have been bringing their tours here ever since , I got the impression it was a very symbiotic relationship. and a really lovely one at that.

Of course we could then buy their products. Expecting the whole presentation to be a lead in to a heavy sales pitch , it was not that at all, hats and gloves for $nz15 and a beautiful table runner depicting the land and skies beautifully hand woven for probably 2 weeks , was being sold for about $75us. In thrilled we have it.

Really was the experience of a lifetime and if you get the chance you must go.

By now we were at an altitude of 3800m and the altitude was really kicking in. We drove down to sacred valley about an hour away stopping to take a few pics

We then stopped at another cafe for a brownie and got chocolate. Operated for local single women it was another great partnership with Intrepid.

While most of our group will now leave us to hike the Inca Trail for the next few days ..a separate programme for the non walkers has been arranged. I’ve been told the details, but can I remember? Nope. The beauty of the tour. If it’s more days like this I’ll be thrilled.

When you book these things, you get a bit of a blurb, this one mentioned a flight to the middle nm of nowhere, a boat ride up a river and only being allowed 5kg of luggage, limited electricity and wifi.

That translated into my head as an off grid camping experience!

I was wrong. Quite the glamping experience is more like it.

Am early flight to Porto Maldonado, a township on the banks of the Madre de Dios river. Very close to the Brazilian and Bolivian borders and more importantly the Peruvian Tambopata national reserve .

So a quick repack at the Intrepid offices and onto our transport up the river. The forecast had been for rain, but it was thankfully fine and a super relaxing trip up the river. Warm breeze , although those boats sit very low in the water and while I’m sure they are fine. They felt like they could easily unbalance.

About 45minutes to an hour later we arrived and a 5 minute walk into the jungle revealed our lodge.

This was no camp site!

Lunch was served and then we had a briefing of what was to take place, to be honest I missed half of it , lots of walks and that’s about it… that’s the beauty of these things. You just need to turn up at the prescribed time and things happen. No checking itineraries or tickets , location maps etc it’s all done for you . Love it.

The first “excursion “ around the lodge introduced us to our environment. A blog can’t capture the sensations of sound and smell. Suddenly you’ve been dropped into a David Attenborough special. What this ecosystem is capable of, the adaptations it’s made are incredible!

Seems like humans will be humans , if the stories that are being told are true, the lengths men will go to give their sons big penises!🙄.

While we were walking, listening to the birds, monkeys and goodness knows what else.. the rumble of Thunder could be heard getting closer and closer .. by the time we got back to camp it was pouring down. This postponed the “nighttime” walk – so it was dinner and up for a wait for it – 5am start.

It rained pretty heavily all night , and I thought things would be canceled, but thankfully after an awful sleep I dragged myself out of bed and away we went… should have been paying attention because we ended up in a canopy walk.

It was a schelp getting up that high, and by the time we got to the top there were 19 of us on the top and this thing swayed and wobbled. I really didn’t like it, but the views were great of the canopy, not as many bird sightings as we had hoped for – but still. Pretty cool.

The Madre Dios eventually flows into the Amazon. Its biggest tributary accounting for 15% of the total Amazon volume. It’s huge! I’d heard that Peru was ecologically diverse, Lima is so dry and arid and then over the Andes you get dense rain forest. It’s wild to me that the geography of this area means that despite our proximity to the Pacific Ocean this water will flow thousands of kilometres across a continent to the Atlantic Ocean.

Anyway, off the platforms and we had to do a series of rope bridges. No time to think about them- just go them. They wobbled like hell. And it was head down and just get on with it.

It was then back to the lodge and a few hours off before we headed off to the next excursion! Back up the river, bit of a walk to an inland island for a bit of a canoe.

Then it was the long walk back to the boat, a tarantula or two on the way and the last glimpse of the sunset. Long, long day

Tomorrow we head to Cusco , first time at altitude so will be interesting to see how we cope. Another early start but we will be thete by 11am… looking forward to another change in scenery…

We are about to land Lima and it’s been a long trip. Leaving Wellington on Friday afternoon we are scheduled to land at midnight Friday night. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. 14 hours from Auckland to Houston. A race through the airport to just make the connecting flight to Lima and all up it will be about 30 hours of travel. Leaving at 2:00pm and still being a Friday truely makes this the longest day ever !!!

Our Airnz flight was great, we went bougie and booked Business Premier , so much space it was almost palatial. couldn’t even reach the footstool on the other side. Unfortunately though the electronics on my seat failed. The crew just about had hernias manually manipulating it into a sort of lie flat configuration, and when it was time to set it back up best I could get was a half slouch position! Not ideal but in the moment what can you do?

Then David’s did the same!

We will write to Airnz and see what they come back with, will keep you posted.

Immigration in the US was almost a disappointment, no one even looked at our visas and I’m not even sure we did customs…uneventful except for the long queues for security!

United airlines have treated us very well. Well. Seatbelt sign is on. Time to put the shoes on and get this adventure on the way now that we are about to land.

Ten years ago, when we were moving to Hong Kong and I had packed up the house, I decided to meet David in Bali on the way to our new home.  I had 5 checked bags, weighing well in excess of 120kg.  That’s right, 120kg  The equivalent weight of a burgeoning sumo wrestler!

Manageable, except that in the midst of all this we decided to go the Gilli’s, a no car island, arriving by ferry where you had to basically jump from the boat onto the beach and your bags were unceremoniously tossed into the sand.  Heavy bags and sandy beaches do not mix.  This was a mistake.

But not this time, this time we are well prepared, and the aim is to only bring carry on, yes, you heard that right, carry on luggage for two months and having completed our practice pack I think we can do it.

Of course this will come with compromises, you can expect to see the same outfits on regular rotation. One pair of shoes, one pair or trousers, a few (merino) shirts, undies and socks, toiletries and that’s it.

My bag has come in at 11.2 kg that includes a rather heavy first aid kit, and 700g of chocolates that will be distributed on Christmas day.  I also have a backpack that is coming in ar around 6kg.I could not be more proud of myself.  

The question will be, how long will it last?

Our luggage allowance allows for 2 carry on bags, given we only have 2 hours to get the flight to Lima I think this will be useful!

I’m feeling confident that for the first month where we will be constantly moving this will be fine, the idea is to be able to pick up and go quickly.  After all, what we are wearing is not important, we are there to see, not be seen! 

After that, I think the rules may relax a little, and by the time we hit the states in late January we will be ready to hit the malls and do a bit of retail therapy.

Nebraska, the final leg will be very cold, so we will need to pick up some winter clothing, we are thinking at this stage it will be an opportunity to go “thrifting” pick up a few warm outfits and then donate most of it back when we leave.

I’m a huge fan of packing cubes, and I have managed to get some compression packing cubes which make a huge difference in saving space. 

It’s been fun thinking of all the other discretionary items that I am bringing, some laundry sheets and a portable washing line, a couple of light accessories, a small scarf, a pin, to dress up the day outfits, discovering the travel section at Chemist Warehouse where I can indulge my love of miniature bottles that can travel well.    Skincare is important folks!

So we are packed, ready to go, stand by for the next update from Lima…

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