The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu are probably the most famous thing you can do in Peru and most travellers you meet have either done it or are planning to do it. Corina and I signed up with SAS Travel to do the trail. I can definitely recommend SAS. They were professional and well organised. Back when we travelled the trail in 1999 you could still walk the trail independently. However for conservation reasons numbers are limited now and you have to trek as part of an organised group. But the loss of independence is balanced by gaining porters and cooks!

The trail ran from Cusco to Machu Picchu, but you don't walk all of this route. Instead hikers are taken by bus or train down the Urubamba Valley to the start point. The last village before you start walking is Ollantaytambo. This is where everyone stocked up in the local market and it was the last chance to use modern plumbing for 3 days!

After that the bus rolled on to a point known as "KM 82". We were 82 Km from Cusco along the train line, and here we dismounted to start the trail.

The start was very picturesque. A good sign of what was to come. As we were part of a group our porters carried all the tents a cooking equipment. All we were responsible for was our own bags with water, sleeping bags, clothes and snacks. But if you were less fit (or more lazy) you could have those carried for you as well. I opted to carry my own gear. I would never have lived it down if word got back to Irish mountaineering circles that I hadn't :-)

The walking over the three days is mixed. You start at 2300m and the first day is mostly level with only gradual ascent. After about 6 hours of walking, broken by regular breaks with a good lunch stop, we camped at about 3200m. The second day begins with the toughest part of the walk, the climb up to Dead Womans pass at 4200m. This is less dramatic than it sounds. Its a climb up the trail you see here. Altitude can cause some problems but you can also pay a porter to carry your bags for this section alone.

You get a great cheer from everyone when you finally make it to the top which really helps. Mind you they are totally knackered as well!

There is a great buzz at the top of the pass though. And the views across the the mountains are spectacular.

After an hours descent we were able to stop for a hearty lunch. Most people took the opportunity to recover from the morning's effort.

That night we camped in tents at the Runquracay Pass at 3800m. It was a cold night and I slept in most of my clothes. But we were more that half way there and it was all down hill from there.