The one where Lynne went to Machu Pichu

You´ve all seen the postcard pictures, and yes, it´s even better in real life.

So first let me tell you about my tour guide, Mario, who´s a Peruvian in his late 40s and likes to stay awake till 4am every day. As Paul said "He´s probably the most uncharismatic tour guide ever." Paul is an Australian living in London. He´s cute and funny and makes me laugh, but before any of you go "Oh I knew you´d meet someone on your trip." He´s gay. And no Geoff, he´s not your type. He´s 34. Way too old for you. Anyway, back to Mario. He´s a guide who gives us the bare minimum information, but thankfully we have other local guides for day trips who are much more entertaining and informative.

So Mario at 5.30am hands us over to Augustine, and we join hundreds of tourists queueing for buses in Agues Calientes to take us to the top of the mountain to see Machu Pichu.

We get there just after 6am ... and cant see a thing.... the clouds completely blanket the Inca ruins.

But while listening to Augustine tell us about the miracle of how the Incas built these temples and homes so high up, Machu Pichu slowly reveals itself as the cloud lifts.

It´s incredible, and we all take about 100 photos.



We walk around getting a guided tour for nearly 4 hours, then me, Paul, April and Paul´s friend Reena head up to walk to the Sun Gate, 45 mins away, for spectacular views. It´s great. One of those ´travel moments´.



Getting back to Cusco was anything but. We had a few hours to kill before our train, so had Pisco Sours (the local drink. its cheap and yummy). We´re provided with a bizarre Peruvian fashion parade on the train, then have to wait half an hour for a bus to take us the rest of the way back to Cusco. And its a really windy road. And its 11pm, and we´ve been a wake since before 5am.
Anyway, all part of the joys of travelling through South America!