After a 5 day trek, we were so tired and slept in until well after 8:00am.

We went to Jack's Cafe for amazing breakfast.

Lisa, along with her Kiwi friends, Cam and Jodi booked a night bus to Bolivia for tomorrow night. It made me quite sad to not be going with them, as I've had an amazing time. Bolivia sounds amazing from what all the other backpackers have been saying. However, I am out of money (had to dip into my line of credit a bit at the end) and my work tells me they miss me very much. Hehe.

Up at 3:30, we all met at the main square at 4:00 and started the hike up to Machu Picchu. You can also take buses, but they don't start leaving until 5:30, and odds are you'll get up there too late to get a pass to Huayna Picchu.

It's a steep climb and really hard on my feet. After 4 days of trekking, they were screaming "leave me alone!". The hike up also included lots and lots of stairs, which are very exhausting.

So hot last night, down in the valley is much warmer than up on the mountain. Lisa and me got up around 7:45, packed, and breakfast was at 8:30.

Up at 5:30 to coca tea, breakfast around 6:20 and we started hiking at 7:20. Down the valley into nice cloud forest, very green.

We hiked to a bus that was waiting for us to take us the lunch spot, we got there about 1:15, then drove on to Santa Theresa for the next campsite. Crap campsite, essentially in someone's yard in the town of Santa Theresa, ugly and dirty.

Up at 5:00am with coca tea (the same plant they make cocaine from) delivered to our tent. We packe and had breakfast (pancake) and then a family get together where we learn everybody's names, including the cooks and the horsemen. It was a cool 8 degrees last night in the tent, according to Lisa's thermometer.

About a 3.5 hour hike up the Salkantay Pass, at an altitude of 4750 metres, then the down the other side for 2 hours to lunch.

After lunch, we hiked down into the valley of cloud forest, much warmer and lots more vegetation, very green.

Up at 4:00am, put our big packs in storage at the hostal and waited for our pickup, which came at 5:00.

Took a bus to Mollepatta, where we got the horses packed with our stuff and headed off maybe around 9:00ish. A total of 14 of us in the group.

Lots of shops to buy water, snacks, soda, chocolate, beer, etc. on the way.

After 3.5 hours hiking, we stopped for lunch, which was awesome. The chef did a great job of a hot lunch.

After lunch, it started raining and hailing and we hiked through the storm, our shoes getting soaked. Even people with waterproof shoes were soaked.

Up early, Lisa didn't sleep hardly at all last night. I slept awesome. Up about 7:00am, we went to Scotiabank to take out money to pay for our Salkantay trek, then back to the hostal for breakfast, then waited for our pickup for the Sacred Valley tour.

First stop was a market for everyone to buy stuff. I'm looking for ideas for gifts.

Next was Pisac, site of a very impressive Inca ruin. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500's, it's estimated that there were about 16 million Inca people. In 1803, the first official census, only 2 million Inca's remained. The Spanish were deadly.

Slept awesome, up about 7:25, Lisa slept until about 7:45. Usually she's up early.

We met the others in our group for breakfast shortly after 8:00, then left for the airport at 10:00 for our 12:30 flight.

Up at 6:30, packed, had breakfast and headed back to Puerto Maldonado on the boat at 7:45. Got back to town about 9:45, checked in to our room and lounged in the pool.

Had lunch at noon, awesome steak. There's a three-toed sloth that hangs around the lodge, he moves so slow.

At 1:00, we went to Sandoval Lake, a very cool jungle lake with lots of wildlife. We saw Watsons (clumsy chicken-like birds), a black caimen, howler monkeys, other smaller monkeys and tons of other birds. We went around the lake in a small wooden paddle boat.

Up at 3:30, at 4:00 left on the boat for the clay lick, about a 1.5 hour boat ride up the river.