Arrival in Cusco and 2 days acclimatisation

We took an early morning flight from Lima to Cusco. The plane was old and rickety which added to a fun experience flying over the Andes!! :) We also shared the flight with the Cusco Football Team, being a sports fan I was quite impressed. We booked into our hotel and began to explore the surrounding area. It was apparent straight away that the air was thinner as we were already high up and even running up the stairs in the hotel became a strenuous task! We had two days to get used to lack of air. Drinking a speacial leaf tea would apparently help so alcohol was replaced by a strange tasting tea but enjoyable all the same!

Over the two days in Cusco we enjoyed great food, including Guinea pig (I didn't try it but my friend did) and Alpaca kebabs.

We took a tour over the Sacred Valley and visited Ollantambo, a gorgeous town built by the Incas with people still living in the Inca houses and walled streets. Also we made an obligatory trip to an Alpaca and Llama farm exhibiting the variety of Alpaca/Llama species. One the second day we tested our strength against the thin air a trekked up to Sacsayhuaman, pronounced 'sexy woman'. An Inca ruin overlooking Cusco and a small hike to the top. This pushed me, I thought I was relatively fit but with the lack of oxygen (or rather not as much as I'm used to) the short journey proved tiresome!

Unfortunately on our last night in Cusco I became very ill! I picked up a stomach bug and spent the final night before the trek awake and in a lot of pain! Luckily for me Scope, the charity we were trekking for, had organised a local doctor to join us on our trip. She visited me and advised me to drink plenty of rehydration salts and gave me a dose of antisickness tablets. The first day would prove difficult due to my illness but I was determined to make it!