Fourth day trekking in the sun

Another early morning wake at 5.00am greeted us! We had a gorgeous breakfast of pancakes and nutella in the open air and everyone was in a great mood. We began the day visiting a school and the children proformed a song for us... I hope you enjoy the video! We gave out the rest of our gifts of toys, pens and pads and then sang them 'Twinkle twinkle little star' in return for their song. Not sure if they enjoyed it but it was fun all the same!

The day proved to be scorcher! We were coming down from the cold mountains and the temperatures reached 40C. We were so used to trekking in mist, cold and even snow that this day proved another test. Water was important and also sunscreen and hats! Luckily the trek wasn't tooo much uphill and we enjoyed the sunshine that we hadn't really seen since leaving Cusco.

The views were awesome. Peru is such a beautiful and diverse country. We were coming to the end of our trek and we even had the promise of proper toilets and maybe a shower at our next camp which definately lifted our spirits! We arrived at camp early... we'd obviously been enthusiastic that day! We had a few hours to relax in the sun, enjoy some much loved Cusquena beer!

The meal that night was amazing... We watched as the cooks heated up some rocks in a fire, once they had reached the white-hot stage the fire was put out and the stones were mixed with meat (lamb) and potatoes. This was covered with a plastic sheet, hay and then earth. The concoction was left for about an hour. This dish's name I can't remember but is translated in English as mother-earth oven. It's a traditional way to cook for the Andean people and it was fun to watch and even better to eat! Truly gorgeous! (pictures below)

We feasted and played games, it was our last night on the trek.

The following day was the much anticipated arrival at Machu Picchu and we'd be lucky enough to stay in a hotel that night. So this night was our last camping.

We had a presentation of tips for the brilliant staff that had been so supportive throughout the trek... the guides, doctor, cooks, horsemen. All local people. The Peruvian government had written a law that all treks in the Andes must be supervised by guides and crew and they must be Peruvian people. The law also outlines a need to protect and preserve the nature of the Andes. Everything our guides did involved being environmentally friendly... from the loos to the food to the horses. These brilliant laws sercure the preservation of the local area and brings in money and employment to the local people. A brilliant law that would work across the world... I'm not sure if other countried have these laws but I was certainly impressed by them.