A Week to Go :-) and Machu and Huayna picchu await

I've been really slack in blogging this year, it's been so busy with other things. Preparations are well underway for next Friday's departure despite the flights being slightly less attractive timing than we'd been led to believe. Originally we were to have left Heathrow late afternoon but now we have to be the at 3.30 a.m. We then fly to Charles de Gaulle for a 2 hour 45 minute stop over then on to Lima (12.5 hour flight), staying in a hotel in Lima overnight then and early morning flight to Cusco = knackered before we start.

Ongoing boot trauma has resulted in Chris buying me my 4th (yes 4th!) pair of boot in order to alleviate the foot pain and blisters I've been suffering with the last few months. The new pair are lovely and (finger crossed) very comfortable. Boots have not been the only expense this year. I have been umming and arrring about buying a new coat for a while as mine does not have 'pit zips' - I cannot tell you how important it is to have adequate ventilation when you're walking in damp and rain. It makes such a difference to your comfort so a new coat has been purchased.

By far the biggest outlay, and the most exciting purchase, is my new camera. I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a bridge camera which will take better photos than my compact but not be as heavy and bulky as my SLR. After a lot of research I have bough a beautiful piece of kit - a Nikon P500 which has the most phenomenal zoom ever. I look forward to posting the photos when I return.



The REALLY exciting news is that we have the opportunity to climb Huaynu Picchu (young peak) which is the peak you always see behind Machu Picchu in the photos. The rules have changed to enable purchase of a licence to climb before arriving in Peru - the number of climbers is very restricted due to both the conservation of the buildings and terraces on it and the precariousness of some parts of the climb. This will be a real challenge for me as you have to go through a tunnel at one point and I'm very claustrophobic. I'm sure the view from the top will be worth leaving my bed at 2 a.m. for :-).