Day nine and ten - the summary

Well, it’s Saturday now and we’ve all arrived in Amsterdam, before splitting to go to our various airports in the UK.

We’ve spent three parts of Friday in Lima, doing our own things, before setting off for the airport late Friday afternoon.

The Big Five decided to hire a minibus for two hours to look around Lima. The first 45 minutes were spent in an enormous traffic jam, meaning we missed the changing of the Guards. At one point, it looked like we may see the ceremonial pageant on Saturday. We did, eventually get to see the main square (cathedral and palace) before going to San Francisco (a centre for church and convent). A delight awaited us in the catacombs, with full sight of 25,000 skulls and femurs, (whoops 50,000 femurs), laid out in creatively designed artistic patterns.

An afternoon at our favourite bar for food and drink followed before we all gathered for transit to the airport.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, apart from the call for a doctor on the aircraft. This turned out to be for James, who was in considerable pain from a constantly swelling elbow. After suppositories and antibiotics supplied by a dentist and a nurse (funny things some people carry in their hand luggage ), we managed to deliver James to the First Aid at Schipol, where he was treated with care before providing his credit card. This episode completed a trio of incidents for poor James – first a fall on the trek, leaving him with a black eye and cuts, then the need for oxygen the following morning, when he woke up unable to breathe at altitude and, finally, the bite that left him feeling something was crawling around inside him. Other than this, he had a cracking time.

We’ve all talked about our various highs and lows.

Everyone is able to add their own to these (and I hope they will) but let me start them off.

Highs? Definitely the initial view of Machu Picchu and the enormous sense of achievement. Very close came the day with the Andean community on Saturday. For me, having a meal with a train passing up the High Street will be unforgettable. Also, seeing my son, Ben, on Day Two of the trek when I was all on my own, ranks highly, as does reaching the summit at 4200 metres with Dave Raine!

Lows? On Day Two, having missed the first stopping point by mistake and thinking after three hours of climbing that I hadn’t reached the quarter point that day (until Ben arrived to find me). Linked to that was the fact I told him to leave me alone. (It wasn’t the time to bond!)

We’ve all achieved and come through in various states of elation and disrepair. The fatigue, the injuries, the foul toilet and washing facilities, the day-long rain on Tuesday and then cramped camping provision will not be forgotten easily.

We’ve all put a lot of effort into both fundraising and the event and I’m sure we all feel it was well worth while, knowing so many kids in the UK will benefit. But we’ve all benefited as well. Those sights, the camaraderie, the various reasons for and personal achievements in completing, the different culture (particularly away from Lima) – all will remain with all of us for ever. And I don’t think anyone sampled the Peruvian delicacy of guinea pig.

I’d like to offer my personal thanks to Children Today for organising the trip and to Liz for leading it so professionally and enthusiastically.

It was a privilege to share the trip with James (great laughter despite his problems already described above), Cath (Scottish aristocracy and so worldly wise), Debbie (determination personified), Ann (shopping queen), Sharon (a supportive inspiration particularly to Cath), Diane (another laugher), Graham (a determined tower of strength), Katrina (wonderful Dublin accent), Amanda (looking forward to her wedding), Jenny (very sweet ), Carrie (where did all that hair come from in Lima? and enjoy that first vodka)), George (not well all the time but battled through and enjoy fundraising in the years to come). Then come the Big Five in Peru. Fluffy David (a great friend and inspiration), Ben (thanks to coming as son to father), Dave Raine (great teamwork) and, of course, Disco (always good company).

I hope you’ve enjoyed following our exploits on this blog and thanks to all who have supported us so far with sponsorship. It’s not been a holiday and has been a massive personal test. Let’s remember the real reason we’ve all done it. It’s to help children in the UK with disabilities. As a group so far, the 17 of us that went to Peru have raised more than £60,000 in total, but there’s still time for more. As for the Big Five, we've already been pledged over £15,000, and we've all paid our own costs. Please visit www.justgiving.com/bigfiveinperu to donate if you can.

By the way, Disco Dave has just cancelled his reservation at Newcastle RVI, as he’s come through unscathed.

Peter

Day eight - return to Lima

After the euphoria of reaching Machu Pichu and the subsequent celebrations it was back to reality and the commencement of the staged journey back home to the UK. Stage one was the trip back to Lima where we would spend the rest of the day.

We had a lie in (most people were actually up by 7ish) for an 8.15 meet to get the coach to the airport. Peter had survived an unsuccessful attempt at death from 1,000 cuts via shaving and had to leave the breakfast area to sort his face out a couple of times. Perhaps investment in a more expensive razor may be an idea.

Breakfast was finished and we rushed to the meeting point to get the coach to the airport with Liz fretting that the timescale was over-tight in order to make our check in. She need not have worried as the norm for internal flights is a delay of at least 2hrs. We travelled to the airport on a coach hotter than Gandhi’s flip-flop and ended up hanging about the airport, twiddling our thumbs, which were blistered from holding onto walking poles for dear life on the previous days.

On the coach we were treated to the revelation that Graham, having thought that he had tipped the porter $10 on the trip out (a generous tip out there in anyone’s books), had in fact, on a recount of his dollars, presented the guy with $100 by mistake. No wonder the guy followed us onto the coach to personally show his gratitude.

Another, less surprising, fact was imparted by Ann. After her week long shopping spree she only had 13 of the Peruvian currency left (about £3). However, even on this amount, she was hoping to pick up a 100% alpaca blanket, a statue of a puma and a full Andean village costume………….all by offering 10% of face value. Not sure that she succeeded.

We arrived back to the same hotel in Lima that we had left a few days previously. People were given the afternoon to themselves to explore Lima in more detail than they had the chance to on our pre-trek visit. Dave, Dave, David, Peter and Ben decided that the best use of this time would be to sample the local people watching activities and positioned themselves in a street-side bar to quaff a few of the local tipple and while the time away.

This evening was the final dinner of the trip including the presentations of medals to each person who completed the challenge i.e. everyone. We all congregated in the bar area and it was immediately apparent that the ladies had made an effort, whereas the lads, excluding Graham, were all about the dress down. Top effort goes to Carrie, who had somehow been hiding more hair than Cousin It on the trek and George, who had used the afternoon to purchase clothes for the occasion.

Liz did a great job of presenting the awards (including presenting Cath with a replacement Regal tiara for the one she had left back in Scotland). Liz rightly received a few gifts which we had all chipped in for, as presented by Debbie. Following this presentation, Debbie remained at the front and choked back the tears as she gave a speech rivalling Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars, to thank Peter, and especially David, personally for helping her to complete the trek. I spent a bit of time at the back of the group with Debbie as she struggled with her knee injury and she is one strong woman, never complaining along walks that were hurting the most able of bodies.

Dave and Dave managed to drink the restaurant dry of white wine, having downed the most extraordinary quantity of a bottle between them. The restaurant was obviously not expecting scenes of such legendary drinking and had to search at the back of the cupboard for an old bottle half empty bottle of house. Apparently, the bar was also drank dry of amaretto also, with the stomach wrenching quantity of 4 measures having been consumed.

Post dinner was the time for some to take their leave… but definitely not for some others. A number, lead by the lively James, ventured over the road to the nearest bar, where they were served by a barman called Timotei, whom the group “took a shine” to. These shenanigans went on until 3.30am I am told; the time that the stragglers (Catriona, Jenny, James, Liz and Graham) rolled in. Catriona has obviously been living in England for too long and lost her drinking boots as apparently she had to be put to bed. All in all a good day and a great evening. Tomorrow is a day in Lima before the overnight flight to get home.

Ben

Day seven

This is to be our last day of trekking on the Inca trail. We emerge from rain sodden tents at 3.30am to decamp and get to the Sun Gate in time to see Machu Picchu at its best. Everything is wet from yesterday’s rain. We’re all bleary-eyed, aching and dazed, wearing head torches to help see in the darkness. Belongings are thrown into bags at speed and only the strong-willed tackle the horrendous toilets. If I describe the conditions of the toilets the reader would need a bucket close by. We had a hasty breakfast of cold pancakes and set off down a dark track with more steps to negotiate to arrive at an assembly point waiting for the entrance gate to open at 5.30am.

Sharon provides an impromptu yoga lesson, full of stretches and strange positions, while other groups from all parts of the world look on excusing our strange behaviour because we’re crazy Brits. This view is further confirmed when some of us fill the time waiting by breaking into song.

We gain access to the next part of the walk as daylight breaks through and we see the amazing mountains around us with pools of white cloud below us looking like large lakes. When we started this trek some of us were worried by the sheer drops of hundreds of feet inches away from the path. No fencing or safety nets here. Now we’re getting used to looking down perilous drops without further thought.

We walk through rainforest full of bird noises and the world inviting us to the Sun Gate party ahead. More steep steps up and down and then the final challenge to finish us off. 68 steps up to the Sun Gate. It looks like we’re being challenged to scale the side of a skyscraper. Deb has suffered with swollen knees throughout the journey and, to be honest, the only way she’s got through has been with gritted teeth, guts and determination to achieve this lifelong dream, even though her body is fighting against her every step. Deb scales the final steps by crawling up this stone wall on all fours, still carrying a heavy back pack.

Jimmy, our guide, is there to receive us as we enter the Sun Gate and experience one of the great and inspiring views of the world. The pictures don’t do justice to the size and enormity of the city and surrounding landscape. You can touch the relief and elation of all of us having made it. Tears flow with hugs and kisses. Catherine and Sharon arrive to cheers from everyone at the gate, both our party and other groups whom we’ve talked to along the way. Catherine has been another trekker who has suffered and, against the odds, with great fortitude has made it.

We’re not finished. We still have about an hour to descend down the mountain to get to this mysterious city. We carry a superior air of achievement now and find ourselves having to mingle with other visitors who we see as imposters. That is those who have been brought to the city by train and bus. We fight to gain access to steps and some of us lay claim by saying “We’ve trekked for four days to get here." Some of the 'imposters' show respect and applaud us. Others show no regard.

We tried to take group photographs with the banner to show we made it. City police obstruct us, treating the place like a religious temple but we sneak a photo through anyway through Jimmy’s efforts and Carrie’s camera. We break into two groups. Those who want a short verbal tour of the city and the bus down to the town below, and those stalwarts who want the two hour walking tour of the city. Diane exchanges her watch for some postcards with a local seller. (We later discover it was a 50p Primark watch)

Jimmy is at his element with the longer tour, putting the record straight on the place of the Incas in history and the damage inflicted by the Spanish four hundred years ago. We then get the bus to Aguas Caliente (Hot Springs), the town at the base of Machu Picchu. The bus slows down by the river and we see our advanced party in a posh hotel lounge, drinking champagne. Off the bus and into the hotel to celebrate. Drinks flow, courtesy of James and Cath (Baroness Buchanan) with staff flapping around us. No complaints from other hotel guests of a smelly group of crazies hogging the lounge.

We then walked to the restaurant, being distracted by TV screens showing Chelsea verses Barcelona. The restaurant is next to a railway platform in the middle of the town. Good food, lots of beer, dancing, live music invited by us, and a temporary respite by paying respects as a funeral procession passed by us walking along the railway track. We spilled out into the main drag and spent money on presents for friends and family.

We make our way to the railway station for the journey to catch the bus for Cusco. Ben joins the list of injured by falling between railway sleepers, losing beers and a bottle of vodka, and giving himself bruises up his legs. His Dad, a keen railway enthusiast, is particularly embarrassed with this behaviour on the railway track. Onto the packed train drinking beers with lots of conversation. We arrived at a unknown destination to be picked up by a bus to get us back to the hostal in Cusco. The driver didn’t impress us since he did a lot of texting while at the wheel and kept full beam on with oncoming traffic flashing us constantly. We finally crawled into the hostal at 11.30pm and everyone went to shower - as a consequence the hot water ran out very quickly.

Fluffy

Day six - the longest day

There was another unsuccessful night’s sleep. This was due to the fact that the local Peruvian Frog’s Choir was unbeknown to us holding a festival for the entire frog population of Peru. The singing only ceased when the rain became torrential and then we could not sleep for the noise of the torrent on the canvas. Those of us who had nodded off were once again called to rise at 0530hrs.

The morning ritual should be to contemplate the day ahead in “convenient” surroundings. Whilst we had squatter’s rights, holding your nose with one hand, clothes with another, it was particularly difficult to complete the exercise.

The 0630 briefing paved the way for the day forward. With 12 hours of daylight ahead, we were reminded to carry our torches and head lights. James at this stage, had to be given oxygen to settle his breathing after his fall of the previous day.

Setting off before 0700 hrs, we were reminded of the story 39 Steps, but with an extra two noughts on the end, as we once again climbed upward – a day we thought was to be on the level.

We were given to understand that the pop group Wet Wet Wet were in the area. Lost in translation, this subsequently turned out to be the weather forecast which proved to be deadly accurate and continued all day. This constant deluge did induce some shrinkage to our clothing. This was a most acceptable adjustment as our body weight was also reducing at a rapid rate by the constant exertion.

The lack of visibility caused by the cloud allowed us to walk innocently through the rainforest (well named), along paths clinging to the rock face with sheer drops of 1,000’s of feet on the other side.

Our guide introduced us to the Inca custom of carrying a stone from the lower level, up to the summit. We all were required to stand in a circular fashion and make a wish before individually placing the stones in some suitable cranny. We were not allowed to share our wishes, but the rain was to stop the following day.

A few made it to the campsite in daylight, but the majority we treated to rainforest night life. An hour or so walking up and down steps in the dark to arrive soaked through, aching and cold. The saving grace was that the tents had been erected - wet, wet, wet - with facilities worse than those described at the beginning of the day.

A lavish meal of Spag Bol and garlic chicken went down extremely well and we did not dwell on the fact that the chicken had been carried by porters for several days without fridge facilities. The thought of the toilets seemed to prevent any adverse reaction.
It was indeed, the longest day, but we did have a sense of achievement and exhilaration that we all made it.

Ben

Day five: trek day 2 - the hardest day

Morning call at 0530hrs was made slightly better by hot cups of coca tea delivered by the porters to the doors of our tents.

Graham declared an apparent full major medical emergency requiring elastoplasts from the nearest first aid kit. Once supplied, the emergency was quickly ended and Graham’s iPad will make a full recovery.

Those of us who were first to add the hot milk supplied at breakfast-time to our coffee quickly discovered that coffee and porridge do not mix in the same cup.

Today was “Onward and Upward”- the hardest day of the trek, climbing to 4,212 mtrs. (We were later to find that our trek involved over 25,000 steps up and down). The letters PCU took on a new meaning of either pleasantly climbing upwards or painfully climbing upwards, as the gradient varied.

All of us struggled with the ascent at the higher altitude:

Peter genuinely started to hallucinate. This nearly ended the intended bonding with his son when Ben had to point out to him that he was not seeing the roofs of the campsite at an oasis.

Ann had a real excuse for her difficulties. Her 5kg day pack had assumed the gigantic proportions of those of the porters. She has however been acclaimed “Peru Visitor Shopper of the Year” as she has bartered for goods at every shop that we have passed and in her case has not passed.

At the last resting place before the final ascent, Debbie treated us to a very credible mime to the song “Knees up Mother Brown”. Despite assuming a rather un-lady-like pose for some considerable time, no-one guessed the title of the song. It did, however, reduce the recently acquired swelling to her knees.

Participants of the Malaysian trip were slightly un-nerved when Disco Dave took up “pole” position for the final ascent. Endeavouring to re-assign his name to “Indiana Hodgson”, he reached the summit some time before the remainder of the group. Fortunately on this occasion, this was without the need for hospitalisation.

It was an emotional ascent with tears of anxiety in anticipation and tears of joy when we all eventually reached the summit. An added joy was when the clouds that we had climbed through parted for the banner photo shoot with some awesome scenery.

The descent was not without incident:

James attempted to take the title of “Head-Banging Champ”, (or was it “Chump”), from Disco. He failed miserably with his fall and only managed one black eye and a grazed face.

Carrie was rewarded with a view of the local wild life when a puma dived across her path. She then had the need for an immediate toilet stop before she concluded her descent at three times the speed of that before the sighting.

Peter has acquired a taste for chewing on the local coca leaves. He clearly was affected from overdosing and turned up for the evening meal thinking he was a moth and was attracted to the calor gas light. The additional light from his burning hair was a welcome in the darkened tent but added nothing to the aroma of the evening meal. His new hairstyle is work in progress.

Tonight, our welcome sleep to nurse away the aches and pains of the day will be to the chorus of the local Peruvian Frog’s Choir. Hopefully this will drown out the sound of the snoring from the tent of the two Daves.

Dave Hodgson (aka "Disco Dave") 

Day four

We were all up and ready to leave at 5.30am. After a bit of discussion and moving of bags we all got on the bus and headed to Ollantayambo. We arrived there about 7.30am and had a lovely breakfast of scrambled egg and pancakes and sugarpuffs, however Ann found an ant in her eggs which was slightly off putting. Also, there was a guinea pig hut outside and they were very cute although I am aware that they will also make a fabulous dinner there tonight!

There was a shop there and we all bought loads of sweets and chocolate for fear we would never eat again! Ann also went in search of a blanket and early signs indicate that she loves haggling and shopping!

Then we drove to KM82 which is where we started our trek. Once we arrived there we got our passport stamped! We then had to cross a bridge, the first of many. Some people had to fight phobias of bridges as this was very shaky. Jenny was crying even though she said she wouldn’t until day 2, although we're still very proud of her.

Our guide Jimmy assured us that the trek would be easy today as it was like the ‘training day’. We trekked for 5 hours with a nice lunch in the middle. While it was a nice amount for day one, I’m not sure that I would call it a training day as it was quite intense and no one tends to get altitude sickness when training!

When we got to the campsite the porters had already set up all the tents which was very impressive. This was also when we had our first ‘experience’ of Inca Trek toilets. I’m not sure whether it was the smell or the conditions of the toilets which were more traumatising but we all survived!

It gets dark quickly on the trek about 6.30pm and after dinner we all looked up at the stars. It was magical, I have never seen stars so vividly in my life and not sure if I will again. Jimmy then gave us a brief of the plans for tomorrow which would be our most difficult day. This made everyone quite anxious and knocked some people’s confidence, although all continued to seem determined.

We were all in bed by 9pm, knackered by the day and some suffering altitude sickness and while we were excited, a lot were very anxious about tomorrow.

Catriona

Back online!

Hi all

Sorry for the delay in updates but we’ve been out of contact and signal since Sunday morning until now.

We’ve all survived the 4 day trek in various states of fitness, arriving back in Cusco very late last night ( Wednesday ).

Watch out for the individual day updates to follow as soon as we can.

By the way, it was well worth it for the view of Machu Picchu and we all definitely earned every pound of the sponsorship which so many of our friends and colleagues have so generously given. Thank you.

Peter