Framedlight

We had the easiest day on day 3 and got up a bit later. The plan was to walk, mainly downhill to the third and final overnight campsite before Machu Picchu. Mairi and I were feeling fine but Naomi not so good. The day was dogged by bad weather, especially later in the day, not surprising as we were in cloud forest most of the way. The path starts out going steeply uphill and some Inca paving then leads to a tunnel around 16m long which goes through a fault in the rock. Inca paving Going up to the third pass there are supposed to be tremendous views from the campsite you pass through. Unfortunately we were surrounded in swirling mist. Passing over the top of the col we came to the next Inca site - Phuyu  Pata  Marca, which means 'Cloud Level Town'.The name did not disappoint. A long staircase descends through the different levels. On one side are six Inca baths, which were probably associated with worship of water. The stonework here is a lo...

We got up fairly early and had a good breakfast of fruit, yoghurt and bread. I managed to get some early morning photos in (6.00am) of the view from the campsite. I felt a lot better for my long sleep and Mairi was fitter too. We started to climb up to Dead Women's pass or Abra de Warmiwanusca. It took around 2 hours to get there and was pretty steep. At that altitude (the top is at 4,200m) I found myself getting breathless and my leg muscles felt that they were not getting enough oxygen to them. I had always been a little nervous of this ascent, only because of the name and the fact that Mairi had wanted to do the Inca trail about 5 years ago, and when I saw that part of the trail was called dead woman, I refused. Now here am I older still .... On the way we passed llamas. We were walking up through cloud forest, with some sensational views. Mairi stuck with me and let me rest from time to time to get the oxygen back into my legs. The view bac...