Well I’ve finally stopped vomiting thankfully, and was able to eat breakfast and keep it down. Still felt absolutely wiped out in the morning though, and still fairly nauseous – went out for a slow wander around to get some fresh air and eventually found myself outside Qorikancha, the Inca Temple of the Sun, so decided to pay the entrance fee and have a look around. There are plenty of guides hanging around outside offering their services but in my fragile state I really couldn’t face trying to look interested and engaged while being bombarded with historic facts, so politely declined and chose to wander round by myself (I noticed, once inside, that most people seemed to have made the same choice).

It is a truly beautiful building inside and out, and I particularly admired the inner courtyard and the impressive archways.

There are a number of murals on the walls, mostly religious, and the chapel contains displays of priestly robes and garments, some of which I would have loved to have photographed, but sadly photography was forbidden in this room.

I was feeling pretty wiped out by this stage so wandered slowly back to the hotel and crawled back into bed for a couple of hours, then headed out again in search of granola bars and other snacks to pack for the trek. After much deliberation I’d decided that although I still don’t feel great, I’m likely to feel better tomorrow and I really don’t want to do a shortened version of the trek so will be starting in the morning as planned.

We had a 5pm briefing at the tour operator’s office and were each given a duffel bag which we can use to pack most of what we need for the 5 days, and which will be carried by donkeys so that we only need to hike with a small day pack.

Then it was an early dinner of risotto with delicious garlic bread washed down with fresh pineapple juice, before heading back to the hotel to pack.

Packed and ready to go!