This was the short day. We got a slightly later wake up and mostly downhill hiking for a few hours. We stopped for lunch at around 1pm and stayed at that campsite that night night.
This was the pretty part of the walk. The original Incan trail was along here, with lots of shade and orchids, and stairs going through tunnels. It was awesome.
Greg spotted some paradise birds, which are sort of like small yellow finches, but I couldn’t get a clear shot. Leading into camp there were quite a few flowers
to snap pictures of. They have an orchid which is large enough that the alpacas eat them. On the final leg into camp Darwin showed me his favourite orchid, which I have to say, is sensational. It is called the Wakanqui and is orange and pink. I got delayed trying to take a picture of that!
After lunch we went to the nearby Incan ruins Winaywayna which are quite large and pretty. It was one of the larger sites we had seen.
We went further to the nearby waterfall where a few of us jumped under for an extreme shower. The water wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be, but it certainly wasn’t warm either! The waterfall is supposed to keep you young, so here’s hoping!
The third evening was very casual and we had a bit of a reception with the porters. We thanked them and presented them with their tips. They sang us a song and a cask of vino was cracked open. We had to go to bed early though, as it was a 330am wake up (DON”T ASK!) the next day. We were only 6km away from Machu Pichu!
Please upload a pic of this amazing orchid! i want to see it 🙂