Hi everybody,

Well, a huge thank you to all sponsors on my return from the Inca Trail.  I have now raised over my target and had the most incredible experience,  very hard work on raising money and training, and well worth it all.

A long flight to Cusco began our trip.  A little orientation walk revealed a beautiful old city and very thin air - heart rate up and a slow adjustment necessary.  Day two saw us going to Sachsaywouman,  an old temple ruin at 3,800 metres, with a gentle 5 hour descent back to 3, 200 metres.  Views were stunning - and most of our group of 50 had headaches by the end of the afternoon, a common response to the altitude.

Monday morning saw us bussing off at 5 a.m. to the beginning of the Inca Trail at km82.   By 9 a.m. we had passports stamped,  crossed the river on a swinging bridge, and a slow continual climb took us to our first campsite for round about 5 p.m. Day Two saw a dawn start and the relentless climb to Dead Woman's Pass.  Water,  camaraderie and good music on the MP3 kept me going to eventually fall on to the summit singing 'It was just a little salsa'.   Three hours descent on broad steps followed, and camp was very welcome.  Day Three saw another steep climb followed by a descent to the final camp down 2,000 continuous steep steps.  Our group sang our way down the mountain and we entered camp with an original,  a rendition of 'It's a long way to Machu Picchu', now immortalised on the group video.  Then Day Four and Machu Picchu itself - awesome, magical and a privilege to visit.

Our trip ended with a day in Cusco and a day in Lima en route to Heathrow - a fabulous experience, and much more than that,  a great achievement.  Many people experienced sickness of one kind or another,  injuries occurred, all had sore spots.  We all laughed and cried at some point,  celebrated loved ones,  felt lonely,  felt attached and supported.  Some people did not complete the full route but everyone did their personal best and we all ended up at Machu Picchu,  and I think we can all be very proud of ourselves and each other.  Raising money through this kind of effort is a far greater challenge than collecting money, and we of course couldn't have done it without you, the sponsors.

The Peruvian guides were splendid, the Discover Adventure team excellent, and the MacMillan reps were great, so a big thank you to all of those people too.

Big love and light to everyone,  and again thank you for supporting MacMillan,  and me, through this extraordinary event .

Janice.