Eager expectation

After a very relaxing day pottering around Cusco, bartering in the markets or perusing the museums, the team are now busy packing for tomorrow's trek to Machu Picchu. At 5pm the Llama Path trekking company came and gave us a talk about the trip and what to expect, with a few surprises regarding the wake up times and the expectation of tipping. (Surely you should not being asking for a set tip in advance - by definition a tip is in relation to the quality of service received??) Anyway, we are all in excited spirits and are preparing for our 4am wake up call and 4.30am departure.

The research kit will be coming with us. Mark has been presented with the unenviable task of carrying the scales, which are incredibly light but just an awkward shape to carry around for 4 days. These Seca scales were kindly provided by Cranlea medical equipment suppliers as the lightest available, they have been great so far - with an incredible amount of usage and knocking around. The other issue is that everyone will have to be completing their research daily diaries very early throughout the trek (between 3-5am everyday). This may make for some slightly disorientated or unhappy measurements going on in the dark.

Anyway, I for one am excited and am looking forward to the challenge that awaits. Roll on tomorrow...