We had decided to do the five day Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. Salkantay is a quechua word meaning ‘Savage Mountain’ and this beautiful trek takes you up to snowy mountains and down through tropical rainforest.

The trek peaks at 6271 m above sea level (Ben Nevis is 1344 m) and isn’t for the faint hearted. We were going to be camping outdoors every night and were all slightly worried about how cold it was going to be. We were to be joined by two others and joked about the possibility of them being FATs (fat American tourists). We were very happy to be joined by Kristofina and Mathias, a couple from Denmark. They had also been worried when they were told that they were going to be joined by four British girls, and were relieved to find out that we were all sporty and chatty!

On the first day we were taken to Mollepata by minibus. This was a hair-raising journey, along winding roads with lots of sheer drops and a lunatic driver. Once we got to Mollepata we stopped to have breakfast before setting off on the trek. Our guide Vincente set up our hiking poles for us and insisted that we practiced walking with them even though we were on the flat. This turned out to be sound advice as none of us were very coordinated to start with! The first day was a gentle stroll along a track towards our campsite for the night. Lou and Kristofina were particularly affected by the altitude and weren’t feeling well at all.

When we arrived at the campsite, Diane, Cath, Mathias and I decided to do a bonus walk and climbed a few hundred metres up to a blue lagoon. Vincente had timed our hike perfectly and we were the only people up there. We had been told that it would take us 90 minutes to climb the hill but we smashed it and were at the lake in under an hour. It was beautiful! We even managed a quick paddle in the icy cold water.

When we got back to the campsite it was time for ‘happy hour’ which involved mint tea, biscuits, popcorn and some card games. This was followed by a three course dinner and more mint tea. We were lucky to be accompanied by two inventive cooks and a horseman, so our meals were provided and our tents were set up for us. After dinner we headed to bed for an early night. We were all wrapped up like the michelin man as overnight temperatures were going to be below freezing. Lou and I had just zipped ourselves into our fleecy sleeping bag when we heard a burst of laughter from Diane ‘next door’. After huge amounts of snacks and a three course meal, Cath had asked her what she thought we would be getting for breakfast!

The next morning we had breakfast at 6 am and were ready to start the hardest day of the trek. Lou and Kristofina were still feeling sick so had opted to take horses up to the summit. The rest of us wrapped up warm and set off with Vincent. I heated up quite quickly, so stopped to remove some layers. At this point Cath was also starting to struggle with the altitude and was very dizzy. We put all our spare layers on her and gave her chocolate and energy drinks. We weren’t really sure it would work but at least we were trying something! By this point we had gone too far to be able to get a horse for her so she had to carry on. Luckily our treatment seemed to have worked and she soon perked up. The walk up through the mountain pass was incredibly beautiful and we were so lucky that the sun was shining.

The last bit of the climb was quite a struggle and we had to set mini challenges to get ourselves up there. We were fortunate enough to see condors on the climb. These majestic birds have wingspans of up to 3.5 m. There was a huge feeling of satisfaction when we reached the 6271 m sign! Just as we made it to the summit, snow started fallimg. It was swirling around us as we posed for photos. Vincente gave us all a shot of pisco to warm us up before we started the next section of the walk.

For the rest of the day we were walking downhill. This was surprisingly taxing, but got much more enjoyable when we finally descended out of the cloud and the sun came out once more. Apparently Diane, Cath and I managed to turn every conversation to food. This was tolerated for a surprisingly long amount of time by Lou but she eventually pointed out that it wasn’t helping her feel any better. Oops! After that we tried very hard to steer clear of the topic but it somehow always crept back in!

We had quickly realised that the bathroom facilities out in the middle of nowhere are rather lacking, and we all became accustomed to ‘Inca Banjos’, the worlds most beautiful outdoor toilets! The Inca banjo was actually preferable to the indoor toilets, which often were lacking lights, toilet seats, toilet roll, anywhere to wash hands and other basic things we take for granted in the UK.

After 8 hours of walking our campsite for the night was finally in site. We were at a much lower altitude for the evening and it was so much warmer! Our chefs managed to cook up a storm once again and after the meal we all slept like babies.

Usually whoever was first to use the bathroom at any site was quickly asked ‘Was there a seat? A light? Toilet roll? A door? A sink?’. In this campsite however, a new question was added to the list. ‘Was there a peephole?’ Sadly I didn’t hear this addition until the following day. Apparently the toilet door at this particular campsite had a massive round hole in the middle of the door, pointed right at the toilet. When we went in at night with our head torches on we were lit up like Blackpool Illuminations. Excellent!! Thankfully I was oblivious.

Day three was much easier, mainly involving following a gravel road through a valley. We passed small farms and bought some delicious fruit from the side of the road. Apparently the traditional method to open a granadilla is to smash it against your head. They must have tough heads in the Andes though because this hurts!

As we neared our stopping place for lunch, Vincente spotted a baby tarantula. We also found a few other interesting bugs.

We luckily made it to lunch just as the heavens opened, so we sat and watched the rain from a little restaurant. After we finished we got a minibus to our ‘campsite’ for the evening. This time we were to sleep in the back garden of a local bar, but more about that later! After three days of walking we were very excited to spend the rest of the afternoon at the thermal pools.

When we returned to our tents we found out that this particular day was Peruvian Labour Day, meaning that the bar was full of local men having lots of beers. They were already quite rowdy, and Vincente decided ‘if you can’t beat them – join them’! We all had a couple of beers and then we were shown how to make pisco sours. We played quite a few rounds of cards before retiring for the night. Unfortunately, our tents were pitched between the bar and the toilets and the Peruvian men were now completely hammered. We had also spotted a machete in the shed next to us (yes, they do seem to be following us around), so it wasn’t the most comfortable nights sleep!!!

The next morning we got up early – well most of us did anyway, Vincente was sleeping off the excesses of the night before – to go zip lining. The zip lining was terrifying and amazing, as we flew hundreds of feet above the Peruvian rainforest. For me, the most terrifying bit was walking across a wire bridge.

We returned to the campsite to have the final breakfast cooked by our chefs. They had gone all out and cooked a ginormous cake. Odd but tasty. Feeling full of adrenaline (and sugar) we walked the remaining distance to the town of Aguas Calientes, at the foot of Machu Picchu.

For the final night we were staying in private rooms in a guesthouse. This felt like total luxury after hostels and campsites! Tomorrow: Machu Picchu!

• Machu Picchu