Jen decided against a spit-roast meal of guinea pig - from what we saw of them in Ecuador last year it leaves nothing to the imagination - the poor little creature is impaled on a large-calibre spit intact (feet, teeth, etc.). Jen decide to sample her first cuy in a stew in Cusco. David had a pizza and asked how she was getting on when he was halfway through a quite passable Napolitano. "Not very well" is a rough translation of her response, inasmuch as there was little meat on what was still a largely intact rodent. Subsequently Jen tried it in the form of a rough terrine (tortology?) on a couple of occasions and pronounced it gamey but a little unremarkable. ... read more

We usually find when we're travelling that we see a wedding, simply because our trip involves looking at temples and churches or being in a community's main square. In Chivay we saw a wedding procession complete with supporting brass band and, on our first evening in Cusco, the bride and groom emerged onto the steps of the cathedral amidst the fiesta and fireworks. We saw funeral processions in Puno and Cusco, complete with American hearses of some vintage. Jen saw a man digging a grave by the side of the railway between Puno and Cusco. The number of dogs wandering the streets, alone and in packs, meant that we were surprised that there weren’t more dead dogs lying about but David did see one alongside the road whilst travelling on the train ‘twixt Puno and Cusco. ... read more

We checked into the Hotel Pakaritampu in Ollantaytambo and wandered up to the town square. We were surprised and delighted to find that it was the town’s anniversary party and that a good local rock band was playing to the obvious pleasure of the crowd. We left at dusk, watching a foreign (female) tourist being ejected from dancing on the stage for the third time, and returned to our hotel for dinner. Our waitress had a terrific command of English which she’d learned at school in Lima. She’d decided to leave Lima because it was "unsafe outside the tourist areas". This morning (Tuesday) found us making an early start by walking up to the Inca terraces where admission is free according to the Lonely Plant guide, only to find that it is free if you’ve already ... read more

The Hiram Bingham train from Puno on Saturday was a complete contrast from the frenetic travel and spartan conditions in our minibuses. We were shown to our first class carriage which featured armchairs around tables and settled down to ten hours of being pampered with beverages and meals. We escaped the extremes of enforced entertainment and souvenirs and ventured a few times to the observation car at the rear of the train. Stopping at the highest point, there was, inevitably, a market although the altitude prevented Jen from being able to run between all the stalls. We spent most of our time talking with Nicola and Andrew from Somerset who seem to have lived in most places in England and to be spending a lot of their time travelling. On arrival in Cusco, with a small ... read more

An restless night's sleep in Arequipa left us ill-equipped for a long drive to Colca Canyon by minibus. We were the first pick-up at 07:30 and we didn't pick up the last two until 08:30 by which time we were mildly irritated. Having made preparation for the day we were not pleased to have to stop at a shop so that our fellow-travellers could micturate and purchase a variety of candies and drinks. We finally headed out of Arequipa at 09:00 and climbed. And climbed. And climbed. After some interesting overtaking manoeuvres past road trains and other coaches and buses, passing llama and alpacas along the way through Aguada Blanca National Reserve we finally reached the highest point, some 4,900m above sea level. Whilst all of us were chewing coca leaves to help alleviate the effects ... read more