Our real first day of our holiday and what a day it was! It started this morning with a solid breakfast in Auckland and finished with a great dinner in Paihia in the Bay of Islands about 250 km north of Auckland. We traveled the distance by car, that we rented. Driving in New Zealand is on the wrong side of the road, i.e. left, which initially brings a lot of complications. Different driving functions are on the opposite side of the steering wheel, which has very clean windows as a result, because every time you think you indicate direction, the wiperblades come on and when you think you turned the lights on, after some time, you come to the conclussion that the wiperblades on the rear window is on. The landscape here is unbelievable beautiful, ... read more

A day of layover. Before starting our long haul to New Zealand. We had a full day to spend in the area of Los Angeles. Best solution: a bus tour to see th sights. Visited Venice, Marina del Rey, Beverly hills, Bell Air and Hollywood. Saw the star of Mickey Mouse on the walk of fame and the houses of different "famous people/ film stars". After the tour you come to the conclusion that hard work is worth much less than looks and a bit of talent, but who are we to co... read more

The last day sets a new record for having to get up. We have to raise at 4.00 AM and leave no later than 5.00 AM. The reason for this is the porters. They have to catch a very early train and before getting to the station they have to pass the national guard control, not for weight control but to show that they in effect are taking all the garbage with them. Nothing can be left at the trail, which seems a great idea. I must say the trail is much cleaner than the Camino de Santiago; very few pieces of toilet paper can be found on the trail, whereas on the Camino they are everywhere. Before we can start our daily journey, we have to wait in line for our group control. We have ... read more

A very early start again and this after a night of sleeping on the ground in a tent for the first time in a number of years. Night time temperatures of around 7 C. As it works out this is the most complicated and longest day. One of the things I was not (sufficiently) aware of before I started the Camino, was the fact that about 70% of the whole Camino consists of uneven rocky stairs. These Incas had a great talent for making stairs. Stairs going up and coming down. They make sense due to the great amount of water that crosses the trail (melting water from the snow covered peaks) and the amount of rain that falls during the rainy season. Without the stairs there probably would not be a Camino. Nevertheless walking some ... read more

A day for tourism and aclimatization. The night before we had decided to take a tour of places in and around Cusco. We left the churches out, since those we had already partially done the day before. We concentrated on the Inca history. We took a taxi to drive us around and visited the folllowing places: Saqsayhuaman, Q'engo, Pakapakara and Tambonachay. In the first archeological place we visited we hired a guide who gave us a magnificent explication of the who and what of the Incas in building temples, houses, etc. Very interesting to learn that there are different types of construction depending on the relevance of the functions or the people. Straightlines in building is for prime purposes and "prime people". Impressive to see how the different rocks fit together without cement or anything. More ... read more