Days 59 Today was a day we have been contemplating for a long time. Would we or could we take on the famous mountain bike trip down the road dubbed “The Death Road” and “The World’s Most Dangerous Road”. Most of this infamy was due to when two-way motor vehicle traffic occurred on the single track road but has now been diverted to an alternate new road and now taken over by adventure seekers. The stars must have been in alignment as we agreed we could do it and the weather was agreeable. We chose Xtreme Down Hill as the tour operator as other Intrepid groups had used them previously with no adverse reviews. Intrepid give no advice on the trip & would prefer no one went. In the end I had the company of 6 ... read more

Days 56 -57 we had a fun start to the day when our group left our hotel in a convoy of 2 man peddle powered cyclos for a quick trip down to the port for our tour of Lake Titicaca. We were joined by our guide, John, who is an expert in the history & culture for these regional communities. We started out by slow motor boat in dead calm & warm conditions although the water temperature is a constant cold 9-10 deg. After a short cruise our first stop off was to visit the Uros floating islands. The Uros natives originally moved north to Puno thousands of years ago & were happily settled there until the Spanish arrived & who needed a constant supply of slave labour to mine the rich lodes of silver that ... read more

Day 54. Today was a well earned free day in Cuzco. Time to arrange laundry, rest weary bodies & for me time to catch up on the blog. In the morning we took a leisurely walk into the city hoping for a little more warmth as shorts were the only clean clothes not in the laundry & the sun duly obliged. On reflection we have been very lucky with the weather as the wet season doesn't officially end till the end of April. While the dry season is the preferred tourist season it can get very hot. We headed to the San Blas square where a weekly artisan market is held. Ruth really enjoyed it inspecting every conceivable item & was able to bargain for some nice trinkets but I needed to wanders bit wider & ... read more

Day 52 is day 3 of the Inca trail. A 6 am wake-up tea again after a reasonable sleep in freezing conditions for a 7.20 am start for a less intense day covering 11 kms to Winaywayna base camp. The early start is to allow us to reach camp by lunch time & after a rest inspect the spectacular nearby Winay Wayna ('Forever Young')ruins. We started with a trek over the third pass to the beautiful ruins of Phuyupatamarca, the 'Town above the Clouds', at 3,600 mtrs. This is another unique micro climate system known as the cloud forest that is almost continuously in cloud & fog & creates moist & humid conditions that is the perfect environment for moss, lichen & flowers to thrive including numerous types of orchids. Incas considered orchids the nicest flower ... read more

Day 50 is day 1 of the Inca Trail. By reputation the Inca Trail is by far the most famous trek in South America. In just 39 km it manages to combine beautiful mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest, subtropical jungle and, of course, a stunning mix of Inca paving stones, ruins and tunnels. The final destination of the trail just cannot be beaten: Machu Picchu, the mysterious "Lost City of the Incas". We are excited to see how this reputation stands up but nervous as well to know if we have under-estimated the difficulty or susceptible to altitude sickness . Having stored the bulk of our luggage in Cuzco minimal clothing and sleeping gear is transferred into a small duffle bag for the next four days and carried by a team of porters with food and equipment ... read more