We headed off on a hike up hill out of Cusco the next morning following Max on the trail of a Sexy Woman or so it sounded like every time he mentioned where we were going! The guys were walking pretty fast strangely enough, can't think why when they were surrounded by sexy women already pfffft! Of course it wasn't Sexy Woman but Saqsay Waman (or 'stuffed full eagle' according to Max!). And so began a day of Max spouting off at great length about his favourite subject the Incas. I guess he is proud of his heritage, but it was really way, way, way, too long a spiel each time. I'm afraid I switched off after a bit. The site itself is however very impressive. It was a fortified garrison type place and you can ... read more

The next day, blissfully free of pain after the huge injection and drugs but still pretty weak, this Broads girl missed out on a boat trip to visit the reed islands on Lake Titicaca (sad face...can't find the right symbols on this keyboard!) and rested in bed instead. The others came back with lovely pics so I didn't miss out too much. They were all dressed up in typical costumes of the area and looked in varying degrees fab to ridiculous (I'm not going to mention names!). After the others got back I managed to force some soup down me (Drs orders) and a little stroll around Puno. Yet another election rally parade was in progress and this area's candidate was actually there but he only seemed to be able to muster the support of all ... read more

So the next day expectations are high as we rise really early to be able to get to the condor watching spot in time for their morning warm up sessions. We stop at a small town on the way where the local ladies were making the most of us tourists, dressed in their highly colourful and decoratively embroidered costumes, and holding huge birds of prey on their arms and on their heads for us to photo and then of course we duly had a go ourselves - solas expected for this privilege. As we turn off the main road and head towards the Colca Canyon Wilo pipes up with ´Are you all ready for a road massage´ and he wasn´t kidding as we got jolted and bumped on the rough track. One side the drops got ... read more

Awaking the next morning after our long, long journey and collapsing into bed, we were amazed to see how wonderful the hotel in Ariquipa was. We were staying in a converted Bishop´s House with little court yards, beautifully tended gardens, rooms with antique furnishings and all sorts of intriguing artifacts decorating the hotel. It very much reminded me of the Heritage Hotels I´d stayed in when I was travelling in India. A picture paints a thousand words so you´ll have to wait until I get a chance to upload some photos. We set off with Max into Ariquipa, first to have a look around a local indoor market. Normally I would have found this fascinating, but in my rather fragile state the sight and smell of minging, raw animal parts covered in flies wasn´t exactly appealing! ... read more

We left the beautiful hotel at Huacachina the next morning and set off for Nazca. On the way Max kept us well informed about the region and some fascinating snippets about Peruvian life. We are still in the Ica department which is mostly a desert region growing grapes for wine and Pisco plus other crops. If you are interested the recipe for the famous Peruvian cocktail Pisco Sour is: Pisco, angustura bitters, egg whites and sugar. Tasted lovely. We found out about a week long festival that takes place at harvest time in the region. There´s a carnival and lots of singing and dancing and making merry. One local custom involves bringing a huge cut tree to the town, decorating it with presents, sweets and chocolates then couples in funny costumes with face paints and the ... read more