In Ollantaytambo, on the morning of 18 April, I was up at 3.30am and on the bus by 4.00am to drive to the start of the Trek. The reason for the early start was that they were doing extensive road works and close the road from 9.00am – 6.00pm plus 1 hour in the middle of the day. We had to get up the top of the mountain driving along this windy, dirt road. Some of our group who were not keen on heights were a bit freaked out by the road as many times the steep drop was very close to the edge of the road. One of our group was convinced at one waterfall / creek crossing the bus had one wheel air-born. We arrived at a busy village with many markets and met ... read more

Tom had a total of 6 nights in Cusco (in Ollantaytambo on 17 April) because he came back to the city while I was on the Lares Track (18 & 19 April), so I only had 4 nights. Cusco was the first city in Peru and remains the historical and spiritual capital of the country. Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It is a major tourist destination and receives almost 1.5 million visitors a year. It is designated as the Historical Capital of Peru by the Constitution of Peru It is a large city of more than 1M population, and contains many remnants of the old Incan dynasty. The old city is well preserved and kept in a clean ... read more

Tuesday 12 April & Thursday 14 & Friday 15 April– Arequipa After our 1st overnight bus, which was pretty comfy (it was referred to as a semi-cama bus which meant seats semi-reclined), and after a shower, settling into the los Andes Bed & Breakfast, we went on a city orientation walking tour. We went to the local markets which were massive. We started by ordering a fresh fruit juice of pineapple, banana, orange and mango. We got about 750 mls for 6 Soles. The lady who made it was really lovely. We saw in the markets all the meats, hardware, clothing etc. One of the really strange thing at these markets was the carcases of Llama foetuses hanging up. The Shama (medicine men) used them in their ceremonies. They looked pretty gross ... and pretty sad. ... read more

Friday 8 April – Lima Lima is a big city which stretches for kilometres to house the 11 million people (I think my last blog listed it as 8 million people which is incorrect). Lima was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, as La Ciudad de los Reyes, or "The City of Kings" It became the capital and most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. Following the Peruvian War of Independence, it became the capital of the Republic of Peru. Today, around one-third of the Peruvian population lives in the metropolitan area.. We stayed at The Place Hotel which was in the Miraflores district which is an up-market area close to the beach. A Hilton Hotel was being built opposite us. There are many casinos in this district also and ... read more

1-2 April 2011 Cuenca, Ecuador (the valley city) After an 8 hour road trip in a privately hired bus, we arrived at beautiful Cuenca. Of all of the cities in Ecuador, Cuenca is arguably the most charming with its cobblestone streets, old-world cathedrals, colonial parks and urban rivers. The famously traditional Cuencanos continue a proud intellectual tradition that has produced more notable writers, poets, artists, and philosophers than anywhere else in Ecuador. There are many museums in the city some of which have taken over the buildings which used to be banks after many of the banks suffered from a collapsing economy in 1989. Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay province, the third largest city in Ecuador, and the economic center of the southern Sierra. These distinctions, along with the city's incredibly preserved history, recently ... read more