Despite protestations to various parties involved in the organisation of the trek to Machu Picchu it was deemed by the Peruvians easier to label all of us doing the trek from the Spanish school Norwegian. Thus the first day of team Norway's 4 day Inca Jungle trek to Machu Picchu began above the cloud base in the mountains above Santa Maria. Little did we know that below us awaited a cold and perilous descent with hail, rain, irrate llamas, water hazards and sheer drops. To make it even more 'exciting' the bikes were also somewhat in need of TLC, the brakes on my bike barely worked at 4350m let alone after navigating numerous descents and hairpins en route to our finish for the day at 1250m. Tonje's tyre had a 3 inch hole in the side ... read more

I'm now nearing the end of my first of 2 weeks of Spanish lessons in Cusco. It's been a surprisingly enjoyable experience, if somewhat tiring. I don't think I fully estimated how tiring 6 hours a day of learning a language could be. Its definitely worth it however as my Spanish has gone from being non-existent to being at a level where I can order food & drink without pointing, unsuccessfully barter in shops and describe celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Shakira to my teachers in Spanish. This is something they find particularly annoying when the exercise is to tell them in Spanish where I live or what my hobbies are. The school has a great atmosphere with lots of different nationalities who all seem to get on really well. We ended ... read more

Taking a lunchtime flight from Lima to Cuzco I began to appreciate what a difference a few thousand meters can make at the same latitude. Leaving behind the hot, dusty, arid and rocky terrain of Lima it wasn't long before we entered the Andes to be engulfed by bright green hills and mountainsides contrasted only by the odd snow capped peak, lake or river. At 3500m the former Inca capital Cuzco is much fresher and cooler than the coast and obviously with the air being considerably thinner the altitude can take some getting used to. Having good fitness at present and being off the scale on a recent peak flow test I foolishly didn't think the altitude would be an issue so I dropped my bag off at my accommodation and headed off for the ... read more

Sitting in the departures lounge at Gatwick airport for the first part of my journey to Lima was an interesting experience. A strange mix of excitement, terror and relief to be exchanging what the Daily Mail has described as imminent 'Russian' like weather conditions for 26 degrees and sunshine. I probably shouldnt be worried, lots of people have travelled South America and come back alive with postive stories to tell. Although I will admit that certain 'friends' have got me slightly spooked with tales of travellers having their organs harvested, being used for ritual killings or as forced drug mules. Okay, maybe the ritual killings is a little far fetched. Anyway, I'm currently sat in Madrid Barajas airport about to board my connecting flight to Lima. I think I may have learnt my first word in ... read more