Friday 17th. Taxi to Heathrow airport at 01:30, arrived at about 3am. First in the queue for the flight once we'd worked out which airline we were with. The flight numbers we had didn't exist on the departures board! We were second through security and into an eerily empty departure lounge. A quick Starbucks then onto the Iberia Airbus 320 which left about half an hour late destined for Madrid. There was a fantastic sunrise as we flew across the channel - a really orange sky on the port side, whilst looking right was in darkness. The flight was comfortable although we're very tired having not really slept for over 24 hours. Landing in Madrid and it's sunny but a little cold. A few hours now before we board a direct flight to Lima. With any luck that will be comfortable and we'll get some sleep. Next update hopefully from Lima.
15:30 clock now set to Peru time which is 5 hours off GMT : Caught first glimpse of South American coastline from the plane. A pretty good flight with better legroom. Thankfully got some sleep.
19:30 Plane touched down in Lima. It was a long flight, tiredness has got the better of me in exact details, but it was around 13 hours. After quite a long stint in baggage claim and negotiating a customs form written only in Spanish, the bags arrived and we met out guide Holger (Who is not German, although I think he looks it). It's about 20 deg Centigrade and quite pleasant as we make our way by minibus in darkness to the hotel. Caught a glimpse of the Pacific on the way. Hotel Hacienda seems pretty nice. Had an introduction to the national drink Pisco Sour, which is very similar to a Margheritta. Time to hit the sack as we are up at 6:30 for a tour of old Lima.
Saturday 18th A decent night's sleep. Even the drone of car horns in the distance couldn't keep me awake. Today we're having a look around colonial Lima then driving south to Pachacamac Fortress. It's quite cloudy this morning but still comfortably warm.
First stop of the day was the old part of Lima. Up in the hills the colourful shanty town looked down over us. On the old square was the cathedral, unforunately closed today. In the square they're putting up the Christmas tree - at least they do that properly here, i.e. a week before the 25th. We then went to San Franscico church to look around the catacombs which was full of old human bones and some unique Inca structures to combat the regional earthquakes.
We did a lot of driving after that. Firstly to Pachacamac Fortrees which are ruins up in the hills and also overlooking the Pacific coast. For many miles south of Lima all that was really visible were sandy hills of the dessert with the occasional greenery as a river ran through and out to the sea. Clustered in the hills were dozens of chicken farms.
For lunch we ate seafood in a small coastal town. Great food and some Cerveza to wash it down. Afterwards we had a boat trip out of the harbour to see some of the sealife. As we left the harbour a pelican flew over the small boat, we saw several more in the cliff tops and also seals among the many varieties of seabird. The cliffs were coloured white, though this wasn't natural. The birds had managed to create that themselves!
After that we had a long trip south in the minibus. A quite tiring journey as the sun set over the ocean with a brilliant orange glow. We've now arrived at our hotel for the evening, also La Hacienda as yesterday in Lima. This one is much nicer with a beautiful pool, though the jacuzzi was a better option.
Sunday 19th. This morning we had another early start and set out on the minibus to Paracas, a small harbour town. We donned life jackets once more and packed into some large speedboats that held around 40 passengers. The boats were heading to the Ballestas islands which are known as the Peruvian Gallapogas. The mountainous islands were teaming with sea birds and sea lions. Thousands of Pelicans, Boobies and Penguins lined the cliffs, whilst Movembered sea lions yawned on the rocks. We headed back to shore as the heat started to rise. It's probably in the 80s today, but still quite comfortable.
Now writing this whilst back on the minibus driving to see the Nazca lines. The roads are all lined by quite barren landscape of what look like massive sand dunes. The driver seems pretty good although sometimes it's like a giant game of chicken as we dodge the oncoming traffic.The journey was a long one. We crossed the desert in some searing temperatures on a non-airconned minibus for several hours. After passing through some stunning scenery we eventually arrived at the
viewing platforms for the Nazca lines. Personally I thought they were quite disappointing, especially as they were difficult to see properly in the piercing sun. Apparently the weather in England reached -20 today, that's gotta hurt.
We then moved on to Nazca town for lunch. Driving down a back alley into what looked like a prison doorway. The inital impression was soon blown away. As the shutters pulled back we were welcomed into a beautiful private restaurant to enjoy asparagus soup and a beef main course. This was followed by a wonderfully fresh mango. Great stuff!
Once lunch was done, we went to take a look at a local aquaduct. Not really what we expected, having envisaged a tall structure carrying water, it turned out to be a series of water tunnels with spiral access points. Then we headed to the hotel via Nazca town. This was also in the back of beyond behind closed gates. A lovely old place with a peacock and llama strolling around the idyllic pool and grounds. The food in the restaurant wasn't great, either that or we took the wrong choice off the menu. Cold potatoes in a cheese sauce for starter really didn't work the appetite. Perhaps the fact that the restaurant was empty told the tale better than anything.
Tomorrow we have to be up at 6am for a solid days driving to Arequipa. Early night tonight...
Monday 20th. Well I got the early night, but ended spending most of it attached to the toilet. Not really sure what made me ill but today was a day to forget. Not only was I unwell but 11 hours in the minibus was a killer. We spent the day driving down the Pacific Highway from Nazca to Arequipa. A twisty trek along high cliff roads with sheer drops down the side. In the evening we had a look around the town and Holger took me to the pharmacy to purchase some electrolyte fluid. This stuff has worked wonders and I'm now nearly back to full health with a returning appetite.
Tuesday 21st. We've had a lie in this morning. The view from the hotel room is overlooking the town towards the mountains. It's a bit cooler here at 2,300 metres, the air is slightly thinner too which is noticeable although not uncomfortable.
After breakfast we wandered over the road to the Monastery for a tour. There are no monks here, only nuns, so in my mind that makes it a convent or a nunnery. It was quite an interesting place with some good photo opportunities.
We then walked across the city plaza to the Cathedral. The dome at the rear houses some ornate fresco artwork. We then took lunch in a rooftop restaurant overlooking the plaza. It rained for the first time in our visit, with just a light shower. A cool breeze swept in and the waiters donned us out in ponchos to keep warm. We ate lunch looking like something out of a spaghetti western, but it did the job.
This afternoon we took an optional tour to see the Ice Maiden Juanita. The tour was a story of how they found the body of a young girl in the volcano nearby. The body was 500 years old and had been preserved in the ice at the top of the volcano. She had been a sacrifice to the mountain gods. At the end of the tour we got to see the body of the young Inca girl that is still being preserved.
It was a pretty good sunset again tonight. Looking across the rooftops from the hotel, the sun sank behind the moutain ranges with a lovely orange hue. On the other side we've had what looked like a full moon and a firework display.
Tomorrow we move to the Colca Canyon. This involves going up a lot higher, driving to around 5000 metres at some points. If we're lucky we may get to see a condor or two.As ever, i have no idea what internet access will be like from here. The 3g network here is probably more reliable than at home, but I'm struggling to get the computer connected via hotel wifi networks to update this properly.
Wednesday 22nd. We boarded the minibus once more this morning and left Arequipa around 8am. It was a steady climb out of the city as we drove further up into the mountains. Along the way we saw Vicunas which are a cameloid that look a lot like deer, alpaca, sheep, and a few llamas. There were also a few flamingos on the plateau.
The drive took us to a peak of around 5000 metres. After which we slowly descended back down to around 3000 metres and had a buffet lunch in the small town of Chivay. This was also my first taste of coca tea which was quite pleasant and didn't really do anything out of the ordinary. As lunch finished the clouds drew in and we were treated to a massive thunder and hail storm. Thankfully we weren't far from the hotel which has a great view back into the town. There is no network access here at all, although I have a faint GSM signal on the phone.
After a couple of hours rest we are due to put on the hiking boots for the first time for a short hike at altitude.
Thursday 23rd. Spent around the Colca Canyon. The altitude sickness had hit pretty much everybody quite hard. Most were suffering with headaches, some a lot worse than others. In the afternoon we visited the hot springs which consisted of several pools in a complex along the canyon. It has rained some more and when it does it's very cold here.
Friday 24th (Christmas Eve). A long driving day from Chivay to Puno. The mountains we had passed the previous day were now topped with snow. Halfway we stopped for a picnic lunch by the side of a mountain lake. The whole journey was filled with spectacular scenery with much more of what I expected Peru to look like. Before the hotel we met up with another guide called Edgar who gave us a walking tour of Sillustani. This was a burial site with giant stone towers atop a hill overlooking Titicaca. The hotel in Puno has been very nice. The altitude sickness has all but gone, although any form of exertion needs to be done slowly. Puno is a big city set on the side of Lake Titicaca. Houses line the hillsides, with narrow streets. We're avoiding drinking alcohol due to the altitude, which has made Xmas quite different from what we're used to. In the end it was an earlyish night to the sounds of the locals celebrating with firecrackers.
Saturday 25th (Christmas Day). Raining heavily again and quite cold. We were up fairly early for a trip to a market. This was quite disappointing as there was very little to see and it was not pleasant out in the rain. We then moved on for a short walking climb for a view over Titicaca. Because of the weather there was nothing to see which was a pity. Afterwards we made a trip to a small town where a wedding was happening. As the rain continued to fall, the bridal party danced their way around the plaza to a trumpeter. Another short drive followed to a place where a young local made objects from
reeds. We were quite pleased to get back to the hotel as we were all quite cold and damp.
After lunch we took a boat from Puno out on Titicaca. The weather had much improved and now it was quite warm. The lake now looked spectacular with some great cloud formations. The journey was to a floating island inhabited by descendants of the Uros Indians. The islands were built from reeds and were quite spongey to walk on. The people there were very friendly and invited us into their houses which were also of reed construction. We waved goodbye and headed back to Puno.
Tomorrow we have another long drive as we head to Cusco, which is where we will start the Inca Trail.
Sunday 26th. The minibus left Puno promptly at 8 this morning. We drove back up the hillside and onto the Altiplano which is the high plane that runs for many miles. We passed through Juliaca which is probably the untidiest town we've seen. This is apparently because the town folk don't pay taxes, so nothing gets cleaned. As we left Juliaca we got stopped by a road block. After a long conversation with the official, our driver got handed a green slip and we were on our way again with no idea what that was for.
After a couple of hours we made a stop in a small town called Pucapucara. We first looked around a museum with some Inca artefacts, but were soon drawn to the parade going on around the plaza, complete with brass band and fireworks. Meanwhile several colourful dance groups prepared for a competition later in the day. The festivities were all part of local Christmas celebration which runs for 3 days (25 - 27 December).
Our next stop was at the end of the plateau at the foot of Mt Chimboya, another snow topped volcano. As we moved on from here we were slowly descending into the valley on our way to Cusco. We started to see trees again for the first time in a while, not something I'd really noticed, but it was quite obvious. The vegetation was becoming more lush too, the mountains starting to make the appearance of what I was expecting from Peru. The scenery on this leg of the journey was fantastic, my only real criticism was that we didn't stop often enough to take it in. Our final stop before Cusco was an Inca temple, this was a great photo opportunity with some unusual structures and fantastic backgrounds of mountains and clouds.
Now at the hotel in Cusco which seems quite nice, we have a great view over the town and hillside. Off out shortly for some last minute shopping for the Inca Trail.
Monday 27th. Today we toured the Sacred Valley. This included a 2 hour trek through Inca ruins. This was quite tough and included lots of steep steps and even a tunnel through the cliffs. After this we had an excellent buffet lunch that included eating lupins. In the afternoon we visited an Inca fortress before returning to the hotel and a final Inca Trail meeting.
Tomorrow morning we leave at 07:30 to start the trek.
Tuesday 28th. Inca Trail Day 1. This was a reasonably easy day's trek, with only one notable climb. This was still quite hard work with the altitude though. We got to see the trail porters in action for the first time. It's incredible seeing these guys carry huge packs on their backs, generally wearing only sandals on very tricky terrain. On this day, the dirt path meandered along the Urubamba river and quite late in the day we reached our camp site at Huayllabamba. We had a hearty meal served up by the head cook Andreas before hitting the tents for some rest. It rained heavily overnight but we all slept quite well and woke up to breaking clouds and some blue sky.
Wednesday 29th. Inca Trail Day 2. This is a day that I'll never forget. It was pretty much uphill for several hours. The dirt path turned into mostly rock and the steady inclines became steps. Lots of steps. The day started at around 3000m, but by the time we'd ascended through the cloud forest and hit Dead Woman's Pass, we were at over 4200m. It was a real struggle to make the pass, lungs and legs were giving out, only managing a few steps at time before taking a break for air. The weather was also taking its toll. A fine drizzle, or possibly just the fact we were in the clouds, went on for several hours, soaking us all right through. It felt like a major achievement to finally reach the peak, knowing that the descent to the campsite was all that awaited us. The sun finally came out and things seemed to be getting better, then the ferocity of the decent kicked in. The way down was steep, mostly steps. They call them steps but there's no uniformity to them. It felt more like climbing down a mountain albeit made trickier by the streams and waterfalls running across them. After another two hours and some very sore legs we made camp. It was dry overnight but quite cold in the tent. The night sky was truly spectacular, the zero light polution gave a great view of the southern hemisphere's stars.
Thursday 30th. Inca Trail Day 3. With legs still sore from the previous day, we set off fairly early. It was another gruelling morning of climbing. This made worse by the incessant rain which made the stone terrain very challenging. The climb was about another 400m, much less than the previous day, but the elements made it tough. Thankfully it was a shorter day's trek and we reached camp mid afternoon. The weather was starting to clear, but we were still robbed of views of Machu Pichu mountain due to the heavy cloud. The camp site was perched on a mountain top shrouded in clouds, making it quite difficult to dry anything we had worn that day. A couple of canteens filled with hot water was the best we could do to provide some warmth. It was a very cold night, dipping to around 6 degrees. We all slept fairly well though, we were all quite tired by now.
Friday 31st. Inca Trail Day 4. New Year's Eve. With only a descent to make this day should be quite a simple walk to our goal, Machu Pichu. It was raining though and the way down was very steep. Wet rocks were treacherous and energy levels were very low. The clouds still hung to the mountains, which meant that most of the lookout points along the way offered no view at all. The way down became a lot easier after a few hours, the steps gave way to more natural paths. We stopped for lunch knowing there was only about 2 hours to go. The rain slowly stopped and the clouds began to lift, the final walk around and over Machu Pichu mountain finished with one giant, almost vertical staircase. We clambered up to the top and through the Sun Gate. Below us was the famous site of Machu Pichu. It was spectacular.
Understandably the cameras were getting plenty of action, we were then rewarded with the sun breaking through and making the view even better. We had done it. Without a doubt the hardest thing I've ever done. 
In the evening we went out to dinner to celebrate our achievement. Our hotel was situated in Machu Pichu town. Plenty of Pisco Sour and Cerveza were drunk, dancing around the tables and finally we saw in new year in the town plaza. The locals were great and welcoming, filling our glasses with beer and vodka. As new year came in, the yellow confetti was flying and fireworks filled the air around the Xmas tree made from plastic green bottles. It was definitely a non organised display as children and adults fired rockets, firecrackers and jumping jacks around us. It was a great party atmosphere and a superb end to what had been a tough few days.
Saturday 1st. New Year's Day. A mild hangover soon gave way. The sun was shining today as we went back to Machu Pichu for a tour around the ruins. Afterwards we went back down to the town for lunch. The town sits on the Urubamba river, which rages past many of the town properties. In the centre of town runs the railroad. We ate lunch a few feet from the rail tracks while children played down on the rails. It was all quite surreal. At 5pm we caught the train back to Cusco. Well it should have gone to Cusco, but some change meant the second half of the journey was in a very cramped bus. It was nearly 10pm by the time we reached the hotel. We're here for 3 days now with some free time to enjoy a quite beautiful city.
Sunday 2nd. Had a bit of a lie in this morning before boarding the coach and visiting an Inca fortress called Sacsayhuaman (pronounced Sexy Woman). I can't say it was the most interesting day of the tour so far. There are only so many rocks you can look at in three weeks. We looked at a few more historical sites before returning to the hotel. We had a free afternoon, so took the opportunity to take some photos around the town plazas. It's been hot and sunny all day today bar a light shower in the afternoon. In the evening we went to the Inca Grill on the main plaza for a lovely meal - the chocolate tart in this place is cracking.
Monday 3rd. This morning we took a tour around a couple of Cusco tourist attractions including the Inca museum. Not really my cup of tea, but we've seen a lot of Cusco now so it was something different. The town today was very lively with many locals back to work after the holiday and the weekend. This evening we're going out to try guinea pig for the first time. Tomorrow we fly out to the Amazon jungle for a couple of days.
Edit: The Guinea Pig was alright, not a lot of meat on it, and it did taste like chicken in my book.
Tuesday 4th. Up at about 8am for a short coach journey to Cusco airport. From here we boarded a BAe 146 bound for Puerto Maldonado. The flight was only about 30 mins and landed us near to the jungle. It was about 95 degrees when we landed. The humidity was very high too, making it feel much hotter than we'd been used to of late. We made a quick stop in the city to change to small kit bags for the 2 nights we'd spend away. We then made our way by bus to the river down a pot holed mud track. Eventually we reached the river and boarded a long covered craft that seated about 20. The boat made its way upstream and we stopped after about an hour to sign in to the Tambopata reserve. A further hour later and we landed at the Lodge that would be our home for 2 nights. The lodge was situated deep in the rainforest, the sounds of birds, monkeys and insects was quite deafening at times. In the evening some of the group went out for a night tour of the forest, searching for insects.
Wednesday 5th. We had a very early start for a jungle walk. The key find was a giant tarantula hiding in a hollow tree. This was apparently a Chicken Spider, so called because of what it preys on. Our tour guide Juan Carlos showed us many flora and fauna from the forest, including some huge trees, some of which were hundreds of years old. Mid way through the walk we boarded a catamaran platform and toured an Oxbow lake. This was inhabited by many creatures including piranhas which jumped to the surface as we threw in some soda crackers. We returned back to the lodge during the hottest part of the day to get some rest. In the evening we took to the boat again to spot some Caiman by torchlight. We saw several of the alligator/croc type creatures plus a family of Capybara before returning back to the lodge for some Cerveza.
Thursday 6th. An early start again as we made our way back to Lima. After breakfast we took the boat and bus back to Puerto Maldonado. We were reunited with our suitcases once more before taking the flight back to Lima, with a short stop in Cusco along the way. In Lima we had a whistle stop tour of a museum before heading back to the airport. The flight home has been delayed by four hours so we've seen most of what Lima airport has to offer. The airline has at least given us a free meal while we endure the long wait and then the long flight back to Madrid. The free meal ended up being a McDonalds, the first I'd had in Peru. Disappointing not to see an AlpacaMac on the menu, they are missing a trick there!
Friday 7th. The LAN flight aboard a 767 was delayed a further hour, but reasonably comfortable and probably better than the Iberia flight over. Eating dinner at 2am seemed a little strange followed by breakfast at about 2 in the afternoon local time. Still, it got us there fairly well rested and in time for our new connection back to London. The last flight ran to time and we landed in London around 10pm. With a taxi home it really had been an epic journey back by boat, bus, plane and car (plus a train in Madrid airport) for around 36 hours. The UK was not as cold as expected and quite bearable, somewhat warmer than the Andes had been at times. Trip over but lots of great memories of a very busy three weeks.
I've now uploaded some more pics into a proper gallery. They can be viewed here.