Panza del Artista Cusco

... for you. Crossing the road is a nightmare - as soon as you stop, your path is blocked by cars. Of course, it doesn't help that anyone can by a 'Taxi Autorizado' window sticker in the street.

- Driving is not simply a matter of getting from A to B - it is an opportunity to express your masculinity and male pride. Never wil a Peruvian driver allow his machisimo to be undermined on the road. If someone attepts to overtake you, accelerate like fury ...

... moisturizer etc…..I never have been a camper!! Which reminds me that I have to point out to all the friends who have been trying to persuade me to go camping in England - this did mean I had 3 nights camping although I had some nice porters to put up my tent and cook my dinner - oh and have tea, hot chocolate, popcorn and biscuits waiting for me after a hard days hiking!!

The hike takes 4 days, and it turned out that day 1,2 ...

... 1496;בור העולם.
קוסקו שנכבש 92; ע"י הספרד 97;ם נראית אירופ 88;ית באזור 97;ה התייר 93;תים, ממש עיר קו ...

... lottery numbers and realising they are yours, the feeling of joy spread through the group like a fast gust of wind.

Eventually we reached Ancascocha to find a small school building and our beloved yellow tents, it was a quick warm down with the group, a hot cup of coffee and then off to rest before dinner.

We were now at our highest camp site, the air was cold and despite the freezing cold temperature I felt damn good, what an achievement, I had made it!

... followers.

The origin of the Lord of Miracles is a little out of the ordinary, coming as it does not from an apparition of Christ or miracles performed by an ordinary person. Several hundred years ago, a group of slaves painted an image of a black Christ on the cross on a wall in Lima. A massive earthquake later destroyed much of the city, but the wall and the image survived intact, and later earthquakes also failed to have any effect on the ...

... time. The first place we stopped at was Salinas where the salt mines are. It was incredible; I've never seen anything like it. The whole mountainside had little rectangular white pools carved into it. The salt springs from inside the mountain flowed into the pools. Then the people stop the water with rocks (and also plastic now). For 3 months the sun evaporates the water, and then salt is left in the little pools. There were locals ...

... suffering from the altitude, not me thankfully but sometimes you´re just waiting for it to happen. We were a quiet bunch on the bus at this time of the day but it was nice just to enjoy the ride watching the breathtaking scenery of the canyon. The trip was to nesting place of the Giant Condors, the largest birds who fly at this high altitude, they`re much like vultures but are revered in Peru. Tried to get lots of photos of them but they`re pretty ...

... say about Cusco anyway! It is tourist hell. More on that later.

On Wed morning Amy and I caught an early train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (yes they have hot springs there), which is the town at the base of Machu Picchu mountain. The town is very small and there are no cars in it, so you have to walk anywhere you want to go. Everything is very close so it isn't a problem. An employee from the hotel met us at the train station and walked us to the hotel about 5 minutes ...

Dear Blog,

Rise and shine! Today is "D" day! I am sooooo thrilled and excited and anxious to embark today on my new adventure. So much preparation was put into it. I am READY. Farewells were said to Justin and then, off we went.

Having booked our private tour of Cusco/Sacred Valley/Ollantaytambo/Machu Picchu with CAT (Classic Adventure Tours), one of their representative picked us up at Justin's ...

... mix of riders. The horseman helped us get on our horses. I was very nervous at the beginning and I think the mule must have sensed it as he jumped straight ahead. I panicked and yelped. The horseman showed me how to hold the reins and how to talk to the mule to help it relax. Luckily, the mule and I got used to each other and everything calmed down.

We passed trees before finally reaching the main road which we had to cross in ...