We left Lima a day early as we weren't massive fans of it, and the fact that our hostel overcharged us by about £40 for the room we definitely don't have fond feelings for the place. I have to give Casson his due here though, he argued the toss for about an hour before giving up!

Anyway, we jumped in a taxi to the bus station, arrived in plenty of time so Casson went to check which platform we were going from. 5 minutes later he rushed over and started flinging my bag on my back, we'd been dropped off at the wrong station .... cue Casson's only real flap he's had since we got here as we didn't have long to get to the right station and it was rush hour.

After a mad taxi dash we made it so we were pretty pleased with ourselves until Casson asked me for the bus tickets, now I knew I didn't have them as he'd taken them with him in the first station but I didn't think it was the right time to tell him for fear of a meltdown so as I was checking my bag I asked him to check his pockets at the same time ..... low and behold there they were in his pocket!!!!

The bus was 22 hours and I'd say for about 18 of those we slept. At one point in the night though I woke up and it was pitch black and I was being thrown around in my seat. I honestly thought we were about to go over the side of a cliff so I had to wake Casson up so he could share my fear. I'm glad I did as he went to the toilet and could see it was a windy road but not on a cliff edge.

The only way we can really describe that journey is like travelling up a giant helter skelter slide ..... on a bus ..... at 60mph! We both felt a little queasy along the way but we don't know if that was travel sickness, bus fumes or the altitude as Cusco is 3300m above sea level!

The journey was totally worth it as Cusco is a lovely little town with lots of character. We arrived about 2ish, checked into our hostal and went for a walk. We were both short of breath and Casson felt a bit queasy but we'd not ate all day so we thought we'd better get something to eat. The minute the food was put in front of me I had to get up and leave as I thought I was going to be sick, I was walking up this lovely cobbled street thinking were the hell can I throw up, luckily the moment passed so I headed back and managed about 3 forkfulls of rice. We had a lie down at 6pm and didn't wake up till 6 the next morning ..... we blame the altitude!

Day 2 was just spent mooching about and getting used to the altitude and by Day 3 we decided to be adventurous and walk to the ruins on the outskirts of town, we're so glad we did though as on the way up we stumbled across a local fiesta with stalls, beer, food etc and we managed to catch the local band and dancers in National dress before we headed off.

The ruins (Sacsayhuaman) are meant to be the greatest Inca ruin outside of Machu Picchu, the complex is huge and overlooks the city of Cusco.They are believed to have once been a royal retreat, a fortress, or both. Its zigzag walls are built with some of the largest stones to be found in Inca masonry; some are estimated to weigh as much as 300 tons, yet are fit together as tightly as the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

On the hike up it was absolutely boiling but as we got there the weather just changed, it was freezing, raining and then hail stoning. We couldn't get our heads around the extremes in weather within a single day .... layering was definitely the way forward.

On the way back down we called in at the Fiesta for a beer, our Spanish isn't great and we were with the locals of locals who have their own language so I ordered a beer and she said something I didn't understand so I panicked and just said "si", we ended up with a litre of beer and sat drinking it with some old men who seemed to be the mafiosa of the fiesta, none of us could understand each other but they were smiling and cheers/clinking glasses is universal so it was all good!

On Day 4 we got a minibus to Pisac as there are some more ruins there and a famous market. We'd picked a good day to go though as it wasn't a full market day so it was really quiet (neither of us are massive fans of crowded markets), the town itself had a hippy vibe and it was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Cusco. We dedcided to take a taxi to the top and walk back down through the ruins and down the hillside back to Pisac which was about a 3 hour trip.

It was totally worth the trip, the ruins were amazing and the views even better! Unfortunately it was here I realised Kenny G (my dad was with us), Casson was so enthralled by the view that he kept tripping up and I constantly spent the whole time telling him to get away from the edge as it was a pretty steep drop! (Sound familiar mum?) We got to a section with some really steep downhill steps and we'd caught up with some people, one of which was carrying a tiny baby, I couldn't take my eyes off him in case he fell ..... cue me tripping up and being told off for not watching were I was going!

We ended up on our own most of the way down and it was one of the best days so far!

Just a few things to mention before we sign off:

1) our hostal was great and the guy who owned it really helpful but it was FREEZING! We're not even exaggerating, we both slept in thermals!

2) The altitude makes you really tired all the time

3) Every dish you order in Peru comes with real chips and rice ...... this is my kind of place!

4) Other than the litre of beer at the fiesta our beer a day challenge is on hold whilst we acclimatise for the Inca trail which we know is going to be tough!