Hola Gringos, How goes it? We are back in sunnier climes following what seems to be forever stuck in chilly places. We got some snowballing done in Chile before flying to Lima, Peru to meet Sarah and Terry for the next leg. Lima was a normal big city and we stayed in Miraflores which was ok. We did get stuck in one of the weirdst parades ever, understandably some chinese dragons marched by followed by the police, ambulance service etc, then came marching bands and wheelie binmen? parodies of Bush and Saddam? it was all a bit too much really, but plenty of prom queens, (photos to follow) which was nice. We arrived in Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, to acclimatise to the altitude. Here I found out that the coca leaves I had been carrying all around south america so far are illegal, I must be one of the coolest and most successful drug runners of all time. I was even patting one of the drug dogs at the airport while it was sniffing at my bags stuffed with coca leaves. True you need about a ton of the stuff for a few ounces but i wasnt to know that. I guess putting it in my washbag next to my old spice must have dampened the smell. Anyway we took a day trip to the Sacred Valley, to look at some inca ruins, and had the opportunity of drinking chicha, a local brew made from fermented corn. Not too bad really. We started the Inca Trail at a very early time in the morning, something which would become the norm. Our guide Washington, assistant Caesar and 19 hardy porters, none more than 5 foot high and all carrying our tents, chairs, camping equipt, food, gas bottles etc up and down the mountains much quicker than us. We saw, yes, more inca ruins as to be expected, walked several hours a day and refrained from a proper wash for a full 4 days, still we were not as smelly as the porters when they started the trip but they seem quite happy with it. Despite very little sleep and shall we say some dietary problems (Terry you know who you are) all our group made it to Machu Picchu without too many blisters. After saying goodbye to Sarah and Terry who are heading to the jungle to be mosquito bait for a few days we headed off on another bus to Puno to visit Lake Titicaca. We took a day tour to some of the floating islands of the Uros people where everything is made from bull rushes and reeds (they even eat them) then another island in the lake for lunch and the chance to completely ruin our legs by walking up and down another 500 steps over the island. We took a few beers with a dutch girl and some brazilian hombres we met that day. Another bus down to Arequipa where we have spent the last two days wandering around, warming up and chilling out in some hammocks! Tomorrow, probably going to get cold again as we head off to Colca Canyon for some big bird watching, hopefully the condors will turn up as well. OK bye for now. Andy and Rachel