When I was in Rio and I decided to extend my trip I knew that I could hang out with Helena for a couple of weeks in Mexico but beyond that I had no idea what I was going to do or how long I was going to stay on the road. I considered going to Cuba but it was difficult to arrange that in a rush. What I wanted was to be based in one place that I liked for a little while so that I could think about what I was going to do and contact people back in London. When I thought about all the places I'd been, it wasn't hard to choose the one I wanted to return to - Cusco!

So I flew from Cancún to Cusco via Mexico City and Lima; I was worried that my bags might not make the flight interchanges but thankfully they turned up with no problems. After the intense heat of Mexico, the weather in Cusco took a bit of getting used - due to the altitude it was hot and sunny in the middle of the day and very cold (almost freezing) in the early morning and at night and unfortunately I had posted a lot of my 'cold weather' clothes home because I didn't think I would be needing them again! I arrived early in the morning, I had been travelling all night but I was too excited to sleep so I had a cup of hot coca tea and a typically cold shower and then went for a walk around the Plaza de Armas - I was actually tingling with excitement at being back in Cusco! I immediately felt really settled there.

There is something magical about this town. I don't know if it is something physical and provable, like the altitude, or something supernatural and mystical, like the spirits of the Andean mountains, but there definitely a special energy and atmosphere about the place. And on a practical level, it has a great balance of culture and tradition with modern creature comforts (some fantastic restaurants!). And where else in the world could you randomly bump into people that you know on a regular basis??? This time around I stayed in Cusco for thirteen days and I ran into so many people that I'd met before...

My trip leader from when I was in Peru, Sebastian, coincidentally arrived in town the same day as me so we arranged to meet for lunch at Cicciolina. In true Sebastian style, a red wine drinking marathon ensued... After a fantastic lunch we went to his friend and fellow Intrepid trip leader Claire's flat and hung out there for a long time, drinking red wine and gossiping. In the evening, Sebastian and I headed back into town at which point I remembered that it was Good Friday because there were processions through the streets with statues of Mary and of Jesus in a glass coffin. In a shameful departure from Good Friday customs, we went for dinner at the Fallen Angel restaurant (it is SUCH a cool place, it has the craziest decor - a big scary-looking silver angel surrounded by disco balls, flying pigs, naughty artwork and tables made from bath-tubs). We were joined there by Pamela who works for Intrepid in Cusco. Later, the three of us headed over to The Muse where we met up with Cecilia (another trip leader) - we had so much fun being silly and messing around, it was a great laugh! Sebastian made some new friends in The Muse and decided not to join the girls as we headed on to Roots for some dancing with one of Intrepid's new recruits, Christian. Later, when Pamela and I were dancing on top of the bar in Mama Africa, I saw Jeanne-Marie who I'd travelled with from Quito to Buenos Aires! What a coincidence! She and her family were back in town, working on a volunteering project near Cusco. I eventually made it to bed at about 6:30am - what a crazy first day!

I headed to the Muse for some food and one of their famous banana and chocolate milkshakes at about 5pm the next day (Saturday). Pamela, Christian and I were supposed to meet for dinner and go to a '70s theme night at Fallen Angel but instead we were all tucked up in bed recovering from the night before.

On the Sunday I saw the Easter celebrations in the Plaza de Armas. Later I met up with Sebastian again and we had our fortunes told by a local man that reads coca leaves - he was very vague with my reading, he didn't say anything specific at all (nothing that I could understand in Spanish anyway!).

I joined Sebastian's group for dinner - they had just returned from the Inca Trail. They were meeting Claire and her group in a restaurant. As I sat down and introduced myself to Sebastian's passengers, I could hear someone calling my name, which seemed odd - I looked over to find that in Claire's group of passengers was Dave from Liverpool that I had spent three weeks travelling around China with last year! What a coincidence - I had no idea he was even in or around Peru! It was so nice to see him and catch up on what both of us had been doing and our plans.

For dinner we tried the roast guinea pig and some anticuchos (a skewer of cows hearts - a Peruvian delicacy but I didn't like it). Then we all went to The Muse and caught up with more of the Intrepid trip leaders - Andrés and Carlos - and some of their passengers. We all ended up in Roots again where we danced until the early hours.

It was another very late night and I had to be at Spanish school at 8am the next day (Monday) to start my lessons. Annoyingly, after I'd dragged myself over there, barely awake, they kept me waiting for about two hours before starting class. There was only one other girl in the class, she was from Texas and was studying Spanish at university so was keen to learn quickly. We covered a lot in a short space of time and I was pleased with the progress.

In the evening I met up with Dave again for dinner at Paddy's Irish bar and then we went for a drink at The Muse. While we were sitting there, Roger that I used to work with in London walked into the bar! Unbelievable - such a small world! Roger had just quit working at the bank and was spending five weeks travelling in South America before going back to work for his father.

The following day I met up again with Jeanne-Marie, Karien, Lida and Danie (who I travelled with from Quito to Buenos Aires) for dinner at The Muse. It was the family's last night in South America before they flew to Europe for the next leg of their adventure. It was lovely to see them and hear about the projects at which they had been volunteering - with children at a kindergarten; with women and girls that had been abused; and teaching English. Afterwards we went to Ukuku's bar where an amazing band was playing - they did a funked-up version of traditional Peruvian music with cool lighting effects and fire on the stage.

The Malans introduced me to some guys that had been in their Spanish classes, including Deirdre from Ireland. I arranged to meet up with them again the following night and they kindly invited me to a party at their Spanish school at the weekend.

Also while I was in Cusco, Phoebe (who I travelled with from Buenos Aires to Rio) was in town after doing the Inca Trail - I went for dinner with her and her group and their trip leader, Edwin. We started at the cool Witches Garden restaurant and then went on to the Mythology club where there was a free salsa show and lessons from some great dancers before the regular club night began. We had some flaming shots and danced until we were almost sleeping on our feet! I tried to practice my Spanish a bit with Edwin and he seemed to understand.

I was still taking Spanish classes every morning and really enjoying them. Then in the afternoons I would often find a cafe to sit and do my Spanish homework - Jack's cafe was a particular favourite for their amazing food and ginger tea but I still managed to make it to The Muse at some point almost every day! When the Champions League quarter-finals were on I went to Paddy's to watch them on the TV - it was always jam-packed when the football was on, it had a good atmosphere. Oddly the TVs in the two rooms of the bar were on different channels and one was a couple of seconds ahead of the other so there was an amusing situation where one room would always cheer and shout a couple of seconds before the other side realised what had happened.

I also managed to fit in quite a bit of sightseeing around Cusco and the Sacred Valley. There are loads of little museums and galleries around Cusco to explore. I visited several of the Inca ruins in and around town - Qorikancha in the middle of town and Saqsayhuaman on a hill overlooking the city were particularly impressive.

I spent a day touring around the Sacred Valley near Cusco. It offers some stunning landscapes - green mountains with snow-capped peaks in the distance and, down in the valley, corn fields and the River Urubamba. I stopped at the markets in the villages of Ccorao, Pisaq, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero. Pisaq has by far the largest and most commercial market, the others being smaller with slightly more traditional wares. In Pisaq I saw a funny guinea pig 'palace' with lots of the little furry creatures shuffling around, blissfully unaware that they may well be on tomorrow's menu! While I was there I had the regional classic snack 'choclo con queso', corn-on-the-cob with cheese. In this region of Peru the corn is much bigger than I have seen anywhere else and the cheese is unusual - white and salty - it sounds strange but it is very tasty and filling.

I visited the Inca ruins in Pisaq, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero. I had seen the ruins in Ollantaytambo before when I did the Inca Trail but this time I was able to explore them in more detail. However, it was the ruins at Pisaq that really caught my imagination - in a beautiful setting with extensive farming terraces - they were some of the nicest I had seen (and, at this stage, I had seen a lot!).

After over three months of almost continuous moving around every day or two with a group of people, my stay in Cusco gave me lots of 'alone time' to relax and catch up on sleep and admin. Also while I was there, in a moment of boredom and frustration at my ever-increasing white hairs, I dyed my hair red! It was a bit nerve-wracking as I'd never put a permanent colour in my hair before and the instructions were obviously in Spanish! It turned out well though

I was receiving quite mixed feedback to my enquiries about what was going on in London and the banking job market but the dominant theme was that it wasn't worth rushing back for so this spurred me on to continue my adventures for a while longer...