Awoke early to be ready for pick up at 7amby Maria, our guide. We headed off for a Cusco city tour. Four of the sites we visited were Inka ruins. During the Ink a Empire, Cusco was the capital, so there are many Inka ruins in the surrounding area. All the sites were almost totally destroyed by the Spanish Conquistadors in a bid to quash the Ink a relegion in favour of their own Catholocism. The first was a temple/fort,high above Cusco city. There is only a ...

Early morning and a short flight to Cusco. So far Ron is coping pretty well with the altitude - he's a little breathless and both of us yawning lots - but that could be mainly tiredness. All our gym work seems to be paying off (thanks Ellen). We were met at the airport by Ava, with our travel documents and transfer driver, for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Ollantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley. I didn't see much of the scenery as I dozed a lot - still jet lagged big ...