Whilst I'm sure it would be nice to travel across Peru in a Benz, our Benz is a truck called Cameron. He's 15 years old and at the end of this trip he is going to be retired. So I'm hoping that he is good for one last journey. We headed off from our hotel and collected Cameron in the truck park where he had been getting some attention over the last few days. Our driver Jim is a truck mechanic by trade and does a lot of the maintenance himself. With all our gear packed we made a start towards Raqchi, which is where we are staying tonight in some homestays in a typial Peruvian village. We arrived in time for lunch which was a bean starter, followed by soup and then alpaca with potatoes and lambs. Beans, legumes and potatoes are a significant part of the Peruvian menu. In Peru they grow 4000 different varieties of potatoes. After lunch we walked to a lookout from where we could see the entire town as well as some Incan ruins. The ruins include the internal wall of a huge meeting hall and 160 graineries, where 50% of each years harvest was stored to ensure that there would be food during lean seasons. The village is also well known for making pottery in the traditional hand made way and we were given a demonstration of this. Dinner was soup and pasta. The food has been fantastic. After dinner we were invited to participate in a Peruvian religous ceremony where we gave thanks and were able to make 2 wishes, but not for material things. Then followed some dancing and singing and it was back home to bed for one of the best sleeps I have had in a long while. The next day we were on the road early as we had a little over 400kms to cover. In the end it took us 9 hours to do that. We passed through an area where there is intense quarrying work. The road is rough and unmade and the trucks carrying the stone travel in convoy of 6-8 trucks at a time. With limited passing opportunities it was slow going and exceptionally dusty. We arrived in Chivay about 4.30. A quick stroll through the market and then a much welcome shower. Had dinner with the 2 German girls, Julia and Ann and back to the hotel. I'm coming down with a cold and hoping it doesn't get any worse