Up at 6 but served a hot cup of tea in our tent by the kitchen boys. Very civilised! Smithy our guide pointed out Puka Kassa Pass, 4700m, and our first objective. To say I felt a little daunted would be a bloody understatement. It meant another vertical climb of 750m before lunch. We set off and were making good pace. Smithy had an innate sense about how we were handling the going and called for rest stops at just the right moment. Sometimes all we needed...

Had our group meeting at 10 and then the rest of the day was free. Small group of 8, 2 Germans, 2 Americans, 2 English, 1 Canadian and myself. A relatively young group and some of them have already been travelling together for the last 4 weeks. 3 of them are only doing the Machu Picchu section so for the remainder of the trip through to Lima there will only be 5 of us, plus our leader and driver. I headed out for a walk around town. It was a Saturday and th...

Well it's been almost 2 days of planes and airports but I have finally arrived in Cuzco. The flight via Sydney and Auckland was uneventful and we arrived in Santiago, Chile. The first humorous moment occurred when they called out plane to board. Around 40 of us were on one side of a locked glass door and couldn't get to the departure gate, although we could see it. No amount of waving or banging on the glass could arouse anybody's attention. I think when the...