After breakfast we went and picked up Sid – our campervan for the next 60 days (sorry but all our vehicles have been named). Sid is compact (not as compact as Gerty) and most importantly it has an inside shower and toilet – luxury. Before leaving the hotel we caught the traffic news on the TV news channel. Bearing in mind that this is a big city, the traffic report consisted of information regarding three blocked highways; by a horse, two cows and a...

Hi all, we finally arrived after a rather long flight consisting of 13 hours to Singapore and another 9 to Auckland. We did feel a bit rough, in fact I still do. Singapore was the best airport we have ever been in. It had a butterfly garden - yes in the terminal, a rather swish man made pond with giant Koi Carp, people handing out sweets and little cakes, others asking if you wanted assistance every time you stopped and looked blank (which, with the jet lag, was ...

We left Cusco after Peter had listened to Watford being beaten by Crystal palace in the Playoffs at Wembley, oh dear. We decided to head back the way we had come as this was the quickest way to get down to a better altitude. About an hour into the drive we hit road works which involved the road being closed for 3 hours. There were some very unhappy Peruvians. I felt sorry for the two women who were in charge of stopping the traffic. I don't know exactly what was ...

Our rest day in Cusco was fun. We visited a church with a famous carved pulpit and got fleeced by a man who told us about a few bits in the church and then demanded 20 soles. It was almost worth it as at one point he showed us a very very old organ from the 1600s and the door fell off. He propped it back on but then the whole front panel and some inner bits fell out onto an innocent bystander. Peter and I had trouble keeping a straight face as the pair of them tr...

Cusco is located at the head of the Inca's sacred valley. They called it the navel of the world. Sorry short history lesson: The Incas (1400-1532) followed after many other impressive but not so powerful tribes, including Chavin, Chimu, Moche, Nazcans and Huari. Spanish chroniclers wrote of the legend that told of Manoc Capac and his sister being created by the sun god and rising out of Lake Titicaca to start a chosen race. Heading north to find fertile land they...