Three days ago Ed, Nick and Phil arrived in the city of Cusco. After nearly five months of misadventure they are over the moon! The 200km stint from Abancay, due East, to Cusco, had a few final surprises in store for us. It was also to prove a touch more taxing for the riders themselves as we opted to walk when possible to spare the horses. On our approach to Abancay we had dropped from 4,000m to a low of below 2,000m when crossing the Rio Matara. The climb ...

Ayacucho to Abancay (Part two of two) Ed and Phil rode past Ayachucho and a good redura saw them able to avoid the city. Nick went to pick up Ed Bethell , who had made a detour from Cusco to Lima and then back to Ayachucho (over 30 hours on a bus). He met Nick in Ayachucho, who has also picked up another (new) friend from Madrid, called Tuti. Tuti was more than happy to sleep under Pajarito's rug (the tent was rather snug with just the four of us in it) and was ...

Pampas to Ayacucho (Part one of two) Quita has had her last few days as an Inca Rider and she has been a great help in our rapid progress through Peru . The team said goodbye to their Gringita before she embarked on her fourty hour bus to get to La Paz, for her flight home. The day after she landed she had to go to an interview at work and we are very happy to report that she got the job with Ralph Lauren! Quita spent her last few days riding on different hors...

Tarma had been a perfect place to stay. The deep shadey valley had made for some very chilly nights but thankfully the horses coats are growing a bit and Paz, the special pony that he is, has his rug for the frostiest nights. Our kind hosts had put us up on a small football pitch for a couple of days (the horses had had a long stint previously travelling from Huanuco), accessible only by stream for the horses, and a narrow pole over said stream for humans. Miracu...

The team has now reached the bustling market town of Tarma. After the high, open plains on which we've been sleeping, the warmth and shelter of this valley comes as a relief, for both us and the horses (above all, the boys are overjoyed to be camping on a football pitch, and are making full use of the facilities). We have come through the hardest part of the trip unscathed, thanks mostly to an abundance of thermal underwear and the odd heartening cup of tea whe...