Steve and Charm arrived late in the afternoon and we met them at their beautiful hotel with a bottle of sparkling wine, local cheeses, biscuits and olives all bought from the local market. It was great to see them after four months away. We spent the first hour catching up and enjoying each other's company before heading out into the main plaza to a beautiful organic restaurant. Being a true traveller, Steve tried something off the menu that both Kate and myself had kept our distance from... Alpaca. I just can't bring myself to eat something that looks so much like one of my mates, Greeny. Steve devoured the Greeny look-a-like and claimed it to be an amazing meal. There's no chance we'll be trying the other local delicacy though... Cuy (guinnie pig)!

The following day we spent wandering the streets acting as guides to Steve and Charm showing them all the different markets and sights of the city. Enjoying the luxury of room service at Steve and Charm's hotel we had a couple of drinks and dinner in front of a nice fire.

Early next morning we were booked into a quadbiking tour around the foothills of Cuzco at the recommendations our mates back home, Steve and Mish. At first we weren't too sure if we were being taken for a "ride", as we were dropped off in someones backyard with a few locals staring at us like we were a couple juicy steaks. Sure enough though, an English-speaking guy came down and set us at ease and showed us around our designated quaddies before we set off into the hills.

We enjoyed a three hour ride right up into the mountains with the most amazing views overlooking the city. We rode past mudbrick houses, farming communities at work and enjoyed the country's fresh air. It was all going great until one defining moment when on a straight stretch of road I had an urge to swerve to the left of the lane (we were riding along the right). Little did I know that a construction worker was riding up behind me at that exact point in time to overtake me on a motorbike. I swerved straight into him and I heard him yell and try to correct but he fell off his bike and skidded along the ground with his leg under the bike.

Needless to say that I was scared s***less and trying to remember my exact insurance policy details whilst hoping to the poor guy was OK. Thankfully he stood up and walked around, stetching out his leg and looking at me like I was a stupid tourist. After the longest minutes of my life I was able to give him a little money for his ripped jeans and called it a day. I gave him a lot more than was necessary according to my guides but it was still nothing in Aussie standards and so he drove off with a big grin on his face, as he just earnt more money in that little accident than he would in a couple days work. In hindsight he was speeding himself to overtake me and so my feeling of guilt the rest of the drive back down the mountains slowly faded. It was my first accident and hopefully my last!

That night, our last in Cuzco, we enjoyed another meal in a beautiful organic retaurant and had an early night before yet another early start, but this time heading into the Sacred Valley.