We had two good days in Santiago, a city that was similar to Adelaide in that it was on the coast, flat and bordered by the Andes lowlands. Weather was hot and Jaquaranda and Silky Oak in flower very much like Adelaide Springtime. We stayed at a homestay and arrived at 12.30 am. Had trouble getting the 3 keys to unlock the 3 door locks and was surprised to have the door opened from the inside. Jose was home. He was a hoarder and every spare space was covered in a...

We are back at Cusco and will fly out to Santiago in Chile tomorrow. From Aguas Caliantes we got the train to Ollyantaytambo a village that pre-dates Inca times. There was an Inca ruin here that had the largest rocks that had been transported from a quarry 6km away. Some houses have been occupied for 700 years. It was a very pretty spot to spend a quiet night at Home Sweet HOme. Today we bused along the Sacred Valley and back to Cusco. Very pretty valley with ...

Now At Aguas Calientes beside a river and a railway line, hemmed in by mountains. No roads here except to transport tourists by bus up to Machu Picchu. We are having the one evening to recover from the Inca Trail. This was truely an amazing experience. The trail climbed up 1000´s of steps to 4000 metres. The scenery was always breathtaking with layers of mountains at the skyline. Visits to other Inca sites along the way reinforced the wonder of this race of ...

Well and truly acclimatised now. We have been exploring Inca ruins for the past two days which always includes a lot of walking and climbing. Absolutely fascinating culture, we have learned a lot and find it all very interesting. Cusco is a vibrant busy town with great food. There is much to explore. The people are keen to sell there handcrafts, some of which are really beautiful, but they are not too bothersome. We have had some rain at 1.00pm each afternoon b...

Another flight this time only 1 hour to Cusco the gateway <almost) to the Inca Trail. Our bookings are confirmed and we are taking the diuretics, and consequently visiting the bathroom every 5 minutes, resting and drinking lots of water, in other words doing everything the book says to acclimatise and we both feel really good and getting excited. Cusco is beautiful high steep hills with houses hugging all the way up. Surrounded by mountains with a touch of sn...