Day 13: Lares Trek After a cold and occasionally breathless night(partly the altitude/partly the feeling of restriction of wearing too many layers) our cheery guide (2nd in command to Roddy) Walter called us at 6am. Not only did he wake us but he handed us a cup of hot coca tea, to help us on our way. A bowl of hot water (aka "Jacuzzi service") was left outside our tent too to freshen up for the day. A hot breakfast of porridge and fried bread (special fried sw...

Day 12: Lares Trek After our spontaneous night dancing in the square, we were up early to head out into the Andes. Half the group were doing the Inca trail and the rest were doing the Lares Trek. At 8am we were picked up by our trekking guide Roddy. We had with us only a day bag for water/snacks etc and we were provided with a small duffle bag for spare clothes that would be carried for us by porters with mules or horses. The Lares Trek passes through the valle...

Day 11: Ollantaytambo Lots of hungover heads this morning. With departure time for our next journey at 11:00 there was just enough time to get a cup of hot chocolate and catch up on some correspondence before heading into the heart of the mountain region before the impending trek through the Andes. En route to Ollantaytambo, we stopped briefly at a weaving co-op where women of an indigenous community demonstrated how they use natural materials to make their wov...

Day 10: Cusco After a rather unplanned night out dancing with Shan, and following the previous rough sleep on the bus, I decided to take my first sleep in of the trip. Just up in time for breakfast, me and Shan headed out about 11 to take in some of Cusco that we didn't manage the day before. What happened instead was a morning spent meandering through the shops admiring the colourfully embroidered shoes and beautifully put together jewellery. After a trip to th...

Day 9: Cusco After a horrible night on the night bus, an older, crapper version of our earlier luxury buses, we arrived in Cusco. With relief (and a hurried need for a wifi fix after 3 days in a wifi blackspot), we checked in to our lovely accommodation, the rooms centred around large, bright atriums. After setting down our bags and freshening up, we headed out with our guide Gino. We headed down hill towards the Plaza de Armas, the rainbow coloured flag represe...