23:15 - I left Lima this morning. The flight was delayed 3 hours but I managed to get myself into one of the VIP lounges and watched tv/ate etc until the Santiago flight was called. After the 3 hour flight, immigration and luggage, I managed to find the driver and was taken to the hotel. Tomorrow the new group arrives and the Paragonia trip starts. One annoying thing about Santiago is that I have to pay for the wifi and that room service is out of order (chef mus...

00:00 - The last day! We left Cusco this morning and flew to Lima. This was to be our last day together. Some will be leaving at 6 tomorrow morning and some slightly later. The only eventful things during the morning have been my swiss knife being confiscated at the airport (I forgot to put it in my hold luggage), and my disinfectant liquid for my hands also being confiscated as it is allegedly flammable...not sure I could make a plane explode but you never know!...

23:30 - This morning we had the choice of going back up the Machu Picchu or do a couple of alternative treks. All but Jolanda, decided to do a trek that took us into the forest to a botanical garden and a waterfall (about 4 hours in total). The weather looked spectacular and as we set off it was really sunny and warm. The scenery was as usual quite special and although I am not a walking person, it was good to take a stroll. I am not an expert in plants and birds...

23:00 - What a day! We set off by train towards Machu Picchu. The railtrack runs along a very boisterous river. We got to Agua Caliente (also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo) at around 10.30. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and then off we went on a little shuttle bus up the winding mountain roads to the entrance of the archeological site. Aurelio, yesterday's guide, was to be our guide for the first two hours today. He took us up to the top of the site where t...

18:15 - Last night's dinner was pretty good and my most expensive yet (130 Sol ~ 31 pounds). We ate in the San Blas quarter of town. I have to say Cusco is a pretty cute town, tidy, clean and old. Chris ate guinea pig, a local delicacy, pretty horrendous to look at...I thought my chevice of trout and lomo saltado were pretty amazing. And the wine was pretty good...argentinian I believe... This morning we set off at a pretty leasurly hour, 9am, by minibus towards...