We ran into an Aymari Indian called Maximo Catari close to the shore on the southern part of Lake Titicaca. We asked him if he could take us across to Isla Suriqui, and although he wasn't a fluent Spanish speaker we soon learnt that we were talking to one of a band of unique men with knowledge of building traditional reed boats - a dying art. Amongst other projects, he had been involved in the construction of the Ra II - a reed ship which was used by Thor Heyerd...

From Intipunku (the Sun Gate), the Inca ruins below Machu Picchu mountain come into view for the first time for those arriving on the classic Inca trail. We hadn't followed this route, but had arrived here on the fifth day of some tough high altitude trekking over the Salkantay pass at 4629m, and this also gave us an early sighting of the ruins from Llactapata the previous day. It was a beautiful and varied hike, passing the unclimbed peak of Salkantay before dro...

Although there is no winter here, the winter solstice is still very important in the Inca calendar. Traditionally, sacrificial ceremonies were carried out on June 21st to ask the gods not to take the sun any further away, and to mark the beginning of a new year. We had barely arrived in Cuzco when we found ourselves watching long elaborate processions passing through the ancient plaza, followed by fireworks and music in the evening.After a three day trip to the S...

In days gone by the Inca Trail might have been more straightforward, but today's routes to Cusco are far from it. Here is a potted history of my journey from Vilcabamba... Rattly bus to Zumba; truck to La Bamba through beautiful scenery; a walk across the bridge into Peru to collect another smudged passport stamp; a ride in a car to San Ignacio with a man behind me who was vomiting into a paper bag because he was crammed in with a cage full of smelly chickens; a...

I picked the wrong place to look for a doctor. As well as having a perfect year-round climate, Vilcabamba has a reputation for having residents who live to a very old age and never get ill. No wonder half the town now consists of ex-pats from Europe and the USA who arrived and never left. There is health food and organic cafes on every corner, but the doctors are nowhere to be found because they are rarely required. I was trying to hunt one down after three month...