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...

The boat leaves tomorrow afternoon said the captain, but you can put up your hammocks and sleep on board tonight. This came as a bit of a blow after struggling for six hours since dawn on the last 100km of road, some of which had been buried under landslides during torrential rain the previous night. It was quite emotional by the time we finally left Yurimagaus. After 28 hours we had almost become part of the town and were on first name terms with most of the ham...

We ground to a halt about two thirds of the way up Abra de Barro Negro (Black Mud Pass). Steam was pouring from the front of the bus and passengers started to run in and out, filling their plastic bottles with water from puddles and streams and hurrying back to the driver who was filling the radiator. Eventually we made it over the pass, but having gone from 3000m to the canyon bottom at 55m, and back up to 3700m on dirt roads, it is hardly surprising that these ...