Today we have been learning all about the Incas! The day started with a trip to the local bus station to buy our tickets for the night bus on Saturday to Puerto Maldonado and the jungle. We are lucky they have just completed building a tarmacked road - previously the journey would have taken 18 hrs on dirt track and I am told was not for the faint-hearted! In comparison our bus company is apparently as luxurious as it comes with fully reclining seats and loads of leg room (watch this space for the reality updates on this!)

From the bus station we took a taxi with our local guide, William (very Peruvian name we thought!) up to one of the Inca ruins (Tambomachay 7km out of Cusco and 3700m above sea level). We then started the walk back down stopping off at 3 other ruins called Pukapukara, Q'engo and Sagsaywaman (don't ask me to pronounce them!) on the way. We learned how the Incas constructed their amazing walls with stones fitting so close together you could barely put a sheet of paper between them. They used the natural cracks in the granite stones to break them up into the right sizes by placing wood and water in the cracks. As the wood absorbed the water it broke the stones apart. They then laboriously polished the stones with sand. You can see why it took them over 1000 years to build each religious site! William told us they found their energy to keep going by chewing coca leaves and drinking a special alcoholic drink (chica) made from corn.

Whilst some of the sights have been reconstructed to some extent there was still a vast amount of original Inca architecture - some memorable bits included longitudinal cuts into the stone which apparently were used to judge if Inca men were strong enough to go to battle by checking if their calf muscles were big enough to fill the gaps! We also went through spectacular tunnelled walkways with evidence of religious alters,and saw the ceremonial grounds for the winter solstice where the Incas sacrificed a black llama every year to the gods. Our guide managed to persuade even claustrophobic Scott to scramble through a pitch black tiny tunnel which was used as a secret communication method by the Incas.

After all that educational stuff and a lot of sunshine, altitude and fresh air we had a well earned siesta before dinner in a little restaurant in one of the cobbled alleys near our hostel. I still couldn't persuade myself to order the guinea pig! (Mind you at £10 per guinea pig it was by far the most expensive dish on the menu - it's quite a local delicacy I think.) We realised we are definitely getting old as we hurried back to bed for 8.30pm passing by the thumping music of Cusco's clubs serving pisco sours - a Peruvian cocktail!