Peru

Cuzco

Thanks to the wonders of airline over-booking we arrive in Peru 12 hours early and with 8 hours less time in the air. Who said traveling was tough? After two days the best thing we can find to say about Lima is don't go there, and if you have to, get a flight somewhere else really quickly. So we do... and get to watch sunrise over the Andes on the way.

Cuzco is just what you would imagine a Peruvian town to be like, a blend of Spanish and Inca, high in the mountains. The air is so thin at 3248m up we find ourselves wandering around like 90 year olds for the first few days, getting out of breath if we climb more than three stairs.

We find a lovely hotel, a bit more structurally sound than some of the buildings in the town, and set about exploring. Market day in the neighbouring valley (yes the bus on the hairpin bends would have failed an MOT 20 years ago). Great place to buy really tasteless jumpers for everyone at home ;)

Those Incas were dab-hands at napping a bit of rock, everywhere we go there are bits that the Spanish forgot to destroy and the locals haven't sold to tourists. Renowned for the cunning way the blocks fit together, the mind boggles at the skill and effort needed to fit 50 tone rocks into walls, without metal tools or even wheels. Even with only a scattering left standing, it's clear these incas had their s**t together.

As part of our effort to get acclimatised to the altitude and in shape for the Inca trail we do plenty of hiking. Here we see Jules leaping great rivers and messing around on the ancient Inca slide.

Lake Titicaca, Uros and Isla Amantani

We catch a luxury bus south to Puno (even higher, that's14,300ft in english) and get to do the tourist thing, visiting some floating reed islands on lake Titicaca. Interesting sensation wondering if your next step will be on a soft patch and through you go. The island is only a metre thick and ripples when we jumped up and down. A kindly local gave us a lift across to a neighbouring island so we could watch the kids go to floating school.

Next stop Amantani a small island, and our home for the night staying with a family of local farmers. We are shown to the guests room (the best in the place) by our really friendly host Benita. Meals are in the kitchen/dining/family gathering room, with the kids and despite looking and smelling like something from the dark ages the food is great! Unable to speak a word of each others language we win the kids over by taking their photos and showing them the pictures on the camera. Everyone seems to think this is great fun.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's up the mountain we go (4000m and not enough oxygen to go round) Continuing the tradition of silly hats we don local head gear (Jules seems to react badly to hers) From the temple at the top we watch the sun setting over Titicaca. As soon as the sun goes below the horizon the temperature drops by 20c and we don't care how silly the hats look, llama wool saves our lives.

If anyone needs help with their Peruvian dance steps we are now experts, but of course you will have to dress up to get in character. A few hours of jigging and being twirled around by the locals and we warm up nicely, which is a bit of luck as it's now so cold outside, the water to flush the toilet at the end of the field is frozen solid. We survive the night and after warming up in the dawn sun and a breakfast of pancakes we have to return to (by Peruvian standards) civilisation.

The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

Let's just start by saying this is one of those things everyone's heard about, but nothing can prepare you for... 4 days trekking, 3 nights camping and about 30 miles through just the most spectacular scenery. We join a group of 5 others, and full of confidence set off into the mountains.

The first day they break us in gently; we camp on the hillside and eat really well thanks to the stars of the team, the porters. They warn us about the next day's 6 hours of uphill, climbing 4,000ft to over 14,000ft (that's 'fin air!) Jules comes down with a dose of altitude sickness/Peruvian belly halfway up, but it's the sight of the porters carrying 50lb packs running past us with sandals made from recycled tyres that keeps us truly humble.

Some how we make it to the next campsite and check in to our 5 star tent with a view to die for. Our porters, cook Fernando and waiter Ambrosia, out-do themselves once again. Sleeping at 3600m consists of getting into everything we have and allowing our bodies to mould to the rocks under the tent, while the frost settles around us.

Cocoa leaf tea at 5am and it's up and off again. Day 3, we follow the ancient steps as they wind their way up, clinging to the side of the mountains. Shear drops one side, clouds below us, our guide Edwin brings the ruins to life while we marvel at the effort the Incas put into the path and temples strung along it. Every one seems to be built at the points with the best views with thousands of tonnes of beautifully carved granite.

Some of the wildlife we see along the way. Llamas manage to say so much with just a look, 'who do you think you are walking on my ruins!'

Day 4, it's up at 3:45am and as if the trail in the light wasn't tricky enough we walk for an hour in the dark to catch sunrise over Machu Picchu. The clouds take their sweet time lifting but when they do they add to the drama of the landscape, flowing around the distant peaks providing the perfect backdrop. The place has a magical feel to it, the epitomy of the 'lost city'. While exploring the remains, Stu gets sucked into the plot of Indiana Jones and seconds after snatching the golden idol from the altar, gets crushed between two moving slabs of rock :(

Hallucinating about hot showers, our knees screaming for a rest, we catch lunch on the platform waiting for the train home. Several days doing nothing have never looked so appealing. Once we've recovered I'm sure this will be one of the highlights.

To celebrate our safe return, Eddie (our guide) takes us to his local hangout for a slap up meal - tasty anticucho (beef hearts on skewers) and Cuy, known to us westerners as guinea pig, roasted and stuffed. Bit tough, don't think it will catch on at home.

Our last few days in Cusco are spent relaxing, seeing the sights on horseback and from the comfort of our luxury raft (unfortuntately the river was mostly freezing, white water rapids, and it was the coldest and only rainy day in Peru!!!)

We stroll around the local market and discover where all the recycled Goodyear tyre sandals are made (choice of tread for wet or dry trails), a thousand and one varieties of Peru's national vegetable - the spud - and the meat stalls. If the guinea pig didn't make you want to be a veggie then the off-green stuff in 'gut' bags certainly will :{

And so we bid Peru adios. It's been great fun here, probably the most different place our travels have taken us, the contrast between rich and poor is the most extreme we've seen. Thoughts of Rio, sunshine and oxygen-rich sea level air lead us onwards...

Brazil

Rio de Janeiro and the Copacabana

We touch down in Rio in the middle of winter and head straight for the beach for a last week of sun and surf before returning to the ratrace. We aren't disappointed. The view from hotel over the 3 mile long Copacabana beach is stunning. We spend the next few days topping up our tans and slurping coconut juice.

Evenings are spent with Jules flirting with the locals, and sampling the local brew, cachaça, (cane spirit) with crushed limes and sugar. (proven to be lethal if you have more than four!)

Days are spent, other than getting sand between our toes, sampling local cuisine (and more flirting!), at the truly fantastic restaurant Marius, thanks for the recommendation Malin.

But before we know it its our last day, and full of mixed emotions we pack our trusty rucksacks one more time and make for the (now all too familiar) check-in desks.

Hi ho, hi ho, its off to home we go...
6 months, one complete spin round the globe with some detours along the way, 45 thousand miles give or take, 13 thousand of them driven, 8 thousand photos, (no lie, but only about 1 in 10 worth keeping :) 9 lonely planets (one nicked!), 4 pairs of sunnys (mostly sat on) and worth every baht, ringgit, sol, real, franc and dollar we spent along the way.

Our parting conclusions... what a fantastic trip.

...but its great to be home!