This is the city of Cuzco, Peru at altitude 3400M (11,200 Ft) it is one of the highest cities in the world. Cuzco is a UNESCO world heritage site and was the historic capital of the Inca empire. There are Inca sites dotted in and around the city and many of the buildings in the city are built on or incorporate Inca structures. This is a view of the city taken from the surrounding hills.
Today the city is expanding and housing is beginning to creep up the mountainsides.
This is a view of the main square. Cuzco has a number of beautiful buildings from the Spanish colonial era including these two cathedrals that face each other on the square.
L at the fountain in the main square at Cuzco.

"Hey, you talkin to me?"

The drive from Cuzco to Puno crosses the high plains and plateaus between some of Peru's highest peaks. This area is known as the altiplano.

Getting from Cuzco to Puno and Lake Titicacca involves a 400 KM road journey accross the altiplano. It is pretty windy up here.
This is big open country. Above shot shows the train which makes the same journey - the train actually takes longer then driving
D hanging out in front of some 5000M peaks complete with glacier
I really like this shot - notice the small cabin in the bottom of the frame - this gives you an indication of how vast and open this wild place really is
Close up shot of the glacier higher up the mountain
Some more wild Andean mountain scenery on the way to Puno
This shot of some terraced fields was taken on the island of Taquile in Lake Titicacca about 35KM east of Puno. At 3812M ( 12,500 Ft) Lake Titicacca is the highest navigable lake in the world. One end of the lake is in Peru, the other in Bolivia. By volume it is also the largest lake in South America.

A really interesting place to visit are the Uros, a group of 42 artificial islands made of floating reeds. The Uros people who live on these islands in a community of approx 2000 speak a tribal language called Aymara. The islands are anchored with ropes and sticks driven into the bottom of the lake. Each island lasts about 30 years and are constantly being replenished with fresh reeds.

In the shot above a number of villagers turn out to welcome us to the island.

This shot is taken from a lookout tower on one of the islands.

Above, one of the locals in traditional costume taking a walk.

Military parade in the main square of Puno

Below, a view of Puno from the shores of Lake Titiccaca
Some scenes from the street markets in Puno



Below, here we are having lunch in a Lima restaurant on our last afternoon. Jesus was our guide and had the unenviable job of keeping D & L out of trouble throughout our travels in Peru. This of course was an almost impossible task fraught with difficulties. But here we are, all intact (well almost) on the last afternoon. Jesus's friend Cynthia also joined us for lunch This last lunch was a nice send off.

We left Lima about two hours later for the airport and sadly, the end of the South American part of our Big Trip and our flight home.

Thanks for watching.

Coming soon, summer in France. Watch this space!

Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

D in the remote village of Olantaytambo at 7AM on the first morning. This is the assembly point and there are trucks of porters and gear everywhere. We had left Cuzco at 5AM to do the 2 hour drive to get here for a 7AM start.

This is our group at a place known as KM82, and is the official start of the Inca Trail. The trail is 43KM long and climbs to an altitude of 4200M. We would do this over three days, camping three nights at various points along the route. We planned to arrive into the Machu Picchu site at 7AM on the morning of the 4th day with the full day to explore the site itself.

Camp site 1, at Wayllabamba after the first day and first 12KM of the hike. First day was relatively easy and allowed everyone get into their stride and adjust to climbing at altitude. Most people like us have spent a few days in Cuzco (3300M) beforehand to acclimatise.
L settling in for the evening ....
Actually as camping goes this was pretty comfortable - that's the dining room behind me that was set up to seat all 14 of the group
As well as 14 trekkers we had a full complement of porters to carry tents, food and all the gear, together with a group leader and assistant guide and two camp cooks who organised all of the food. This is the full group on day 2 at 7AM at camp site 1.
This is the view back down the valley towards camp site 1 on the climb up to dead woman's pass

OK, I can't feel my legs.....

This post marks the top of the pass at 4200M - that's 13,800Ft.

After an absolute slog for 6 hours we reach the top of dead woman's pass. As the highest point of the trek that's 4.2KM of altitude this is a real milestone. When you get to this point you think, if I can survive this I can get to the end!
The mountains are sheer and almost vertical in places. Added to the high altitude this makes it really tough going.

L standing at the top of dead woman's pass looking down towards the valley where we would make camp for our 2nd night at Pacamayo, altitude 3600M
The shot above is the view back towards dead woman's pass taken at 7am on day three as we climb out of the valley from camp site 2 at .

The peaks shown in the image above are over 6000 meters ( that's 19,000 feet). The shot was taken from the top of the highest pass we crossed on day 3, Runkurakay at about 3800M. This is a great vantage point - you can see the glaciers on the tops right down to the cloud forest below.
Taking a breather - at this altitude the biggest problem is dealing with the lack of oxygen. The porters ( behind me) don't seem to be bothered by this but then they live at altitude
Above is the Winawayna camp site, Altitude 2700M, where we spent our 3rd and final night before the final approach to Machu Picchu - the seven red tents to the right of picture is our group
As dawn breaks the high ridges come into view. We are now standing on the tops looking down into Machu Picchu and are ready to make our descent.
Bleary eyed but pleased to see the clouds lifting behind me. It's 6.45 Am here and we have already been up 3 hours and hiked 6KM through the forest
Lorraine with our two group leaders Carlos and Miguel. Note the expression of relief!! Our last climb finished it will be downhill from here.

And a collective sigh of relief - the whole group poses for a photo
And the morning mists gradually clear revealing a stunning vista...

The Machu Picchu complex was a city of about 2,000 people and is quite extensive
The steps cling on to the steep hillsides - these were built to prevent landslides

In some places the terraces are impossibly steep
The whole site takes a few hours to see - we have tried to just show some of the best views here

Say there, d' ya think ya could take my photo?

That's it from Machu Picchu - next stop Puno and Lake Titticcaca