DAY 1 – Tuesday 2nd September Heathrow – Lima

We travelled to Peru with KLM. First flying from Heathrow to Amsterdam. There we had a 2 hour wait for our connecting flight to Lima. This flight was delayed 30 minutes, the pilot advised this was due to not all the baggage being loaded!There was an hour stop at Bonnaire for refuelling and a change of crew. We eventually arrived at Lima after travelling for 19 hours, feeling extremely tired and exhausted. Then we find out the missing baggage was not put on the flight at Amsterdam, but left there! 40 odd bags were not on the flight, including Karen's. While queuing at the desk for assistance, there were some passengers waiting for their baggage from the previous days flight - it seems this is a regular occurrence with KLM, and for that reason I would never recommend to fly with them. Peru is 6 hours behind the UK, and we arrived at Lima airport at 19:00 Peru time. It took a further hour and a half for us to sort out our lost baggage and go through customs, where Keith had his bag searched.

20:30 By now we are feeling dead miserable and very tired. Then we see a very welcome sight – Jorge (our rep) waited for us. Hopefully he received the messages we were passing to other passengers about our hold up. Jorge spoke excellent English which was a great comfort as our Spanish was only a few words. We begin to relax and enjoy the tour of Lima as we head to our hotel – Farona in Miraflores. Everything seems so strange and we are really struggling with the language – Karen wishes that she had spent more time with the Spanish CD. Having Jorge with us certainly made us feel much more secure and safer. After going to a local cafe for some food, we say farewell to Jorge and head back to the hotel for our complimentary Pisco Sour – a frothy, lemony, sour drink we just aren’t too sure of – maybe we will get used to it.

DAY 2 – Wednesday 3rd September Lima – Chiclayo – Salas

 09:30 Woken by constant car horns and very noisy bird. Karen can’t get back to sleep and feels in desperate need of a shower. Keith is still kipping. The shower was really good – hot and powerful. While Keith is in the bathroom Karen opens the curtains to see what Lima look like in daylight – the site was not that pretty – looked like a building site – half finished buildings. 10:30 Jorge phones and says he will meet us at 11:30 – he is still trying to get some sense out of KLM. We head down for breakfast while we wait. Jorge is right on time and he drops us off at a department store – Rileys – so that Karen can buy some clothes until she can get her luggage. Jorge then takes us for a walk around the coast line before being taken to the airport at 14:00. 16:46 All our internal flight are with Aero Continetale. The flight was excellent, it was only an hour long and in that time the drinks trolley came by us twice with 2 extremely large vodkas and sprite (at least a triple each time). We landed at Chiclayo at 17:44 and were very relieved to see Keith’s luggage being unloaded. We are met by our host for the next few days – Herbert, and the other rep from Lima – Jamie and his wife (totally unpronounceable name) outside this tiny airport. Herbert drops Jamie and wife off en route – we will see him when we return to Lima. Herbert needed to get some bottle water from a supermarket, so he helped me to get a hairbrush and sponge (had trouble with the lingo in Lima). Herbert is German (that will please Karen's mum) who has lived in Peru for many years. We drive for about an hour along the Pan American Highway, turning off onto a dirt road and head for Salas. Herbert owns a sheep farm with Manuel, which is where we are to spend the next few days. There is no electricity and this log for today had to be written by candlelight – most relaxing, but we will have to wait until the morning to see what the place looks like. It certainly seems to be in the middle of nowhere. The buildings are made from mud bricks, with the roof supported by wooden beams covered with bamboo and then completely plastered with mud. It looks stunning – all the walls are curved – no sharp edges, making it feel very cosy. There is a huge fireplace in the dinning/sitting area that Herbert has lit. Aperitifs are given out – rum and coke, followed by good red Chilean wine with our food – Leek and potato soup, followed by lamb steaks (cooked over the fireplace) with mange tout, asparagus and some kind of mashed Swede, followed by a huge selection of fruit and cake with our coffee. Feeling stuffed we retire to bed. The room is nice and large with the shower/toilet just outside. Herbert told us to check our shoes in the morning for any unwanted guests – tarantulas – ahhh!

 DAY 3

Woken by the sound of strange bird song, dogs and cats. 07:20 Herbert goes around the grounds with a bell to make sure that we are awake. Hot shower followed by a healthy breakfast – 4 types of fruit, bread with ham/cheese/jam/marmalade, yoghurt and coffee. Set off to Chiclayo. Herbert took us to a witchcraft market where we saw plenty of strange objects and potions for sale as well as many hallucinogenic articles for sale. The market was very large and extremely busy, we stood out like sore thumbs! Stall holders all seemed to want to know where we came from – Europe some strange and distant land. Left market with sounds of Gringo’s ringing in our ears. Went to ‘Tumbas Reales de Sipan (Royal Tomb of Sipan) museum. The building had only been open a short while and cost $5,000,000 to build. They ran out of money and everything is only in Spanish. Herbert got us an English speaking guide who took us round. The museum is well designed, showing how the tombs were laid out and all the artefacts found therein, as they were excavated from the pyramids of Tucume. It took about 3 hours to go round the museum, very tiring on the feet as there was no seating anywhere. It was however an excellent museum, with very few people around, and well worth a visit. Herbert took us to a nearby restaurant ( in Lambayeque) for lunch where we had fish and rice with some bright orange sauce – very hot. Went on to the pyramids at Tucume. A huge site in the desert – sand getting everywhere. Now the temperature seems really hot but with a pleasant breeze. There are hardly any people about. We start to climb on of the pyramids, Keith goes to the observation post, but as it gets really high Karen chickens out (how will she cope at Machu Picchu). 17:30 back at the farm for a shower and chill out. Received some good news today, Herbert had phoned Lima and Karen's rucksack has actually turned up (2 days later). She can be reunited with it when we stop at Lima for our connection flight to Juliaca. 20:00 Dinner of garlic bread, salad and lasagne. Followed by more exotic fruit. Manuel seems to cook enough to feed the whole village – there is only 2 of us! Food was washed down with Chilean merlot. 21:20 both of us struggling to keep our eyes open, fresh air is a killer, so we head off to bed. There is a half moon tonight – seems very bright, and Mars can also be clearly seen.

DAY 4

07:30 Breakfast. 08:30 we leave farm, Herbert took us on a drive up through the Andes. We stopped at a small village and Herbert asked for directions, a local man jumped onto the back of the truck to come with us. He came all the way to Penachi, our final destination. The village is approximately 1800 metres above sea level. This was a large village with a church, damaged by an earthquake, a police station and a municipal. The drive took 2 hours each way along a rough mountain pass. As we go higher the temperature rises. There is some real stunning scenery everywhere and people live so simply and remote. Some of the villages we pass smell of sugar cane and some of the home made beer. As we pass by homes, people all look at us strangely – can’t have seen many tourists in these parts. When we stop people always want to know where we come from. Herbert tells them Europe or England, but do they know any geography? As we ascend and descend along the track our ears are popping. (After we left Penachi, there was a pall of smoke over the Andes – Keith swears he had nothing to do with it.) While driving around we notice that all the animals think the road is theirs – dogs, cattle, pigs, goats and sheep. They don’t even move out of the way, just ignore cars. Herbert even stopped at one point to let a tarantula cross the road, something that would not have occurred to Karen! 13:00 Back at the farm we had some lunch of asparagus soup, chicken and rice, with an advocat and onion salad. After lunch we had time for our first siesta. Get some washing done and sit on the patio to relax. While sitting here I can hear some very loud buzzing above my head. Look up and see an enormous bee thing! Later in the afternoon we went walkabout on our very own ‘Bush tucker Trail’. Forget the ‘Help I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here’ this was a real celebrity challenge. We walked through dried river beds, ankle deep in sand for hours and hours as Herbert took us around the farm. But we survived and our reward was a botanical wonder world full of Peruvian flowers (eat your heart our Kew!). Manuel showed us around; he obviously works hard and is very proud of his work. Herbert showed us some of his flock of sheep. There was a large observation tower over this area to guard the flock, 2 storey shepherd house, top floor has unobstructed views of 38 hectares of land. 18:30 Herbert had some German friend arrive this evening - about 8 in all (something english people will relate to - all Keith can think of is England beat them 5-1 in football not to mention 4-2 in 1966 – hat trick for Geoff Hurst. As we came for an aperitif (more english humour- we had to remove the towels from the seats) and the the mother of all journals came out, put ours to shame. Karen's mum would be well pleased as one of the company used to go to Witten-Annen (where she came from) to go ice skating on the river. As we have dinner there are 3 languages going around the table, German, Spanish and English, enough to confuse anyone. The Germans were very friendly and we managed to eventually understand each other. We must have tired Herbert out as he went to bed early. Surprise, surprise, we were the last left, so we finished the vino tinto with Manuel. We both now feel very sad to be leaving this place tomorrow, and would have liked to come back at the end of the holiday – it would have been very relaxing.

Day 5 – Saturday 6th September Chiclayo - Puno

06:00 Up too early after a late night. We say our farewells to Manuel and Segundo and the German contingency. Herbert drives us to the airport – we arrive with just 30 minutes before the flight takes off. We are confused and lost with the Spanish but Herbert sorts us out. 10:10 we take off on the first flight of the day to Lima – 1 hour. 11:05 land in Lima. Jamie meets us and Karen's thankfully reunited with her luggage! Jamie gives Keith loads of envelopes for each guide we will meet on our travels. Now have a 3 hour wait for our connection flight to Juliaca. 14:40 A coach transports us to the plane (Boeing 727 – the planes are getting smaller and older) it takes all of 1 minute – could have walked it faster! We managed to get a window seat. More tourists on this flight – tourists like us doing the ‘Gringo Trail’. Flying over the Andes is stunning. We catch our first glimpse of snow capped mountains it's quite breathtaking. Mountain peaks are getting higher and more rugged as we fly south. Hope this plane can go higher. Triple x triple (1/4 bottle) vodka per glass – can only manage one. 16:50 land at Juliaca. We are first to get off the plane – immediately feeling light headed and legs have gone wobbly. Our bags come off straight away and we meet our next guide. His English is not very good and we didn’t even catch his name. It is much cooler here and cloudy, looks like rain. The people dress more traditionally and the houses are quite different compared to up north. The traffic is not so bad or loud here. On route we see a wedding in the main square – our guide explains that September is the only time marriages take place here. After 45 minutes we arrive at our hotel in Puno – Plaza Mayor Hostel. We now feel very light headed and we are immediately given some Coco Tea, while our guide explains things – places to eat – where to walk. Our room is very nice – large and nicely decorated. The streets are very busy with the shops still being open, a really nice atmosphere but quite touristy. We find one of the restaurants suggested by the guide and check out the menu board outside – this is in English. In we go and are then stuck as they only have Spanish menus. We ask for a beer while we struggle to understand. The waiter then brings in the HUGE menu from outside and we point to chicken , chips and rice x 2. Food was ok. 2 guys enter, guitar, panpipes and maracas, our first taste of Peruvian music. They are actually quite good. As we leave we check out a woollen shop – but nothing has any prices on so we make a quick getaway, before being stampeded by sellers. We head back to the hotel for a whiskey, but by the time Keith has finished his nightly beauty treatment Karen is fast asleep.

Day 6

Weather here is quite chilly but the sun is very bright. Keith says he kept waking up in the night doing his gasping fish impressions! So we are still getting used to the altitude. 07:10 our guide collects us and takes us to the boat. 07:45 cast off (prior to leaving another musician jumps on board – but he wasn't any good and only gets 2 sols). A small boy of about 10 is at the wheel – older man runs down the boat shouting “MIND THAT BOAT – dereche, dereche”. It seems the small boy was oblivious to the boat on the right, which he was heading straight for. Could be an interesting trip. 08:15 arrived at one of the Uros islands. Theses are islands made of reeds – when you step on them they have a strange sinking feeling under foot. Seems very touristy and the kids are very dirty, but always seem to be laughing – must be at us funny looking tourists. We get on a reed boat and head for one of the other islands. They are surprisingly comfortable and made of (you guessed it) reeds and plastic bottles. Land at an island that has a school. I spot some pan pipes for sale – how can I resist – 10 sols (£2). Keith buys a necklace at stall next to me. Driver of reed boat explains how they are built in Spanish – thank god for Carlos (one of the tourists on the boat) who can translate into English for us. We then travelled for 2 hours to get to Isla de Tequile. A guide told us there was a 50 minute walk up the hill to get to the Plaza. With the altitude this was quite a climb and loads of gasping people. In the square we found some colourful hats for Jools, Libby and Keith. Had lunch in a small and simple restaurant. Keith goes to find the toilet and advises Karen of the holes in the ground that they turned out to be. Karen decided to hold on. We descend down the mountain via very steep steps. At the bottom her bladder couldn’t wait and off she went to the shed. Holding the door shut as there is no latch. Maybe the French are quite civilised after all! After what seemed like an endless journey back, just 10 minutes from Puno harbour the engine of the boat dies with no hope of reviving. The captain stands frantically at the back of the boat waving at another boat for a tow. Thankfully they do, just as the sun is setting, as it is now getting very cold and windy. After shower, washing of clothes, packing and arrival of laundry, we set off for dinner. This time I am better prepared – I wrote down all food words at the back of the log from the Lonely Planet Guide book. First we buy some postcards, snacks and water fro the train tomorrow. Go to Piero restaurant. It was excellent. A 6 piece band and a good atmosphere. Food was good but would love to have some vegetables to go with it, not common in Peru. I buy the band’s CD – as they leave each member thanks us – maybe they don’t sell many (when I get home I know why – must have been recorded in their experimental phase). Even in this tourist area it is hard to find anyone who speaks English. After leaving the restaurant there is a procession band and fireworks. I drag Keith away and back to the hotel . It was some kind of fiesta. Keith’s back is killing him so he has locked himself in the toilet doing his exercises as Karen opens the whiskey bottle – to help with the altitude – SALUD! We were sorry to leave Puno as it would have been nice to explore the cathedral, the old steamer etc..

Day 7 – Monday 8th September Puno - Cusco

06:00 Yet another early start. Had an unsettled night – too hot as we left the radiator on to dry our clothes – headaches all round. 07:15 leave hotel for the train station. Check luggage in and hope we see it again. The Orient Express style car is just as it says – very posh! Keith is happy as he has the seats he wanted (we had previously asked Paul Goddard - the tour operator in England to book these, but were not sure if it was possible) – 2 seat table on the right hand side (the best views) – well done Paul. 08:00 we leave Puno the track runs along the main road, the train frantically blowing its horn as local traffic and dogs play chicken with the train. We decide to have some breakfast – scrambled egg and toast with the crusts cut off. We spot our first lamas, guess plenty more will be seen along the way. Big train depot at Juliaca with only one engine insight. There are 3 platforms at the station. A couple of people join the train which means that coach ‘B’ is half full. A steam engine is stabled in a siding on the left of the station, then we head through the middle of a market, the stall holders move their goods when the train is due to go through, when gone they put their stalls back on the tracks! The market must stretch for a mile at least. Shame we can’t get a photo. We notice a group of train spotters (anoraks) following the train in a car, getting out every now and then to take photos, then jump back in the car and race off! North of Juliaca the anoraks are spotted again – cameras and brown corduroys. The first trolley now comes through the carriage selling tourist goods, Keith gives in and buys a must have Peru Rail T-shirt - $12. Pisco sours are served and more cameras are spotted. 4 guys run through the coach with a short sharp sample of Peruvian pan pipe music. They do a quick replay before disappearing again. First sight of snow covered mountains as wine and dinner is served at 11:50. Decent red wine and beef stroganoff. Approaching La Raya and our ears are popping and head thumping from the altitude, 4313m. Keith takes some video clips from the observation car – while a queue of German tourists wait for him to move out of the way so that they can get some shots – good time for Karen to wait in the bar for him with margaritas. Back to our normal seats while Keith has 40 winks. Karen wakes him up to pay the bill (seems fair). Soon after the waitress tells us to go to the bar (hardship for us) and see how a Pisco Sour is made. Everyone should get 1 free, but Karen got passed by. Keith tells the barmen that a couple of the people did'nt get a drink at which point they insist that Karen gets behind the bar to make her own. How could she refuse? The barmen tells her what to put in the drink (rocking train caused excess alcohol and less sweetener to be added), and then to give it a good shake. Some Peruvian singers enter bar so she just gets into the spirit of it, shaking her cocktail in time with the music. As everyone had now left the bar she was forced to drink it all herself (down in 1 as Keith suggested). It was the best she had tasted yet. Back at our seats the singers spend more time in our carriage and even pose specially for Keith to take photos. Managed to write 8 postcards on trip – well that’s a start. The further north we go the more fertile the land becomes, more trees and greenery, and the houses seem more modern. The only reminder of the country is the odd cactus plants along the way. 18:00 Train arrived at Cusco and we are met by Edwin, our guide for the next part of our journey. He takes us to our hotel – Royal Inca 1. The room is huge, on 2 levels with a balcony, but this was onto the main street and rather noisy. Room was also very hot and Keith had a lot of trouble sleeping. Went to Los Candiles restaurant which was ok – we eat Spaghetti Bolognaise – a bit chewy. After dinner we had to check out the Cross Keys pub (made famous by Michael Palin - he was there when he filmed The Full Circle, and entered the jungle with Barry Walker the owner of the pub). This place is like an English pub and actually serves real English beer, albeit in cans. There we had a can of Boddingtons (Keith poured the cream of Manchester all over the table). After seeing The Full Circle – we thought we might see Barry Walker at the pub, but sadly no. Back to hotel for an early night – again.

Day 8 – Tuesday 9th September Cusco - Sacred Valley

09:00 Keith had a restless night – still suffering with headaches - due to the altitude. We leave our luggage in the hotel storage. Edwin arrives and takes us to an ATM first. Our first stop is just outside Cusco, called Sacsayhuaman. Here there are 2 hills with Inca ruins (amazing masonry work, massive blocks of stone held together with no mortar or cement and not even the tiniest of gaps between) – we walk up both to try and get fit for tomorrow. Edwin took us to a knitwear factory. There they use lama and paka wool and make garments by hand or with a knitting machine. Karen bought a hand made jumper, made from baby paka wool, which is really soft. Keith bought a woven sash, like the ones traditionally worn by men in Peru. The next stop was a little further on to Q’engo. Here Edwin showed us where they used to have animal sacrifices (usually lamas). There was a zigzagging drainage channel down the rock; the route the blood took would be a sign for future fortune. The next stop was Pukapukara . Here was a place believed to be for storing grain/food taken from the fields in the valley below. Next was Tambomachay. Here the ruins showed the way water was channelled from the mountain and irrigated to the fields below. At one fountain Edwin said that the water from here had special qualities and was called ‘forever young’ – if splashed on the face it would keep you young looking. Karen couldn’t gush enough over her! Next Edwin took us to a market in Pisac. This market was very large and fascinating – it was also full of tourists. We bought some ceramic plates, and grabbed a quick beer before leaving. 15:00 Stopped for a huge lunch at Urubamba – we are just not used to eating so early. The last stop was at Ollantaytambo. Here the ruins are the most spectacular we have seen so far. It was now getting late and the sun was going down. We climbed the ruins – now the heights were getting worse and Karen was feeling a little unsteady – trying not to look down. There is a temple area at the top of many tiered fields. After leaving these ruins we headed for our hotel for the night – it was about a 10 minute walk, along a road which was completely blocked by rubble, due to the river having broken its banks and washed away some of the road. The hotel …….. was beautiful, with lovely gardens all around and the mountains as a backdrop. The room was large and very comfortable. We had dinner in the hotel, not that cheap, but good with excellent wine. It was strange to be in a hotel that was full of walkers all set for the Inca trail – like youth hostelling in style.

Day 9 – Wednesday 10th September Inca Trail

08:00 at the train station at Ollantaytambo – the train was about 15 minutes late. Got off at KM104 (we had to ask the guard to let us know when we got there, as the stop is in the middle of nowhere – no station about anywhere and no signs). Nelly was our guide for the next 2 days. The rain was spitting and waterproofs were needed. Nelly explained that she was waiting for another party of people who were due to arrive on the next train in 30 minutes. She suggested as we were doing the extra long walk we should go ahead alone. This suited us fine – there was only 1 path so we couldn’t get lost. The path very quickly got steep – following the railway in the valley below – more anoraking for Keith. Nelly asked us to wait for her at Winay Wayna so she could bring our lunch and explain all about the area. It took us about 3 hours to get there (Keith kept steaming ahead, while Karen panted behind). We arrived at 12:45. On the way you pass through some spectacular scenery, very tropical, and the most amazing waterfall just before Winay Wayna – which is a huge area with hundred of steep steps, going up the tiered fields, to reach the top (2700m ). Nell came storming along on her own about 25 minutes later, just as the rain started spitting again. She said she had to wait for the train, which was 45 minutes late. She gave us our lunch – cold rice with veg and a chicken leg, as well as fruit. Not brilliant but we were starving. While eating she explained about Winay Wayna. It’s where the farmers lived and grew their crops. Due to the time (13:50) she raced us to the checkpoint so we could continue on to Machu Picchu (checkpoint closes at 14:10). We had to wait for a group of French to go through the checkpoint with, as you are not allowed to go alone. They took ages and were only ready when our coco tea arrived. We gulped down some burning liquid and we were off again. We soon overtook the French and were alone again. The weather picked up again with the sun coming out bringing out the amazing scenery. When taking a sharp left we saw 50 odd steps up a vertical slope. Now we were feeling knackered and had to climb up on hand and foot. 16:15 arrived at Sun Gate. It was cloudy at first and nothing could be seen, what a disappointment, and then the clouds parted and we had our first sight of Machu Picchu (2400m) – as gob smacking as expected. To celebrate our arrival we had a quick whiskey toast and off we went. The path was much narrower than before, making the sheer steepness of the slopes become even worse for Karen who hates heights, and the rocks overhanging the path. As Karen’s face gets whiter, she clings to the rocks with desperation. Keith then says to wait and let the French party overtake, ‘why’ asks Karen, ‘it gets worse’ says Keith. As some people go ahead, Karen can see why. The path turns down the mountainside, some very small steep steps with a many thousands of feet drop ahead. Keith, piled high with rucksack, jacket and water bottles, all so Karen didn’t have to carry anything, and could concentrate on survival. He was unable to help as Karen overcome with terror, broke down in tears unable to summon up the courage to continue, first trying the descent on her rear and then trying to get up. To our surprise a friendly Frenchman came back to the rescue and coaxed her shaking body down. Once past that area the path was not quite so bad, but she was never gladder to reach a bus stop in her life. Feeling rather stupid and embarrassed, Karen thanked the Frenchman and the rest of the French party who now seemed to be everywhere and know all about the woosy English girl! We took the coach down to the village Aguas Calientes - about 25 minutes along a very narrow bendy road . Arrived at Aguas Calientes and it is now raining very hard, walked up and down a steep hill looking for our hotel. Eventually had to ask in another hotel for directions. By now we are wet tired and a long way from home. Karen looking white and shaky. We are led to our room – taken to the furthest block from reception and of course up another steep hill. The block and room were not too good, but certainly better accommodation than staying at Winay Wayna, which is more like a youth hostel, at least here we had our own bathroom. Karen flops onto the bed whilst Keith took a shower. Keith is dispatched by Karen to get the passports and some coco tea in an effort to revive her. Coco tea arrives and the waiter tries to charge him 8 Sols rather than 4 that was quoted by reception. He refuses to pay extra and sends the infuriated waiter on his way. The coco tea is downed by fastly fading Karen, who is now lying prostrate on the bed. Not for long though as she sprints to the bathroom and throws up (is sick) – the first of many (hence a private bathroom was a necessity tonight). Keith offers to find a pharmacy and searches through our damp Lonely Planet guide. He couldn’t find it so he had to ask the tourist information office – the staff spoke excellent English and were really helpful Keith went to the pharmacy and had to go through an act of depicting someone throwing up, after which an English speaking pharmacist appears. He hands over 15 Sols and rushes back to the hotel with 6 tablets (one every 4-6 hours), stopping on the way to buy a sumptuous evening meal of a snicker bar, Twix and a bottle of water. 20:00 After dining on chocolate and water Keith retires for the night. A few minutes later Karen leaps into the bathroom where I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. We finally drift off to sleep and spend a night punctuated by Karen’s sprints to the bathroom (sickness and diarrhoea all night) and Keith having hallucinating dreams – he awakes at 01:00 kicking s**t out of his bedding convinced there is someone in the room (must be the anti-altitude pills effect).

Day 10 – Thursday 11th September Aguas Calientes – Cusco

Wake up at 05:15 and Karen is feeling better although very dehydrated. She drinks a rehydration solution and we decide to catch the later 07:00 bus to Machu Picchu, as the weather is awful, constant heavy rain) – sorry Nelly and co, you will have to wait for us, which after yesterday, seems fair. We leave the hotel glad to see the back of it and wade through the rain down to the bus terminal. Stopping off at the closed ticket office to try and buy our tickets. Karen buys a plastic bin bag (poncho) in a vain attempt to stay dry – it kind of works. We meet Nelly who had been waiting a while. Due to the rain we can hardly see Machu Picchu – which also means that Karen can’t see the sheer drops all around – so not so bad. The tour was interesting and lasted about 1.5 hours, by which time we were drenched. Karen still feeling delicate, we go to the café for a coco tea (life saver drink). There is no shelter and we stand in the rain. The rest of Nelly’s party say they left their dormitories at 05:00. They were supposed to see their first views of Mach Picchu at sunrise (imagine it is spectacular) but they had rain all the way and have had no view of Machu Picchu at all, let alone a sunrise – they are really pissed off people. We are so glad that yesterday we carried on our walk as we did see the spectacular views. We decide to get the next bus down to the village, even though Nelly keeps saying the weather will clear it continues to pour down even more and Karen still feels like hell. 10:30 Back in the drowned village. We go to a restaurant for a hot drink which makes us feel a bit more human, This place is where we will meet Nelly later as we can get a free meal here (should have been last night). To kill time we decide to try an internet café. We pay for 30 minutes – but it takes us that long to realise we can’t send e-mails. Find a small shop where we buy postcards and stamps and a sticker for Karen’s guitar case. 12:30 Back at the restaurant to meet Nelly. She has not arrived yet so we speak to the waiter who understands we have the free set menu. Just to be awkward Keith decides he wants a pizza (they do look good – but not on set menu) and Karen can only face some soup and a few chips. Waiter says we can pay the difference. This restaurant is a train spotters heaven, we sit on the pavement next to the railway line – Keith twitches every time he hears an engine. Nelly arrives about 13:00 and stays for a coffee. So we know where to find the station she arranges to meet us again at 14:50. Keith tries to haggle with the waiter over the cost, but he won’t have it – Keith did have a large beer! Nelly shows us another internet café, so we try again, this time with Karen’s orange account. Very slow connection but managed to send one to Libby and Den. We collected out luggage from the hotel and made our way with Nelly to the station. 15:30 Train departs. Vista dome train was very comfortable, free coke (only one) then we dozed and watched the sacred valley glide by. We saw the path which we walked along yesterday KM104 – Winay Wayna – did we really walk that? We were then treated to a Peruvian dance by someone wearing a white woolly suit and mask! Then our 2 members of staff paraded up and down the carriage modelling Peruvian knitwear. Very entertaining as each model gets a large round of applause, somehow Keith can’t see Great Eastern doing this! At Ollantaytambo the usual collection of people trying to sell souvenirs but as with the knitwear we resist any retail therapy. Down into Cusco we rattled, as we began our descent the moon appeared as if on cue. The train began to reverse backwards in order to zigzag down into Cusco. Then forward with some poor member of staff having to jump off at the end of each zigzag in order to set the points down the next bit of track. He must have done this 6-7 times, but eventually we arrived at Cusco at 19:30. Couldn’t see Edwin in the car park so we exited by the front, and a lady was waiting for us. Edwin couldn’t make it was the reason given. Zoomed off through Cusco in a beat up cab and arrived at hotel at 19:50. Went looking for camera battery and memory card for the digital, but they were very expensive. Bought a 36 film for Karen. Had dinner at ‘El Trudo’ which was a couple of doors away from our hotel. Was very expensive but very good. Music and dance was excellent and had to buy another CD (when home this was an excellent CD). There was a Welsh couple at the next table we had a good chat with – very friendly. Keith wanted to go back to Cross Keys, but Karen was not quite up to her usual boozy standard yet and just wanted to go to bed. 22:30 Back at the hotel for a whiskey and kip. This was a wonderful end to a hard but worthwhile couple of days. Thanks to Edwin, Keith is sorry he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him.

Day 11 Friday 12th September Cusco – Jungle Lodge

08:30 Guide takes us to the airport at Cusco for our flight to Peurto Maldonardo. Reps seem to have a good way to get you to the front of a queue, they just move past everyone else and wait for the person at the desk to look up! 10:51 Flight took off (21 minutes late) and it only took 30 minutes to arrive. As we landed it looked like we were going to land in the trees, couldn't see a runway anywhere. The pilot was very erratic and heavy on the brakes as we skidded to a halt. As we got off the heat could be felt immediately. We were met by Maria our guide from Wasi Lodge. 14 of us piled onto a 4 x 4 truck with a grass cover. We rode for a short while and reached the Peurto Maldonardo lodge. Here we were given a tasty fruit drink and given our wellies for the trip. We left for the jungle lodge with a group of 8 American's. There was an hours drive to the boat – along a very bumpy roller coaster style road, everyone and everything was covered in dust, including the American's designer suitcases! The boat ride to the lodge was 4 hours along the Tambopata river. We stopped at a checkpoint along the way and spotted large rats (don't remember the name) and monkeys. Many birds were spotted from the boat including King vultures and White Egrot. 17:15 Arrived at the lodge. The soil is very clayey and therefore a slippery trudge up the steep slope to the lodge. Maria said we go for a walk in the jungle at 18:00 so time for a quick shower (showers were always quick as the water was absolutely freezing, even in the immense heat it is a shock to the system). We are given torches as it is now dark. She points out to us different insects, frogs, fauna and their uses. Karen backs away each time Maria says how wonderful the spiders are. The jungle is very dense and the noises are deafening, also gets even more very humid the deeper you go. 20:00 we go for dinner and beer – soup followed by chicken, rice, chips and salad, then jelly for pudding. They sure eat a lot here. We have an early night as tomorrow we need to be up at 04:00.

Day 12

04:00 alarms sound all over the camp, as knackered travellers get up. Keith says he feels sick now and won’t be able to go. 20 minutes later he changes his mind as he doesn’t want to miss out on anything. 05:00 and we are ready to get in the boat, just the 2 of us and Marie our guide and the boat driver. We are off to the clay lick. The boat ride is about 1 ½ to 2 hours long, with a checkpoint on the way. When we get off the boat we have a ½ hour trek through 'Indianna Jones' territory. Maria is clutching a machete, which we presume is to clear a path for us, we later find out it is to get rid of any snakes on the way. Eventually we reach the clay lick and set up some chairs. Tea and biscuits are passed around. The noise here is piercing with birds. We see hundreds of Macaws (scarlet and yellow/blue, green things (don’t remember the name) and parakeets). The sight is quite amazing; you must have binoculars for this, even though Maria did bring a telescope and tripod. We follow the birds for about 1 ½ hours until we head back to the boat. On route we come to a very steep slippery bank leading down to a stream, to be crossed via a log. Light footed Maria goes first and gets to the bottom with ease. She holds out her hand and instructs us to follow one at a time. Karen goes first treading daintily and makes it to the bottom. Just as Karen reaches Maria she hears Keith sliding down towards her, she turns to look and sees him frantically clutching a few blades of grass in a vain hope to stop, to no avail though; he suddenly flips and ends up in the stream below. Maria rushes to him to check him over, and he seemed to have survived, even the camera was undamaged. Keith is now covered from head to foot in wet sticky clay, through Karen’s giggles she says that they can’t let him back on the boat like that! Luckily he seemed to dry off a bit in the heat on the walk back. When we return to the lodge Maria says that we can rest until 16:00, as neither of us wants any lunch. We try to get some sleep but the room is very humid and the Americans next door are very noisy (they’re packing to go camping in the jungle). 14:00 Keith is still not feeling good and goes for a cup of tea while Karen get’s some washing done, hanging it all over the camp to dry. 16:00 Maria takes us through the forest as we did last night, but this time we see it in daylight. She points out all the trees/plants/insects etc on route. There are thousands of colourful butterflies and we even see lots of monkeys around. She takes us to an observation tower (yet more steps to climb) and here we watch the birds around. 19:00 After a quick wash it’s time for Cayman hunting. Going down slippery clay banks in the dark is not the easiest thing to do, especially for Keith as he is now really weary, but we reach the boat safely. We manage to see a few white Cayman, who quickly scarper when they see us. Soon it was time to go back to camp and get ready for dinner. Keith still feels unwell and decides to go to bed without having dinner. I explain this to Maria who is now getting worried. Even the chef comes out asking for Keith, and advises there is a medical place to take him to if he is still unwell in the morning. Karen stayed and had dinner with Maria, even with her appetite she could only pick at her food, here in this humidity you really don’t feel like eating. Shame really, the food is excellent, she had soup followed by crayfish wrapped in some large leaves, with rice, potato and salad, then pudding of fruit. 21:00 After a long tiring day head for bed, the heat is just exhausting and draining. Keith was still awake so Karen lets him know that he will be packed off to the witch doctor in the morning if there is no improvement, he wasn’t amused, can’t think why! Karen struggling to get to sleep so catches up with writing this log, which has got about 4 days behind, still all done now and don’t think I forgot too much.

 Day 13

06:15 Karen wakes up with a start – dreaming Maria is calling for us saying we’re late – must be the malaria tablets! Keith now perked up - threat of a witch doctor worked. 07:30 Time for breakfast and Keith is storming down to the dinning area feeling extremely hungry. Maria and the chef (Carlos) now relieved as they see Keith tucking into his pancakes. 08:20 We say our farewells to the lodge and head down to the boat, sinking into the clayey soil as we go. 08:45 We arrive at Cata Falls. A local on the opposite side of the falls has just caught the most enormous fish you can imagine – he could live on it for a week. Maria show us the plants around here, in the gardens of a local that you have to walk through to get to the falls – lots of fruit and herbs, someone obviously enjoys cooking! Enjoy the relaxation of the falls for a while before heading back to the boat. 11:00 We are now at our pick up point where we take a 45 minute car journey to the Puerto Maldonado hotel. Immediately we are shown our room – very large - 2 large beds with 2 pillows each (only ever had 1 each everywhere else we have been, so this is luxury), shower and toilet and a balcony. The room even has a fridge – hoorah with lots of cold drinks and a cooling down fan. We hang our wet clothes on the balcony to dry and freshen up for lunch. 12:30 lunch of rice/veg/chicken wrapped in banana leaves and salsa salad, followed by peaches – more filling food. 13:15 We head for another boat for our next excursion. This is for Sandoval Lake. The boat takes about 30 minutes, where we get off and sign in at the checkpoint. This is like a jungle park, where we walk for 30 minutes along a picturesque trail. Along the way we spot many large lizards sunning themselves, many large blue and red butterflies, as well as leaf cutting ants (Keith says to Maria he wants a photo of them on the way back). 14:15 After a while we reach the canoes – tentatively enter and superwoman Maria cast us off. We already feel exhausted after the walk. After a short creek we emerge into a huge lake. The weather is burning hot and we try to make our water bottles last. Maria points out many types of birds along the route. 15:30 We stop at a small lodge/ house where Maria can take a drink and splash (enviably) some water all over her, from a local stream. The owner has loads of chickens and chicks running around all over the place. Maria now revived we head off back to the boat. We are both now sagging badly from the heat, no longer perspiring, just sheer sweat! We try to help Maria paddle the canoe, but just the effort of 1 stroke in the water is enough to exhaust us, and our water is running low. Maria suddenly shouts for Karen to look with the binoculars at what is in the water dead ahead. It’s quite distant and as she focuses sees something like turtle heads – as the boat gets a little nearer she nudges Keith saying they’re the giant river otters – can grow up to 6 foot. We get a better look as they swim much closer. Now we feel the torturous heat was completely worth while, as it is quite rare to see the otters. With a little extra spirit on the paddle we make it right round the lake. Time is now running short and we charge back to the motorboat – stopping so Keith could photograph the leaf cutters, you could see them coming all the way down the tree in a dead straight line and across the path and into the thicket. It is now quite dark and no boats on the river have any lights on them – somehow the boaters can smell each other as they just flash their torches whenever another boat gets close. The ride back was about 25 minutes, and now evening was setting in the temperature was dropping quickly. 18:15 Now back in our rooms we empty a litre drink each and have a shower – Keith first, who later emerges from the bathroom gingerly and says he had to share his shower with an enormous frog! Karen go to take a look – it is about the size of Karen’s palm, so fairly big, Karen tries to smother it with a hand towel and it jumps behind the toilet – we leave it there – who knows it may be poisonous. 20:30 A well earned beer and meal of ham stuffed with celery and mayo, then lamb steaks with rice, chips and salad, followed by a delicious cream/fruit fattening desert. As we go back to the room we spot more frogs waiting to enter our room – we go in quickly (it reminds Karen of ‘The Birds’). Have a read and whiskey before crashing out.

Day 14 Monday 15th September Jungle to Lima

Keith woke up at 07:20 although the local cockerel had been going since 05:00. 08:00 Breakfast of 2 rolls and pineapple juice. Rolls padded out with butter and jam. Hot water but no T-bags (we had to plead for some), only evaporated milk and some black tar, sorry it’s coffee! We then pack and go for a stroll, but it’s so hot, too hot. After walking for 10 minutes we return to the hotel via an ATM. We pack our last few things and meet Maria in reception. 10:00 Away we go to the airport by taxi-bike, the 3 of us tightly packed on the back seat. 10:15 Arrive at the airport. Maria helps us check in and then we go for a last drink together. We exchange e-mail addresses and thank her for all her help. We resist the temptation to buy souvenirs for a Manu/Amazon shop and bid a fond farewell to Maria at the departure gate. It’s hot and our plane is late arriving. 11:50 Eventually we are off, at least the seats are by the window. The flight gives us a last view of the Amazon Basin – beautiful from the air, it makes us feel really sorry to leave and wonder how much rain forest will be here in 10 years time, as the cloud obscures our view at 12:10. 12:22 We land with a view of we think is the Cusco – Puno railway. Due to tailwinds (or wind tails as the pilot said) we are asked to leave the plane. At least we have time for a drink, nibble and loo break. 13:20 Our flight is called to reboard the plane. We sit and wait! 13:45 Off the plane again now – weather still not cleared. 15:30 We decided to phone Jorge to let him know we were still waiting. He said if we couldn’t take off today we could stay in Cusco overnight and get the first flight out in the morning. He said Edwin will be able to meet us – he is on his way. We now get very excided about spending another unexpected night in Cusco. 15:55 Dam! We are told to board the plane – sorry Edwin. 16:05 We take off! 16:18 Now the seat belt signs are off the Martin clan have their tables ready demanding a LARGE VODKA! 17:25 2 large vodkas later we land at Lima. 18:35 We were met at the airport by Jamie and his wife (strange name), with all we have experienced since last seeing him, we couldn’t stop babbling. He had been waiting at the airport for us since 12:30 – long day for him. As we are waiting to check in at the Farona Hotel an eerie noise wafts over from the restaurant area. Quick as a flash Keith turns around and pretentds to shoot the offending mossie…oops sorry it was the piano player. He then turns around foolishly to see the porter creased up on the floor, this he did every time he saw Keith afterwards. After a long shower and some more washing of clothes we tart ourselves up and hit the town. Never knew we were so popular – restaurant touts promised us anything we wanted if only we eat in their restaurant. Chose a pizza place that was full. Food was good but not much of it – had a good sized pitcher of beer though. Left the restaurant somewhat peckish and headed back to the hotel via a bookshop, where Keith haggled for a book on the Amazon. So off to bed, quick read and whiskey – after which Keith dropped a glass on the tiled floor in the bathroom, desperately tried to clean up what we could, then just trod carefully and left sign for the cleaners.

Day 15 Tuesday 16th September Lima – Nazca

07:40 Alarm goes off – a late start for a change. 09:00 Jorge and his wife Joseline pack our stuff in his car and away we go along the Pan American Highway. Very quickly we are out of Lima and the area turns to a desert, but it is still cloudy. 11:45 We reach near Pisco – here the weather changes – clouds lifting and blue sky emerging – sand dunes now appear. Santiago looks nice with stunning desert hills in the background, Jorge has now had confirmation of our flight over Nazca. 13:20 Spot our first desert local – strolling the Pan American Highway – it seems you don’t need to wear any clothes here – he wasn’t! 14:30 Arrived at Nazca airport. While waiting for our flight we watched a video giving the history of Nazca and the discovery of the lines. 15:08 We board the plane – Keith gets the front seat while Karen sits on a back shelf with someone else! There are a total of 5 passengers on this flight, one in the front next to the pilot and two rows behind for two people each. 15:15 We start to move and head for the runway. The plane feels very wobbly and bouncy in the back. After 3 minutes of being airborne, the girl directly in front of Karen and directly behind Keith turns a nasty shade of green. Her boyfriend next to her put his arm round her for comfort, but all she wants is a bag. Luckily they came prepared and boyfriend duly passes bags and tissues to her throughout the flight, while still trying to take some photos. For the rest of us the flight is exhilarating. We were flying at only 200-300, feet although it seemed higher. At least the girl behind Keith didn’t throw up down his back! The pilot shows each side of the plane 10 different Nazca Lines – tilting the plane drastically from side to side. Taking pictures is quite difficult as it is quite windy. 15:45 We land all too soon, it was great fun (The other girl in the plane seemed quite relieved though as she was running out of sick bags). We are handed certificates and head for our hotel – Nido Del Condor. Quick wash and change into swimming gear (under our clothes) and head for the bar to get a drink and sandwich. Hotel displays a mummy which was found when building the hotel – also lots of well preserved pots. Now sit by the pool and relax with a beer, the water in the pool is freezing cold so maybe no swim today. 18:00 Light now fading fast we head for our room for a quick siesta before dinner. 18:45 Jorge phones our room and say he has to go into Nazca – problem in Lima office – he will talk to us later. We decide to get up and have a shower. Karen even puts on her dress – at least make an effort one night. 18:50 We head for the restaurant – notebook in hand for translation. We choose a nice bottle of wine ‘blanc taccuma’ and manage to work out what to eat – Hawaiian chicken and chips – really quite good. 20:00 Jorge and Joseline turn up at the restaurant and stay for a drink – it may be possible for us to go white water rafting, Jorge will try. 21:00 We head to our room for a read and whiskey.

Day 16 Wednesday 17th September Nazca – Pisco

08:20 eventually crawl out of bed. People around us this morning were very noisy as well as the sound of light aircrafts starting up at 08:00. Breakfast was a bit stingy, fruit juice was more like a smoothy (ok for Karen but Keith left his), only 2 rolls, jam and butter and only enough water for 3 cups of tea. 10:15 Go to sit by the pool with a book – the weather is sunny and warm. Jorge explains the reason for going to the office last night, Jamie was to meet 5 passengers from a KLM flight last night for Peruvian Secrets. However the plane had a fault – it was leaking fuel that could be smelt in the cabin and the plane had to return to Amsterdam. He said that 2 of the passengers went straight home, too scared to travel further, but the other 3 continued to Peru. Hope they fix the plane before we go home! Well KLM’s great service strikes again! 12:00 We leave to head towards Pisco. As we round a sharp bend we suddenly slow right down as there are some large rocks in the road that have come down from the mountains. Jorge tries to steer past but still ended up going over some, causing a large banging noise under the car. About an hour later Jorge said he was losing oil badly and needed to find a garage. His oil light came on and there was no sign of a garage for miles. Eventually we came to one – Jorge now getting worried that his engine was suffering, as it was sounding noisy. However at this garage they did not sell oil, but a kindly lone driver gave him a couple of litres to tide him over until we reach another garage. As soon as Jorge put the oil in it could be seen leaking from under the car. 13:30 While going through a small village Jorge saw a CASTROL sign – they had a mechanic who said it would be 2 hours to fix the car. Jorge, mechanic and Keith push the car into the garage over the pit area. It seems the oil slump was hit badly and become badly misshapen, with several holes in it. Jorge goes with the mechanic (who sits in the boot of an estate car) to get the sump bashed back into shape and have the holes welded, enough repair to get us all back to Lima. Keith and Karen go with Joseline to find a shop for a drink as it is burning hot now. Each place is either closed or doesn’t sell anything. We eventually spot a lorry delivering drinks to the local shops – Joseline rushes to it gabbling in Spanish – she returns with bottles of water for us. The bottles are warm and Keith recons they tasted funny, and was worried about drinking it. Karen thought the strange taste was of plastic due to the heat. An old mad from the garage comes out with 3 stools and tells us to sit in the shade under a tree on the opposite side of the road. Well it was much cooler and we watched the world go by on the Pan American Highway. While sitting here Karen starts to turn a striking pink colour so time to rush for the sun cream, still it did give her a nice tan. The views around here are quite stunning – rocky mountains and sand dunes, with a Peruvian style football pitch in front of us, 2 sticks in the ground depicting each goal. Whilst waiting for the mechanics to do their job, Jorge summons a lurking ice cream vender, travelling on a tricycle with a cool box in the front. The guy thinking he has a sale turns up the volume of his music ‘Don’t worry be happy’. Joseline wretches open the cool box but finds only wooden spoons and a few ice lollies, not what she wanted. The ice cream vendor weaves away with a final indignant blast of music – ‘Don’t worry be happy’ ringing in our ears. 16:30 The mechanics have now finished and we continue our journey. Poor Joseline is now starving hungry, as they are used to eating at lunch time. On the journey a dog happily strolls into the middle of the road, causing Jorge to perform an emergency stop – thereby waking all the passengers with a start, the dog ignores this all and trots off on its way. 18:00 We arrive at our hotel shaken but not stirred, and in true British fashion Karen headed straight for the bar, but we only had just enough time for a quick shower before heading for dinner. Joseline advised what we should eat a traditional Peruvian dish Lomo Saltado, strips of beef, onion and tomatoes, served with rice and chips (of course) – it sure was good, will try this when we get home. As is our tradition we had a bottle of wine with the meal while Jorge and Joseline stuck to soft drinks. 20:30 As it was too early to retire we took Jorge and Joseline for a drink in the hotel bar, beer all round, except for Joseline who stuck with a soft drink.. 21:30 Off we went to bed as an early start in the morning, just to make a change.

Day 17 Thursday 18th September Pisco – Lima

05:45 Can it really be morning already? Have an uneventful breakfast of 2 rolls with jam and butter – now we so look forward to having a big English breakfast when we get home. 07:10 We are picked up from our hotel and taken to the Paraw National Marine Reserve for a boat trip around the Barracas Islands. The trip was about 2 hours long and we saw plenty of wildlife. You just can’t imagine there can be so many sea lions in one place. We also saw plenty of pelicans and even penguins, which are really small. The sea lions were incredible, just the noise they make! Plenty of mothers with babies – they just look amazing when swimming in the water. The boat carried about 20 people, and the guide was brilliant and kept coming to the back of the boat (where we were) to keep us constantly informed as you could not hear what he was saying at the front. 11:30 Back at hotel – we found our way from the square. Time for a quick wash and change into old gear and swimming clothes, ready in case we can go rafting. Keith now feels desperate for a sugar boost and goes with Joseline to get some chocolate bars and a bottle of coke. Driving towards Lima the sun disappears as the ‘guarna’ takes over. This may be the last sun we see in Peru (we hope not). The car is loosing some oil again, so Jorge is trying to buy some, but not having much luck so far, garages here don't seem to sell oil. Jorge is now very stressed about the state of his car; our hearts go out to him. The scenery we drove through was stunning – desert, dry, arid but they still had irrigation in the valleys, hence there were plenty of vineyards we passed, grapes in abundance. Up and up we go, stopping occasionally for directions, the poverty is everywhere, a million miles from Miraflores (Lima). Jorge finds a place that does white water rafting and we saddle up! We meet the crew, all youngsters and they all seem to be related, including a brother-in-law from Porto Rico. They drove us up to the top of the river; Jorge and Joseline were following in their car. On route some dodgy looking wine was being passed around, which we both declined, they certainly get into the spirit of it all! At the top of the river we are issued instructions in Spanish, translated by the Portorican guy. Into the raft we go and perform a quick figure of 8 to prove we won’t sink. Then off we go with a final bon voyage to Jorge and Joseline. Well this is it! A slight bend, a quick shimmy and we're through the first rapids! After 30 minutes we really get into the swing of it and we hang on with ease. Ride was great fun and a perfect end to an excellent holiday. The guys on board were just out for a bit of fun – for them it was really mild and decided we were not getting wet enough, so they constantly splashed us ‘Gringos’ with water, and as the weather was so hot it really was good fun and a good atmosphere all round, even though half the team couldn’t speak English, sign language works! We did however quickly learn the words for left, right, stop and hold tight. It must be great to try this when the water levels are higher. 18:45 We made it back to Lima and the Farona Hotel, say our goodbyes to Jorge and Joseline, we are now on our own, but as Karen is getting a cold not a bad thing. We promise to keep in touch with Jorge and hope to return one day with Peruvian Secrets. 20:15 We go to Café/Café (strange name) for dinner. It is a bit like Peru’s version of the Hard Rock Café. Keith starts with a Margarita while Karen has a beer. After dinner Keith has a Machu Picchu cocktail, multi coloured layered tall drink, whilst Karen sticks to a boring Pina Colada. We had a pleasant waitress who takes our photo for us. Unfortunately when it came to pay for the meal you need a passport number if you want to pay by visa (first time we experienced that), so we had to pay in cash. We trek slowly back to our hotel as it is our last night in Peru and we wanted to savour it. Back at the hotel Keith catches up with ‘news and weather’ and of course we empty our bottle of whiskey, how else could we have written this lengthy journal? Time for a late kip, hoping to have a late wake up call. We were given a different room at the Farona than we had on the previous nights, it was an enormous suite, and even had a fridge with lots of drink. The room was much quieter that the one we had before, apart from the birds outside. We both now feel exhausted, travelling all over the country and are ready to go home, even looking forward to it.

Day 18/9 Friday 19th September Lima – Heathrow

Karen wakes up at 4am – unable to breath, thank god she didn’t get a cold earlier in the holiday. 09:00 Karen still awake and unable to sleep sees that Keith is starting to stir. He tells her he was awake at 05:00, woken by the birds also, but he soon dozed off again. 10:00 Off for breakfast. Keith couldn’t face scrambled egg, so opted for; yes you guessed it, rolls with butter and jam! Also had our last coco teas, Headed for a last sortie into Lima, our mission was to get the last few pressies and whatever took our fancy, it is our hols after all! We had a half hearted look for a watch, then retired to a very swish restaurant/bar for an Al Fresco beer or 2. On the way back to the hotel stopped at a pharmacy for some throat sweets for Karen (plenty of sign language used here – must be getting good at it now! Back at the hotel for a rest and shower/shave/final packing session. While Keith's rucksack was getting emptier as the holiday progressed, Karen was struggling to zip her's up. We left the hotel with the intention of going to Pizza Hut for some lunch, but it was more like a McDonalds (fast food store) and also sold no beer! Therefore we strolled on and went to the pizza restaurant from the other night. Amazingly the sun was now coming out – this hardly ever happens in Lima – so great for our last few hours. After lunch we headed back to the hotel and picked up our luggage and waited for our lift to the airport. Jamie turns up and we sit and wait for the car to arrive. 17:00 Off we go to the airport in the evening rush hour. We arrive unscathed and with our possessions intact. Say a fond farewell to Jamie as we lug our gear into the international departure area, where the KLM check in queue is MASSIVE. We find the end and start queuing. Slowly the queue moves forward to the check in desk, but more people keep arriving. Finally at the desk we ask for Karen’s letter of confirmation that her luggage was late arriving into the country, so we can claim from our insurance. Shock and horror, it was there! We also manage to get window seats in the 2 seater isle, what a result. Next we have to queue up to pay the departure tax, 100 Sols = $28. Then we head off to queue for passport control/security etc….etc…. Eventually we get to the important duty free stores. Karen rushes to find herself a touristy Peru T-shirt and Keith heads in the direction of Pisco bottles, luckily the Pisco Sour recipe comes with the bottles. Keith then hovers over the TAG watches realising they are much cheaper than at home. He even tries one on and it does look the biz, but then he declined and decided to think about it. At the bookshop Karen gets an interactive DVD of the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, while Keith hovers again at another jewellers, but again declines. We go through to our gate and wait for our card colour (yellow) to be called. 20:20 Plane heads to the runway and we say a farewell to Peru. 22:30 Been on flight for 2 hours now – already a triple vodka (dash of tonic) and a bottle of wine with dinner, and now half a bottle of brandy (that’s not an exaggeration) for medical reasons of course! 23:00 We were really looking forward to see X Men 2 which should have been shown – but all we got was flight details. 00:05 We land at Bonaire and are told that we have a stop for 1 ½ hours, the temperature is 28 C at 01:05. On landing Karen suffered a lot with her ears – lots of pain and going completely deaf while on the ground. Keith asks the stewardess if there are any boiled sweets that she can give Karen to help with the landing, but she only had a real go at her for flying in the first place when she had a cold. Somehow Karen doesn’t think her boss would be sympathetic enough to let her have another week off work for a cold! While in the departure lounge we meet the welsh couple who we met at the restaurant in Cusco – he seems to know everybody on the flight, well he certainly talks to everyone a real bubbly character. 02:36 Relief for Karen when we take off as she can now hear again. The new crew were a little friendlier, the stewardess even gave Karen some nasal drops for the next 2 landing, that should help relieve the congestion. The flight eventually showed 2 films – but we both kept dozing throughout as they had turned off the lights in the cabin, but at least they kept the telly going not like British Airways, who expect people to sleep all the time. Karen heads to the loo and meets the Welshman again, he’s off on a stroll with his neck pillow still attached to him, quite a sight – chatting to everyone he meets. BST 20:00 Cabin crew start to arouse people and breakfast is served. 15:10 Plane fly’s over Essex, England, we can make out the rail line and can even follow it through to our branch line and onto Chappel! Shame we have hours to wait before we get there – via Amsterdam. 16:05 Land at Amsterdam. We are on time but our connecting flight to Heathrow didn’t leave there until 18:30. Keith bought a round of beers and a chocolate bar with his remaining Euros. The flight was apparently delayed due to fog in Amsterdam this morning. 19:30 Landed at Heathrow and rushed to get out (unfortunately Karen’s Peru T-shirt and DVD must have slipped out of the bag while in the baggage rack, at least the Pisco bottle was still there). We anxiously wait what seems like a lifetime to see our rucksacks, Karen’s first. 15 minutes later Keith is still waiting and getting redder with anger by the minute, but it does eventually show. We’re off – race through customs (only 1 guard) and charge to get the Heathrow Express. 20:25 Heathrow Express 20:45 Arrive at Paddington. The taxi queue was a joke here, at the front there was a group of young guys – pissed as farts, dawdling and holding up all other taxis. Keith can’t wait any longer and to loud jeering and back stabbing we duck under the barrier and get into a taxi. There was another taxi in front of our one so the pissed farts had no reason to complain. Think our driver was relieved that we grabbed his cab as he eventually had a fare. The taxi was £16 to Liverpool Street and we arrive at 21:20. The next train is at 21:32 so just enough time to call home and arrange for a pick up from Mum. Keith stresses the need to get to the pub on the way home – so out with the febreeze, aftershave/perfume and wet ones to try and freshen ourselves up. By the time we get to the pub we would have been travelling for 20 hours if you include the 3 hours wait at Lima. Think we’ve earned at decent pint or 2! Met Les, Libby and Jools in the pub and bored them with our experiences.

 THE END