Cusco

My last days in Lima were spent chilling out in Starbucks and the parks on the coast, and volunteering at a couple of refuges in the suburbs of the city. One was run by a Swiss lady called Doris who lives with 12 children who have come to her through social services, including 4 cute quadruplets and twin boys - bless their little alpaca woollen socks! I helped feed the littluns and played with the bigger children, then after lunch we visited another refuge. This is a day centre for the poorest children in the nearest shanty towns, which feeds them and teaches them various skills. Soon it will also be home to 2 young mothers and their babies. It hopes to give them the courage and skills they need to get back on their feet and support themselves and their children. The houses were brilliantly run and I was very impressed by the dedication of the people working there. These sorts of places are vital for Peru and its people and I´m glad I could see them and give a little support.

A 20 hour coach journey brought Sian, Phil, their friend Karen and I to Cusco where we have been for 6 days. I persuaded my Inca Trail company to refund most of my deposit and cancelled the trek, opting instead for the train, which by the looks of some of the trekkers at the site was the best move I have ever made! The air here is lacking in oxygen and so thin that I wake up most nights gasping and dehydrated. The city of Machu Picchu was an incredible sight to behold and our tour guide, though extremely annoying, helped us understand quite a lot about it. We had time to wander by ourselves and in doing so encountered lots of cute and fluffy llamas. I´m glad we went to MP but it was ridiculously expensive and a big hassle to get to it. The state of tourism in Cusco needs some serious rethinking too. It boasts about 500 tour companies, half of which are not genuine, making it extremely hard to find a good and trustworthy tour, and backpackers have been forced to get to Machu Picchu by a certain route leaving the government free to name a dishonest price. Even the official tourist information office with its uniformed staff and modern decor told us lies to get to our dollars.

We didn´t intend on staying in Cusco this long but it´s a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains and ruins and with a very Peruvian feel to it. Sian and I followed a huge and colourful procession around the city on Sunday and I managed a reunion with my Irish girlfriends last Friday. Tonight we head to Bolivia where Lake Titicaca and the salt plains await me, hopefully without any of the horror stories that some people have been telling. My friend Ellen witnessed a bus crash the other day in which a canadian girl died, so I´m staying well away from the night buses at all costs!

The city of the Incas - simple farming folk are believed to have lived here, but it is celebrated for surviving the invasion by the Spaniards who failed to discover the site

One of several llamas who inhabit Machu Picchu